Olympic Figure Skater in Lewd Photo Inquiry Retires

Less than a year after an investigation was launched into allegations that he'd sent lewd photos to an underage girl, Olympic figure skater Morgan Cipres is out of the sport. The French Federation of Ice Sports announced Tuesday that both Cipres, 29, and his pairs skating partner Vanessa James, 33, were retiring. They had been considered medal contenders for the 2022 Beijing Games, USA Today reports. Cipres is accused of, in 2017, sending two photos of his genitals to a 13-year-old American figure skater; late last year, SafeSport opened a probe into the matter, and Florida's Pasco County Sheriff’s Office reopened its investigation into the incident this year.

The girl trained at the same Florida facility as Cipres, and USA Today says it saw the Instagram messages in question, which were allegedly sent as DMs from Cipres' verified account. Cipres' coaches are also accused of threatening the girl to prevent her from alerting authorities to the incident during the lead-up to the 2018 Winter Games, where Cipres and James ultimately finished in fifth place. The coaches have denied those allegations. See USA Today for the full article. (More figure skating stories.)