Vanessa Mae really wanted to compete in the Olympics, but she is better violinist than a skier. She has sold 10 million records so that is a very high bar. The International Ski Federation decided that she cheated her way into the Olympics.
When Eddie the Eagle competed in the 1988 Olympics, some thought it was a great underdog story and some thought it was degrading the biggest sports event. In response, the International Olympic Committee instituted a new rule in 1990 which requires Olympic hopefuls to compete and place well.
In Sochi the musician raced for Thailand and finished last of 67 competitors in the two-run giant slalom. Her quote after the race:
“You’ve got the elite skiers of the world and then you’ve got some mad old woman like me trying to make it down.”
To qualify, Ms. Mae raced four times in Slovenia in January in a last-ditch bid to meet the Olympic qualifying standard. Under current Olympic qualification rules, countries with no skier ranked in the world’s top 500 may send one man and one woman to to compete in slalom and giant slalom if those athletes meet racing criteria.
Thailand has no skiers ranked in the world’s top 500. To meet the racing criteria, Mae had to produce an average of 140 points or fewer over five recognized races. She slid under the wire and made the score.
But it turns out those races in Slovenia were a fraud, staged to get Mae the points she needed. According to the FIS report:
- The results of two giant slalom races on 19th January included a competitor who was not present at, and did not participate.
- At least one competitor started away from the starting gate outside the automatic timing wand that was manually opened by the starter when she was already on the course.
- A previously retired competitor with the best FIS points in the competition took part for the sole purpose of lowering the penalty to the benefit the participants in the races.
- The races courses were not changed for the second runs as is required by the FIS rules.
- One of the races was a junior championship, with Mae being 15 years older than all of the other racers.
The FIS banned five officials from Slovenia and Italy for between one and two years for their role in the scandal. Ms. Mae is banned from skiing for four years. But she still achieved her dream of competing in the Olympics.
Sources:
- Violinist Vanessa-Mae in four-year skiing ban over fiddled races in the Guardian
- Vanessa-Mae: Skiing violinist banned for four years
- Decision of FIS Hearing Panel: Thai competitions in Slovenia
- Vanessa Mae Racing Results
“Vanessa Mae holding olympic torch” by Yemisi Blake from London, United Kingdom. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
