A skier was yesterday banned for four years after it emerged she took part in races fixed to help her qualify for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Vanessa Mae represented Thailand in the Olympics but under the name Vanessa Vanakorn and finished last out of the 67 competitors in the women’s giant-slalom.

The International Ski Federation found “to its comfortable satisfaction” that the results of a series of races in Slovenia in January were manipulated in order for Mae to achieve the qualifying points required to compete at the Games.

An FIS statement read: “After considering written submissions and testimony at a hearing on 3rd October 2014, the Hearing Panel found to its comfortable satisfaction that the results of the four ladies giant slalom races that took place on 18th and 19th January 18 2014 at Krvavec (SLO) were manipulated, resulting in the calculation of FIS Points that do not reflect the true performance of the competitors that participated in those events and in particular the points awarded to Vanessa Vanakorn (Mae).”

FIS found the races in Slovenia were organised at the request of Mae’s management company and the Thailand Olympic Committee in order to enable her to meet the qualifying criteria.