'It's not a question of why, it's why not? And when can I come back?'

Canadian Olympic legend Catriona LeMay Doan stood in the lobby of the Canada Games Centre Thursday, following a day trip to Haines Junction and a night session with the Whitehorse Rapids Speed Skating Club.

It was LeMay Doan's second visit to the territory and while it was much more low key than her previous one at the Canada Post Age Class Short Track Championships last March it was still every bit as enjoyable for the speed skating star, who insisted she was thrilled to get another invite.

'You can tell this is a very passionate community,' she said, when asked about her attraction to Whitehorse, adding she was very impressed with the community involvement on her trip to Haines Junction as well.

'Not only is it spectacular and gorgeous, I can't believe how much is going on there,' she gushed. 'It's so impressive. It's a very involved community obviously.'

LeMay Doan was back in the Yukon as part of the Canada Games Community Partner Program, which aims to give all rural communities in the territory an opportunity to get involved in the 2007 Games.

'We want them to catch the spirit,' explained Lindsay Agar, a community liaison with the 2007 Games. 'We want the communities to feel a part of it and this is a tangible way to do it.

'These Games are more than just Whitehorse, they're Yukon.'

The community partner program offers several ways for the communities to get involved, including torch relays, a Canada Games Day which includes a mini-Games for school students and the adopt-a-team program, where schools in the Yukon correspond with schools in another province or territory and support a team.

Communities are also encouraged to host a professional athlete, such as LeMay Doan. In exchange, the communities receive Games banners, pins and have their profile posted on the 2007 website.

On Thursday, LeMay Doan attended a luncheon at the Haines Junction Convention Centre, hosted by both the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and the Village of Haines Junction.

The star athlete followed that up with a motivational and inspiration presentation to two sets of students at the St. Elias Community School, and then of course showed off her Olympic medals.

'It is incredibly exciting to have an athlete of Catriona's caliber come to our community,' said Kate Moylan, Champagne and Aishihik recreation coordinator. 'She is a fantastic role model for young athletes and the youth of Haines Junction are very excited to have had this chance to meet a Canadian hero.'

While her stop back in Whitehorse wasn't actually part of the community partner program, LeMay Doan happened to have a few extra hours of time before flying home and was willing to meet with the local speed skaters, who are just getting back into the swing of things for the season.

'This session really fit in nicely,' admitted Agar. 'It was just a nice little extra we could do.'

Bruce Henry, the president of the Yukon Amateur Speed Skating Association, said having an Olympian on the ice at practice could never get old.

'Certainly it's nice to see. You hear a lot of professional athletes talk about the turning point in their career and it will usually be someone who inspired them. You never know when that is going to happen. It could be here.

'Catriona is a very inspirational speaker on the sport and her involvement at the Olympic level.'

Henry said it was especially nice to have LeMay Doan out on Thursday because there were two different groups of local skaters on the ice the Canada Games athletes and the younger group as well.

The younger kids were able to learn about the technical aspects and the expectations of the sport from LeMay Doan while the Games competitors talked to her a lot more about sport psychology and nutrition.

'Canada Games is a big deal, but there's some kids here who hope to go to a longer career in the sport,' he pointed out.

LeMay Doan did strap on some skates this time, but wasn't able to actually do laps with the competitors, for a couple of reasons. First, she didn't have her short track skates with her and second, she's four months pregnant.

Still, she enjoyed observing the local athletes and recalled her own emotions with just a few months to go before the Canada Winter Games she attended.

'In '83, I was 12 years old, so it was just such a buildup of wanting to make it, knowing it was going to be hard, but wanting to do it anyway. In '87, it was, I want to be on the podium.' It was a lot more about results, which is a stressful place to be.

'But even with that, I was still having so much fun.'

Once she actually made it to the Canada Games, LeMay Doan said she was overwhelmed at the atmosphere and the level of competition. It's amazing just knowing you're seeing future Olympians in action, she said, adding it will be a very unique opportunity for residents of the Yukon to take in.

That's a message she hoped to get across on both her visits to the territory, stopping one last time on her way out of the Canada Games Centre Thursday to visit with the Yukon's female hockey team.

'I don't know if people realize how inspiring the Canada Games really are.'