Sochi (Russia) (AFP) - German duo Maria Hoefl-Riesch and Viktoria Rebensburg are favourites for Tuesday's Olympic women's giant slalom, but they could be muscled out of the spotlight by a slender violinist from Thailand. Vanessa Mae will trade in her violin for skis and poles when she makes her bow on the Olympic stage after the 35-year-old qualified for the Thailand team. But despite her novice skiing level, she insists she is serious over her Sochi bid with her manager Giles Holland saying: "Vanessa has been told by her coach to turn off her BlackBerry (telephone)." "It's interesting there are such people among us, when you see her, how small she is, how petite," said the towering Hoefl-Riesch, who has so far won super-combined gold and super-G silver on the Rosa Khutor course.



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