Violinist-Turned-Olympian Vanessa Mae Found Guilty Of Cheating, Banned From Skiing For 4 Years

Vanessa Mae fiddled away her chance at being recognised properly as an Olympic skier. Vanessa Mae, or with here real name, Vanessa Vanakorn, who was celebrated for her achievement for successfully crossing over from being a popular violinist to an Olympian, is banned from the sport of skiing after being found guilty of cheating— via manipulating results in order to qualify for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

An International Skiing Federation (FIS) investigation has found that results during the Slovenian trials, which served as qualifiers for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, were manipulated and one of the skiers who was found guilty of cheating was Vanakorn.

“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 that took place on 18th and 19th January 2014 at Krvavec (SLO) 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),” stated in the official press release published in the sport’s world governing body’s official website.

Aside from Vanessa Mae, other race personnel penalised were Chief of Race Borut Hrobat of Slovenia with a 2-year ban; FIS Technical Delegate Fabio De Cassan of Italy with a 1-year ban; Chief of Timing Matiaz Goltez of Slovenia with a 1-year ban; Referee Vlado Makuc of Slovenia with a 1-year ban; and starter Uros Sinkovic of Slovenia with a 1-year ban. All mentioned officials are suspended for participating in any FIS-sanctioned events for the duration of their respective bans.

The press release did not specifically state which violation or violations did Vanessa Mae infringe. The FIS Hearing Panel’s findings include a race which included a competitor who was not present during the Krvavec Competitions; a supposed second placer in one race “despite the fact that she fell”; and one competitor who “started away from the starting gate” among other findings.

No official statement has been released from Vanessa Mae’s camp about the said ban and findings. The guilty parties may appeal the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days.