Beckie Scott

Beckie Scott
Personal information
Full name Rebecca Scott
Born 1 August 1974
Vegreville, Alberta, Canada
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Professional information
Club Vermilion Nordic Ski Club
Skis Madshus
World Cup
Seasons 1994-2006
Wins 2
Additional podiums 8
Total podiums 10

Rebecca "Beckie" Scott,[1] MSM (born August 1, 1974) is a retired Canadian cross-country skiing athlete and as of February 23, 2006, an International Olympic Committee member by virtue of being elected to the IOC Athlete's Commission along with Saku Koivu.

Career

Beckie Scott during the torch relay for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, July 2012

Scott was born in Vegreville, Alberta, but grew up in Vermilion, Alberta. Supported by her passionatly competitive and skiing community activist father Walter Scott, she began cross-country skiing at the age of five. She entered her first competition at age seven, and attended the Junior National Championships in 1988. She went on to win seventeen World Cup medals in sprint, individual, and relay cross-country skiing events.

Scott is a three-time Olympian, participating at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. Her best placed finish in Nagano was 45th, but Scott won a gold medal in cross-country skiing at the Salt Lake City games. She originally finished third in the five-kilometre pursuit, but she was upgraded to the gold medal when winner Olga Danilova and runner-up Larissa Lazutina were eventually disqualified for using darbepoetin, a performance-enhancing drug. Scott was awarded a silver medal before receiving her gold medal in June 2004, almost 2 and a half years after the Olympics ended. She became the first Canadian and first North American woman to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing.

Scott has been honoured with a variety of awards in Canada, and has been inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.

On March 29, 2005, Scott agreed to join the World Anti-Doping Agency's athlete committee.[2]

On February 23, 2006, Scott was elected as an athlete member of the International Olympic Committee along with Finnish ice hockey player Saku Koivu.[3] Scott retired on April 12, 2006, as the most decorated Canadian cross-country skier.

On May 17, 2006 The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games announced the appointment of Scott to its board of directors.[4]

Personal life

She currently resides in Canmore, Alberta and is a student of English through distance programs from Athabasca University.

She is also known for her work on behalf of UNICEF and Right to Play.

On April 5, 2007 Scott announced that she and her husband, Canadian cross-country ski coach Justin Wadsworth,[5] were expecting their first child in September 2007. Teo (pronounced Tay-o) Jacob Wadsworth was born on September 16.[6] Scott gave birth to a baby girl, Brynn Jasmin Wadsworth, on March 31, 2010.[7]

Notable placings

References

External links

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