Tuesday, February 19, 2002
Beckie might not be done yet
By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
SALT LAKE CITY -- Cross-country skiing has never nominated an athlete as a flag-bearer for the closing ceremonies. But they might this time. If Beckie Scott does it again ...
When these Winter Olympic Games began, the projected event in which the Vermilion skier was rated the best chance of enjoying a success story was the sprint.
She already has one medal, Canada's first-ever Olympic medal in the sport, a bronze from the five-kilometre pursuit. The previous best-ever Canadian result at an Olympics in the event was 45th by Lucy Steel in Nagano.
Scott also finished sixth in the 10-km classic. Canada has never finished higher in that event at an Olympics than Sharon Firth's 26th place at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo.
In addition to today's sprint, Scott will ski the lead leg for Canada in the relay event later this week.
Does she have any gas left to keep these remarkable results coming?
"The day of the pursuit was a pretty long day for her,'' said Canada's cross-country boss Tom Holland of Canmore.
SOCIAL BUTTERFLY
As a medallist, she took the trip from Soldier's Hollow down to the medal plaza to receive her medal. She then stopped at the International Broadcast Centre and the Main Media Centre to visit the CBC and Canadian journalists who had been attending the Jamie Sale-David Pelletier press conference to announce they were being awarded gold medals following the corrupt judging controversy in the pairs figure-skating final.
From there they took Scott to Canada Lodge to visit with friends, family and fans.
"She's pretty smart,'' said Holland.
"She had a big recovery day the next day. I think she's OK. She's had three days to get it back. But I have to say we were a little bit concerned.''
Holland says this is her event.
"Her best results have been in sprint,'' he said of Scott.
'Sprints are a game of chance'
"Sprints are a game of chance. Anybody who gets through qualifying in the top 16 has a chance. There are a lot of great sprinters out there. But she knows the game. I think she has a good chance in a chance event.''
Holland thinks cross-country skiing in Canada has an opportunity to benefit from what Scott has already done.
"What this could do at the grassroots level could be just fantastic,'' he said.
"We have some pretty good club skiers in Canada but they don't set their sights on the international stage. Canadians have always looked at themselves as second-class when it comes to comparisons.
"I think the parents and the coaches at the club level have been like that. But what Beckie, and Sara Renner with two top-20 performances, have hopefully done is make them think bigger than just being the best in Canada.''
There's also the matter of funding.
"I think this will open doors for private funding which have always been closed to us and open to some of the other sports,'' said Holland.
"But the fact is, as we sit right now, we'll have $105,000 less funding next year than we have this year,'' he said of the loss of Olympic-year money from the feds.
"That's a lot of money when you have an entire budget of $550,000.
"We do amazing things with the amount of money we do have.''
Beckie Scott has done amazing things at these Olympics. And there's the thought that she's not done yet.
2002 Games Cross Country Skiing Coverage
