USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文双语Français
Lifestyle
Home / Lifestyle / Celebrities

The unlikely Olympian

By Lei Lei | China Daily | Updated: 2014-03-11 09:25

"I've always enjoyed risk so I think you can't just switch off the risk button. I think that life is no fun without risk."

Vanessa-Mae came up with the idea of skiing at the Winter Olympics several years ago, but only started serious training six months ago and started competing in races only two months before the games.

The unlikely Olympian

Violinist Vanessa-Mae to ski at Sochi for Thailand 

The unlikely Olympian

Heavy metal magic 

"The athletes have been racing since they were 6 years old. And in the short time that I've spent with the athletes, I realized how much hard work goes around just being able to strap on a pair of skis and giving it your all," she says.

"The only thing about music is there is no right or wrong - it is interpretation. Here it's based on time. And that's why it's so telling, the results. I have to say though that I can't imagine a life without sport or without music. So I'm very lucky to exist in this world where we all get the chance to enjoy both."

At the Sochi Games, Vanessa-Mae clocked 3 minutes 26.97 seconds down the course, 11.35 seconds behind her closest rival, Xia Lina of China, and 50.10 seconds behind winner Tina Maze of Slovenia.

But considering that 23 entrants failed to start or finish on the course, what she has done could be regarded as an achievement.

"It was cool. I think it's hard to stay focused, when you only have six months training like me, but I was just happy I didn't get lost, because this was my first two-gates and I thought I was going to go the wrong side, but I made it down," she says.

Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US