U.S. figure skater Vincent Zhou said that he was feeling a “mixed bag” of emotions after he tested positive for COVID-19, making him ineligible to compete in the Beijing Olympic Games.
“There’s a mixed bag of emotions obviously, but I’m still processing everything and letting things flow and fortunately I’m pretty good at seeing different perspectives at once and grounding myself,” Zhou said during an interview with NBC’s “Today.”
“I was asymptomatic all up until the sudden positive test so it definitely did come as a shock,” he continued, adding that he was hoping for a quick recovery ahead of the world championships in March.
Zhou tested positive in a routine screening on Monday and was forced to withdraw from the Games just one day before he was to compete in the men’s short program.
Prior to his appearance on “Today,” the athlete had posted a video following the news in which he appeared visibly emotional.
“It seems pretty unreal that of all the people it would happen to, it’d be myself,” he said in the video.
The 21-year-old Brown University student also said that “this absolutely does not define me as an athlete, as a person” and added that “I am more than just another positive COVID test.”
Zhou was a member of the U.S. ice skating team that earned a silver medal on Sunday, but he was unable to attend the medal ceremony after testing positive for the virus.
“We’ll see,” he added on “Today” of the thought of competing in a future Olympics. “I’ve learned to take things one step at a time and pace myself.”