Vincent Zhou

Personal life

Vincent Zhou was born in San Jose, California. Both of his parents are originally from China. His older sister, Vivian, is a violinist. His mother, Fay Ge, is a computer scientist and worked in Silicon Valley.

When Zhou was 2½, his family moved to Palo Alto, California where they continue to reside. He trained in Riverside, California, which was about 6½ hours drive away. Zhou's mother gave up her tech job in December 2009 to focus on his training and education. Zhou and his mother traveled to Riverside on Sundays and traveled back home on Fridays, while Zhou's father and sister remained in Palo Alto.

After attending Hoover Elementary, Zhou switched to Capistrano Connections Academy (CapoCA) to accommodate his training. His mother was his "Learning Coach". He was allowed to skip a couple of grade levels. For the 2013–14 school year, he took classes at the 9th grade level or higher, including pre-calculus and programming (agewise, he should have been in 7th grade). Zhou is a straight-A student and received the Presidential Award for Educational Excellence from President Obama.

Zhou moved with his mother to Colorado Springs, Colorado in the spring of 2015 and returned to California a year later. He has continued to spend time in Colorado Springs. He has a Siamese tabby cat named Snookie. He volunteers regularly.

Skating career

Zhou started skating when he was 5½ years old. As a young child, he had lessons with Julie Lowndes and Charlie Tickner. He was coached by Diana Miro at the Juvenile level and represented the Peninsula Skating Club until the 2011–12 season. When he was nine, Zhou started to be coached by Tammy Gambill and became a member of the All Year Figure Skating Club in Riverside, California. On weekdays, he trained three hours on-ice and one hour off-ice. Zhou admires Patrick Chan, Brian Boitano, Michael Weiss, Yuzuru Hanyu, and Richard Dornbush.

He won three national titles at different levels in three consecutive years:

Zhou intended to skate at the senior level in the 2013-14 season, but missed the season due to an injury. He was also forced to sit out the entire 2014-15 season because of a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee and a discoid meniscus. Zhou underwent surgery at the UCSF Orthepedic Institute in San Francisco to get his injuries treated.

In the spring of 2015, Zhou began training at the Broadmoor Skating Club in Colorado Springs, Colorado with Tom Zakrajsek and Becky Calvin as his new coaches. In May 2015, he returned to competition, at the Santa Fe Skatefest.

2015–2016 season

Making his ISU Junior Grand Prix debut, Zhou won two silver medals at the 2015 JGP events in Bratislava, Slovakia and Linz, Austria. These results qualified him for the 2015–16 JGP Final in Barcelona, where he finished fourth.

In January 2016, Zhou placed 8th on the senior level at the U.S. Championships and was named in the U.S. team to the World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. At the March event, he placed fourth in both segments and fifth overall.

2016–2017 season

Zhou changed coaches ahead of the 2016–17 season, returning to Tammy Gambill. He has continued to train in Colorado Springs with one of his primary coaches, Drew Meekins, and Tom Zakrajsek. Starting his season on the Junior Grand Prix series, he won silver in Yokohama, Japan, having ranked first in the short and second in the free behind South Korea's Cha Jun-hwan, and then bronze in Tallinn, Estonia. In December, he made his senior international debut at the 2016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb but withdrew after the short program.

Competing as a senior, Zhou won the silver medal at the U.S. Championships in January 2017. The following month, he stood on his first senior international podium, taking gold at the Bavarian Open. In March, he won the gold medal at the 2017 World Junior Championships. After placing 5th in the short program, he moved up to win the title with a personal best free skate.

2017–2018 season

Zhou will make his senior Grand Prix debut, having received assignments to the 2017 Cup of China and 2017 Internationaux de France.

Records and achievements

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Detailed results

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. Pewter medals for fourth-place finishes awarded only at U.S. national and regional events. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.