Zhu Yi (figure skater)


Zhu Yi or Beverly Zhu is a Chinese-American figure skater who represents China in ladies' singles. On the junior level, she is the 2019 Sofia Trophy bronze medalist. She won the 2018 U.S. national novice title before switching to representing China internationally.

Personal life

Zhu was born in Los Angeles, California. 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. 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. She is part of a growing number of foreign athletes of Chinese origin attempting to become naturalized Chinese citizens.
Zhu can play the piano.

Career

Early career

Zhu started skating at 7 years old after her mother's friend's daughter started lessons. 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.

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.

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. She trained with five Chinese ice dancers in a group led by Chen Lu and five foreign coaches up through December. Zhu placed fourth at the 2019 Chinese Figure Skating Championships in Harbin at the end of December. In February, she competed at the Sofia Trophy, where she won the bronze medal.

2019–2020 season

Zhu was assigned to her first Grand Prix event, 2019 Cup of China, where she finished eleventh. She then placed thirteenth at 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.

Programs

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series

For China

For the United States

Detailed results

Senior level

Junior level