CANMORE – Canmore resident Beckie Scott was named an officer in the Order of Canada by Governor General Julie Payette at the end of December.
While she grew up in Vermilion, Alta, the former Olympic athlete, clean sport advocate and CEO of Spirit North, has called Canmore home for a number of years along with her husband, former national cross-country coach Justin Wadsworth, and their two children.
Scott said she was humbled by the honour of being inducted into the Order of Canada.
“To be recognized by my country for that work, was quite humbling,” she said.
The cross-country athlete competed in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah and 2016 in Turin, Italy.
In Salt Lake City, she placed third in the five-kilometre pursuit race, but was later awarded the gold medal after the first and second place competitors were eventually disqualified for using a performance-enhancing drug.
The gold medal, albeit more than two years after the Olympics were over, made Scott the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing.
For Scott, the seed that would lead to her future work to promote clean sport had been planted.
While she retired from Nordic racing in 2006, the year before she joined the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) athlete committee, Scott is still chair of that committee today.
“I became so galvanized about what was important in sport and why competing on a level playing field was so vital,” she said. “The longer I have been in this arena, which is really sport politics, the more I feel that way.
“I fully appreciate the forces that sport is up against in terms of corruption and I think this is such an important effort and that is why I have stayed in it as long as I have, even though it was not easy.”
A major challenge to Scott’s values of promoting clean sport and holding those who cheat accountable occurred in September.
In 2012, she was appointed to WADA’s executive committee, but resigned this fall from the compliance and review committee over the reinstatement of Russia’s anti doping agency (RUSADA).
The agency was ruled to be non-compliant in 2015 after Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren found evidence of drug abuse coverups, including during the 2014 Sochi Games.
There were a number of requirements RUSADA had to implement before it could be reinstated, but the committee ended up waiving the final two, which was unacceptable to Scott and others who advocated against corruption in sport.
“I was part of that committee and I could not stand by (the decision),” Scott said. “I was so fundamentally opposed. I felt I needed to resign. I did not want to be associated with that decision.”
The decision was to soften the stance that Russia accept the findings of the McLaren report and turn over data and doping samples to help corroborate positive tests at a yet to be determined future date.
Scott said the situation was very challenging and she did not choose to take the easy road, but took the role with WADA originally because of the principles and values she held about clean sport and competition.
“I just have to stand by it every time.”
Scott is also CEO of Spirit North, an organization working to connect Indigenous youth in western Canada to cross-country skiing. By using sport to empower youth, Spirit North helps build skills and enhance the quality of life for those who participate in its programs.
Founded in 2006, it now works with more than 30 Indigenous communities in Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba and reaches 6,000 youth every year.
The expansion of Spirit North and its success for Scott speaks to the role that every Canadian has in reconciliation with First Nations across Canada. Scott said the first step is to ensure access to outdoor recreation like cross-country skiing is available for Indigenous youth.
“As we have discovered with Spirit North, the sky is the limit,” Scott said. “We have so many amazing coaches, teachers and visionaries drawn to the program, shaping and guiding it in so many ways with the same intention and goal, which is to change lives through activity.”
Scott said she often refers to her life as having one foot in the dark side of sport and one foot in the light side and all the good that it can create in this world.
“It has nothing to do with perfection, or excellence, or elitism at all. It is purely providing opportunities where there were none at all before and opening doors that were not open before,” she said.
“It is a lot of work, but really fun to see the direction it is going.”
As an officer of the Order of Canada, the Governor General has recognized Scott’s extensive contributions to sport in Canada as a decorated athlete, fair play ambassador and champion of clean sport.
