How Palo Alto ice skater fared at 2019 World Championships
Palo Alto's Vincent Zhou is in fourth place after the men's short program at the 2019 figure skating World Championships in Saitama, Japan.
Palo Alto’s Vincent Zhou continued his stellar year by finishing fourth in the men’s short program at the 2019 figure skating World Championships in Saitama, Japan.
Teammates Nathan Chen took first and Jason Brown second as the American men had one of their most dominating performances in years Thursday.
Zhou, 18, opened with a powerful quad lutz-triple toe loop and earned 94.17 points heading into the free skate at 1:30 a.m. Pacific on Saturday.
“That felt really special,” Zhou told reporters. “I’m really grateful to have such a great team behind me and my choreographer Lori Nichol for helping me to develop my artistry and to create such a special program. It felt magical skating it out there and I’m really grateful that I can end the season with a short program like that.”
Defending world champion Chen had a season-best 107.40 points while Brown had a season-best 96.81 points.
“I’m super happy with today,” said Chen, a Yale freshman. “I’ll always pick out some things that I did wrong but overall I’m happy.”
Zhou, who trains in Colorado Springs, Colorado, struggled during the Grand Prix season in the fall. But the teen regrouped in January to finish to second to Chen at the U.S. championships and last month won a bronze medal at the prestigious Four Continents competition.