Beckie Scott receives 2002 Olympic gold medal in Vancouver ceremony
Beckie Scott receives 2002 Olympic gold medal in Vancouver ceremony{mosimage}Canadian Beckie Scott, the first North American woman to win an Olympic cross-country skiing medal, is – finally – the first North American to win an Olympic cross-country skiing gold medal.
It took more than 28 months, but Scott received her Olympic gold medal for the 2002 pursuit event, a two-race race, on June 25 in a presentation ceremony at the Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver, which will host the 2010 Winter Games. Charmaine Crooks, an International Olympic Committee member and former Canadian track and field Olympian, presented Scott – decked out in bright red Canadian Olympic gear – with her medal. “This is a real victory for athletes that fight for a doping-free sport,” Crooks said, calling Scott “a class act.”
An emotional Scott, whose husband is U.S. three-time Olympic cross-country racer Justin Wadsworth, fought off tears as she thanked Canadians “for their overwhelming support from Day One.”
Receiving the medal, she told several hundred spectators, family and friends, this “signifies the end of a really long journey, and is the culmination of some really strong efforts both on and off the snow.”
At a press conference (and teleconference) after the ceremony, Scott recounted how she had sent back her bronze medal a year ago when she was upgraded to silver-medal winner. In the winter, she returned her silver medal.
“My first choice,” she said, repeating a familiar theme, “would have been to stand on the [top step of the] podium, of the Olympic podium in Salt Lake City and accept the medal there.” But Scott, who hasn’t announced whether she would continue racing, said she’s happy the ordeal is over and that she can proceed to whatever’s next.
Said Michael Chambers, Canadian Olympic Committee president, “It may the longest gold-medal race in history, but we won and we are thrilled to present her with a well-deserved and long overdue gold medal.”
Scott finished third February 15, 2002, in the Olympic pursuit event at Soldier Hollow, Utah, coming in behind Russians Olga Danilova and Larissa Lazhutina, who passed post-race drug tests. However, the two Russians were caught in an ambush anti-doping test before the final race of the Games and were found to be using a new – but nonetheless banned – performance-enhancing drug, darbopoetin, which reportedly had only come onto the market in the fall of 2001.
Lazhutina had been silver medalist in the 15-kilometer freestyle race, the first cross-country race of Salt Lake City Olympics and apparent silver medalist in the pursuit, which included a 5km classic technique race, a two-hour break and a 5km freestyle race. She also finished first in the 30km classic race, but by then she and Danilova – who had been silver medalists in the 10km CL and pursuit “champion” – had been busted; after the 30km, IOC officials released the results of the unannounced drug test and stripped Lazhutina of her 30km gold medal (Danilova had been eighth in the 30km), but the Russians were allowed to keep their earlier medals.
Lazhutina, it turned out, has been caught blood doping in testing before the Olympics, the results of which the International Ski Federation never announced until after the Winter Games. She was stripped of her medals and in June 200, the International Olympic Committee officially announced Scott as the pursuit silver medalist. Canadian and Norwegian Olympic officials continued to press for Danilova to be stripped of her medals.
Danilova fought losing her medals, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which also rejected Lazhutina’s arguments to keep her medals, rejected her appeal. Scott was told last December she was the pursuit champion; it was hoped a formal presentation could be made in the spring, but a variety of events pushed back her award until June 25.
Fasterskier.com has posted excellent photos from the ceremony at their website. To view them, click here:
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About the Author: Pete Rugh
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