Morgan Ciprès (born 24 April 1991) is a French former competitive pair skater. With partner Vanessa James, born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, he is the 2019 European Champion, the 2018 World bronze medalist, the 2017 European bronze medalist, the 2018 Grand Prix Final champion and a six-time French national champion. They have also won medals in Grand Prix and Challenger Series competitions. James and Ciprès represented France at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics.
Born in Melun, France in 1991, Ciprès began learning to skate in 1995. He initially competed in single skating, debuting on the ISU Junior Grand Prix in 2004. An adductor muscle injury caused him to miss the 2007–08 season. He placed 13th at the 2010 World Junior Championships.
In September 2010, Ciprès teamed up with Canadian/American Vanessa James to compete in pair skating for France. They made no competitive appearances in their first season as Ciprès learned pairs elements. Eight years later, James recalled the beginning of her partnership: "I remember our 3-day-trial and it was so fun. He was so funny, because he had never done pairs before, so he was really nervous and saying 'oh my gosh, oh my gosh' every time he threw me. I knew that we were going to be good friends."
James/Ciprès made their competitive debut in late September 2011, finishing fifth at the 2011 Ondrej Nepela Memorial. After placing fifth at the 2011 Coupe de Nice, the pair finished eighth at their first Grand Prix together, the 2011 Trophee Eric Bompard. At the 2012 French Championships, they ranked first in the short program and second in the free skate. With a total score 8.92 points lower than Daria Popova / Bruno Massot, James/Ciprès received the silver medal.
Finishing sixth overall, James/Ciprès were the best French pair (outscoring Popova/Massot by almost 12 points) at the 2012 European Championships in Sheffield, England. They were granted France's lone spot in pairs at the 2012 World Championships in Nice, France. In Nice, the two qualified to the final segment and finished sixteenth overall.
James/Ciprès won the bronze medal at the 2012 Nebelhorn Trophy — it was their first international medal as a pair. Their 2012 Grand Prix assignments were Skate America, where they placed fourth, and the Trophee Eric Bompard, where they came in sixth. James/Ciprès won another international medal at the 2012 NRW Trophy and followed that in December with their first French national title.
In January, James/Ciprès came in fourth at the 2013 European Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. After taking gold at the 2013 International Challenge Cup, they placed eighth at the 2013 World Championships in London, Ontario. Due to their result in Canada, they qualified a spot for France in the pairs' event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
2013–2014 season: Sochi Olympics
James/Ciprès were again assigned to Skate America and the Trophee Eric Bompard. After Ciprès underwent surgery to correct a wrist injury, he had to avoid lifts for a period, causing the pair to withdraw from Skate America. They were able to compete at the Trophee Eric Bompard and placed fifth. The pair successfully defended their national title, winning in 2013.
At the 2014 Europeans, James/Ciprès set personal best scores in both segments of the competition and came in fifth. They were named to the French team to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. There they placed tenth in the pairs event and sixth in the team event.
James/Ciprès finished fourth at the 2014 CS Nebelhorn Trophy and fifth at both of their Grand Prix assignments, the 2014 Skate Canada International and 2014 Trophée Éric Bompard. They placed fifth at the 2015 European Championships in Stockholm and ninth at the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai.
2015–2016 season: First Grand Prix medal
James/Ciprès began their season with a bronze medal at the 2015 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. They placed second in the short program at the 2015 Trophée Éric Bompard. The remainder of the event was cancelled following the November 2015 Paris attacks by terrorists. The ISU deemed those placements to be the final results, and awarded James/Ciprès silver as their first Grand Prix medal. The pair finished fourth at the 2016 European Championships in Bratislava and tenth at the 2016 World Championships in Boston. At the end of the season, they concluded that they needed a major change if they were to continue competing. James said "either we improve, or we stop. There was no point in anything else."
2016–2017 season: European bronze medal
In June 2016, James/Ciprès relocated to Coral Springs, Florida, to be coached by John Zimmerman and Jeremy Barrett, both former competitive skaters. After taking silver at the 2016 CS Autumn Classic International, the pair competed at two Grand Prix events; they finished fourth at the 2016 Skate America and won the bronze medal at the 2016 Trophée de France.
In January 2017, James/Ciprès won the bronze medal at the European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. They were the first French pair in fourteen years to medal at the event. (In 2003, Sarah Abitbol / Stéphane Bernadis took silver).
In March, James/Ciprès placed tenth in the short program, sixth in the free skate, and eighth overall at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. The following month, they competed as part of Team France at the 2017 World Team Trophy in Tokyo, Japan. While the French team finished sixth overall, the pair scored personal bests and placed first in both segments of the pairs' event, ahead of Russia's Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov.
Reflecting on their progress as a team, James said, "Our main problem [before] was that we were two different people on the ice. We needed to change that and to increase the connection between the two of us."