CANMORE – Canmore resident and retired Olympic cross-country skier Beckie Scott will be named to the Alberta Order of Excellence this fall.
The provincial government announced Friday (May 32) that eight remarkable Albertans will become members of the highest order in the province at an investiture ceremony in Edmonton on Oct. 17.
“These extraordinary Albertans have maintained a lifelong commitment to making a real and lasting difference in the lives of others," said Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell in a press release. "Their great examples remind us of the importance of giving back and inspire us all to share our best with the world.”
Along with Scott, the 2019 inductees are: Robert Burrell of Sherwood Park, Bonnie DuPont of Calgary, Katie Ohe of Springbank, Malcolm Sissons of Medicine Hat, Muriel Stanley Venne of Edmonton and Frances Wright of Calgary.
Earlier this year, Scott was also named as an officer to the Order of Canada by Governor General Julie Payette.
Originally from Vermilion, Alta., Scott has called Canmore home for a number of years along with her two children and husband, former national cross-country coach Justin Wadsworth.
Scott has become an international advocate for clean sport, having joined the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) athlete committee in 2005, a year before she retired from racing. She still sits as chair of that committee and has spoken out to promote clean sport through that role.
Scott competed in cross-country competitions at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah and 2016 in Turin, Italy.
It was in Salt Lake City that Scott placed third in a five-kilometre pursuit race, but was awarded the gold medal two years later after the first and second place competitors were disqualified for using a performance-enhancing drug. As a result, she became first Canadian woman to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing.
Scott is also CEO of Spirit North, an organization working to connect Indigenous youth in western Canada to cross-country skiing. Scott established the organization in 2006, which works with more than 30 Indigenous communities in Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba and reaches 6,000 youth every year.
