The famous violinist Vanessa Mae (for name Vanessa Vanankorn) who raced at the Sochi Olympics for Thailand earlier this year has been given a four year ban from competing by the International Ski Federation (FIS) after a hearing in to Mae’s qualification for the Olympics found flaws in how she accrued the points required to take part.
An FIS Hearing Panel looked in particular at four giant slalom competitions for ladies that were organised at the Krvavec Ski area in Slovenia in January 2014 at the request of the Vanessa Mae’s management.
“After considering written submissions and testimony at a hearing on 3rd October 2014, the Hearing Panel found to its comfortable satisfaction that the results of the four ladies giant slalom races …were manipulated, resulting in the calculation of FIS Points that do not reflect the true performance of the competitors that participated in those events and in particular the points awarded to Vanessa Vanakorn (Mae),” said an FIS statement.
The flaws in the race included competitors listed as taking part not being present, a competitor being placed second in a race where she fell, a competitor starting outside the starting gate which was manually opened by officials after she was already on the course and the course not being changed for the second runs as required by FIS rules. In addition to Miss Mae’s four year ban five officials received 1-2 year bans.
With the results of the competition annulled Miss Mae and two other competitors would not have qualified for Sochi, information the FIS has communicated to the International Olympic Committee.
Mae, 35, a British citizen who was born in Singapore and who finished in joint last place in the Giant Slalom at Sochi and had said she planned to compete at the world championships in Vail Beaver Creek this season has said the ruling is unfair and that she will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.