Olympics: World junior champ Zhou set for cheers in Beijing

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World junior figure skating champion Vincent Zhou makes his senior Grand Prix debut in five weeks in Beijing, where he starts making his case for a Winter Olympic debut at Pyeongchang in South Korea.

The Chinese-American's participation in the Cup of China on November 3 will be just nine days after his 17th birthday. Zhou will compete again two weeks later at a stop in Grenoble, France.

Zhou already has a fan club waiting to applaud him on the Chinese mainland, with his mother, Fay Ge, helping stir excitement among her son's online followers.

"They are organizing a cheering section for me. My mom is involved in some fan groups for me," Zhou said Tuesday. "My mom told me that a lot of people from China will be cheering for me.

"And my grandparents will be there. There's going to be a lot of extra pressure for me to deal with."

Zhou is not shy about admitting he is nervous every time he takes the ice, but the young athlete says he's ready for the mental challenge.

"It takes a lot of mental strength to be able to manage those things," Zhou said.

"Despite my age, I think I'm well prepared. My team has given me great mental strength."

Zhou, runner-up to Chinese-American pal Nathan Chen in last year's US championships, won the world junior crown in March in Taiwan, the best free skate scores of his career lifting him from fifth after the short program.

And he could wind up back in Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics, although he says: "I can't imagine what that's going to be like."

"If I stay healthy and keep progressing, I hope I'll be one of the top skaters going into those Olympics," Zhou said.

"But I haven't thought too much about that. For now, I'm concentrating on 2018. I'm living my dream now."

AFP photo

Making a quick transition to the elite competition level is crucial to that dream.

"I know I have a ton of stuff to learn, a ton of experiences to have," Zhou said.

"China and France are going to be a great learning experience. I feel like I can win these things, but I know it's going to take a lot of hard work and I'm looking forward to these experiences."

The US Olympic trials are in January, but a panel selects qualifiers after the meet.

"All I can do is (to) skate my best and hope I can find my way onto the team," Zhou said.

Zhou landed his first quad salchow at age 14 and three others at 15.

"It has (taken a toll on my body) but at this level, it's important to mitigate those things," he said.

Zhou says landing a quad in the last third of his program is the toughest feat.

"Imagine trying to do a quad near the end of an 800-meter sprint," he said. "That's what it's like."

Source(s): AFP