Career
His personal best was 2.33 m (7 ft 71⁄2 in), set in 1990. He was the gold medallist at the 1990 Asian Games and the 1998 Asian Games silver medallist. He went into coaching after retiring from competition and helped Zhang Shufeng to a continental medal.
Zhou made his debut at a global at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics, being one of two selections alongside Xu Yang.
He did not compete at a high level for several years after 1991, with his one performance of note being a third-place finish at the 1993 Chinese Games, finishing behind Xu and Bi Hongyong. His return to form came in the 1998 season.
He claimed the second national title of his career, topping the field with a clearance of 2.28 m (7 ft 53⁄4 in). He regained his place as the continent"s top jumper by winning the gold medal at the 1998 Asian Athletics Championships in July, getting the better of Lee Jin-Taek of South of Korea and Malaysian Loo Kum Zee.
His winning mark of 2.30 m (7 ft 61⁄2 in) was among the best of his career and the best performance at the championships since Zhu Jianhua"s 1983 victory.
He attempted to take his second continental title of the year at the 1998 Asian Games but his jump of 2.23 m (7 ft 33⁄4 in) in the final was not enough to beat Lee and he finished with a silver medal. In his last international outing that year, he placed fifth for Asia at the 1998 IAAF World Cup. After 1998 his successes were limited to national level
In his last season of competition in 2002, he had a season"s best of 2.22 m (7 ft 31⁄4 in) in Hyderabad.
Following his retirement from high jumping, he went into high jump coaching. Among his first charges was Zhang Shufeng.
Zhang"s performances had plateaued around 2.20 m (7 ft 21⁄2 in). Zhou"s work with him over three years (focusing on explosive jumping power and lowering the tall athlete"s centre of gravity at take-off) improved Zhang"s jumping to the 2.30 m (7 ft 61⁄2 in) mark.
