Beckie Scott has lived many different lives.

She was an Olympic cross-country skiing champion, an athlete representative at the International Olympic Committee, and a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency during the Russian scandal emanating from 2014.

Since 2017, Scott was founder and CEO of Spirit North, a non-profit intended to empower Indigenous youth through sport.

On Monday, the next chapter of her career began. Scott was named CEO of Nordiq Canada, the national sport organization that oversees cross-country and Para Nordic skiing.

“I’m going to be leaning on various aspects of my experience with the last number of years, but I think also holding very close in my heart the value of the power of sport because I’ve lived it at every level,” said Scott, the Vermilion, Alta., native.

“I was a jackrabbit in a small community in northeastern Alberta. I was an Olympic champion. I’ve lived through that whole spectrum and arc of everything sport is. I’m such a believer in the power of it and what it can do. As individuals and communities, I think that will be my inspiration every day in this job.”

First, though, the 50-year-old Scott wants to take a step back and listen.

But even as she enters her new role armed with all kinds of experience, Scott’s plan, first and foremost, is to hear from those currently living through it.

“I’m looking forward to going on what I’m calling a listening tour, because Nordiq Canada is an NSO, but it really is embedded in the community. And I have been a part of this community my entire life,” she said.

Scott said the opportunity to take over Nordiq Canada came about in November, as her role with Spirit North was winding down.

She was encouraged to apply.

“After thinking about it and just really internalizing how much I still care about the sport, how much I really still believe in high performance sport in particular, I decided to throw my hat in the ring,” she said.

Leader, trailblazer

Morgan Rogers, the chair of the Nordiq Canada board, said Scott “exemplifies everything the Nordic community in Canada requires in a leader.”

“Beckie is a trailblazer who has achieved several goals never reached before. She had the courage to imagine it was possible and the fire in her heart to make it happen. I look forward to her bringing that same tenacity to this role,” Rogers said.

Scott earned Canada’s first-ever cross-country Olympic medal when she won gold at Salt Lake City 2002. Four years later, she teamed with Chandra Crawford to snag silver in the team sprint at Turin 2006.

Twenty years after that, the Winter Olympics and Paralympics will return to Italy next February.

Though Scott and Crawford’s podium appearance remains Canada’s most recent in cross-country at the Olympics, Scott said she is optimistic about her group of athletes.

“I really believe in the potential of this team. And actually, that was one of the reasons that I applied for the job. I was very inspired by what I see right now, which is a huge amount of talent and potential with the current athletes in the system. And I really want to be a contributor to their success,” Scott said.

Scott specifically pointed to Alison Mackie, whose pair of bronzes at the world juniors in February were Canada’s first medals at the event since 1989, and Liliane Gagnon, who took home two bronze medals herself from the U23 championships.

Meanwhile, senior athletes like Antoine Cyr, Olivier Lavallée and Katherine Stewart-Jones have enjoyed various successes of their own.

Learning from Para team’s success

Still, the able-bodied team has paled in comparison to its Para Nordic counterparts, who boast a strong team even after the retirement of 20-time Paralympic medallist Brian McKeever.

Mark Arendz heads into his fifth Paralympics with 12 medals to his name, while Natalie Wilkie has seven podium appearances in two Games.

Scott said she’s excited to apply some of the Para team’s successes toward the able-bodied squad.

The one thing Scott does know, however, is that she plans to lead with the athlete’s voice.

As a former athlete and someone who has represented her peers on international boards, Scott has dedicated much of her life to that one mission — which will be especially amplified as she re-enters a Canadian amateur high-performance scene that has seen athletes come forward with accusations of toxicity and abuse in recent years.

“Many important changes have been made. I think there’s still work to be done and more improvement to be made,” Scott said.

“One of them really is to be continually reminded that athletes are at the heart of sport. That is why we have sport. Athletes are our reason for being. They need to be empowered and informed and have a meaningful voice at every table in order to make the whole sports system better.

“We need to really recognize the value of athletes and their voice and continue to keep that front and centre.”

And so, as Scott’s listening tour begins as the newest CEO of Nordiq Canada, she will begin with the athletes themselves.