Vanessa-Mae Banned From Skiing In Olympics

Violinist Vanessa-Mae has been banned for four years from skiing competitions after officials decided she was guilty of manipulating results in order to qualify for the Olympics.

The 35-year-old made her debut in the Winter Olympics in Sochi earlier this year, coming last of 67 in the giant slalom race.

After investigation, the International Ski Federation (FIS) concluded that results of pre-Olympic trials in Slovenia were fixed in her favour so that she could compete at Sochi.

The alleged fiddling of January's results of the giant slalom trials in Krvavec, Slovenia, led to "the calculation of points that do not reflect the true performance of the competitors ... and in particular the points awarded to Vanessa Vanakorn," the statement said.

Without the fix, the FIS said, Mae "would not have achieved the necessary FIS point performance level to be eligible to participate in the Olympic Winter Games".

The musician raced in Sochi under the name of Vanessa Vanakorn, taking her Thai father's surname and competing for Thailand.

She has dual British-Thai nationality.

The violinist will not now be able to take part in the next Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, in 2018.