Violinist Appealing Olympic Ban For Fixing Giant Slalom Races

A British pop violinist is appealing a four-year ban for fixing giant slalom races that allowed her to qualify for the Sochi Olympics.

Vanessa Mae, a British citizen, skied for Thailand at the Winter Olympics using her father's surname of Vanakorn. Allegedly, Mae qualified for the Olympics in races that didn't meet the proper standards. Here's the rundown, via Universal Sports:

[Mae] was given the ban in November when FIS listed a series of irregularities at four qualifying races at Krvavec, Slovenia, and her Sochi results were scrubbed.

The issues cited included competitors who had not taken part, and races staged in irregular weather conditions. The results gave Mae the number of FIS points necessary to be able to compete in Sochi.

The 35-year-old finished last among the finishers in her race at the Winter Olympics, some 50 seconds behind gold medal winner Tina Maze — an eternity in the world of downhill skiing.

CAS said in a statement on Thursday that it had received two appeals from Mae, filed against the International Ski Federation decision to ban her.

Mae tried to compete in the 2002 Winter Olympics as well, but wasn't able to after she refused to give up her British passport to compete for Thailand. Surprisingly, Mae's alleged race-fixing wouldn't be the first time people have scammed their way into the Olympics.

[ Universal Sports]

Photo via AP