Who’s excited about the upcoming Winter Olympics? We know we are! There’s just nothing better than curling up with a mug of hot chocolate and watching some incredible athletes do their thing.

When it comes to the sports, we’re not too particular; we’ll watch downhill skiing, speed skating, even curling, but our absolute favorite is ice skating, especially pairs skating. Sure, the category may be on the cheesy side with its glitzy costumes and dramatic music, but we’re not too proud to admit that we eat the stuff up!

In fact, our obsession brings us to catch clips of skating competitions on the regular, a habit that led us to quite the discovery—our favorite new pairs skaters, Vanessa James and Morgan Ciprès. These two have been skating together for France for almost 8 years now, but it wasn’t until just last year that James and Ciprès got to stand on the international podium.

In January of 2017, the skating pair competed at the European Championships in a sexy routine set to The Weeknd’s “Earned It” from The Fifty Shades of Grey Soundtrack. Yep, these aren’t your grandmother’s ice skaters…

Now, it’s important to note that their routine wasn’t just spicy, even without its sensual trappings, the pair’s performance was just, simply put, really good! Both James and Ciprès’ movements were perfectly in sync and the choreography was just spot-on.

The whole thing was unlike any ice skating performance we’ve seen—it was modern! When was the last time you heard ice skating being described as “modern?!”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the judges loved it just as much as we did—the duo’s score was high enough to earn them a place on the European Championships podium, a first for the pair.

The public also adored the duo’s performance. Once it was uploaded to YouTube, their dance to that sexy Weeknd song quickly went viral!

Why ice skating’s sultriest pair has enjoyed crossover glory

Since their attention-grabbing European Championships performance in January of 2017, 30-year-old James and 26-year-old Ciprès have continued on their viral streak.

Back in April, the pair’s routine to Disturbed’s “The Sound of Silence” enabled them to rise the ranks of Internet stardom even further. These days, many videos of their performances have been watched millions of times!

James and Ciprès are set to skate for France in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang this February. Although the odds are against them (France hasn’t medaled in pairs skating since 1932), we have a feeling these two might just end that dry spell!

Now that you know all about James and Ciprès’ remarkable appeal, it’s time for you to watch the routine that made them famous. To see their unreal European Championships performance, be sure to watch the video below. We can’t wait to see these two kill it at the Olympics!

What’s your take on this sexy ice skating duo? Are you a fan of their routine? Who is your all-time favorite pairs skating team? What is your favorite Olympic sport?

Source: Ice Network