Vanessa James and Yannick Bonheur of France became the first black competitors in Olympic pair skating this year in Vancouver. The couple met on a search and match site for competitive pair skaters in 2007 called Ice Partners. They became a match made on ice with the persistence of James’ aunt. Once they clicked, she packed up her things and moved to France.

James is a French-British skater who just obtained her French citizenship in December, right before the Olympics, to qualify. Originally born in Canada, she has lived, traveled and trained in Bermuda, Britain, the United States and France - and she is only 22 years old. Before teaming with Bonheur, James served as the 2006 British national champion and 2007 national silver medalist. She is the first black British figure skating champion. Talent runs in her family - her twin sister, Melyssa, also skates competitively, and represents Great Britain as an ice dancer.

Her partner, Bonheur, is a 27-year-old, six-foot brother from France, who is no stranger to competition. He and his previous partner competed in the 2006 Winter Games, placing 14th. He has led James on the ice to win the 2009 French National Championships.

The couple is currently placed at 15th on the Olympic charts. Bonheur told the press that their presence will hopefully get more blacks involved in figure skating and someday they’ll see more black officials and coaches in the sport.

Please Login or Register to post comments on this article

Close Comment  |   Read More Comments Hide More Comments

Comments * :

Please do not enter the HTML tags(Maximum 600 characters).