Skier Beckie Scott with her silver medal in women's team pursuit at the Turin Winter Games in February.

Beckie Scott knew it would be an emotional day.

But she never imagined this.

The two-time Canadian Olympic medalist, who lives in Bend, has officially announced her retirement from competitive cross-country skiing.

”It was a lot harder than I anticipated,” Scott said. ”Even the cameramen were crying.”

It was indeed an emotional moment for Scott, who also shed tears at the conference, even though she knew for nearly a year that she would retire after the 2005-2006 ski season, which just happened to be the best season of her 11-year World Cup career.

”I knew at the start of the season last May,” the 31-year-old Scott said Thursday by phone from her Canadian residence in Panorama, British Columbia. ”In many ways that’s what enabled me to pursue the training and the goals I had set up for myself. I knew this was my last shot to really go for it, and I did everything 100 percent. I’m just thrilled with the way the season went overall.

”Obviously, the Olympics could have gone a little better. But it was my best season ever. The best way to go out was on top.”

Scott claimed four World Cup victories and was the overall runner-up in the 2005-2006 World Cup season. She ends her career with a total of 15 World Cup medals.

She was a medal favorite in several events at the Turin Games in February, and she won a silver medal with Sara Renner in the women’s team pursuit.

Scott was the first North American ever to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing, a bronze at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. But after both Russians who finished ahead of Scott in the five-kilometer race were later caught in blood doping tests, she was eventually awarded the Olympic gold.

Scott’s fight for drug-free competition played a big role in her storied career.

”It wasn’t so much for me personally, this gold medal,” Scott said at Wednesday’s press conference, according to the Canadian Press. ”What I had done was help rewrite the history books: that these athletes were not going down in Olympic history as champions. They were going to suffer consequences for what they’d done and I had played a role in that, a significant role. I felt very happy with that.”

Scott said Thursday that winning the bronze medal in 2002 was the most memorable moment of her career – even before she knew she would ultimately receive the gold.

”It wasn’t an expected thing,” Scott said. ”It was like a gold medal at the time. It was an historical day for our country and our sport. I didn’t know if anyone believed it was possible.”

Scott was one of two international athletes elected by her peers in February to represent athletes on the International Olympic Committee for an eight-year term. As one of the 13 athletes on the Athletes’ Commission, Scott will take part in discussions leading up to the Olympic Games in Beijing, Vancouver and London, while providing a voice for Canada’s athletes.

Scott said she plans to travel to Switzerland in June to establish her responsibilities on the IOC. She will also serve on the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Vancouver Olympic Committee.

”I’m going to be busy,” Scott said, laughing. ”Something new comes in every day, now that the word is out I have free time.”

Scott and her husband, Justin Wadsworth, who spent 15 years on the U.S. cross-country ski team, are considering a move from Bend, where she has been focused on training, to Panorama, where they have another home. Scott has lived in Bend since 1998.

”It’s not in the immediate future,” Scott said of the prospect of leaving Bend. ”We’re just looking at our options right now. Nothing is set in stone.”