The ice queen

Thailand is more associated with sultry beaches, lush jungle and choked cities than the raw geographical material that immeasurably assists in producing athletic specimens capable of competing in the Winter Olympics.  So it was the kind of fairytale outcome that internationally renowned violinist Vanessa Mae qualified for the Sochi Olympics to represent Thailand in the downhill ski slalom.  And as with all fairytales, a kernel of truth was embellished to breaking point.  This was no Cool Runnings (or Cool Runnings II) where Jamaica entered a bobsleigh team.
An accomplished amateur skier, since a young girl Mae had always dreamt of representing her country (on one side of her family) at an Olympics, but the trouble was there were 3,000 more expert skiers above her in the global rankings.  Until a curious set of circumstances in Slovenia where being a multimillionaress and world famous proved to have advantages (who da thunk?).  Over the course of four events, Mae gained enough ranking points to make the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where she finished bottom of the leaderboard (of those who completed the slalom course).
Now, investigations have shown the Slovenian events to have been highly corrupt with two people appearing in points table who were not even there.  Thus Mae has been banned for four years from competitive skiing and various officials from the ex-Yugoslav republic serving suspensions of between one to two years, the clear indication that Mae bears prime culpability for the commission of this deception.  Ironically, while it was the influence her fame wielded that got her the gig in the southern neighbour of Austria, it was also her fame that shone the spotlight onto the extraordinary circumstances of her qualification.  Not that Mae will be bothered about the four-year ban.  She is 35 now and it would be highly unlikely for her to make another attempt at the age of 39 for the 2018 Winter Olympics; she has fulfilled the dream of her childhood, there is no need to make a repeat effort and no-one can take that away from her, not even international disgrace.