Vincent Zhou forced to miss Closing Ceremony due to COVID protocols
Vincent Zhou's Beijing Olympics has been almost nothing but heartbreak, right up until the very end.
The American figure skater, who was forced to miss the men's singles event after testing positive for COVID-19, also had to miss the Closing Ceremony due to COVID protocols. In an Instagram post, Zhou revealed that he'd been classified as a close contact and told just before he was to board the bus to the ceremony.
U.S. figure skater Vincent Zhou leaves the Olympics without yet receiving his earned team event medal, unable to compete individually and now kept out of the Closing Ceremony due to COVID protocols. pic.twitter.com/qGp9mshPD2
— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) February 20, 2022
"I won't be marching in the Closing Ceremony tonight. Before boarding the bus to the stadium, they flagged me as a COVID 'close contact' risk and would not allow me to proceed further.
"I have tested negative 14 times in a row. I have antibodies and am not contagious whatsoever. I am 100 percent healthy and normal. I am double masked and would be walking outdoors with the same people I am about to travel with in a couple hours. Out of everyone marching, I would be the least at risk of transmitting to others.
"I was required to take my mask off when taking the ice for the gala earlier today with 40 other people who were also maskless, indoors. But it seems that being double masked outdoors is riskier.
"It has been the honor of my life to represent Team USA at the 2022 Beijing Olympics alongside my incredible teammates. I am endlessly grateful for the opportunities that came my way during these games.
"I wish nothing but the best to everyone else marching tonight, especially my teammates. It makes me so happy and proud to know they are out there embodying everything Team USA represents and having the time of their lives."
Zhou, who performed at the figure skating gala, is clearly frustrated by his situation. Not only did he have to miss his individual event, he now also had to miss the final event of the Olympics, where he'd be able to celebrate with his friends and fellow athletes and feel a sense of community. And he's not totally clear why he's been tagged as a close contact when he was unmasked at the gala for only a short time and double masked indoors the rest of the event.
But Zhou, who has accepted every setback with grace, ended his post without bitterness and said he's "happy and proud" that his teammates are out there representing him at the ceremony.
Zhou's heartbreaking Olympics
This is an unfortunate way for Zhou's Olympics to end. Nearly two weeks ago, after performing a free skate to help Team USA win silver in the figure skating team event, the 21-year-old Zhou tested positive for COVID-19. In an emotional Instagram video, he announced that he had no choice but to withdraw from the men's singles competition and enter isolation.
After Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva's failed doping test came to light, Zhou was denied a chance to accept his team competition medal. Team Russia won gold in that event, and due to Valieva's positive test, there would be no medal ceremony since her case wouldn't receive a final ruling until after the Olympics ended.
Zhou was released from isolation on Wednesday, and told the media that he had no idea how he contracted the virus.
“I’ve been one of the most careful people,” he said. “I was taking lots of precautions. I tried to eat away from people chew with my mask on. …I think it’s just really unfortunate, a stroke of bad luck. I don’t know how I got it. I controlled the things I could, and sometimes bad things happen.”
Zhou also said that he believed he could have won bronze in the men's singles competition.
