LONDON: -- Violinist Vanessa-Mae has put music on hold for a year and is rehearsing for a new role – skiing for Thailand at the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Vanessa-Mae, 34, is in training with the aim of competing in at least five internationally recognised events to qualify for the giant slalom and possibly the slalom at the Sochi Olympics in 2014.
"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."
The violinist is a British citizen but she also holds a Thai passport. She was born in Singapore to a Chinese mother and a Thai father but she was brought up in England.
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.
Thaivisa: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/613 ... -olympics/
Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/others ... mpics.html
