Olympic hopefuls train in Wesley Chapel
WESLEY CHAPEL (FOX 13) - France is Vanessa James and Morgan Ciprès' home base. But their skating home is across the pond, right here in Tampa Bay.
"I think it's funny because most of the time when we do say we're training in Florida, they're like, 'There are rinks in Florida?' Like, I wouldn't think about skating in Florida," said James.
Together, Vanessa and Morgan are five-time French national champions. This year, they also got on the podium as bronze medalists at the European Championships.
The new Florida Hospital Center Ice in Wesley Chapel is where this pair will train for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea. It will be their 2nd appearance in the Games, after placing 10th in Sochi in 2014.
"We dream more about a medal," said Ciprès. "When I was younger, I dreamed to become an Olympic sportsman."
"We're very close, we have our first European medal," added James. "We have our first international title. We have our first Grand Prix medal and so we're in the ranking now, so that's why our goal is different."
Vanessa and Morgan aren't the only skaters coming to Wesley Chapel to train for the Olympics. There are world-class skaters from all over the place coming here because they have everything at their fingertips. They have the ice, medical staff and even a gym to train in.
"We can be here all day and we have everything that we need," said James.
Rinks like this are rare, with everything under one roof.
Coached by the three-time national champion, John Zimmerman, Vanessa and Morgan now have their eyes set on a place on the podium in PyeongChang.
"[The] Olympics is the biggest competition in the world," said Ciprès.
"It's the same competition as every other competition," said James. "I mean, you have the opening ceremony and all the other athletes with you, but when you're on the ice, you're still competing against the same people you compete [with] at Europeans and Worlds. It's the same competition. You just have to stay focused and treat it as if it's any other competition."
Their new skating home could give them an "edge" over their competition.