Under normal circumstances, Vincent Zhou would be fully focused on training hard for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2022 on March 21-27, in Montpellier, France.
He is, of course, still training for the World Championships, but these are not normal circumstances, and Zhou's primary focus is on taking care of himself.
His experience at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 – testing positive for COVID-19 and having to withdraw from the men's event – was not ideal, to say the least. And, while Zhou is hesitant to call what he dealt with trauma, he admits that he's dealt with mental and emotional struggles both at the Games and since returning home.
"There were a lot of difficult moments," Zhou said. "Some of that has hit me even harder after returning from the Olympics than while I was there. I'm working through that, taking it one day at a time. I know Worlds is coming up very, very quickly, but I can't rush myself right now, because trying to suppress that level of emotion and is just going to result in the pressure of Worlds causing things to feel 20 times worse."
Zhou has done his best to return to normal training. He's working out and talking to people in his support system, giving particular credit to his sports psychologists, Sean McCann and Caroline Silby, for their help.
He does, however, take a step back when he feels he needs to. One day in particular, he had a nightmare that he says left him feeling very wrong.
"I could not bring myself to touch my skates that morning, to go and practice, and spent the whole first part of the day just feeling worse than I ever did at the Olympics," Zhou said. "And that's saying a lot, because when stuff happened at the Olympics, I already felt bad enough. But I made myself go out for a jog/hike in the afternoon, because doing physical activity and getting those endorphins in your brain is one of the best ways to deal with everything when you're feeling like that. So even though I was not feeling good, I made sure that I was taking care of myself and trying to stay somewhat in shape and keeping in mind what's best for my health and for my wellbeing."
That's not to say Zhou's Olympic experience was
entirely negative. He was part of the silver medal-winning U.S. squad in the Team Event, getting to skate his free skate to music from
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in Beijing, where his family is from.
"That's something that I will always be grateful for, and to be able to call myself an Olympic medalist still feels pretty unreal," Zhou said. "I'm just so, so grateful that I had an Olympic experience, period, and that I was able to skate on Olympic ice and train lots of great programs on Olympic ice. I'm really grateful for that."
He was also invited to skate in the gala following the end of competition and his release from his seven-day isolation period, opening the event by skating to the aptly named Harry Styles song "Sign of the Times."
"Being able to skate in the gala and just come out and do a program, any program, for an audience in that arena, is something to treasure," he said. "And it just felt good to smile and skate under the lights and have the opportunity to experience that after being in isolation.
"Being able to just share the ice with all the champions and incredible skaters from around the world was a great way to end it off. So I'm really thankful that I was able to be in Beijing and have all the experiences I did there. Do I wish I could go back and change how it happened? Yes. That's not something I'll usually say. Usually I'll say, if I had to go back and change things, or if I had the option to, I wouldn't. But that's not a helpful thought for me. I'm just trying to stay grounded and keep my head in the game now."
It hasn't been easy for Zhou, but he's been keeping up as normal a training schedule as possible. He's been working out at the gym at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, and running full programs every day and trying to improve his jump technique.
"I'm doing what I can," Zhou said. "It's very hard for me right now, and I don't want people to pity me or whatever. I'm not trying to gain anyone's sympathy by saying that. I'm just saying that I'm going through a very difficult time right now and doing my best that I can to prepare for Worlds."
Moving forward, Zhou is going to be touring with Stars on Ice in the U.S. and Japan this summer – "Buy your tickets now, guys!" he says with a laugh – before returning to Brown University in the fall. He says he's not sure if he'll keep competing after that, and has spoken to some people about various options in front of him, but wants to continue skating and doing what he loves.
That, however, is too far in the future for Zhou to be thinking about right now.
Right now, it's taking things day by day, focusing on the task at hand, and trying to end this season on a good note in France.
"I just want to skate two good programs that I can be proud of, and finish the season strong," Zhou said. "A medal would be great. That was the goal all season, is to medal at the Olympics and possibly at Worlds, too. But Olympics is done. It was what it was, and now I have this opportunity at Worlds lying ahead of me. And I know that I'm in a difficult situation, but I'm trying to just stay in my own bubble and focus on what I can control."
