Vanessa-Mae gears up for Winter Olympics 2014 bid

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/jan/21/vanessa-mae-winter-olympic-dream

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The violinist Vanessa-Mae hopes to compete in her first skiing event in April, in a bid to qualify for the winter Olympics as a skiier for Thailand.

The international musician made her international professional debut aged 10. She broke from tradition and became known for her sexy, glamorous style and for mixing classical music with pop.

"People are surprised when they see me skiing – a classical violinist, Oriental, who has lived in the city all her life," Vanessa-Mae said. "But it has been my dream to be a ski bum since I was 14. This is something I am determined to do."

Vanessa-Mae, 34, has been training in Zermatt, Switzerland, for the past three years. She has the aim of competing in at least five internationally recognised events to qualify for the giant slalom and possibly the slalom at the Sochi Winter Olympics in February 2014.

The violinist is a British citizen but also holds a Thai passport. She was born in Singapore to a Chinese mother and a Thai father, but was brought up in England when her mother remarried a Briton.

Vanessa-Mae, whose full name is Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, would be only the second Thai to compete at a Winter Olympics if she qualified. Academic Prawat Nagvajara represented Thailand in cross-country skiing at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.

"I wanted to compete for Thailand because there is a part of me which I have never celebrated – being Thai," said Vanessa-Mae. "My father, like most Thais, has never skied but he's really excited about me doing this, as is the Thai Olympic Committee."

International Ski Federation spokeswoman Riikka Rakic said Vanessa-Mae needed a minimum of five starts in Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) competitions and certain points to qualify for the Olympics.

"She has a full year to quality and there are many events, so there are plenty of options still," said Rakic.

Vanessa-Mae said she knew it would be tough to make the Olympics but she had given herself a year's sabbatical from music. "When it comes to music I am a perfectionist but when it is skiing, I have no delusions about a podium or even being in the top 100 in the world."

She added: "Of course there is a risk that I could break something, but life is short and you have to go for it. Just to qualify for the Olympics in my hobby would be a dream come true for me."

Once Sochi is over, she intends to return to music. "It's time for a new album but doing this will give me a new perspective. Living my dream of being a ski bum is great but the best job in the world is being on stage, making music," she said.