Violinist Vanessa-Mae is hoping to ski for Thailand in the 2014 downhill ski competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia according to Thai media reports.
Vanessa, who is a British citizen, first tried to compete in the 2002 Games at Salt Lake City but was unable to get Thai citizenship arranged in time. However she now has duel nationality.
Vanessa was born in Singapore but her father is from Thailand, her mother from China.
The star, who is currently reported to be dating the son of Val d’Isère mayor, is reported to have her application to race being considered by the International Ski Federation.
It seems likely that Vanessa will be required to obtain enough World Cup points to reach the required qualification standard for Olympic competition, but this may not be a big problem for the star, reported to be one of the richest young people in Britain with a net worth of more than £60 million. She is reputed to be a very accomplished skier and has the funds required to be able to compete at multiple events around the world, a financial barrier which prevents many good young ski racers from progressing in the sport.
She would be Thailand’s first ski racer.
7 August 2010.
Category: Ski archive