James/Cipres Finish 4th In European Champs

January 24, 2013

Bermudian Vanessa James — who represents France along with her partner Morgan Cipres — finished 4th in the Pairs event at the 2013 European Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.

Russia’s Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov won the Gold medal, Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy from Germany claimed the Silver Medal and Stefania Berton and Ondrej Hotarek of Italy won the Bronze. Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres finished 4th overall with a total of 178.81 points.

Golden Skate reports that James and Cipres struggled with their triple twist when he caught her too late and she stumbled, but they recovered to nail a triple toe and a throw triple flip. They earned 59.27 (31.06/28/21) points, a new season’s best, for their performance to Rhumba d’Amour and upbeat music by Safri Duo.

“We’re really happy with the skate,” said James. “When we started we were a little bit nervous, and so the twist was almost too high, but we continued to skate well after that mistake, so we’re really pleased. It’s good to start out that strong at Europeans.”

Ms James — the daughter of Kevin and June James — was the first black woman to win the British National Championships, and along with her old partner Yannick, became the first black couple to ever make an Olympic appearance in pairs skating.

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Comments (7)

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  1. almostthere. says:

    Congratulations to Vanessa who appeared very graceful, such a pleasure to watch such elegance…

  2. Tooth Fairy says:

    Another Candidate for National Heroes Day!!! Parade these strong youth in front of our kids!!

    Bernews please help get this message to the correct ministers or persons responsible for decide who the “National Hero” will be.

    Nhaki Wells – Bradford City
    Reggie Lambe – Toronto FC
    Vanessa James – Ice Skater
    Teresa Perozzi – Boxer
    Shawn Goater – Man City
    Rebecca Faulkenberry – Broadway Star
    Nicholas Christopher – Newest Motown Musical Star
    Collie Budz – Musician
    Derek Hurdle – First Pro Overseas Rugby Player (I believe)
    Malcolm Smith – Sailer
    Stevie Dickinson – Sailer
    2 Bermudian NFL players – their names escape me
    Brian Wellman – Trple Jumper
    Jill Terceira – Equestrian
    Sims – Pro Golfer
    There are many, many more on this list, and my apologies to the many that I have forgotten to mention.

    Bernews – please help with a story, petition something to give our youth someone they can look up to and identify with. Our youth need role models and mentors – today more than ever.

    • Bernews says:

      We have a little section on the topic — which doesn’t begin to cover all of the accomplishments of Bermudians — but is a start. It covers most the people you mention, as well as some others. We need to add many more, as well as improve the ones we have, we try and inch along with it as time passes…

      http://bernews.com/bermuda-profiles/

  3. June says:

    Congratulations Vanessa and Morgan!

    Your hard work is paying off and we are all looking forward to a great performance at the 2013 World Championships in Ontario, Canada in March!

    If anyone would like to see their 4th place finish European Championship performance with English commentary, please enjoy the followng link:

    http://youtu.be/zrF2nEWZXIA

    Go Nessa!

    • Bernews says:

      Excellent thank you! We poached your English video link and exchanged it above….

  4. Eugenia Roberts says:

    What an amazing routine. I confess my eyes watered up as I watched! Well done Vanessa and Morgan!

  5. Winegum says:

    My eyes watered too! Elegant, smooth, strong, music was fabulous and they were totally with it.
    Stunning.