Beckie Scott - Canada's cross country sprint queen

It's not easy being queen. But if anyone is up to the job, it's cross-country skiing star Beckie Scott, who is poised to lead the Canadian team to what it hopes will be its best Olympics ever in Salt Lake City.

Scott, 27, is now in her eighth year on the national cross country ski team, and over the past couple of seasons, she's proven she belongs in the ranks of the world's elite cross-country skiers and sprint racers. Her last two seasons have made her the Canada's undisputed cross-country sprint queen. During the 2001 season, she won a bronze sprint medal and a silver in the relay at the 2001 World Cup in Soldier Hollow, Utah, becoming only the second Canadian woman ever to stand on a World Cup podium for cross country skiing. She finished with an overall World Cup ranking of 15th for the second straight year.

Recently, Scott kicked off the 2001-02 season with a first-place finish in the sprint at the Continental Cup in Fairbanks, Alaska. At that event, she challenged fellow skiers to donate their prize money to UNICEF's Afghanistan Relief Fund, raising a total of $2,200.00.

Scott is now preparing for World Cup races in Cogne, Switzerland, but her mind is also on the Olympics. "I'm excited, I really am," she says. "I feel like I'm probably in the best shape of my life. Everything has been going really well for me, and I'm looking forward to a good year, especially at the Olympics."

Raised in Vermilion, Alberta, Scott began cross-country skiing at the age of five, when her parents, both avid skiers themselves, enrolled her in the local Jackrabbit League. "I didn't really have a choice," she says, laughing. "I was encouraged to be active, that's for sure!"

She entered her first race at the age of seven, and by age 12 she was winning medals at the Junior National competitions.

A place in Canadian cross country history
The sprint, Scott's signature event, was introduced at the Continental and World Cup series in the 1998/99 season, and she instantly made her presence felt, consistently finishing in the top 10. Three seasons later, Scott finds herself challenging Canadian champion Pierre Harvey's place in cross country skiing history: Harvey won three World Cup gold medals between 1988 and 1989 and is still considered Canada's most successful international Nordic skier.

Besides the influence of her family, Scott credits her first coach, Les Parsons, with fostering her determination and her love of the sport.

"He instilled in me a sense of vision and belief in my abilities. But he also kept it a lot of fun, which was important because while I was definitely dreaming of big things, I was still really enjoying myself."

That enjoyment has not abated over the years, despite the grind of constant travel and competition.

"I like the lifestyle the most," she says. "It really is an incredible opportunity to be able to travel most of the winter, to all kinds of different places. One of the hardest [aspects] is spending so much time away from my family and friends. I kind of miss that…. I can hardly even keep plants!"

She currently lives in Bend, Oregon, where she moved after the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Partly she was ready for a change, she confesses, after living for five years in Canmore. But the move was also practical. Because of the mountain climate, Bend offers some of the best training facilities in the world.

"It's a really unique environment," she says. "We can usually ski there on the Nordic trails until the end of June".

In her downtime, Scott writes and studies English through the University of Athabasca's distance education program, and she reads voraciously. Typically, even her choice of books leaves no room for slacking: she recently finished Captain Corelli's Mandolin, by Louis de Vernieres, and is now tackling Salman Rushdie's novel, Shame. "It's interesting, but a little hard to get through," she admits. "I'm definitely struggling."

Looking ahead, Scott is uncertain what life holds for her after Salt Lake City. She intends to finish up her bachelor's degree in English, and then, she says, "I'll take some time in the spring and evaluate [whether] I'll continue skiing. I'll probably continue for one more year after the Olympics."

But for now, Canada's Sprint Queen has plenty to motivate her. "It IS something to move into the top 15 on the World Cup," she says, "but once you're there, it's like, 'This isn't good enough any more.' [I want] to keep moving forward, keep improving, and trying to get even more out of myself".