After Two Months Off the Ice, Vincent Zhou Makes Return to Competition at U.S. Championships

At the end of the 2018-19 season, Vincent Zhou's career was peaking.
 
He won his second career silver medal at the 2019 U.S. Championships, went on to win bronze at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, and followed that up with bronze at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships. He concluded the season at World Team Trophy, where his overall score totaled 299.01 points, so close to the elite 300-point mark.
 
Zhou vowed that 2020 would be his year to break 300 points. But then he had a change of plans.
 
The Palo Alto-native enrolled at Brown University in the fall, planning to continue training and competing as normal during the season. But after a third-place finish at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic in September, Zhou withdrew from his Grand Prix assignments.
 
"Training in Providence was very difficult, because at Brown's ice rink the ice time was all rented out to hockey teams, so I had to practice elsewhere, and commute a long way to do so," Zhou said. "Practice times were inconvenient, and my training was on and off because I had class too, all the time. And it just felt like I wasn't able to get the best out of either, and it was just too much. My skating was not really getting better, and not progressing as it should.
 
"It was the logical, smart decision to sit out the Grand Prix season."
 
When Zhou decided to sit out, he wasn't just stepping away from competition. He didn't watch any skating, nor did he follow results or keep up with it at all. Most significantly, though, he took more than two full months completely off from training.
 
"I don't know how to describe it," Zhou said. "It's like alternating between lifestyles, a rough time emotionally. And I'm pretty sure everyone thought I was still at least training through all of college, and I would be ready and eager to get back and get going and show off my progress at the U.S. Championships.
 
"But I feel like they might be wrong," he added with a laugh. "But I'm still the same Vincent. I'm still ambitious, and ready to go out there and put it out. But obviously, I won't be anywhere near as good as I could've been if I'd been able to train properly throughout the semester, which is a little bit unfortunate. But you know, you just roll with the punches that you get dealt."
 
The setback should only be temporary, however. Zhou's plan was to attend Brown for one semester before taking two and a half gap years to train for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. So the 19-year-old should be back to the Vincent Zhou of old in plenty of time to make a run at his second Olympic team.
 
Getting in one semester of school was about the only thing that went to plan for Zhou during the fall.
 
"I knew it was going to be difficult," Zhou said. "I knew that it was going to be a huge challenge. And in some ways, it was much harder than I even expected. But on the other hand, every difficult time I've ever gone through has just rewarded me with great experience and knowledge, and I think this time is no different."
 
In his first foray into college life, Zhou got some prerequisites out of the way and dabbled in some potential future interests, as he doesn't have to select a major until halfway through sophomore year. He missed out on joining clubs early in the semester while he was still trying to continue skating, and then chose to focus on school when that time freed up.
 
School may have stressed him out, but Zhou is excited about the future that awaits him in 2022.
 
"It was a really crazy experience," Zhou said. "I didn't exactly know what to expect, but it was everything I expected and more, and I got a lot out of it. I'm actually kind of looking forward to returning after the 2022 Olympics, because I know that so much awaits me there, and it's really exciting to be able to start pursuing something other than skating when all you've done for so many years is just skating, skating, skating. It's refreshing to step into a different world."
 
For now, the world Zhou is stepping into is his old one. He makes his competitive return at the 2020 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Jan. 20-26.
 
"I haven't competed in months, and I'm just going to take it day by day," Zhou said. "I'm sure that old competition habits will come rushing back like I never left. I'm not awfully worried about anything in particular, but I just want to be able to skate well enough that I don't embarrass myself, hopefully."
 
Zhou isn't sure where his jumps will be come the U.S. Championships and is considering not doing a quad, though he's feeling more confident in his skating and his spins following a recent move to Toronto to train with Lee Barkell.
 
His short program is set to "I Will Wait" by Mumford & Sons, while his free skate is set to music from the Cloud Atlas soundtrack, and Zhou hopes to be able to do them justice, particularly his free skate.
 
"There's lots of parts to it, and if only I could have kept working on it through the second half of last year. I can only imagine how good it would be now," Zhou said. "I just wish I could skate it better, because it's got so much potential and I want to bring that out."
 
It's a far cry from where he was last season. At 18, he was newly empowered and having more say in the direction of his skating, and it showed in his results as he neared the 300-point threshold.
 
But even with the setbacks, Zhou doesn't plan on being down for long.
 
"At first I said 2020 is probably going to be my season to break 300, but now that I have all these setbacks through the semester, I don't know how possible that is, but I'm still pushing forward, I'm still working hard," Zhou said. "And who knows? Maybe I'll get it next season. Maybe I'll save it for the next Olympics. Who knows!"

The 2020 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships will be live and on demand on the Figure Skating Pass on NBC Sports Gold. Tickets are available at ncskate2020.com.