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Why didn't Vanessa-Mae compete for TeamGB?

20 replies

Mojang · 18/02/2014 12:35

as she's British?

Was it to do with money? (Not sure what/how)

Did our Olympic committee not want her as it was obvious she would perform (relatively) poorly?

I seem to recall something about them not wanting "novelty acts" after Eddie the Eagle. If so, are they right in your opinion?

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CogitoErgoSometimes · 18/02/2014 13:18

Presumably she had a choice. Hmm

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Eastpoint · 18/02/2014 13:20

I think she couldn't compete for Team GB because she isn't good enough.

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MargotLovedTom · 18/02/2014 13:20

???

Vanessa-Mae the violinist?

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NickNacks · 18/02/2014 13:21

I'm with Margot!

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Floralnomad · 18/02/2014 13:21

She would not have been selected as she is not very good .

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MargotLovedTom · 18/02/2014 13:23

Looks like we'll have to google NickNacks. I'm baffled.

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MargotLovedTom · 18/02/2014 13:25

Ah we'll, she was 74th out of 74 in the giant slalom so our loss is Thailand's...loss.

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AuntieBrenda · 18/02/2014 13:26

Good on her - if I had the chance to be in the Olympics I would jump at it, whether I'd come last or not! What an opportunity for the experience!

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Mojang · 18/02/2014 13:29

Yes, the violinist she came last in the Giant Slalom this morning

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/winter-olympics/26243219

AFAIK there were no British competitors so it's not like she'd have deprived someone else of a place/didn't make the team.

I don't know if she had a choice Cognito, that's why I'm asking. I got the impression she "had" to switch to Thailand to be able to compete.

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Mojang · 18/02/2014 13:30

That's how I feel Auntie. Obviously it would be better if there was a British entrant who had a chance of doing well but as there wasn't why not her?

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PeterParkerSays · 18/02/2014 13:33

Maybe they'll only fund you if you have a decent chance of winning, minimum slalom time etc?

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Mojang · 18/02/2014 13:35

Maybe Peter. Did she need funding?

Being British and loving an underdog, I'm a little uneasy with the we'll only play if we can win attitude Grin

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ooerrmissus · 18/02/2014 13:35

As I understand it, nations who don't have any competitors who would qualify under the usual rules are allowed to send one person. Vanessa Mae was Thailand's one person.

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Mojang · 18/02/2014 13:38

Really? Ooermissus, maybe that's it then, but I'm sure I read that she'd narrowly met the qualifying time with only a couple of weeks to spare

This article suggests she "qualified"

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pootlebug · 18/02/2014 13:44

This article suggests that qualification is relatively easy

The relevant bit from it:
"Actually, she could well finish 90th out of 90 on Tuesday even with stiff competition for the wooden spoon from nations such as Togo and Peru, which have also taken advantage of the International Ski Federation (FIS) rules which allow non-skiing nations to enter one athlete as long as they have gleaned the generous minimum requirement of FIS points.
Vanessa-Mae just scraped this mark on the final weekend of qualification after gaining invitations to four races in Slovenia"

I am guessing her violin playing doesn't get her as much publicity as it did in the days when she was a teenager in a very short skirt.

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nonmifairidere · 21/02/2014 11:19

Miaow.

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MirandaWest · 21/02/2014 11:21

She came something like 67th didn't she? (I know she was last but some people didn't finish)

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specialsubject · 24/02/2014 14:56

there are minimum standards for winter olympics athletes - the 'Eddie the Eagle' ruling. This is largely because the organisers were annoyed at how much coverage he got, he was a glorious last but ski jumpers hardly hold up other ski jumpers!

the British winter team have standards much stricter than the minimum, and Vanessa-Mae didn't qualify. However as she has skied all her life and spent lots of time training, she met the overall standard, and entered as a Thai because that is her father's nationality. And obviously there wasn't a big queue for the Thai ski team!

she paid her own way.

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amandine07 · 27/02/2014 12:57

Ooh I remember Vanessa-Mae back in the day, she's around my age.

I remember her album coming out and it was all short skirts, loads of make up & pouting with wet flimsy clothes in her music videos!

As far as I can gather, she's a very competent skier- has done it all her life- but she didn't meet the standard for the GB team.

Her father is Thai so she was able to represent Thailand instead. Even if she came last, so what, how many of us make it to the Winter Olympics?

I say fair play to her Grin

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OTheHugeManatee · 27/02/2014 13:00

Because she wasn't good enough for the British team. She wanted to compete, so she found a team that would have her.

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