Why didn't Vanessa-Mae compete for TeamGB?

[Mojang]

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?

Presumably she had a choice.

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

???

Vanessa-Mae the violinist?

I'm with Margot!

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

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

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

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!

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.

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?

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

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

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.

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"

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.

Miaow.

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

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.

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

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