Team USA Winter Olympics - live: Top skater Zhou withdraws with Covid as Deedra Irwin makes biathlon history

LIVE – Updated at 18:06

Vincent Zhou, the second ranked American male skater behind Nathan Chan has tested positive for Covid-19 and will now be forced to miss the individual event on Tuesday.

Zhou, 21, helped the US secure a silver medal in the team event and was set to compete in the individual short programme when he was given the devastating news.

“It seems pretty unreal that of all the people, it would happen to myself,” he said in an emotional Instagram video after being told ofthe positive test.

Meanwhile, Deedra Irwin of Pulaski, Wisconsin, gave the best ever Olympic performance by an American in the biathlon, finishing seventh in the women’s 15km individual event at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre northwest of Beijing.

“I was trying to focus on just working on everything I’ve worked on this week, really skiing the course well and staying calm on the range and being ready for anything — with wind or whatever,” said Irwin, who is competing in her first Olympic Winter Games.

Vincent Zhou, the second ranked American male skater behind Nathan Chan has tested positive for Covid-19 and will now be forced to miss the individual event on Tuesday.

Zhou, 21, helped the US secure a silver medal in the team event and was set to compete in the individual short programme when he was given the devastating news.

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“It seems pretty unreal that of all the people, it would happen to myself,” he said in an emotional Instagram video after being told of the positive test.

“That’s not just because I am 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 have taken all the precautions I can and I have