July 4, 2003 – It has been an exciting last week for Canadian Cross Country Skiing. First the Swiss Supreme Court threw out the Russians appeal on Lazutina's doping convictions which moves Beckie Scott to the Silver Medal position and then it was announced that Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic sport.

The court decision allowed the IOC Executive Board to award Beckie the silver medal from the 2002 Olympic pursuit. In September the Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear an appeal by the Canadian and Norwegian Olympic Committee's asking for the removal of all medals from Danilova, as a result of her positive doping test at the Games. It is interesting that the Executive Board also passed a ruling that would allow this action to be taken at future Games. If the appeal is successful Scott will likely be the only athlete in Olympic history to be awarded all 3 medals in the same event.

The other exciting news is the awarding of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2010 to Vancouver. The Calgary Olympics was a pivotal event for Canadian Winter Sport and it is likely that the Vancouver Games will be equally or more important. The awarding of the event should serve as a catalyst for the government, the private sector and the Olympic Committee to put a major investment into the development of Winter Sport athletes and facilities over the next eight years. If the legacy setup is similar to Calgary's, the ongoing benefit to Canadian Winter Sport after 2010 will be enormous. Our association is in a great position to be the recipient of our fair share of the potential new investment, lets all get behind our team as we look for Podium performances on our home courses in 2010!