Rebecca "Beckie" Scott (born August 1, 1974) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

retired cross-country skier. She is an Olympic gold and silver medallist, and the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing. She is the founder of a national organization dedicated to improving health, wellness and education outcomes for Indigenous youth through sport and play. Scott was Chair of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Athlete Committee, and gained notoriety for her position during the Russian (2014–2019) doping scandal. She served as an

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

member by virtue of being elected to the IOC Athlete's Commission along with

Saku Koivu Saku Antero Koivu (; born November 23, 1974) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He began his NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens in 1995–96 after three seasons with TPS of the ...

between 2006 and 2014. She is married to the American former cross-country skier Justin Wadsworth. They have two children, Teo and Brynn.

Career

Scott was born in

Vegreville Vegreville () is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is on Highway 16A approximately east of Edmonton, Alberta's capital city. It was incorporated as a town in 1906, and that year also saw the founding of the ''Vegreville Observer'', a week ...

, Alberta, but grew up in

Vermilion, Alberta Vermilion is a town in central Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by the County of Vermilion River. It is at the intersection of Highway 16 (Yellowhead Highway) and Highway 41 ( Buffalo Trail), approximately west of Lloydminster and east of ...

. Supported by her parents, 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 Scott is a three-time Olympian, participating at the

1998 Winter Olympic Games The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events taking place i ...

in Nagano, Japan, the

2002 Winter Olympic Games The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international winter multi-sport event that was he ...

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

, and the

2006 Winter Olympic Games The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter Oly ...

Turin, Italy Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. Her best-placed finish in Nagano was 45th, but Scott won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in cross-country skiing at the Salt Lake City games. She originally finished third in the 5 km pursuit, but she was upgraded to the gold medal when winner

Olga Danilova Olga Valeryevna Danilova (Russian: Ольга Валерьевна Данилова; born 10 June 1970 in Bugulma, Tatar ASSR, Russian SFSR) is a Russian cross-country skier who competed from 1991 until she was banned for using performance-enha ...

and runner-up

Larissa Lazutina Larisa Yevgenyevna Lazutina (; née Ptitsyna, born 1 June 1965) is a Soviet-Russian former professional cross-country skier. Career Lazutina was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1998 (shared with Fred Børre Lundberg, Alexey Prokurorov and Ha ...

were eventually disqualified for using

darbepoetin Darbepoetin alfa (INN) is a re-engineered form of erythropoietin containing 5 amino acid changes (N30, T32, V87, N88, T90) resulting in the creation of 2 new sites for N-linked carbohydrate addition. It has a 3-fold longer serum half-life compa ...

, a performance-enhancing drug. Scott was awarded a silver medal before receiving her gold medal in June 2004, almost two and a half years after the Olympics ended. She became the first Canadian and first North American woman to win an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

medal in cross-country skiing. Scott is an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

, and has been honoured with a variety of awards in Canada. She has been inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame, and the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English from the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

and has twice received the John Semmelink Award, for demonstrating sportsmanship and ability in international competition. She holds honorary Doctorates of Laws from the University of Alberta, Mount Royal University and the University of British Columbia. Scott was inducted into the

Alberta Order of Excellence The Alberta Order of Excellence is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Alberta. Instituted in 1979 when Lieutenant Governor Frank C. Lynch-Staunton granted royal assent to the Alberta Order of Excellence Act, the order is admi ...

on October 17, 2019. On March 29, 2005, Scott agreed to join the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...

's (WADA) athlete committee. On February 23, 2006, Scott was elected as an athlete member of the

along with Finnish

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player

. Scott retired on April 12, 2006, as the most decorated Canadian cross-country skier. 2006 was also her best season, with multiple victories and podiums on the World Cup circuit, to go with her Olympic silver in one of her races in Turin, and she lost out on winning her first World Cup overall season title to the great

Marit Bjørgen Marit Bjørgen (born 21 March 1980) is a former Norwegian cross-country skier. She is ranked first in the all-time Cross-Country World Cup rankings with 114 individual victories. Bjørgen is also the most successful sprinter in Cross-Country Wo ...

by the smallest margin. In September 2012, Scott was appointed to WADA's executive committee. In September 2018, Scott resigned from the WADA compliance and review committee responsible for making a recommendation to end the

Russian Anti-Doping Agency The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA; ), established in January 2008, is the Russian National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO), affiliated with (but suspended from, since 2015) the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). History It was established un ...

's suspension from WADA.

Charity

In 2017, Scott established ''Spirit North'', a charitable organization dedicated to improving health, wellness and education outcomes for Indigenous youth through equitable access to sport and play.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

* 2 medals – (1 gold, 1 silver)

World Championships

:a. Cancelled due to extremely cold weather.

World Cup

Season standings

Individual podiums

* 4 victories * 15 podiums

Team podiums

* 2 podiums – (1 , 1 )

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Beckie 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Bend, Oregon Skiing people from Alberta Canadian female cross-country skiers Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic silver medalists for Canada Cross-country skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Officers of the Order of Canada Recipients of the Meritorious Service Decoration Olympic cross-country skiers for Canada Canadian International Olympic Committee members World Anti-Doping Agency members Athabasca University alumni Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics People from Vegreville Members of the Alberta Order of Excellence 20th-century Canadian sportswomen 21st-century Canadian sportswomen