Beckie Wins Bronze!
by Cory Smith

February 15 - Women's 5K/5K Pursuit
Feb 15 - It had been building all week. The North American results started with Andrew Johnson's 22nd place result in the 30K. And since then, the results have gotten better and better. The American men and the Canadian women have been feeding off their teammates results all week, and improving steadily in every race. It was like a train gaining momentum. There was a feeling that, as good as the results had been, something even bigger was going to happen. And today it did.

In today's Women's 5K/5K Pursuit, Beckie Scott of Canada finished the classic race in sixth place. Ordinarily, this alone would have been cause for celebration, but since Scott already has a 6th place in her possession after Tuesday's 10K classic, the focus was instead on what she might be able to do in the pursuit leg of the race. Olga Danilova and Larissa Lazutina of Russia had a slight lead after the classic race and most people expected them to work together to hold off any pursuers. Therefore, it seemed that there would be a mad dash for the Bronze. There were only 27 seconds separating 3rd (Petra Madjic of Slovenia) and 10th (Gabriella Parruzzi of Italy) and twenty women within 45 seconds of a medal, so the stage was set for an amazing battle.

Right out of the start, the two Russians began to work together to get away. Though the lead was only 8 seconds, it quickly became apparent that the skiers in third (Madjic) and 4th (Bente Skari) were not going to challenge them. So they effectively had a 17 second lead over the chase pack which quickly materialized in the first few kilometers. In this pack were Katerina Neumannova (Czech Republic), Viola Bauer (Germany), Beckie Scott (Canada), Julija Tchepalova (Russia), Nina Gavriljuk (Russia), and Gabriella Paruzzi (Italy). Skari and Madjic also latched onto this pack, so there were eight skiers fighting for one podium spot.

At 3K, the pack was steamrolling along, and getting ready for the final major climb before the mayhem of the final sprint. On the big climb, Tchepalova moved to the front and pushed the pace. Gavriljuk and Neumannova followed close behind and still there in the thick of it was Beckie Scott. As I saw her come up the hill, I was reminded of the many times in the past two years that I have seen Beckie do intervals up this very hill either skiing, running, or hill bounding. If anyone was ready for this hill and a final sprint in this stadium, it was Beckie. She was working hard, but she seemed relaxed and confident. I got goosebumps just watching her. I think that moment was when I first comprehended that she might actually win a medal. They crested the hill as a pack and flew back down. On a short, very steep hill just before the stadium, Beckie made an impressive pass on the outside to take a 5 meter lead on the pack, but the other women were still in her draft and she was quickly reeled in on the downhill into the stadium. As they rounded the far corner for the final 100 meter sprint, Beckie was 5th, about 5 meters behind 3rd and 4th. I was watching this action from the top of the big hill, along with Torbjorn. Torbjorn, as Beckie's coach, wanted more than anything for Beckie to win a medal. But I think he was reluctant to hope for too much , for fear of jinxing her. As they rounded the turn, Torbjorn saw the gap and said, "It's too much. She needed to be much closer." But just as he said this, Beckie put on an amazing sprint, quickly passing 4th and moving up to challenge Neumannova for 3rd. Torbjorn remained outwardly pessimistic, though I could tell that inside he knew that sprinting was Beckie's strength. With the crowd going wild, the two went stride for stride for the final 40 meters. Beckie got a slight edge, but a foot lunge by Neumannova created a photo finish. It was too close to call. Torbjorn was sure that she was fourth. For at least the past year, both he and Beckie have believed she was capable of a medal, and all of her training has been geared toward having her best races ever this week. But now that the moment was upon us, it seemed like too much to expect the plan to be executed so perfectly. I sprinted down to the stadium to see the replay on the big screen and nervously await the results. Five minutes later, they announced the results: Beckie Scott, third!!!!! A North American woman had won an Olympic Cross Country medal for the first time ever! The first Canadian Cross Country medal ever. The list goes on. Beckie went toe to toe with the best in the world, and proved beyond a doubt that she is one of them. An unbelievable and unforgettable race by Beckie Scott.

In the finish area afterwards, Beckie was mobbed with reporters. Nearby, I stood near Canadian coach Dave Wood as he talked to reporters. Suddenly, a man and a woman came bursting through the crowd and hugged Dave, all while crying and yelling for joy. They were Beckie's parents. "This is the greatest day of my life!" cried Beckie's dad. There was hardly a dry eye all around among those who understand what this means for North American cross country skiing.

Beckie's teammates also skied well as Sara Reenter finished 19th for her second top twenty of the games. In other North American results, Nina Kemppel and Milaine Theriault had good classic races, placing them in the top thirty. In the pursuit, Kemppel skied well with a very strong pack, but dropped slightly to 32nd and Theriault dropped a bit to 34th.

I am resisting the urge to write about how much this finish means to cross country skiing on this continent. Obviously, it is on par with Bill Koch's Silver Medal in 1976. But I don't want to analyze too much because there is still another week of racing and I think we have a potential for more outstanding North America results in the sprints, the relay, and the 50/30K. If the athletes keep feeding off each other's success, there is no telling how much Beckie's medal could mean in the near future.

Full Results Here