(March 3, 2004)

In a day long celebration co-hosted by the Vancouver Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, the Vancouver Board of Trade and the 2010 LegaciesNow program, five young athletes were presented with tools and training time to get them ready for the 2006 and 2010 Olympic Games.

National Team skater Mira Leung, of Vancouver, received six months coaching with her coach Joanne McLeod.

Leung, 14, delivered two solid performances at the 2004 BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships in Edmonton. In only her second year competing at the Senior level, Leung finished the event in fifth-place, which earned her a spot on Skate Canada’s National Team.

The upcoming season will mark Leung’s first time as a National Team skater.

LegaciesNow is an organization that searches out potential Olympic-level athletes and determines what they need in regards to training tools or supplies to reach their Olympic goals.

Others to receive assistance are snowboarder Tom Vesilik, who received a laptop; disabled skier Brad Keanna, who received new skis; alpine skier Christina Lustenberger, who received a mountain bike for cross training; and free style skier Kristi Richards, who received trampoline and gym time.

More than 850 people, including 170 former Olympians, attended the ceremony, which was held at Vancouver's Pan Pacific Hotel.