![]() “I’m surprised how polarising Vanessa and my journey has been for some people,” Radford said. In particular, Radford was taken aback by his former partner Duhamel’s public statements on feeling blindsided and upset by the decision. The reaction to the announcement that they were returning to compete as a pair was mixed. “What Natalie is doing for this new FFSG, and what she did for me is incredible. “I know for federations it’s business, but this new federation has the best interest for their athletes, and not just themselves,” James said. Fortunately for James, former ice dancer Nathalie Pechalat had taken over the helm of the French federation in 2020 and her release was quickly expedited. ![]() In the past, French skaters found the process of being released to skate for other countries arduous. It was a surprise to us too, but as Eric usually says we let go of the steering wheel, and we let it guide us and everything just came to fruition.”ĭue to James previously skating for France, a release was needed from the French federation to enable her to skate for Canada. “We didn’t know if it was even going to work, but we decided to just keep having fun. “It became almost overwhelming, because we weren’t sure if we’d get a release. “When it started coming together, we actually thought it was going to be very difficult,” James said. Then we started to think about it a bit more.” ![]() The competition idea didn’t even come on the radar until after those few days when other people were coming up to me and saying, ‘Wow, you guys look good. “Competition was not on the radar at all. “At the very beginning, when I invited Vanessa to come and just skate for fun, I was really thinking for shows,” Radford said. We had to get back in shape together because neither of us had been skating really.” Honestly, we were just thrown into the deep end. ![]() “We reconnected and decided to give it a shot,” James said. However, the idea of coming back to elite competition was sown and brought James back together with Radford. We didn’t really think too much about it and I got a call from US Figure Skating to do a trial with Danny (O’Shea).” “It was just to play around to see what we looked like. “We didn’t really have any plans,” James said. Returning to compete together initially did not enter their minds. Before the show began filming, they skated together to practice and get back into shape. James and Radford crossed paths again on “Battle of the Blades” where they were both cast as contestants in the Canadian television show that matches up professional figure skaters and ice hockey players. In the meantime, the French Federation of Ice Sports released a statement in September 2020 that James and Ciprès had retired from competitive skating. In December 2019, it came to light that Ciprès was under investigation in Florida for sending a sexually explicit image to a minor and was subsequently charged in his absence in late 2020. James and Ciprès skated competitively for the last time together at the 2019 World Championships in Saitama, Japan where they finished fifth. Radford had initially hung up his skates after the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. “That was something that was really admirable, getting out the quads, trying a second quad, the triple Lutzes in the short programme and always being pretty consistent.” “With Eric and Meagan, they always pushed the limit, pushed the technical box,” James said. It was always impressive to see how they improved each season.” “In the years after Meagan and I retired, we really saw them hit their stride and gain all of that momentum. ![]() “We were always worried about Morgan and Vanessa,” Radford recalled. Naturally, the pairs knew each other from competing on the circuit. James won the 2019 European title for France with Morgan Ciprès, while Radford was a double World champion and individual Olympic bronze medallist with Meagan Duhamel. The Canadians reflect on a season of highs and lows that ultimately brought them to that bronze medal.īoth James and Radford were already decorated skaters with previous partners. Less than a year after officially announcing they had teamed up, Vanessa James and Eric Radford landed on the World podium in Montpellier, France last month. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |