Beckie Scott finally gets her gold medal.
(CanWest Global Transcripts)

An emotional Beckie Scott is finally getting her gold medal for cross country skiing. The Olympian won bronze at the 2002 Winter Games. But when the two Russian cross country athletes who beat her were both disqualified for doping, Scott's medal was upgraded to silver and, today, more than two years later, to gold.

It took an exhausting two years, four months and 10 days, but Canada's Beckie Scott finally has the gold medal that should have been hanging around her neck at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City for her performance in the women's five-kilometre pursuit.

She got the medal at a public ceremony outside the Vancouver Art Gallery Friday afternoon. About 500 people were there to cheer, among them her parents, Jan and Walter, who drove in from Vermilion, Alta. They saw their daughter finally standing on the top podium, choking back the tears and thanking a nation. "It's a fantastic day, a great day," Beckie Scott said. "It's been a long journey but one that has culminated in the ultimate reward."

Mark Donnelly sang O Canada as the Canadian flag was raised. And around the world, hopes were raised that the system can work for the hundreds of thousands of athletes who say no to banned drugs and don't cheat. "Certainly it restores some faith in the system, that it is working," said Scott, 29, who has become a crusader for clean sport. "I think more and more is being done. We're seeing actions being taken that weren't taken in the past. A hard line is being drawn. Clean athletes can be heartened by the actions that are being taken here. Rules are being enforced."

Scott remains frustrated that the International Olympic Committee fought as hard as it did to keep the gold and silver in the hands of the Russians Olga Danilova and Larissa Lazutina, who had cheated. In fact, it took a legal challenge by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) to change their stance. "I was taken aback by the position of the IOC," Scott said.

Scott was presented her medal by IOC member Charmaine Crooks, a Canadian Olympian in track and field. She'd presented Scott the bronze in 2002. "This shows a lot of athletes there is a mechanism in place and we do believe in doping-free sport, and that the process has to be athlete-led and athlete driven," said Crooks. "It's very important that athletes take the lead in this, as Beckie has.

It says to the world if you do believe in something and you fight hard enough, and you have the right team in place, there's now a mechanism that will help. "I believe the message today is that when the fight is athlete driven, it has an even more powerful impact."

Scott said she had no animosity toward the Russians. They were part of a system that condoned cheating. And she said she was never bitter, even though the delay in getting the gold may have cost her as much as $1 million in endorsements. "At the time, I was happy to have a bronze medal and that did give a huge boost to the sport," she said. "I saw the Canadian flag raised in Salt Lake City. It was our first Olympic [cross-country] medal ever. It was a huge accomplishment on that day and I was never disappointed.

"I recognize gold is more valuable to corporate Canada than bronze and that is unfortunate, because any Olympic medal is a good thing and is worthy of some reward."

Scott doesn't know if she'll compete in the 2006 Olympics in Turin but she's thinking about it, especially after a strong finish on the 2003-04 World Cup circuit.

And 2010? "I'll be here in 2010, but I just don't know in what capacity," she said. "[Coaching] is not impossible. But if I coached, it would be on a volunteer basis, strictly with kids, and not on a high level."

There would be no better teacher.

Caroline Brunet wins gold and silver at paddling World Cup.
(Canadian Sport News)

DUISBURG, Germany- Caroline Brunet of Lac-Beauport, Que., beat arch rivals Josefa Idem of Italy and Katrin Wagner of Germany to win the gold medal in the women’s K-1 500 metres Sunday to conclude the second and last World Cup paddling competition this season.

Brunet, a two-time Olympic silver medallist headed for her fifth Games in August, earned her first win in the event- the Olympic race for the K-1 women- since her sabbatical season in 2001. Idem, the Olympic champion from Sydney, was second and Wagner was third.

‘’I didn’t really want to send a message anyone, the win was for myself more than anything else,’’ said Brunet, about her last race before the Olympics. ‘’It’s wonderful to know that I can put together such a strong race. My goal this season was to be as strong as I’ve ever been in my career and I think I’m very close to that now.’’

In the women’s K-2 500, Xu Linbei and Zhong Hongyan of China won the gold with Brunet and Mylanie Barré of Lac-Beauport second and Florica
Vulpes and Lidia Talpa of Romania third.

Eirik Veras Larsen of Norway completed a golden sweep in the K-1’s taking the 500 metre race. World champion Nathan Baggaley of Australia was second and Adam Van Koeverden of Oakville, Ont., won the bronze after leading at the halfway point.

‘’I was out of energy most of this week but I felt great when I got on the water today,’’ said Van Koeverden, disappointed with his fourth place in the K-1 1,000 on Saturday. ‘’I had a great start but just ran out of gas. It’s interesting to see though that the 1,000-metres is so strong right now that we’re all getting better in the 500 as well.’’

Other Canadian finalists were Furneaux, Kamini Jain of Vancouver, Carrie Lightbound of Mississauga, Ont., and Jillian D’Alessio of Lower Sackville, N.S., fifth in the women’s K-4 500; Tamas Buday and Attila Buday of Missisauga, fifth in the C-2 500; Steve Jorens of Aurora, Ont., and Richard Dober Jr., of Trois-Rivieres, Que., eighth in the men’s K-2 500 and Steve Giles of Lake Echo, N.S., ninth in the C-1 500.

Canada finishes fifth at World League women’s water polo tournament.
(Canadian Sport News)

LONG BEACH, Calif.-Canada defeated Greece 6-5 on Sunday night to place fifth at the inaugural $125,000 (U.S.) World League women’s water polo tournament.

Marie-Luc Arpin of St-Lambert, Que., and Cora Campbell of Calgary scored two goals apiece to lead the Canadian attack with singles to Johanne Bégin and Valérie Dionne, both of Ste-Foy, Que. Rachel Riddell of Vancouver played a strong game in nets.

The Canadians, who won three of their five games here this week, are ranked fourth in the world. They were hoping to fare better at their final tune up before the Olympic Games in Athens where they’ll be a medal contender.

‘’I’m happy how we finished but we’re a better team than a fifth place finish here,’’ said Canadian head coach Patrick Oaten of Montreal. ‘’We just need to put a full complete four quarters together. I mean we won most of the quarters we played, we just had mental breakdowns.’’

Oaten was also pleased with his team’s play shorthanded and the fact Canada would likely finish at the top among shots taken in the tournament.

Canada won $10,000 for finishing fifth. The medal games were later Sunday with the world champion Americans facing Hungary for gold and Italy against
Russia for bronze. The gold medal champion receives $40,000.

Veteran show-jumper Millar earns 8th Olympic berth.
(CBC Sports Online)

Seven-time Olympian Ian Millar has been named Canada's entry for the lone show-jumping spot at the 2004 Games.

In a statement released by Jump Canada late Thursday, Danny Foster, chair of Jump Canada's selection committee, had high praise for the 57-year-old Millar, who is also fondly known as "Captain Canada." "Ian has looked great all year and his focus on preparing his horse for the Olympic Games has been very apparent," Foster said. "I am very confident about our chances in Athens."

Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, Ont., was named as the first reserve, while Jill Henselwood of Oxford Mills, Ont., will be the second. Canada earned just one Olympic show jumping berth at the 2003 Pan American Games.

Millar will take Promise Me, a ten-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, with him to Athens. The pair were the top-placing Canadian entry at the 2003 Pan Ams, Millar's ninth Pan Am appearance. He earned individual gold and team bronze medals at the 1999 Pan Am Games.

Millar's most famous horse, the legendary Big Ben, retired in 1994 and died in 1999. In 1996 both Millar and Big Ben were inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

Athens will be Millar's eighth trip to the Summer Games in the last nine Olympiads. He went to his first Games in 1972, but missed the Moscow Games in 1980 due to the U.S.-led boycott. Millar, who doesn't yet own an individual Olympic medal, placed ninth in the team category at the 2000 Sydney Games and 16th in Atlanta.

He won the 1988 and 1989 World Cup finals, is the eight-time Canadian show-jumping champion in over 30 years on the national team, and is the only rider to have won more than $2 million at the Spruce Meadows course just outside Calgary. Millar's children, Amy and Jonathon, are also successful riders.

Eric Lamaze, 36, was named to the Canadian Equestrian Team in 1993. He has racked up an impressive string of top-ten finishes this season, including three firsts, and was named the Canadian Show-Jumping Champion for 2003. He won a bronze in the team event at the 1999 Pan Am Games.

Lamaze was scheduled to compete at both the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, but was excluded both times for doping violations. In Atlanta in 1996, he tested positive for cocaine, and a positive test for ephedrine in 2000 bumped him from Sydney team, as well.

Henselwood, 41, was named to the Canadian Equestrian Team in 1991 and has rarely logged anything less than a top-10 finish in any competition since. She competed at the 1994 World Equestrian Games and represented Canada at the 1995 and 1999 Pan American Games, earning a team bronze in 1999. She had seven first-place finishes during 2003 and won more than a million dollars in prizes last year alone.

The Big Picture with Dale Henwood: Keep the Change.

Keep the Change

Frankly, I am getting tired of the hyperventilated rhetoric about the need for change in the Canadian sport system. What is wrong with the status quo? Why do we need a Strategic Plan? Someone needs to be in the bottom half, why can’t it be Canada? Our youth have among the highest obesity rates in the world; can’t we be proud of this? Our athletes consistently over-achieve based on the resources they are given, why do they need more comprehensive, long term and better support? Change means we may have to work differently perhaps even harder or smarter; we may lose individual credit and recognition or may have to adopt ideas and successes from our competitors.

Why not simply discard or ignore the buzz words prevalent in todays sport system/community? Why do we need to adopt best demonstrated practices, why do we need to pool our resources and work together better, why target resources, why try to have systematic impact? Why be business-like and allocate capital to the performers – we all have potential. When it comes to quality programs why not Two Sigma rather than Six Sigma? What is wrong with dependence on government resources, there is lots of money to go around. Down with collaboration, that means being receptive to other ideas and perspectives; that may mean my organization or my position becomes irrelevant. Why would we invest in innovation, research and development; let’s just copy others and stay 10 years behind. Do we really gain anything by looking for cost effectiveness and efficiencies; it may cost me my job!

Is it not just a waste of time and effort attempting to find safe and risk free solutions for supplementation use when the easy way is just to tell the athletes to “take nothing”?

Let’s learn to accept mediocrity. Down with change. I say we keep doing what we have been doing for the past few decades; the status quo is the comfortable option.

Dale Henwood
President,
Canadian Sport Centre Calgary

Water Ski Canada changes its name and logo.

OTTAWA- Water Ski Canada announced today that it has been officially renamed Water Ski and Wakeboard Canada (WSWC) following last year’s congress vote.

‘’The rationale of the voting delegates was that the association needed to be more inclusive of all disciplines,’’ said Dan Wolfenden, executive director of Water Ski Canada.

Water skiing events include the three-event (jump, tricks and slalom) water skiers, barefoot water skiers, water skiers with a disability, marathon water skiers and cable water skiers. Wakeboarders do not consider themselves water skiers. They compete on a board similar to skateboarding or snowboarding and are called riders rather than skiers.

‘’I am pleased with the name change,’’ said Robert Price, current chair of the national wakeboard committee of the association. ‘’It should help make the wakeboarders feel more welcome in an organization that has all of its members interest at heart. I hope it will foster an ‘’us’’ mentality that will see the sport prosper.’’

Guillaume Pare, editor of SBC Wakeboard magazine says wakeboarding has come of age in the sports world.

‘’Wakeboarding has been rejuvenating for the association,’’ he said. ‘’It continues to bring exciting events, participants and fans to the water. It’s a very enthusiastic community and official inclusion was in order. I’m hoping the riders will recognize the importance of being part of it.’’

A new logo was also designed to reflect the inclusiveness of the association.

‘’The new name and logo are something all water sports can identify with,’’ said Chris Bourne, chairman of the association’s adaptive committee. ‘’We all have one thing in common: a passion for getting out for a rip behind a boat.’’

Paul Edwards, best known for creating the Hockey Canada logo, designed the new (WSWC) logo which is attached with this release.

Welcome to the Canadian Olympic Committee's Newsletter!

PODIUM is a monthly electronic newsletter aimed at keeping athletes, the sport community, our members and our partners informed about our activities and initiatives.

Our online newsletter features:
· Gold Medal Plates Event Helps Support the Dreams of Canadian Athletes
· Dressed for Success: Roots Clothing Launch
· Toronto Blue Jays Event
· 2004 CAL Leadership and Sport Scholarship Awarded to New Brunswick Youth
· Athens Update: Tips for Parents, Family and Friends at the Games
· Athens Athlete Orientation Sessions
· Pass the flame, unite the world
· Beckie Scott Gold Medal Ceremony to take Place in Vancouver
· COC Mourns Passing of Jack Lynch
· 2010 Update: National Search Launched for New Vancouver 2010 Games Emblem