Beckie finally gets gold; 'This is a victory for the little guy,' Alberta skier says Russian stripped of Olympic medal for failing drug test

The Toronto Star
Fri 19 Dec 2003
Michael Clarkson

The "longest race in history" is finally over after a precedent-setting decision yesterday awarded an Olympic gold medal to cross-country skier Beckie Scott.

But Scott, from Vermilion, Alta., declared that the fight to clean up doping in her sport has only begun. "This is a victory for the little guy ... but it's a long, hard fight to clean our sport, and I don't think we're there yet," said Scott, who is the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold in cross-country skiing.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the winner of the five-kilometre pursuit, Olga Danilova of Russia, should lose her gold medal even though she passed a drug test after the race at the Salt Lake Olympics. Danilova and Russian teammate Larissa Lazutina, who finished second in the race, later failed a drug test after another Olympic race in which they won medals.

Eventually Lazutina lost her medals after it was learned she had tested positive for blood doping at World Cup races prior to the Games. That made her ineligible for subsequent competitions such as the Olympics. So Scott was upgraded from bronze to silver but Danilova still retained the gold medal.

The Canadian Olympic Committee argued before the Court of Arbitration that any athlete caught cheating at a Games should have all their medals taken away. A spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee said the decision is being reviewed and will be discussed at the next IOC executive board meeting at the end of February in Athens.

The 29-year-old Scott, who is expected to be presented with her gold medal on March 15, said she is thrilled to become the first Canadian to win cross-country gold, but it would have been sweeter if she had been presented the medal on the day of the race. "It's not even close to having won that day in the Olympics, but at the same time, it's a gold medal and it's deserved," she said in a telephone conference call from Ramsau, Austria.

"It would have been disappointing if this decision had gone the other way and people who were found to have cheated had been able to keep (their medals). It would have been a real tragedy for sport. "It's a historical, precedent-setting case. The judgment was on the side of the good guys."

Elliot Kerr, Scott's agent, said the delay cost her upwards of $1 million in possible endorsements. "The reality is she was robbed of the marketing opportunity."

Scott doesn't know how many other skiers have lost medals to cheaters, "but it's hurt our sport incredibly." "It's good these issues were brought to light, and it puts a little more pressure on the authorities (to take action)," she said. "I don't think we're there yet. We still have problems in cross-country skiing. For years, doping has been a problem and it continues to be well ahead of testing. We had a good example last year; a Finnish woman who was disqualified in the world championships."

But the outspoken Scott doesn't judge those who try to get an edge with illegal drugs.
"I don't have a personal animosity towards (the two Russians). They come from different socio-economic circumstances than I do. I can see why they want to make a better life for themselves."

Leopold Nadeau, president of Cross Country Canada, was thrilled with the ruling. "This is a great day for Canada, our national team athletes and the cross-country skiing community across the country. Beckie has become an international hero and an icon for fair play."

Michael Chambers, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, said the gold medal is long overdue. "Beckie is a true Olympic champion who has earned this medal through fierce determination and an unwavering commitment to excellence," he said.

Scott's coach, Dave Wood, said the court's decision "sort of restores your confidence in the process. This has dragged on for so long."

The court also ruled that the International Olympic Committee pay the arbitration costs of 36,000 Swiss francs ($38,140). The IOC was also ordered to pay Scott 8,000 Swiss francs ($8,475) to help with her legal fees.

Danilova and Lazutina had used various legal challenges to fight losing their medals. They even filed a protest with the European Court of Human Rights arguing they were denied a fair trial and sought $1 million (U.S.) each in compensation.

Delightful outcome for Scott clan: Parents thrilled to see daughter's medal turn to gold.

The Calgary Herald
Fri 19 Dec 2003
Trent Edwards

Walter Scott lay awake all night waiting for the call from his daughter in Europe. His wife Jan was still asleep when the call finally came long before dawn Thursday. The moment they heard the giggling voice on the line from Austria, they knew that after almost two years of waiting, their only child, Canadian nordic skier Beckie Scott, had been awarded the gold medal.

She won her appeal to have the Olympic medal she won in the five-kilometre combined pursuit at Salt Lake in 2002 upgraded to gold by the International Olympic Committee. In the wee hours of the morning, Walter Scott decided the committee's decision couldn't have been any different if the Olympics were to have any credibility as a place for fair competition. "I came to the conclusion at about 3 a.m. that, if there was any justice in
the world and the Olympics were fair, Beckie had to be given the gold medal," he said.

Scott's proud parents were slightly surprised by the news. "I wasn't sure she would get it because it took so long," said Jan Scott. "It feels great to have closure to this finally."
The couple had learned to calm their nerves during the long wait. "We just got on with our lives," said Jan Scott. "The long process had no effect on us, except the silver medal. That was a big deal."

Jan Scott was excited for her daughter, but she has no illusions about the decision being a death knell for performance-enhancing drug use by Olympic athletes. "I'm sure this war will never be won. When money's involved and with that kind of prestige, people will go to all kinds of lengths to win," said Jan Scott. "We just saw a little glimpse of all the doping that's happening with that designer drug they found in the States (this fall). So that's where my frustration lies."

Walter Scott, who spent hundreds of days teaching his daughter how to ski the trails he and Jan helped create in Vermilion, where he and Jan still live, was all talked out Thursday. He spent the morning sharing the news with dozens of friends and family. Four TV crews also came to the home to interview the Scotts. The couple plans to celebrate around the fireplace Sunday with a few dozen friends from the Vermilion Ski Club. "We'll combine it with our annual winter solstice party," said Jan Scott. "And maybe a few bottles of champagne."

Chronology

A look at the events leading up to Canadian cross-country skier Beckie Scott
being awarded an upgraded Olympic gold medal Thursday:

- Feb. 15, 2002 -- Scott earns bronze medal in 5K pursuit at the Olympic
Games in Salt Lake City. Russian Olga Danilova wins gold and countrywoman
Larissa Lazutina takes silver.

- Feb. 24, 2002 -- Lazutina wins a gold medal in the 30K classical race, but
gives it up after testing positive for darbepoetin, which boosts production
of red blood cells that carry oxygen to muscles. Danilova, eighth in the
race, tests positive for same drug. The International Olympic Committee
allows Lazutina to keep her silver medals from the 5K pursuit and the 10K
combined, and Danilova is allowed to keep her silver from the 10K classical
and her pursuit gold because they passed drug tests from those races.

- March 1, 2002 -- The B drug test samples from Lazutina and Danilova taken
after Olympic 30K classical race both come back positive for darbepoetin.
They are suspended from competition by the International Ski Federation.

- April 17, 2002 -- The French sports daily L'Equipe reports Lazutina failed
drug tests performed at World Cup races in December, 2001.

- May 8, 2002 -- The International Ski Federation confirms Lazutina's
positive tests for blood doping at World Cup races on Dec. 8 and 22, 2001,
making Lazutina ineligible for all subsequent FIS competitions, including
the 2002 Winter Games.

- May 15, 2002 -- IOC boss Jacques Rogge says Lazutina would lose her
remaining two silver medals if positive drug tests from the World Cup races
before the Winter Games are upheld on review.

- Nov. 29, 2002 -- The Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport denies
appeals by Lazutina and Danilova to overturn drug-related suspensions
stemming from the Olympics.

- June 24, 2003 -- The Swiss Federal Tribunal upholds two-year bans issued
to Lazutina and Danilova for their suspensions for doping.

- June 30, 2003 -- Scott is officially upgraded to a silver medal when the
IOC strips Lazutina of her remaining medals from the 2002 Olympic Games
because of her positive drug tests at World Cup races before the Olympics.
No action is taken against Danilova.

- Sept 9, 2003 -- Norwegian and Canadian Olympic Committees asks the Court
of Arbitration for Sport to disqualify Lazutina, Danilova and Muehlegg from
all the competitions in which they took part at the Games.

- Oct. 2, 2003 -- Date set for Oct. 21 for a ceremony awarding Scott either
Olympic gold or silver in Calgary.

- Oct. 21, 2003 -- Scott is officially awarded her silver medal in Calgary.

- Dec. 18, 2003 -- Scott is upgraded to a gold medal when the Court of
Arbitration for Sport annuls Danilova's results.