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The International Ski Federation (FIS) has banned violinist Vanessa-Mae from skiing for four years after results were manipulated to help her qualify for the Sochi Winter Olympics.

An FIS hearing panel found “violations” in the Thailand skier’s results at an event in Slovenia.

Vanessa-Mae, a 36-year-old British citizen, qualified days before the deadline after competing in the hastily-staged races in January.

Five officials involved in the event have also been banned by the FIS.

Vanessa-Mae was born in Singapore to Thai and Chinese parents and moved to England at the age of 4

Vanessa-Mae was born in Singapore to Thai and Chinese parents and moved to England at the age of 4

The competitions in Slovenia were organized at the request of the management of the skier, through the Thai Olympic Committee.

Competing as Vanessa Vanakorn, she went on to finish last of 67 competitors in the giant slalom at the Sochi Games, 50 seconds adrift of winner Tina Maze.

The FIS said in a statement: “The hearing panel found to its comfortable satisfaction that the results of the four ladies’ giant slalom races that took place on 18 and 19 January at Krvavec were manipulated.”

Vanessa-Mae was born in Singapore to Thai and Chinese parents and moved to England at the age of 4 after her mother married a British lawyer.

She earned fame as a violinist during her childhood with a series of performances on British television before going on to launch a successful solo career with album sales running into millions.

The International Olympic Committee said it would not be taking any follow-up action until the outcome of any appeal was known.

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Russia has sent the Olympic torch into space ahead of the Sochi Winter Games.

A Soyuz rocket is delivering the torch to the International Space Station- as part of efforts to showcase next year’s games in Russia.

On Saturday, two Russian cosmonauts will take it on a historic first spacewalk. The torch will not be lit.

The Soyuz rocket blasted off at 04:14:25 GMT from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Three cosmonauts – Russia’s Mikhail Tyurin, American Rick Mastracchio and Koici Wakata from Japan – are taking the torch to the ISS, which it is due to reach in six hours.

A Soyuz rocket is delivering the Olympic torch to the International Space Station

A Soyuz rocket is delivering the Olympic torch to the International Space Station

The Olympic torch will be handed over to fellow cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky, who are already on the orbiting station, when they go on the spacewalk on Saturday.

“Our goal here is to make it look spectacular,” Oleg Kotov said earlier.

“We’d like to showcase our Olympic torch in space. We will try to do it in a beautiful manner. Millions of people will see it live on TV and they will see the station and see how we work.”

The Olympic torch has been carried into space twice before – in 1996 and 2000 – but it has never left a spaceship.

The Sochi torch will then be returned to earth and used to light the Olympic cauldron in February 2014.

It is all part of the elaborate preparations for Russia’s first Olympics since the Soviet era. It is also the most expensive one so far, costing around $50 billion (1,620 billion roubles).

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