23 Facts About Vanessa-Mae

Vanessa-Mae, called Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, is a Singaporean-born British violinist with album sales reaching several million, having made her the wealthiest entertainer under 30 in the United Kingdom in 2006.

Vanessa-Mae competed under the name Vanessa Vanakorn for Thailand in alpine skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Vanessa-Mae was initially banned from skiing by the International Ski Federation after participating in a qualifying race allegedly organised to enable her to qualify for the Winter Olympics.

Vanessa-Mae was born on 27 October 1978 in Singapore, to Singaporean mother Pamela Soei Luang Tan and Thai father Vorapong Vanakorn.

At the age of eight Vanessa-Mae embarked upon a period of study with Professor Lin Yao Ji at the National Conservatoire of Music in Beijing.

Vanessa-Mae returned to London and entered London's Royal College of Music.

Vanessa-Mae made her professional debut when she was ten at a music festival in Germany.

At age thirteen, Vanessa-Mae became the youngest soloist to record both the Beethoven and Tchaikovsky violin concertos, according to Guinness World Records.

Vanessa-Mae appeared on the 1997 Janet Jackson album The Velvet Rope playing a violin solo on the song "Velvet Rope".

Vanessa-Mae appeared in producer George Martin's compilation and covers album In My Life in 1998.

Vanessa-Mae was managed by her mother until Vanessa-Mae fired her in 1999.

Vanessa-Mae was one of two alpine skiers who represented Thailand at the 2014 Winter Olympics, where she competed under the name of "Vanessa Vanakorn".

Vanessa-Mae started in the 87th position, representing her relative ranking in the world giant slalom rankings.

Vanessa-Mae started 74th in run 2, the last starter for run 2.

Vanessa-Mae was last of the 67 racers who finished, although 23 other racers failed to complete the race.

Vanessa-Mae issued a statement calling the ban "nonsensical" and saying "we will" appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Vanessa-Mae filed appeals with the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 4 December 2014 against both the FIS Hearing Panel and the FIS Council.

On 19 June 2015 the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided Vanessa-Mae's four-year ban, saying there was a lack of evidence that she herself manipulated the races; but the CAS dismissed her appeal to restore the qualifying results, confirming that the qualifying races "were so defective that their results and qualification points gained therefrom could not stand", and therefore "Vanessa Vanakorn remains ineligible to compete in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games".

However, in January 2016 the media announced that the International Olympic Committee had confirmed that Vanessa-Mae could be called an Olympian.

In 2016, Vanessa-Mae settled her defamation lawsuit against the FIS, in which the FIS made an "appropriate payment", the amount of which was not disclosed.

Vanessa-Mae returned to skiing in 2017, to attempt to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Vanessa-Mae withdrew from competition due to suffering a shoulder injury, in January 2018.

Vanessa-Mae has expressed a lack of interest in marriage, saying "you don't need a ring to say I love you".