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Olympic medalist inspires healthy living

Olympic Gold medalists are the best at what they do in the world. Unfortunately for most Olympians, they are only able to attend two or three Olympic games and the World Cup Events in between, resulting in a reasonably short career.
Olympic medalist Beckie Scott spoke to students at Onchaminahos School last week, encouraging them to live healthy lifestyles.
Olympic medalist Beckie Scott spoke to students at Onchaminahos School last week, encouraging them to live healthy lifestyles.

Olympic Gold medalists are the best at what they do in the world. Unfortunately for most Olympians, they are only able to attend two or three Olympic games and the World Cup Events in between, resulting in a reasonably short career.

But, this creates an opportunity for athletes who have finished their Olympic and World Cup careers to return back to their countries and communities to help others excel in sports.

Beckie Scott, of Vermilion, is an Olympic Cross Country Skiing Gold and Silver medalist, and a two-time World Cup event winner. Scott won her Gold medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games in the Women’s combined pursuit, and her Silver medal at the 2006 Torino Games, placing second in the team sprint with Sarah Renner.

After a very successful career, Scott now works with Ski Fit North Alberta, which she describes as an “outreach organization that uses cross-country skiing as a vehicle to engage kids in activity and sport, as well as wellness and the importance of staying active.”

Scott and her colleague Andrew Urton, who is the Ski Fit North Coordinator for Alberta, are traveling to schools, specifically in first nations communities, spreading the healthy living message.

Scott and Urton came to Saddle Lake’s Onchaminahos Elementary School to educate the young minds on the sport, and give them their first taste of cross-country skiing on Tuesday.

They brought with them bags full of cross country skis and poles for all the kids to strap on and give the sport a try. Although it was Scott’s first visit to the school, Urton had previously visited the students to show some of them the ropes of cross-country skiing.

Scott organization is involved with other communities in this area. “We are active in Kikino, Goodfish Lake, Calling Lake, Heart Lake, and many other communities in Southern Alberta.”

“We are focused on First Nation’s and Métis kids because we feel there is a great need there, and we hope to not just create healthier kids but healthier communities as well.”

The organization hopes to have an impact on all the communities that it gets involved with.

“Our goal is to engage the kids through sport, empower them with life skills, and educate them as well with lessons in health and well being. We have been doing this for seven years and we have really started to see lasting change in some of the communities that we have visited,” said Scott.

Andrew Urton will return to Saddle lake next week, and will spend many days throughout the winter months teaching kids across Alberta how to ski, giving them a life experience many of the students will likely never forget.

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