Yukoners cheer on homegrown Olympians Lassen, Bell

Yukoners will have to stay up late Thursday if they want to watch a homegrown Olympian vie for a medal at the Beijing Games.

Jeane Lassen of Whitehorse is set to compete in the 75-kilogram weightlifting finals, which will stream live on CBCSports.ca starting at 12:30 a.m. PT (3:30 a.m. ET).

CBC Television will air highlights from that event Friday morning on Olympic Morning with Diana Swain and Scott Russell.

Lassen, 27, is considered to be a strong medal contender in the 75-kilogram weight class.

She holds six Canadian senior records and has won medals at Commonwealth Games, Pan-Am Games, university world championships and senior world championships.

Early Saturday morning, Watson Lake native Zach Bell, 25, will compete in track cycling events. Bell is also a Pan-AmChampionship medallist and five-time national champion.

On Wednesday, more than 100 Yukoners packed the Sport Yukon building lobby to cheer for the pair, considered to the be the first northerners to compete in a summer Olympics.

"He's wanted to go to the Olympics since he was, like, eight years old, and always believed he was going to go. He just didn't know what sport he was going to go in, so it's great," Craig Bell, Zach's father, said at Wednesday's rally.

Lassen's father Leif said the rally was just another example of the support Whitehorse has given his daughter.

"I've been to the fundraisers and stuff like that, and it's unbelievable, the amount of people that support her. They do so much for her," Lassen said.

"You can never thank them enough, eh? It's crazy."