Violinist Vanessa-Mae‘s results to earn a berth at the Olympics were “fixed at the behest of Thai ski officials to meet her qualifying criteria for Sochi,” the president of the Slovenian Ski Association told The Associated Press.
Vanessa-Mae, who skied in Sochi for Thailand as Vanessa Vanakorn, was last among 67 finishers in the giant slalom, 11.35 seconds behind the 66th-place finisher and 50.1 seconds behind winner Tina Maze.
The Slovenian Ski Association comes into play because her final qualifying races for Sochi were in Slovenia — and “hastily-staged,” according to the BBC.
Four Slovenian ski officials have been suspended over false race times and results. One skier was listed as finishing fourth despite not being present. Another woman fell during a race, slowly continued to the finish and was recorded as taking second place, according to the BBC.
“We think there is serious doubt about what happened in the race,” Slovenian Ski Association president Jurij Zurej told the BBC. “We must state clearly that there is absolutely no proof any athlete, including Vanessa, was knowingly involved in any activities that would breach any of our rules or those of the International Ski Federation.”
Vanessa-Mae, 35, has sold in excess of 10 million albums since her 1995 debut, according to the Guardian. She began playing violin at age 5 and was a child prodigy, one year after she started skiing.
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