Nation
Vincent Zhou is finally out of quarantine after missing his event. 'A stroke of bad luck'
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- Zhou tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 7 and spent a week in quarantine
- He missed the individual men’s competition and it was too difficult to watch
- One bright spot was hearing from friends and celebs, including Josh Groban
BEIJING – Vincent Zhou couldn’t watch as the men’s Olympic figure skating competition went on without him last week.
In isolation after a positive COVID-19 test in a hotel room somewhere in Beijing – he still isn’t exactly sure where he was, other than it was about a 30-minute drive from the Olympic Village – he kept up with the results, but that was all he could do.
“It was too emotionally difficult to actually watch it,” Zhou said on a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday after his week-long isolation ended. “Of course I wanted to see how my teammates did. I was extremely happy when both Nathan (Chen, the Olympic gold medalist) and Jason (Brown, who finished sixth) knocked it out of the park.
“It also was very difficult for me seeing the results because I knew I could have medaled. I’ve been training consistently where I could deliver well enough to pull a score like that and win the bronze medal, so definitely a very difficult day for me. But I worked through it mentally and I’m happy to be out … so I don’t really want to dwell on the negatives too much.”
Zhou, 21, helped Team USA to the silver medal (perhaps to turn into gold later pending the results of the Russian doping scandal) by skating the men’s team long program, but was robbed of the opportunity to compete in his main event when he shockingly found out he had tested positive for COVID Feb. 7.
He had been so cautious that even his teammates remarked about how they often saw him by himself.
“I think it’s true that I’ve been one of the most careful people,” he said. “Everything short of moving to Antarctica. I’ve taken lots of precautions. I tried to eat away from people. I chew with my mask on. I think it’s just really unfortunate. A stroke of bad luck. I honestly don’t know how I got it but I controlled the things that I could and sometimes bad things happen.”
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The day he won an Olympic silver medal was the day he found out he tested positive. “Definitely not easy at all. … I was not showing any symptoms certainly when I received the news of the positive test which was why it was very shocking for me. It was just kind of out of the blue.”
Time stood still. He said he thinks he was in quarantine for a week. He barely felt sick. “The worst thing was probably a sore throat and some congestion.”
He caught up with friends who reached out to him. Famous people too. He offered one name: Josh Groban. “One of the really cool ones, he’s the singer of my short program music. That was a really wholesome moment and it made me feel supported and I appreciated to know that he had seen my short program.”
Zhou worked out with his trainer through video calls, did walk-throughs of his programs and made sure to eat and sleep at the right times.
“I think I used Netflix for the first time in my whole life,” he said. What did he watch? Appropriately enough, he mentioned the documentary “Icarus,” which is about Russian doping.
“I just wanted to understand the history a little better and hopefully avoid saying anything stupid that I didn’t know about.”
He actually had something quite intelligent to offer about the Kamila Valieva doping controversy. “It definitely is a pretty shocking and scary situation we have going on here where I would understand completely if the (women skaters) didn’t exactly trust the integrity of the competition and the fairness of everything.”
Even though his event has been over for a week, he will be back on Olympic ice once more: he was invited to perform in Sunday’s skating exhibition.
“It definitely will carry more significance for me because it’s that touch on Olympic ice which I unfortunately wasn’t able to have so that does make it more meaningful.”
Next month, he will compete at the world championships in France. “In a way you could say it might be like my personal Olympics,” he said, cautioning quickly, “Don’t use that quote as a headline. It’s just kind of a you-know-how-it-is type quote.”
He will join the Stars on Ice skating tour after worlds and plans to return to his studies at Brown University in the fall. “I will not stop skating. I won’t quit skating but we’ll see how it goes.”
For now though, he’s back to being an Olympian, going to practices, living in the village, catching up on what he missed. “I am getting back into living life again.”
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Uber, Lyft made safety improvements, but many of those protect riders more than drivers. But drivers are also in danger.
Naomi Ogutu
Opinion contributor
I’ve been a rideshare driver in New York City for six years, and I take pride in my job and helping my passengers get where they need to go safely. But my safety is not a guarantee. I’m a mom of three. I need to know that I’ll make it home to my kids at the end of each night.
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Business
'A bad déjà vu': Under the crush of Western sanctions, Russians fear a return to dark economic days
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The lone No. 1 seed still alive heading into the Elite Eight, Kansas needs only a win against No. 10 Miami (Fla.) to book a spot in the Final Four.
No. 2 Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski can make one last Final Four and chase one final national championship by beating No. 4 Arkansas.
No. 2 Villanova can reach the national semifinals for the third time in six tournaments by winning what should be a defense-dominated brawl against No. 5 Houston.
And after beating No. 4 UCLA in the Sweet 16, No. 8 North Carolina is one win from reaching the Final Four under first-year coach Hubert Davis.
If everything goes according to plan, this year’s Final Four will consist of some of the biggest names in the history of the sport.
But the last week has taught us that this year’s NCAA Tournament will inevitably deviate from the script.
So look for the Jayhawks to be shocked in the Elite Eight, as the Bill Self collection of tournament collapses adds another painful chapter. Based on how things have gone through three rounds, Arkansas is a lock to send Krzyzewski into retirement one game shy of the Final Four. Villanova may be a two-time champion under Jay Wright, but the Wildcats will be smothered by Houston.
And, of course, the Tar Heels will lose to the team that embodies the wackiness and uncertainty of this entire tournament.
Saint Peter’s stands at the precipice of another outlandish achievement: being the first No. 15 seed — the first seed lower than No. 11, in fact — to reach the Final Four.
The Peacocks will be the underdog once again come Sunday, when they’ll match against a deeper and more talented opponent with decades of history to more than overshadow the Peacocks’ three-game run.
But beating another college basketball giant will simply take what we already know the Peacocks can bring to the table: Saint Peter’s reached the Elite Eight with energy, aggressiveness and composure, following the model set by unflappable coach Shaheen Holloway, and that same combination will give the Peacocks a chance at etching themselves into an even more permanent place in NCAA Tournament history.
“We’re happy but don’t mistake, we’re not satisfied, we’re not satisfied at all,” said guard Doug Edert. “The job is not finished. We feel like we belong and the more games we win the more confidence we build.”
That sounds like bad news for the Tar Heels, who might’ve righted the ship after a poor start to ACC play but could be the latest blueblood to the Peacocks’ formula.
At some point, the magic has to run out — for Saint Peter’s, which somehow keeps stacking upsets of higher-ranked opponents, and for the tournament at large, which has been wackier than ever but could suddenly snap back to the status quo.
But this March has not gone according to plan. Several big names lost early. Others failed to get out of the second round. The story of this year’s tournament has been upsets, shockers, letdowns, unpredictable officiating and unpredictability, period — why should the next two days be any different?
Follow colleges reporter Paul Myerberg on Twitter @PaulMyerberg
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