Violinist Vanessa Mae says she is ready to ski for Thailand who ‘have accepted me’

The British musician is competing at the 2014 Winter Olympics for Thailand in the women's giant slalom, thanks to her Thai heritage.

Vanessa Mae is competing for Thailand in the women's giant slalom at the Winter Olympics. Clive Rose / Getty Images

Vanessa Mae will trade in her violin for skis and poles when she makes her bow on the Olympic stage in the women’s giant slalom on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old British former child prodigy was born in Singapore to Thai and Chinese parents, but grew up in London where she moved aged four with her mother and stepfather.

However, strict British Olympic Association rules on team selection for alpine skiing saw Mae, who competes under her birth father’s surname Vanakorn, take Thai citizenship in her bid to make the Olympics.

Mae, whose full name is Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, made her name firstly as child classical violinist before becoming renowned for what she has described as her “techno-acoustic fusion”.

While not well known in Thailand, she became a household name in Britain, with worldwide record sales in excess of 10 million.

Because Thailand has no skiers ranked in the world top 500, it is allowed to send one man and one woman for the slalom and giant slalom events if they have an average of no more than 140 points over five internationally recognised races. A stronger performance earns fewer points.

Mae, a British citizen who has been training in Zermatt in Switzerland for several years, qualified after racing four times in Slovenia in a desperate bid to compete.

“I’m British but realistically there is no way I could represent my own country. Because my natural father is Thai, they have accepted me,” she told the Daily Telegraph.

But she has shunned publicity since touching down in Sochi, where she said she was “entirely focused on skiing”.

Mae is “not interested in promotion”, according to her manager Giles Holland.

“Vanessa has been told by her coach to turn off her BlackBerry (telephone),” said Holland.

“She knows that the Olympic Games requires her entire focus. She wants to do well. Already she is torn in two, with her music career. She doesn’t want any more distractions.”

Mae has taken a year off from her “lifelong passion” of music in her bid to make the Olympics and pursue at the highest level what she has dubbed her “lifelong hobby”.

German stars Maria Hoefl-Riesch and Viktoria Rebensburg, who will be among the favourites for giant slalom gold, were left tickled by Mae’s diminutive stature, but impressed by the virtuoso’s drive to make it to the Olympics.

“It’s interesting there are such people among us, when you see her, how small she is, how petite,” said the towering Hoefl-Riesch, who has so far won super-combined gold and super-G silver on the Rosa Khutor course.

“It’s tough to imagine how she, being so fragile, can take part in a race, hitting gates.”

Rebensburg, the defending Olympic giant slalom champion, added: “Of course, I’m excited. It’s great to see such a great musician take part in our sport.

“Hopefully she’ll achieve a good result.”

Slalom specialist Barbara Wirth said she had even trained with Mae in Zermatt, where the two Olympic debutants took to the high slopes in the summer.

“Of course, she’s a wonderful musician and I think it’s great she’s skiing alongside us,” Wirth said.

“The most interesting thing will be to see the way she performs having put in all the preparation for the race.”