Zhu Yi (figure skater)
Zhu Yi | |
---|---|
Native name | 朱易 |
Other names | Beverly Zhu |
Born | Westwood, California, United States | September 19, 2002
Hometown | Encino, California |
Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) |
Figure skating career | |
Country | China |
Coach | Chen Lu[1], Ivan Dinev[2], Angela Nikodinov[2], Derrick Delmore, Brian Orser |
Zhu Yi or Beverly Zhu (Chinese: 朱易; born September 19, 2002) is a Chinese-American figure skater who represents China in ladies' singles. On the junior level, she is the 2019 Sofia Trophy bronze medalist.[3] She won the 2018 U.S. national novice title before switching to representing China internationally.[1]
Personal life
Zhu was born in Los Angeles, California.[1] Her parents, Cui Jie and Zhu Songchun, are both originally from China. Her father is a computer expert and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.[1] Although it is unclear whether Zhu has relinquished her U.S. citizenship, Chinese experts have stated that members of the Chinese national team's training programs must have Chinese citizenship.[4] She is part of a growing number of foreign athletes of Chinese origin attempting to become naturalized Chinese citizens.[5]
Zhu can play the piano.[6]
Career
Early career
Zhu started skating at 7 years old after her mother's friend's daughter started lessons.[6] She narrowly missed qualifying to the U.S. National Championships two years in a row from 2016 to 2017 after finishing fifth at Sectionals both seasons.[7]
2017–2018 season: U.S. novice title
Zhu placed second at the 2018–19 Pacific Coast Sectionals to qualify to the U.S. National Championships for the first time. She won the novice title in her Nationals debut at the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships with a record score of 167.69 points.[8]
2018–2019 season: Switching to China
Zhu switched to representing her parents' native country of China in September 2018 as part of the country's "Morning Road" initiative to recruit top athletes leading up to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.[1] She trained with five Chinese ice dancers in a group led by Chen Lu and five foreign coaches up through December.[1] Zhu placed fourth at the 2019 Chinese Figure Skating Championships in Harbin at the end of December.[9] In February, she competed at the Sofia Trophy, where she won the bronze medal.[3]
2019–2020 season
Zhu was assigned to her first Grand Prix event, 2019 Cup of China, where she finished eleventh.[10] She then placed thirteenth at 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.
Programs
Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
---|---|---|---|
2019–2020 [11] |
|
|
|
2018–2019 [12] |
|
Competitive highlights
GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series
For China
International[13] | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Event | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | |||||
Four Continents | 13th | ||||||
GP Cup of China | 11th | ||||||
CS Golden Spin | 14th | ||||||
Toruń Cup | 8th | ||||||
International: Junior[13] | |||||||
Junior Worlds | 22nd | ||||||
Sofia Trophy | 3rd | ||||||
National[13] | |||||||
Chinese Champ. | 4th | ||||||
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew |
For the United States
National[14] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Event | 14–15 | 15–16 | 16–17 | 17–18 |
U.S. Champ. | 1st N | |||
Pacific Coast | 5th I | 5th N | 2nd N | |
Southwest Pacific | 11th V | 4th I | 2nd N | |
Levels: V = Juvenile; I = Intermediate; N = Novice |
Detailed results
Senior level
2019–20 season | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
December 4–7, 2019 | 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb | 13 49.23 |
13 93.87 |
13 143.10 |
November 8–10, 2019 | 2019 Cup of China | 9 53.19 |
11 86.44 |
11 139.63 |
Junior level
2018–19 season | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total |
February 5–10, 2019 | 2019 Sofia Trophy | Junior | 3 47.59 |
3 88.05 |
3 135.64 |
December 29–30, 2018 | 2019 Chinese Championships | Senior | 4 54.36 |
5 91.71 |
4 146.07 |
References
- ^ a b c d e f Liu, Caiyu (September 25, 2018). "US-born ice skater joins China training program". Global Times.
- ^ a b Viya (January 4, 2018). "Bulgarian coach with two winners at 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships". Beauty in Sport.
- ^ a b "Sofia Trophy 2019: Junior Ladies Result". Bulgarian Skating Federation. February 9, 2019.
- ^ Liu, Xin; Shan, Jie (September 28, 2018). "Efforts to woo talented overseas athletes of Chinese origin back to homeland impeded by red tape". Global Times.
- ^ Zuo, Mandy (July 9, 2019). "Can China win the World Cup with a handful of naturalized players?". Inkstone News.
US-born Beverly Zhu, who won the 2018 US Figure Skating Championships, triggered a heated discussion in China after she joined the Chinese team last year, which means she can compete for the host nation at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
- ^ a b 《风云会》朱易专访:代表中国参赛令人兴奋 很激动能有希望参加奥运会 [Fengyunhui Zhu Yi Interview: "Competing on behalf of China is very exciting. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to try for the Olympic Games"] (in Chinese). CCTV-5. March 21, 2019.
- ^ Zhu, Beverly (February 1, 2018). "dreams don't work unless you do ✨" (Instagram).
- ^ Jin, Vivian (January 22, 2018). "Bay Area skaters shine at annual U.S. Figure Skating Championships". Harker Aquila.
- ^ "2018/2019 Chinese National Figure Skating Championships Results" (PDF). Chinese Skating Association. December 31, 2018.
- ^ Xinhua (June 21, 2019). "Sui Wenjing/Han Cong, Jin Boyang lead China Cup figure skating nominations". China Daily.
- ^ "Yi ZHU". International Skating Union.
- ^ "Yi ZHU". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 19, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Yi ZHU: Competition Results". International Skating Union.
- ^ "Beverly Zhu". Stats on Ice. Retrieved July 13, 2019.