Beckie Scott
IOC representative
Athletes’ Commission
Beckie Scott has been a member of the COC’s Athlete Commission since 2006 as a representative of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Scott is a three-time Olympian, a double medallist and one of Canada’s best cross-country skiers ever. She made history at the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games by winning a gold medal in pursuit. In so doing, she became the first North American woman to win an Olympic medal (of any kind) in cross-country skiing.
Four years later, Scott took to the podium again. At the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, she teamed with Sara Renner and recovered from a broken ski pole to win the silver medal in team sprint.
Of four Olympic medals ever won by a Canadian cross-country skier, Scott owns two.
After nearly two decades of competitive skiing, Scott retired following the 2005-2006 winter season. Apart from her terrific Olympic success, she won 10 World Cup medals in that final season, four of them gold, and ranked second overall in the standings. She retired with 15 career World Cup medals and two fourth-place finishes at the 2003 and 2005 World Championships.
During the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, Scott was elected to the IOC Athletes’ Commission for an eight-year term. She is Canada’s third IOC member after Richard Pound and James Worrall. She is also a member of the IOC’s Coordination for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games – as well as the Coordination of the 1st Youth Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria in 2012.
As a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Athlete Committee, Scott is a passionate and influential lobbyist in this area. Among her many initiatives was an athletes’ petition that requested an independent drug-testing body for all World Cup and Olympic competitions.
Scott was also a part of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games as a board member for the organizing committee, VANOC. In 2006, Scott became a member of the COC’s Executive Committee as well as the Athletes’ Council, consequent to her election as an IOC member. She also serves on the board of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport.
Scott is well-recognized for her charitable endeavours, and was named UNICEF Canada special representative for challenging her fellow athletes at a 2001 Continental Cup event to donate their prize money to an Afghanistan relief project. She visited West Africa with UNICEF in 2003, part of its “Girl’s Education” campaign. She has also been active with Right To Play since 2003 and is now co-chair of its Canadian advisory council. Scott is also the co-chair of Cross-Country Canada’s Women’s Committee.
In recognition of her many achievements, Scott has twice received the John Semmelink memorial award and was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.