Sawt Falasteen - US skater Zhou withdraws after Covid-19 positive

Zhou, a member of the US team who claimed silver on Sunday, confirmed in a post on Instagram that he would not be able to take part in Tuesday's events.

"I have tested positive for COVID-19 and unfortunately I will have to withdraw from the individual event starting tomorrow," an emotional Zhou said in his Instagram video message.

"It seems pretty unreal that of all the people it would happen to myself, and that's not just because I'm still processing this turn of events but also because I have been doing everything in my power to stay free of COVID since the start of the pandemic.

"I've taken all the precautions I can. I've isolated myself so much that the loneliness I felt in the last month or two has been crushing at times.

"The enormity of the situation, just the pain of it all is pretty insane."

Two-time Olympian Zhou was aiming to challenge for a medal in the individual, where rivals include US champion Nathan Chen and reigning Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu.

Zhou added that while he was happy to have won an Olympic medal in the team event, he was distraught at not being able to compete further.

"While it was always my dream to medal on an Olympic stage, which I did accomplish, the over-arching dream was just to skate," he said.

"I've already lost count of the number of times I've cried today. But I'm happy to say that at least one of those times was happy tears, and that was when I found out that I became an Olympic silver medalist."

W.AbuLaban--SF-PST