Wednesday, February 13, 2002
Scott a historic sixth in classical
By TERRY JONES -- SunMedia
SALT LAKE CITY -- Beckie Scott figured in the sprint. She figured in the relay. She maybe even figured in the pursuit. But the 10-km classical pursuit?
The Vermilion cross-country skier ended up sixth in the 10-km classical at the Olympic Winter Games here yesterday.
Canadians do not finish sixth in the 10-km classical.
Canada's best ever was Sharon Firth who finished 26th in Sapporo, Japan.
"This should give us a lot of confidence for the whole program in Canada,'' said team leader Tom Holland.
A CANADIAN CAN DO IT
"It shows that it can be done.
"In Canada we think only Europeans can do it. But now our young skiers can see that result and that a Canadian can do it.
"And it wasn't just Jamie. We had two other skiers finish higher than 26th.''
Sara Renner of Canmore was next top Canadian, finishing 15th. Milaine Theriault of Canmore was 25th and Jaime Fortier of Edmonton was 47th in a field of 59 finishers.
"I was thinking and hoping that I would end up in the top 10,'' said Scott.
A GOOD INDICATION
"This is the best finish I've had in this event. It's a good indication for the rest of the races, especially the pursuit.''
There's a danger of making too much of her finishing sixth, however.
While she was a long way ahead of the final finisher, she wasn't exactly in a photo finish at the wire.
Bente Skari of Norway won the gold, finishing 2.5 seconds ahead of Olga Danilova of Russia and 4.3 seconds ahead of her bronze medal-winning teammate Julija Tchepalova.
Another Russian, Larissa Lazutina, was 16 seconds back of the winner. Scott was 43.6 seconds back and finished 3.2 seconds behind the fifth-place Italian Stefania Belmondo.
2002 Games Cross Country Skiing Coverage
