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Enter the Skier | General | ASI Reports | States
The Beckie Scott story
(including a couple of words with Justin Wadsworth
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)On December 13, Canadian skier Beckie Scott posted her first ever top 10 result in a World Cup. Her 8th place in the 5km classic race in Val di Fiemme, Italy, ahead of such skiers as Elena Vaelbe and Stephania Belmondo, is all the more impressive in a women's field dominated by Russians, Norwegians and Italians, with only the occasional top 10 foray by other European countries.
More can be read about Beckie's history at the XC-Canada website, and also about her 8th place. There's some pictures as well. XC caught up with Beckie Scott at the Hotel Kulm in Davos.
Beckie Scott grew up on skis in Vermillion, Alberta, but has lived the last three years in Canmore. She skied at three World Junior Championships (1992 Reit im Winkl, Germany, 1993 Vuokatti, Finland, and 1994 Breitenwang, Austria), with results she descibes as "nothing stellar". This is her fourth season on the Canadian senior team, and the third year she has been ranked number one in Canada. Last season Beckie finished consistently in the top 30 in World Cup, with results of 24th, 25th, 27th, and 28th in the World Championships in Trondheim. Prior to this result, her best World Cup placings were two top 16 results in Knockout Sprints.
XC: How do you feel about your latest result?
BS: It feels awesome, fantastic, to make it into the top 10. To be honest, it came as a bit of a surprise. I thought I was capable of making it into the top 20, top 15 maybe, if everything went well. I guess everything went extremely well.
I had thought that top 10 was for super-women. It's good to realise that it is not impossible, that I can do it. And doing it once makes it possible to do it again.
XC: Have you done anything different in the last year?
BS: There's nothing I've changed in my training program. I think it has been a process of hard work. I trained about 600 hours last year, building up from 500 or so over the last couple of years. I've invested a lot of time and energy, tightened up on a few things, refined a few areas and its all come together. It has been a process, a steady journey, there's been no real jump. That's it really. Years and years of putting in time and effort, and always wanting to be better. I think that is important.
I also do some mental training. I'm working my way through a mental training workbook designed for swimmers. I believe this aspect of training is often overlooked, and I'd like to learn more.
XC: I heard that the relay team also qualified last week. That has to be pretty big. (The Canadian women's relay team qualified for the Winter Olympics in the World Cup relay in Santa Catarina. Having a relay qualified means that a team of 4 or 5 will go to Nagano, and all can participate in individual events.)
BS: It was totally exciting...it was wild. We knew we had a good chance... we all got really psyched up for it. We even went out and bought champagne a few days before the race. Then we just went out there and all did the best we could.
After the race,we'd thought we'd made it. Then Steiner (Steiner Mundal, head Canadian coach) told us that we missed out by 4 seconds. We packed up and moved on to Davos , and didn't drink the champagne. Then, in a team meeting, Yves (Yves Bilodeau, wax technician and former skier) came in with the champagne and Steiner said, well, I made a mistake with the calculations, and you're qualified. It was wild.
XC: Any strange training habits, herbal stuff, bowing to the north or anything like that?
The Cultural Beckie Scott Last book read:
Stones from the river, Ursula Heggi
Current CD/tape:
Big Head Todd & the Monsters
Last good movie seen:
ShineBS: There is something that I do that may be different. I talk to my skis, or rather, my wax technician (Yves Bilodeau) talks to my skis. He asks them, how many points today, holds them up to his ear and they tell him. Before the 5km in Val Di Fiemme, they said at least 10. So they underestimated just a little.
XC: What are you're goals for Nagano?
BS: Top 20, top 15 at the Olympics is definitely possible. I know everyone else is trying to peak there too, but that's my goal.
XC: Do you have any advice for up and coming skiers?
BS: I always get asked that question. What should I say..... Just dont ever be afraid to go for it. I know we are the underdogs (Canada, USA, Australia), but you have to believe that you can do it and just go for it.
Sometimes it can be hard racing on the World Cup circuit, away from home and from loved ones. Beckie has solved this problem with the help of Justin Wadsworth from the US ski team. Justin was present for most of the interview, what the heck, two birds with one stone.A couple of words with Justin Wadsworth
XC: You got anything to say for yourself Whitey?
JW: I'm just happy to be here.
XC: You had a great result in the Bull Sprinten in Norway a couple of weeks ago. (Justin finished 6th in the 15km skate, just over one minute behind Bjorn Daehlie.)
JW: Yeah, that was okay. I didn't feel anything special, I just skied. We had no wax team, we just chucked some purple on and hitch-hiked up to the start. The whole team wasn't really thinking about skiing, we were probably relaxed.
XC: How about your World Cup races?
The Cultural Justin Wadsworth
Last books read:
The Heart of Thoreau's Journals
- edited by Odell Shepard
Siddharta - Herman Hesse
Current CD/tape:
Rage Against the Machine
Last good movie seen:
BasquetteJW: Beitostolen was pretty good (xth place). The whole team was pretty good there.
Val Di Fiemme was okay. I wasn't really out of it, but not quite up there(64th place in the 10km classic, 49th in the 15km free). The weather played a big part in Val di Fiemme. Sometime it would be good to start early when it's fast.
(interjection from BS: Yeah, as if you guys want to get up at 7 in the morning)
I'm healthy and I haven't been sick for a long time. That's going to be worth a lot later on. I've been able to train well. I usually ski better late in the season anyway. Beckie keeps me sane. I just live through her glory.
XC: What about the Olympic qualification?
JW: It would be nice to get that out of the way. I'm going to qualify this weekend.
I'm going to ask my skis how many points, and they'd better have something to say.
In the Davos 30km World Cup two days later, Justin finished 34th, a fantastic result in difficult conditions, but 17 seconds short of World Cup points.
Post Note: Justin Wadsworth qualified for the Olympics at the start of January by winning the US Gold Cup pursuit race (also collecting the US$10,000 purse).
XC is the official website of the Skiing Australia Cross Country Committee. It is produced with the assistance of the Australian Sports Commission, the Australian Ski Institute and the Kangaroo Hoppet. The editor can be contacted via hoppet@netc.net.au.