Vincent Zhou

Congrats to Vincent on a top three finish in the SP! Hope he can hold up in the free and set a new personal best.

I've had the worst week/day (spent it at the police station reporting someone for breaking in and vandalizing my place!) and then I come home and see that Vincent Zhou did THAT? My boy. He's grown so much and the flip this time!! :luv17:

So proud of Vincent! His money jump combo was breathtaking - so was the flip. I seriously had chills watching this performance. Hoping for a silver for him <3

Zenchio63 said:

I’ve been checking Vincent’s WJC videos to get ready for the Worlds and watched the Gala Finale - World Junior Championships 2017.
https://youtu.be/-ypM2oDl8FU

Vincent at 4:33-4:57, announcer pronounced his last name in Mandarin. Fell several times throughout while attempting quads, poor thing.
Holding hands with Alina Zagitova at 6:05. Bet he never thought he was holding hands with the future Olympic Gold Medalist, something to boast about
What a difference (less than) a year makes. Vincent and Alina sure have grown up! He has really matured.

Vincent's last name

Okay, I just have to make a comment about the pronunciation of Zhou, for any new non-Chinese speaking fans who visit this thread. It really struck me when the Olympic Channel commentators kept mispronouncing it as "Jau", especially when the announcer got it right. Hopefully, the announcers at Worlds will also pronounce it correctly. Of course, it's understandable that not everyone is good with foreign names, like Cha Jun Hwan and all those Russian last names, but Zhou is pretty simple since it's just one syllable. Non-Mandarin speakers would have trouble pronouncing the consonant (zh), so the "j" sound is used in the English version. But the vowel sound is a long "o", not "au" nor "oo".

For those who are interested, you can hear it pronounced the right way throughout the 2017 Jr. Worlds Men FS Group 4 Full Version video, https://youtu.be/WJUGq7sPY_E, during Vincent's introductions.

It may not be that obvious by ear, so you can see the interviewer pronounce Zhou in this interview segment at the end (starting at 1:09:49) around 1:10:19 and 1:10:42.

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NOT that I would EVER claim to be good at predictions from juniors, but I actually watched this back then and thought Alina and Vincent were future champions (I have thought this about others too mind you and been dead wrong as we've basically never heard from some again) and I also fell in love with both of them during the exhibition, more than during the competition. Fast forward a year and they've both come so far, I might cry.

lyrichord said:

Congrats to Vincent on a top three finish in the SP! Hope he can hold up in the free and set a new personal best.

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OMG, I cannot wait to get home and watch his skate! So proud of you, my boy! :yes2:
I knew he had a chance since poor Shoma had foot problems, and Dima hasn't been very consistent. Kolyada hasn't been that great with his Elvis program, so please, dear skating Gods, a Gold and Silver for our 2 American quad wonder boys!!!!!

Cannot contain my excitement! Back to work now....

Thanks everybody for sharing the good news! :luv17:

It was a truly exciting and memorable skate <3 Glad I woke up early to catch it!

Zenchio63 said:

OMG, I cannot wait to get home and watch his skate! So proud of you, my boy! :yes2:
I knew he had a chance since poor Shoma had foot problems, and Dima hasn't been very consistent. Kolyada hasn't been that great with his Elvis program, so please, dear skating Gods, a Gold and Silver for our 2 American quad wonder boys!!!!!

Cannot contain my excitement! Back to work now....

Thanks everybody for sharing the good news! :luv17:

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I can't wait until you see it, it was incredible, his best ever in my opinion, please share your reactions here when you've seen it <3

Yes, his best ever - I agree. And he skated with such confidence, really awesome to watch.

Fool said:

I can't wait until you see it, it was incredible, his best ever in my opinion, please share your reactions here when you've seen it <3

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Thank you, I am sure I will be sobbing with joy (already tearing up just thinking about it)
Cannot wait to see his kiss n cry reaction. There better be a :yes2:

I had faith that the Olympics placement would give him all the confidence he needs to perform his best and he proved me right! So proud and happy for him!!!

This is going to be a really long afternoon......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNYlhctDUc4

This video seems to have a better angle to see his jumps than I recall watching on tv earlier - they are INSANE!

Zenchio63 said:

Thank you, I am sure I will be sobbing with joy (already tearing up just thinking about it)
Cannot wait to see his kiss n cry reaction. There better be a :yes2:

I had faith that the Olympics placement would give him all the confidence he needs to perform his best and he proved me right! So proud and happy for him!!!

This is going to be a really long afternoon......

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It will be worth it!:hap85:

oatmella said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNYlhctDUc4

This video seems to have a better angle to see his jumps than I recall watching on tv earlier - they are INSANE!

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Yeah, the camera work has been weird this WC, so many far away shots??

I happened to tune in using my cellphone watching on a Russian feed in my car. What a treat to see Vincent's SP!! Must watch it again on the computer screen. He should be above Kolyada, IMHO. Actually I think both Jin and Zhou should be above Kolyada. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Vincent can get a medal? As usual, I see little media coverage of Vincent. He's shining and making himself known though.

livetoskate said:

I happened to tune in using my cellphone watching on a Russian feed in my car. What a treat to see Vincent's SP!! Must watch it again on the computer screen. He should be above Kolyada, IMHO. Actually I think both Jin and Zhou should be above Kolyada. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Vincent can get a medal? As usual, I see little media coverage of Vincent. He's shining and making himself known though.

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His PCS is 6.22 points behind Kolyada and 3.82 less than Boyang. Hopefully, his TES from the FS will more than make up for the difference.

Zenchio63 said:

His PCS is 6.22 points behind Kolyada and 3.82 less than Boyang. Hopefully, his TES from the FS will more than make up for the difference.

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I do not pay that much attention to Kolyada so I don’t know - but can his PCS make up the tech difference between him and Vincent? Vincent is seriously on fire and I see a huge tech score for him in the FS.

Fool said:

I can't wait until you see it, it was incredible, his best ever in my opinion, please share your reactions here when you've seen it <3

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Hello, I just finished watching 3 videos of Vincent's SP, 1 with Russian commentary (with Tatiana?), another with British Eurosport (very low sound but very good comments) https://youtu.be/p_NWgYW4lvQ, and lastly, the one uploaded by the wonderful Kutien, on Russian site, but no commentary.
It was certainly worth the wait! But my joy has been hampered by all the negative attacks on poor Vincent from Boyang fans and virtue-signaling trolls on the net. I am seriously so upset that everybody is using Vincent as a punching bag for their own insecurities and vindictiveness. It's not Vincent fault that Jin got UR calls and it's so sad to see all the venom spewed at both Vincent and Nathan, just because they got better scores and are American. :disapp: I should have avoided reading all the posts and hateful video comments :no:

But yes, despite the small stumble, Vincent did a wonderful job and had so much more spirit in this performance. Definitely his best and what a way to end the season! So proud of him :dance: for nailing the quad flip!
He got the highest TES and higher GOE scores on the jumps than Nathan :thumbsup: This will give him the confidence going into the FS to nail it!

So he did do a fist pump after the skate and a "woo" in the Kiss & Cry after the scores were announced :luv17:
Made a screenshot to commemorate the moment:
Vincent's SP Kiss & Cry Reactions
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c1/97/2a/c1972a30bf46f6b06f0aab5c0d50d7da.jpg
Did Tammy pinch Vincent's ear at the end?

BTW, Fool, (love your self-deprecating humor, shared by Vincent), I am really sorry about the break in at your place. Hope they didn't steal or damage anything important. Thank you for sharing your support of Vincent here. Sometimes, I feel like I am the only one rooting for him, when most people just dismiss or criticize him and fawn over other male skaters.

I don't have anything against Boyang, but his fans have really pissed me off, trampling all over Vincent. Here is a little something for good humor
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c8/91/a7/c891a7617c7cf185ea1c698d897b5ce4.jpg

Vincent is a threat now. Haters come with the territory.

oatmella said:

I do not pay that much attention to Kolyada so I don’t know - but can his PCS make up the tech difference between him and Vincent? Vincent is seriously on fire and I see a huge tech score for him in the FS.

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Someone posted Kolyada's season averages and base values in another thread but I don't have time to look for it. Will post here when I find the info. Haven't had a chance to watch Pineapple's performance but it seems there are a lot of fans who think he was way overscored on his PCS. At OG, Vincent had 192.16 (112.24 TES/79.92 PCS) for his FS, Kolyada had 177.56 (91.62 TES/87.94 PCS with -2 deductions). So Kolyada had a 8.02 point lead in PCS. He currently has a 3.3 lead, and even if he skated his lights out channeling his inner Elvis, it is very doubtful that he would get a PCS higher than 5 points above Vincent.

Made some GIFS of Vincent's jumps for everybody's enjoyment. They didn't come out too well. There was too much Russian gibberish in the background so I turned off the sound:

4Ltz + 3T: https://j.gifs.com/XoAPwm.gif

4F: https://j.gifs.com/6R7Mv9.gif

Will try to make some better ones using the Eurosport clip later on.

Copying Vincent's part here from https://goldenskate.com/2018/03/mens-short/

Zhou was clean in his routine to “Chasing Cars,” landing a quad Lutz-triple toe, quad flip, and triple Axel. The 2018 U.S. bronze medalist earned a level 4 on all spins and had the highest technical score of the event, finishing in third place with 96.78 (57.78/39.00) points.
“I came here to skate a clean program,” said the skater from California. “I did just that, and being in the top three is the icing on the cake.”
“This season, the primary goal was to make the Olympic team, and at Nationals, I was kind of on the edge of my seat waiting to find out whether I made the team or not. When I finally made the team, it was one of the best moments of my life. I skated well, the free skate was especially memorable, and I am always going to remember my first Olympics as an amazing experience like no other.”
Zhou plans on keeping his free skate consistent with the Olympics. “I’ve been training some good programs so I look forward to showing you that in the free.”
“Age doesn’t really matter to me,” said the 17-year-old regarding being the youngest. “I’m still going to skate two programs as well as I can regardless of how old I am.”

Tweeter and Instagram pics

Here are some pics:

Vincent’s skate
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgpV0O9FaTH/?hl=en&tagged=vincentzhou
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgpqemChVmE/?hl=en&tagged=vincentzhou
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgo0KkVF03P/?hl=en&tagged=vincentzhou
From costume designer Lisa McKinnon. Thank you, Lisa, for not putting Vincent in a jumpsuit
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgo_U3VnQS5/?hl=en&tagged=vincentzhou

Press conference
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgolUOih5SB/?hl=en&tagged=vincentzhou
I’ll have to watch that this weekend.

With Nathan and Max
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgoWKkRFdhj/?hl=en&taken-by=usfigureskating

With Tom Z and Tammy
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgoOcbvHvjZ/?hl=en&tagged=vincentzhou

With Pineapple King and Nathan
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgpF32ogYc9/?hl=en&tagged=vincentzhou
https://twitter.com/Samemm81/status/976872522623971330

Shaking hands? with Nathan while Kolyada looks on
https://twitter.com/chirauraura/status/976837560075997184
Nathan: Good job, Vincent, sorry I ignored you back in the OG green room
Vincent whispers: Let's make it a Team USA win and beat those commies
2nd pic: Kolyada is amazed at Vincent's grip
Third pic: Kolyada weeps knowing he won't be able to beat Nathan and Vincent in the FS

Top 3 with medals
https://twitter.com/toshikon/status/976866242115129345

I am sure there are more but I need to go to bed!

Last but not least, newspaper article from Mercury News

Palo Alto Olympian has Record Skate at World Championships
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03/22/palo-alto-teen-has-record-skate-at-world-championships/

Zenchio63 said:

His PCS is 6.22 points behind Kolyada and 3.82 less than Boyang. Hopefully, his TES from the FS will more than make up for the difference.

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Here is the judges score sheet for the men's SP. Vincent is on page 2.
http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/wc2018/wc2018_Men_SP_Scores.pdf