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Violinist hits bum note with skiing ban

Venessa Mae finished last in the giant slalom at the Sochi Games © Getty Images

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She's famous for fiddling on stage but now it seems Vanessa-Mae has been caught fiddling on the slopes.

The violinist has been banned from skiing for four years after a hearing found that results were manipulated to help her qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Mae at the Winter Olympics

• Born in Singapore to Thai and Chinese parents, Mae moved to Britain at the age of four.
• She earned fame as a young violinist after performances on television before going on to sell more than 10 million records worldwide.
• A skier her whole life, Mae always wanted to take part in the Olympics and qualified for the 2014 Thai team through her father.
• Competing as Vanessa Vanakorn, she led Thailand's biggest ever team at the Winter games - a squad of two along with fellow skier Kanes Sucharitakul.

If that sounds confusing, don't forget that Mae competed in Sochi as part of the Thai ski team, finishing an inauspicious 67th out of 67 in the giant slalom - some 50 seconds adrift of winner Tina Maze.

However, an International Ski Federation (FIS) hearing found "violations" with a series of qualifying races in Krvavec, Slovenia, organised at the request of May's management via the Thai Olympic Committee.

Mae booked her place on the Thai team thanks to her results at the January event, just days before the cut-off point for Sochi qualification.

The FIS is in no doubt that dirty-tricks were employed in Mae's bid to qualify, releasing a statement to say: "The hearing panel found to its comfortable satisfaction that the results of the four ladies giant slalom races that took place on January 18 and 19 at Krvavec were manipulated."

Among the FIS' findings were the revelations that two races on January 19 'included' a competitor who was not even present at the Krvavec event, while another racer was said to finish second even though she fell over, with her time eventually adjusted by more than 10 seconds.

The competition referee also made the confession that weather conditions on the slopes were so bad that no genuine race could be held and "any comparable competition in Slovenia would have been cancelled".

Five officials who were involved in the event have also been slapped with bans by the FIS.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd