Alexa Scott

Reason for choosing this sport

She tried figure skating at first but was not very interested, so she switched to speed skating. She was also inspired by the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. "I would just rush through my programme [while figure skating] because I hated all the twirls and stuff. But I loved skating, so my coach is like, 'You should go try speed skating'. So I went out to Brandon, Manitoba. My mum drove me out. And I tried speed skating, and I've been hooked ever since."

Ambitions

To win an individual medal at the Olympic Winter Games, and to set a Canadian record in the 1500m. (Athlete, 09 Feb 2023)

When and where did you begin this sport?

She took up speed skating in 2010 in Brandon, MB, Canada. "I started speed skating when I was nine and I transitioned to the Manitoba provincial team when I was 13."

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Injuries	Illness disrupted her training ahead of the 2020 World Junior Championships. She went on to place third in the overall classification at the tournament in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland. (winnipeg.ctvnews.ca, 28 Apr 2020; speedskating.ca, 22 Feb 2020) She was troubled by a back injury for eight weeks prior to winning gold medals in all four distances at the 2020 Canadian Junior Championships in Calgary, Alberta. (speedskating.ca, 06 Jan 2020)
Awards and honours	She was named the 2019 Junior Athlete of the Year by Sport Manitoba in Canada. (sportmanitoba.ca, 01 Mar 2021; winnipeg.ctvnews.ca, 28 Apr 2020)
Other information	MULTI-SPORT BENEFITS She struggled with back injuries early in her career, which she attributes to skating from an early age. "I did do a lot of speed skating as a kid. I did a lot. My power muscles were very strong at a young age. But my body had not been programmed enough to stabilise my joints. I got a lot of back injuries at a pretty young age, like 16. It was because my stabilising muscles weren't stabilising. They were completely neglected in my body." She tried football, volleyball, swimming, and athletics while at school, which she believes helped her physically. "Maybe if I hadn't focused on speed skating so early in my life, I could have saved some of those injuries. I would have developed some of those stabilising muscles from soccer, especially like stopping and turning. I think if I did more sports in middle school, especially, I could have maybe limited how aggressive that injury was. All sports work on different things. Volleyball is more of a power sport, because you're jumping to hit the ball over the net. Soccer is more of a cardio sport. [In speed skating] you get a lot stronger on one side of your body than the other. So, having other sports, like swimming, swimming is a full-body cardio burn, it's good for both sides of your body, equally. I think it made me a better athlete so that I wasn't always just turning one way." (sportmanitoba.ca, 01 Mar 2021)
Hobbies	Reading. (Athlete, 09 Feb 2023)
Memorable sporting achievement	Competing at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. (Athlete, 09 Feb 2023)
Most influential person in career	Coach Tyler Williamson-Derraugh. (Athlete, 09 Feb 2023; olympic.ca, 01 Jan 2022)
Hero / Idol	Dutch speed skater Ireen Wust, US bobsleigher Kaillie Humphries, and her father. (Athlete, 09 Feb 2023; speedskating.ca, 01 Jan 2022)
Milestones	She was the youngest member of Canada's speed skating team at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, where she took part in the women's 1000m event at age 20 years and 320 days. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 Nov 2022)

Name of coach	Remmelt Eldering [national], NED; Shannon Rempel [national], CAN
Training Regime	She trains at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, AB, Canada.

Sporting philosophy / motto

"Trust the process." (Athlete, 09 Feb 2023)

Club / Team

Interlake Speed Skating Club: Canada

Nicknames

Lexi (Athlete, 09 Feb 2023)