Vincent Zhou's Olympic journey is over after the American figure skater tested positive for COVID-19.
The 21-year-old Californian competed in the men's free skate over the weekend, placing third while dancing to music from the 2000 Ang Lee film, âCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonâ in China, his parentsâ home country.
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He shared a video message on Instagram following the positive test:
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"I do recognize that this absolutely does not define me as an athlete, as a person," Zhou said. "I am more than just another positive COVID test."
There was initial hope that Zhou returned a false positive, but the result was later confirmed. He will now miss the individual competition. Due to the timing of the announcement, Team USA will not be able to replace Zhou's spot. Nathan Chen and Jason Brown will represent the U.S. in the event.
Zhou made his Olympic debut in 2018, where he was the first skater to land a quadruple Lutz jump at the Games. He placed sixth after the free program, just behind Chen.
The U.S. figure skating team will return to the ice without Zhou on Monday night for the men's short program at 8 p.m. ET.
