Yukoners are being given the chance to watch part of Canada's Olympic weightlifting team in action.

The public is invited to attend a special event next week to show their support for Whitehorse weightlifter Jeane Lassen and several of her team-mates, as they make final preparations for competition at the Summer Olympics in Beijing this August.

Northwestel is sponsoring a test event for the athletes in the General Store meeting room at the Gold Rush Inn on Wednesday, July 16 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The athletes who will perform at the event include Lassen, as well as Jasvir Singh of Burnaby, B.C. and Francis Luna-Grenier of Montreal, Quebec.

The two men comprise the entire Canadian men's weightlifting team. Lassen is one of three athletes on the Canadian women's team.

The other two are Christine Girard of Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec and Marilou Dozois-Prevost of Montreal, who will not be at the event. However, a fourth weightlifter will participate, Emily Quarton of Whitehorse, who is the first alternate for the Canadian women's team.

"This event will give us the opportunity to test ourselves in a stressful competitive environment," said Lassen in a press release. "The last time we competed was at the national championship in May and we want to put ourselves in that type of situation one more time before Beijing.

"Weightlifting competitions in Canada tend to have very small audiences, mostly made up of other athletes, and that is very different from what we'll experience in China. A larger audience puts extra pressure on athletes and it's important that we know how to handle that. You can feed off fear and nervousness so that it improves your performance, or things can go the other way. We want to use this event to practice using stress to get better results."

Moira Lassen of Whitehorse will also attend the test event. Lassen, who recently stepped down from the position of secretary-general of the Canadian Weightlifting Federation after eight years, will serve as a technical official for weightlifting at the Beijing Olympics. She is also Jeane's mother and one of her coaches.

Another special guest will be Tracey Bilsky, a Whitehorse sports psychologist who is assisting Lassen and Singh and who will also be going to Beijing to continue her work.

"This test event is an important element of the athletes' training programs," said Moira in the release.

"They will lift weights similar to what they'll be using in Beijing. In between their lifts, we'll simulate an actual competition by showing video footage of past world championships on a large screen behind the stage.

The footage will show athletes who will very likely be at the Olympics, lifting the weights that would normally be used at that point in a competition."

"Northwestel is very proud of the Yukoners and other Canadian athletes who have worked so hard to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics," said Paul Flaherty, Northwestel President and Chief Executive Officer in the press release.

"We know that Yukoners will want to be there to demonstrate their strong support for the Canadian weightlifting team and help them get the edge they will need to do their best in Beijing. It will be a great opportunity to see these incredible athletes perform and to wish them well."

Over the past few months, both Lassen and Singh have been using Whitehorse as a base for their training with Team Canada coach Guy Greavette, a 1988 Olympian.

The weightlifting team will leave for Beijing at the end of July. Lassen will compete on Aug 15. This is her first Olympic competition, although she was an alternate in 2000 and 2004.

Northwestel provides complete telecommunications solutions for the 110,000 residents of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon and northern British Columbia.

The company's operations span nearly four million square kilometres of the most remote and rugged areas of Canada.

The company's website is www.nwtel.ca.