Joe Klein does not wait for life to come to him.

The Chicago native has, in just 17 years on the planet, become a world-class figure skater, an experienced climate activist, and now an EcoAthletes Champion.

“I started figure skating when I was four,” recalled Klein. “My older sister skated, and my twin brother and I would watch and beg our mom to put us on skates. She would ask, ‘Don’t you want to play hockey?’ And I’d say, ‘No, I want to figure skate!’ I couldn’t put it into words then, but I loved the artistry and athleticism. It became where I found my joy.”

He also found out at a very young age that his competitive streak was very strong.

“My first competition was at age 6,” Klein said. “I liked the individual aspect, that the pressure was on me. Soon, I was skating six days a week, practicing between 5:30 and 7:30 AM and then again after school.”

His hard work paid off in 2019 as he medaled for the first time at a national competition at age 14 in the novice level as well as doing well in his first international assignment. Klein moved up the rankings thanks to his precocious artistry, while working to build up the technical side of his skating.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 at first slowed Klein’s development before becoming, in an odd way, a gift of sorts.

“I sprained my ankle right before COVID hit, which meant I couldn’t skate for about 10 weeks,” shared Klein. “Illinois rinks stayed closed after I recovered but rinks in Colorado Springs, the site of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center, opened in May 2020. I had done summer training there before, so I went back out there for the summer and stayed there in the fall to start 10th grade since my school in Illinois was virtual.”

Klein’s parents stayed in Colorado Springs until October before heading home. He was fine on his own — he lived in an apartment with roommates, had gotten his driver’s license so could get around. In fact, he feels that living away from his folks helped his development on and off the ice.

“It helped me improved my ‘perseverant mind set’, there’s no doubt,” asserted Klein. “This allowed me to bounce back more quickly from my injury and to take my skating to another level.”

That next level included earning a silver medal in the juniors at the 2021 nationals in Las Vegas — “there were no fans, just cutouts, which was uniquely weird” — a fourth place result at the 2022 junior nationals and solid performances at two international competitions.

Klein is not at all satisfied; his sights are set very high.

“My short-term goal is to make the U.S. senior team for the 2023 World Championships,” he said matter-of-factly. “Longer-term, I’m going for the 2026 Olympics in Italy. Now it’s up to me improve the technical aspects of my skating to match my artistic strengths.”

Klein also believes the time is now for him to step up and take climate action — in fact, that has always been the case.

“I’ve been pro climate action as far back as I can remember,” the high school junior stated. “I wrote an essay, ‘Climate Change and polar bears’, back in fifth grade. Fast forward to 2020 and I became a real climate activist, volunteering for the Sunrise Movement, making phone calls for pro-climate US senate candidates in Georgia, Jon Ossoff and Rafael Warnock. They both won very close races, giving the Democrats control of the Senate, so that felt very good.”

With Klein’s busy practice and school schedules — he is working towards earning acceptance to universities where he would have access to skating rinks and coaches while studying politics and economics — it’s not easy to keep up the pace of his activism. But the scale and scope of the climate crisis pushes him to keep going.

“While it’s not easy to balance everything, I do feel like I’m making a difference,” noted Klein. “I’m still involved with Sunrise, helping out on the welcome/onboarding team, and doing phone banking for climate leader Jessica Cisneros in her important Texas runoff election in the 28th Congressional district. I’m interning with Green Wave. And I talk climate when I can with my competitors. The results are mixed — one is a Sunrise volunteer, some of the others are not really that interested, and a few coaches are…let’s just call them skeptical. But that doesn’t stop me — you know, it doesn’t hurt to ask!”

It was Klein’s willingness to push the envelope on climate that appealed to EcoAthletes founder and CEO Lew Blaustein.

“Joe has a unique ability to bring people along with him in a positive, ‘we can do this’ way,” Blaustein said. “That’s why he will be a great addition to the EcoAthletes Champions roster, both in terms of working with his fellow Champions and inspiring his fans.”

For Klein’s part, he is excited to make a difference as an EcoAthletes Champion.

“I’m really impressed with the team of climate-active athletes that EcoAthletes has built,” said Klein. “I look forward to building positive working relationships with my fellow Champions that moves us forward on the #ClimateComeback.”

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