A bronze medallist from the 2019 World Figure Skating Championships, Zhou finished sixth on his Olympic debut at Pyeongchang 2018 at the age of 17, cementing himself as one of the future stars of figure skating. 

However, he considered leaving the sport in 2019 after enrolling at Brown University.

A year later, he claimed a fourth national medal at the US Figure Skating Championships.

"I had recovered from the brink of almost quitting skating and making decision to just stay in school after barely being able to do a triple jump after stepping on the ice," said Zhou in an interview with the Olympic Channel.

"I went from that to being on the podium at nationals with two clean programmes when I didn't even expect to be in the final warmup at the pre-skate.

"Nationals was one of the biggest personal victories for me in my whole skating career."

He is now back in Colorado to focus on winning an Olympic medal in Beijing.

"The 2022 Olympics is the end game for me," Zhou added.

"I'm really working towards making sure everything comes together for that and if I can medal on a world stage why can't I medal on an Olympic stage?

"I know that the stakes are higher and people are going to be more well-trained, but so will I.

"I'm really going to try my best to make sure everything comes together for that one moment in time, that one chance to put everything out there.

"I truly believe I can win a medal at the Olympics.

"I have what it takes, I just don't possess it all yet, but it's in there."

Zhou is from a Chinese family and all four of his grandparents live in Beijing, meaning he will compete in what feels like a home away from home.

"It's going to be super exciting to compete there," said Zhou.

"I have a huge fan base in China and they're very supportive and caring and I'm really excited to have the opportunity to perform in front of them.

"I just really hope that in my parents' and grandparents' home town, I can make it happen."

Some of his main rivals for an Olympic medal include compatriot Nathan Chen and Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, often regarded as the best figure skater in history with two Olympic and two world titles to his name.

Beijing 2022 is currently scheduled to take place from February 4 to 20 2022.