Vanessa James has confirmed she will not be competing in the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, taking place in Montreal on March 16.

James would have been hopeful of returning to Canada, the country of her birth, and avenging a disappointing outing at last year’s championships in Saitama, Japan, in which her and skating partner Morgan Ciprès, representing France, went into the pairs discipline as one of the favourites, but had to settle for a fifth-place finish.

However, it appears that the pair, who clinched world championship bronze in 2018, will not be competing next month with the Bermudian confirming their omission on her Instagram account.

Asked by a fan if the pair would be challenging in Canada, James responded: “hi!! I’m sorry to say we won’t be competing”.

The three-times Olympian, who has Grand Prix Final and European Championship honours among her titles, had stated late last year that this season would feature a lighter workload consisting of the French and European Championships and perhaps World Championships, with one eye on being in peak condition ahead of the Winter Olympics in 2022, scheduled to take place in Beijing, China.

The setback follows recent news that The United States Centre for SafeSport had opened an investigation into an allegation of sexual abuse by Ciprès.

According to e-mails from the family of a 13-year-old American female figure skater that were obtained by USA Today, Ciprès, allegedly direct-messaged two photographs of his genitalia on Instagram to the girl, who practised at a rink in Wesley Chapel, Florida, where he was training in 2017.

It is also alleged that Ciprès’s coaches, John Zimmerman, a 2002 Olympian and member of the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame, and Silvia Fontana, a 2002 and 2006 Olympian representing Italy, intervened in an attempt to prevent the girl’s family from coming forward, as Ciprès, who then was 26, prepared for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The pair, along with fellow figure-skating coach Vinny Dispenza, allegedly engaged in a cover-up in 2018, as Ciprès and James were in the final stages of their preparation for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, where they finished fifth.

Ciprès, 28, and James, 32, have won six French national titles, bronze at the 2018 world championships, the 2018 Grand Prix Final and the 2019 European Championship.