French Olympic figure skater Morgan Cipres has retired from the sport amid an ongoing criminal probe into his allegedly sending lewd direct messages to a 13-year-old American figure skater via Instagram.
The French Federation of Ice Sports announced on Tuesday that Cipres, 29, was retiring from the sport and would no longer represent France in future Olympic games.
This came amid ongoing investigations by the US Center for SafeSport and Florida’s Pasco County Sheriff’s Office into 2017 allegations against the ex-Olympic skater.
Cipres, who was 26 at the time, allegedly sent the teen’s mother a lengthy apology following the incident.
“I’m sending you a message because of what happened with [girl’s name removed] and I,” the message read, according to USA Today. “I want first to apologies [sic] about my stupid things I did. It was irresponsible from my side and I do really regret my act. So I am asking your apologies sincerely and I hope we can be all right on this.”
The figure skater has not issued any public statements on the matter.
The parents alleged that Cipres was not the only party at fault, saying that John Zimmerman and Silvia Fontana, the skater’s coaches, attempted to prevent the matter from being brought to authorities. The two have denied the accusations.
Bermudian Vanessa James, Cipres’ 33-year-old pairs skating partner, has also announced her retirement from figure skating.
The duo was slated to compete for a medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
