30-year-old Chen, from Jiangsu Province, won gold in the individual event at the 2009 World Modern Pentathlon Championships. She is the second Chinese athlete and the first female Chinese athlete to win the championship, following Qian Zhenghua's victory in 2005. Chen also competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics, finishing in 5th place on both occasions.
According to the International Modern Pentathlon and Biathlon Union, two of Chen's urine samples that had been collected during the Rio Olympics tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide, a drug used as a cover up for doping. Chen then launched an appeal that ultimately proved unsuccessful.
