Die Macht » champions.Nova Scotias Mary Fay (3-2) improved he

GENEVA - Pop violinist Vanessa-Mae was banned from competitive skiing for four years on Tuesday for taking part in races that were fixed to allow her to qualify for the Winter Olympics in Sochi.The findings by the International Ski Federation exposed as a sham what many fans thought was a feel-good celebrity Olympic story.FIS also banned five race officials from Slovenia and Italy for between one and two years for their role in the scandal.Those who have been sanctioned have been sanctioned for good reason, FIS President Gian Franco Kasper told The Associated Press. At first we were laughing when we heard it. But then we realized its quite a serious thing.FIS said its hearing panel found to its comfortable satisfaction that the status of four womens giant slalom races were manipulated in January in Slovenia, a few weeks before the games.FIS detailed several rule-breaking incidents that rigged results to help the then 35-year-old Vanessa-Mae falsely improve her racer status near the OIympic entry deadline.Without the cheating orchestrated by her managers, Vanessa-Mae would not have achieved the necessary FIS point performance level to be eligible to participate in the Olympic Winter Games, the governing body said.In February at the Sochi Games, the celebrity musician who was raised in Britain raced for Thailand as Vanessa Vanakorn, using the last name of her Thai father. She finished last of 67 racers in the two-run giant slalom, more than 50 seconds behind gold medallist Tina Maze of Slovenia.Vanessa-Mae can appeal the rulings to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.But it doesnt make much difference for her, Kasper said. She was racing (the Olympics) probably only once and thats all. But in any case we prevented her from being at the next Olympics.The next Winter Games are in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.FIS said it informed the International Olympic Committee, which can disqualify Vanessa-Mae from the Sochi Olympics.The IOC declined to comment on details of the case until possible appeals are completed.Should the judgment be confirmed the IOC will act on this in the framework of its policy of protecting the clean athletes, with zero tolerance towards the manipulation of results and any related corruption, the Olympic body said in a statement.IOC President Thomas Bach was photographed with Vanessa-Mae in Sochi and later appointed her to a working group meeting helping shape future policy for the Olympic movement.FIS said the scam involved falsely inflating the quality of four qualifying races to artificially boost Vanessa-Maes standing as a potential Olympian.Race rigging included inventing times for skiers who did not race and faking times for lower-quality skiers who did finish.A previously retired competitor with the best FIS points in the competition took part for the sole purpose of lowering the penalty to the benefit the participants in the races, FIS said.Race officials also broke rules by not changing the course design between the first and second runs, and allowing skiers to continue in poor weather which required abandonment.The competitions were organized at the request of the management of Vanessa Vanankorn, through the Thai Olympic Committee in its capacity as the FIS member National Ski Association, skiings governing body said.It is unclear if Thai Olympic officials were involved in the scam, or if they will face IOC sanctions.First you would have to figure out if the Thai Olympic Committee was really involved, and we have some doubts, said Kasper, who is an IOC member.The scandal was made public in July, several weeks after the IOC appointed Vanessa-Mae to an advisory group on cultural policy. The Slovenian ski federation punished officials and sent a report to FIS.The FIS ruling council will decide on annulling the fixed races at a meeting next Tuesday.___AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf in Rome contributed to this report. Fake Nike NFL Jerseys .C. - Alberta prop Andrew Tiedemann will captain Canada against Uruguay on Friday, the opening day of competition at the IRB Americas Rugby Championship. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Free Shipping . Nikolaos Kounenakis has been hired as an assistant coach, the team announced on Monday. https://www.chinajerseysnfl.us/ . Top-seeded Djokovic, who is making only his second appearance this year after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over 54th-ranked Istomin of Uzbekistan. "It wasnt as easy as the scoreline indicates," said Djokovic, who has won in Dubai on four occasions. Nike NFL Jerseys China . "I wouldnt read anything into what happened Saturday at Torrey Pines," Woods said Tuesday after an 18-hole exhibition for past winners of the Dubai Desert Classic. Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap . Austin Watson, Scott Ford, Filip Forsberg and Mark Van Guilder had the other goals for the Admirals (30-21-12). Scott Darling made 30 saves for his 10th win of the season.CORNER BROOK, N.L. - Corryn Brown led her B.C. rink to the championship round of the Canadian junior curling championships on Monday with an 8-3 win over Carina McKay-Saturnino of the Northwest Territories in womens Pool B play.B.C. improved to 5-0 with the win, and erased the hurt of missing the national championships in 2014, a year after winning the Canadian title.I really think that was kind of the huge driving factor for us, definitely. That was a crushing defeat, for sure, said Brown, referring to losing in the provincial final a year ago. And it really made us want it more, to be honest. The first year we won it, we didnt really have any past experience, but having won it and then losing it? That was a huge crushing disappointment, especially being defending Canadian champions.Nova Scotias Mary Fay (3-2) improved her hopes of moving on to the championship round with a 6-4 win over Prince Edward Islands Veronica Smith (2-4), while New Brunswicks Justine Comeeau (3-2) stole three in the 10th end for an 8-6 win over Newfoundland/Labradors Sarah Hill (0-5).ddddddddddddIn Pool A, Albertas Kelsey Rocque (5-0) is moving on after a bye on Monday night. Also clinching a position in the championship round was Ontarios Chelsea Brandwood (5-1), who beat Manitobas Beth Peterson (2-3) 8-3.In mens action, both pool leaders locked up their spots in the championship round. In Pool A, Quebecs Felix Asselin ran his win streak to five games with a 6-2 triumph over Nova Scotias Matthew Manuel (1-4).In Pool B, Albertas Karsten Sturmay also improved to 5-0 with an 8-2 win over the Yukons Joe Wallingham (2-4), while New Brunswicks Rene Comeau (4-1) clinched his championship round berth by beating Matthew Miller of the Northwest Territories (0-5) 10-5. Saskatchewans Jacob Hersikorn (4-1) had the bye on Monday night.In the other mens Pool A game, Newfoundland/Labradors Greg Smith (2-3) beat Nunavuts Kane Komaksiutiksak (0-4). ' ' '