"I arrived with just one racer behind me - I'm a last-minute kind of girl, I mean training for the Olympics with six months to go was a last-minute thing."

She says making the transition from musician to athlete was exciting.

"It's so funny from artist to athlete. I think when I was young playing the violin, it was in my body from a young age. Already by the age of 13 I had recorded three classical albums. I was quite blase about my successes, I think when you're a kid you just take everything in your stride," she says.

Violinist Vanessa-Mae to ski at Sochi for Thailand

Heavy metal magic

"Now, at my age, to be skiing with girls that are sometimes half my age, it's great to have this new lease on life. I think you have to discover new things in every decade of your life - better late than never. And so I cannot really compare it because having achieved so much as a child on the violin, every day I just want to challenge myself more and more."

The participation of Vanessa-Mae in Sochi has drawn much attention from the media as well as other athletes.

"We spoke after the first race. I didn't know that it was her sitting next to me," says gold medalist Maze of the event.

"I respect a lot of what she does with music and she has a great personality."

Vanessa-Mae's hard work in training also impressed other skiers.

"It was a nice experience. She was really excited to be training with us, but we were equally as excited because she's such a big music star," Barbara Wirth of Germany says of Vanessa-Mae, who trained with the German team.

"She is extremely ambitious and works really hard, and we were impressed with how well she was skiing, despite the little amount of practice she's had."