Zhu Yi (figure skater)

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]

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Zhu.

Zhu Yi
Zhu at the 2019 Cup of China
Personal information
Native name	朱易
Alternative names	Beverly Zhu
Country represented	China
Former country(ies) represented	United States
Born	(2002-09-19) September 19, 2002 Westwood, California, United States
Home town	Encino, California
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Coach	Chen Lu[1], Ivan Dinev[2], Angela Nikodinov[2], Derrick Delmore, Brian Orser
Former coach	Peter Kongkasem
Choreographer	Derrick Delmore, Jeffrey Buttle
Former choreographer	Anastasia Sharenkova
Former skating club	All Year FSC
Training locations	Beijing, China Lakewood, California
Former training locations	Los Angeles, California
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	155.41 2020 Four Continents
Short program	55.53 2020 Four Continents
Free skate	99.88 2020 Four Continents

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]	The Winner Takes It All by ABBA performed by Sarah Dawn Finer choreo. by Derrick Delmore	Concerto in F by George Gershwin choreo. by Jeffrey Buttle
2018–2019 [12]	Papa, Can You Hear Me? performed by Lea Michele

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

1. Liu, Caiyu (September 25, 2018). "US-born ice skater joins China training program". Global Times.
2. Viya (January 4, 2018). "Bulgarian coach with two winners at 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships". Beauty in Sport.
3. "Sofia Trophy 2019: Junior Ladies Result". Bulgarian Skating Federation. February 9, 2019.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 《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.
7. Zhu, Beverly (February 1, 2018). "dreams don't work unless you do ✨" (Instagram).
8. Jin, Vivian (January 22, 2018). "Bay Area skaters shine at annual U.S. Figure Skating Championships". Harker Aquila.
9. "2018/2019 Chinese National Figure Skating Championships Results" (PDF). Chinese Skating Association. December 31, 2018.
10. Xinhua (June 21, 2019). "Sui Wenjing/Han Cong, Jin Boyang lead China Cup figure skating nominations". China Daily.
11. "Yi ZHU". International Skating Union.
12. "Yi ZHU". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 19, 2019.
13. "Yi ZHU: Competition Results". International Skating Union.
14. "Beverly Zhu". Stats on Ice. Retrieved July 13, 2019.