Beijing time in the early morning of February 8 news, the high-profile Beijing Winter Olympics figure skating men's singles competition will begin at 9:15 a.m. on the 8th, the competition for short programs, Chen Wei, Yusheng Jiexian, Jin Boyang and other star players will appear. However, about 10 hours before the start of the tournament, there was bad news - 21-year-old Chinese American Zhou Zhifang will withdraw from the men's singles competition because he tested positive for the second new crown.
Born on October 25, 2000, Zhou Zhifang began practicing figure skating at the age of 5 and has dominated the American figure skating junior group since 2011. He competed in the Winter Olympics for the first time in 2018, finishing sixth in the men's singles. In 2019 he finished third at the Figure Skating World Championships. He is also a three-time Silver Medalist at the National Championships.
Zhou Zhifang's parents are both beijingers, both graduated from the department of computer science at Tsinghua University, and he himself is a student at Brown University, an ivy league school. For the Beijing Winter Olympics, Zhou Zhifang has always said that he is looking forward to it, very much hopes to participate in his hometown, and he also has a special love for Chinese food in the Winter Olympic Village.
In the figure skating team competition of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Zhou Zhifang played in the men's singles free skating competition on February 6, and the song selected was "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" with Chinese characteristics, scoring 171.44 points. However, the next day came the news that Zhou Zhifang tested positive for the new crown. In the end, the American team won the silver medal in the team competition, and Zhou Zhifang did not receive the award with his teammates because he was in isolation.
In order to lift the quarantine, he needed to have two negative COVID-19 test results. Unfortunately, his most recent COVID-19 test is still positive.
Zhou Zhifang recorded a video himself, personally admitting that he could not participate in the men's singles competition, and choked up several times in the middle. He said that his dream is to stand on the stage of the Winter Olympics, and all these years of hard work are for this dream. He added: "It's not the end, I'll be back soon, I still have the dream of a championship and I'll be stronger. ”
The American Figure Skating Association also said in a statement: "Winter Olympic silver medalist Zhou Zhifang will not be able to participate in the men's singles event of the Beijing Winter Olympics due to a positive covid-19 test." ”