Violinist Vanessa Mae is unlikely to win a medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics, which begin Friday in Sochi, Russia but she has been in the headlines since she qualified last month to ski for Thailand in the tournament.
Vanessa, who will compete in Sochi as Vanessa Mae Vanakorn, using her father surname, is one of the BBC's '10 unlikely contenders' at the Winter Olympics.'
"Some are eccentric. Some are defying the odds. Some fly the flag for unheralded nations," the BBC reported from Sochi.
"None of the competitors at Sochi 2014 listed below is your average name on the start list. They may or may not win medals, but theirs are winning stories of stubbornness, struggle and strange headlines in the run-up to the Winter Games."
In the report, Vanessa was quoted as saying: "When it comes to music, I am a perfectionist. When it is skiing, I have no delusions about a podium _ or even being in the top 100 in the world."
The BBC added: "You will be forgiven a double-take when a 5ft 3in world-renowned concert violinist glides across your screen in the women's giant slalom at Sochi 2014.
"If you have been following along, though, you will know this has long been a dream turned ambition for Vanessa Mae."
The 35-year-old Singapore-born British citizen announced her quest to reach Sochi almost four years ago. She has since been competing under her father's surname. For most of that time, her bid looked doomed.
She made her breakthrough in a series of races quietly staged in Slovenia on the last possible weekend before the qualification deadline, just barely hitting the criteria required to ski for her father's homeland at the Games.
Meanwhile, Vanessa is one of 'five things to know about Alpine skiing at the Sochi Olympics', according to the Associated Press.
Vanessa will be one of Thailand's only two athletes in Sochi with the other being Kanes Sucharitakul, also a skier.
"I am taking a plunge. I am British, but realistically there is no way I could represent my own country. Because my natural father is Thai, they have accepted me," she said.
Varin Tansupasiri, Thailand's chief of delegation at the tournament in Sochi, admitted that Vanessa is unlikely to win a medal but her participation helps create a good image for the kingdom which has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons due to ongoing political problems.
US-based Prawat Nagvajara is the only other Thai to have competed at the Winter Olympics when he took part in cross-country skiing in 2002 and 2006.