Tania Vicent fidgets with an earring and good-naturedly admonishes a couple of reporters for pointing out that she will be 34 by the time the 2010 Winter Olympic Games arrive and an old-timer on the Canadian short track speedskating team.

"You guys, you're making me ill right now," said the Laval, Que., native, who some younger teammates affectionately call Grandma.

Vicent was at Pacific Coliseum on Thursday preparing for her fifth — and final Olympic team selection trials. She didn't make the 1994 team, but was a member of the past three Olympic teams, earning relay bronze in '98 and 2002 and silver at Turin in 2006. She was also fourth in the 1,000 metres in Italy.

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Goaltender Kim St. Pierre will see her boyfriend a lot less now. Defenceman Becky Kellar and her two sons moved with her parents and their two large Boxer terriers to Calgary, while her husband remains in Ontario.

Forward Meghan Agosta will have to wait another year to finish her degree in criminology from Mercyhurst.
For 18 of the 26 players invited to try out for Canada's Olympic women's hockey team, it meant pulling up stakes and moving to Calgary this week for a seven-month stay. The rest of the invitees were already based in the city. "I would definitely be graduating, but this is the chance of a lifetime," Agosta said Wednesday at a news conference. "I would never say no because when you get the opportunity to represent your country, I'm very honoured and I'm going to do it."

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VANCOUVER -- It’s no secret that the $1.76-billion 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games face a potential crisis. More sponsors, advertisers and ticket buyers are required if the Games are to meet their revenue forecasts and their break-even mandate.

Now there is another need: A supply of free labour.

On Thursday, the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) called for private companies and governments to loan the Games their workers, so that it can fill some 1,500 new Olympics-related jobs.

Some have lofty titles: Broadcast Operations Coordinator; Cultural Olympiad Program Manager; Venue Transportation Manager.

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As part of its efforts to find creative solutions in a challenging economy, the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games  announced this week that it is asking businesses and governments to “loan” employees for temporary jobs.
VANOC needs to fill 1,500 short-term jobs for the games.

Positions will last between eight weeks and six months, and some jobs will begin as early as this August.
Organizations able to loan employees already living in the Vancouver and Sea to Sky regions are particularly encouraged to participate.

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The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver will offer what is believed to be the first house devoted to gay and lesbian athletes and their family members and friends, reports The New York Times.

Pride House, which promises to be an inclusive hangout and social space for gay and nongay athletes, will be located in the Pan Pacific Hotel in Whistler Village, site of the skiing and sliding events, about a two-hour drive from Vancouver. It is the idea of Dean Nelson, chief executive of the promotional company GayWhistler, which organizes the annual Winter Pride festival.

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Five-times world champion Michelle Kwan has decided not compete this season and try to earn a spot on the United States 2010 Vancouver Olympic team, U.S. Figure Skating said on Friday. Kwan, who has not skated competitively since 2005, said in a statement she will instead attend graduate school, where she will pursue a master's degree in international affairs.

"Skating will always be a part of me," said the 29-year-old skater in a statement. "But in the bigger picture of my life, I have always wanted to find a career that will allow me to make a positive contribution and difference in the world."

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Five-time world champion Michelle Kwan picked school over making another attempt at the gold medals 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, said the U.S. Figure skating on Friday. The 29-year-old Kwan has not skated competitively since 2005 but had pondered making a return to the ice in hopes of earning a spot in the U.S. team for the 2010 Games.

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