Karen Forkel (born 24 September 1970 in Wolfen) is a German track and field athlete and an Olympic medal winner.

Her biggest success came in the 1992 Summer Olympics when she took the bronze medal with a throw of 66.86 meters.

[1] Her personal best throw with the new-type-javelin was 65.17 metres, achieved in July 1999 in Erfurt.

[2] This ranks her fifth among German javelin throwers, behind Christina Obergföll, Steffi Nerius, Tanja Damaske and Linda Stahl.

This ranks her fifth among German old-type-javelin throwers, behind Petra Felke (who held the world record), Antje Kempe, Silke Renk and Beate Koch.