Bermuda's Vanessa James and partner Yannick Bonheur will skate the short programme in the pairs today at the World Figure Skating Championships in Turin, Italy.

After arriving in Turin the two had a training session yesterday morning and James' mother June said yesterday: "She texted me today to say that she got there safely and they have had a wonderful practice this morning"

And although the two finished in 14th place at the recent Winter Olympics in Vancouver competing for France, they have a better chance of a medal in Italy this week as a number of skaters are giving the championships a miss as they are being staged so soon after the Olympics.

Chinese pair Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo retired after winning gold at the Vancouver Games last month and they are among a number of top names missing, leading media to lambast organisers for holding the Worlds so soon after the Olympics.

Although they failed to win a medal at the Olympics, James and Bonheur made history as the first black couple at the Winter Games.

James, who was born in Canada but is also Bermudian, recently gained French citizenship so she could skate with partner Bonheur who was born in Martinique.

In fact despite having already represented France at various international competitions, James needed the intervention of the National Commission of Elite Sport to get her French passport which was issued only a few days before Christmas.

Last month James and Bonheur won admiration for their performance in Vancouver with the Canadian public giving them a standing ovation at the end of their free programme.

Although they were hoping to finish in the top 10 last month in Canada, James remained optimistic after the competition.

"We have put all our hopes on the 2014 Games. We have only just begun our careers together," said the former Mount St. Agnes student who left Bermuda at age 10.

James and Bonheur got together after an announcement he had placed on IcePartnerSearch, an ice-skating networking site. And it seemed the chemistry worked.

"We had a perfect connection. A week later, I moved to France," said James who has also skated for Great Britain. She was the first black English figure skating champion in 2005.

Bonheur and James began competing internationally in 2008.

Tomorrow they skate their free programme at Turin's Palavela rink which hosted the skating at the 2006 Winter Games.

Meanwhile American pairs skater Amanda Evora this week said she was pleased by the lengthy list of absentees.

Rather than worrying about a potential lack of media exposure for this week's competition in Turin, Evora sees a big chance to improve on her 10th place finish in Vancouver with partner Mark Ladwig and perhaps snatch a medal.

"It kind of takes the pressure off. We are lucky that we won't compete against them but we are still against some of the best in the world," Evora told Reuters yesterday at the side of the rink as rock music blared out during practice.

"I'm still very nervous but it's exciting at the same time. It's an opportunity to do well."