Going into the 2002 Olympics at Salt Lake City, said Kelly Bechard, she and her teammates didn't want any excuses at the end if they lost.

Fortunately, they didn't have to make any.

"I remember thinking, 'Ohmigod, we did it,'" said Bechard to the mass of elementary and junior high students crammed into the Weyburn Junior High School gym on Friday morning.

The students, along with a number of other Weyburn residents, were out in force last week to hear Bechard, a member of the gold medal-winning Canadian women's hockey team at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A native of Sedley, Sask., Bechard was also a constant presence in Weyburn over the course of last week, giving presentations and signing autographs at the Weyburn Inland Terminal annual meeting, a 2004 Summer Games fund-raiser at the Royal Canadian Legion, the WJH and the Weyburn Square Mall.

Bechard expressed many of the same points throughout her many appearances, telling the people assembled at each location about the Olympic experience. At the WJH, Bechard described her history before going to Salt Lake City, including her two years with the National Under-22 team and her gold medals from two previous world championships.

She also told the students how she got into the sport, first playing at the age of five along with her sister. "I started playing hockey and loved every minute of it," she said.

The start of her hockey career really took off in Grade 11, as she went to play in the Canada Winter Games. A coach for the national team evaluated her, gave her a lot of good comments, and motivated her to go even farther.

Bechard eventually started going to Olympic training camps, and went on to Calgary to enroll at the University of Calgary. Bechard, who is still studying management at the U of C, said she always valued school very much, pointing out there are few hockey players who can move on to the NHL.

Next she described going to the Olympics, which turned out a lot better than hoped. "Not only did I go to the Olympic Games, but we won the Olympic gold," she said.

The Canadian Women's Hockey team would have a little trouble at the start, but would breeze through most of their opposition.

"Here we were, the gold medal game against the United States," said Bechard.

An audience member later questioned Bechard about the rumour that the American team had placed the Canadian flag on their locker room floor.

"It was a good motivator for us," said Bechard.

The Olympic athlete took a few stabs at the referee in her matches, noting that she was the kind of ref that neither captain nor coach could talk to. Basically, they just had to play and kill penalties, one of which went to Bechard herself in the last game.

"Which I thought was a joke, by the way," she added.

Every Canadian hockey fan, of course, knows what happened next: the women's hockey team took the gold. It was an unbelievable feeling, said Bechard.

After team pictures following the big game, an exhilarated Bechard got to see her family and friends. Bechard praised her parents for their dedication to her love of hockey.

Bechard's story of her Olympic experience ended with the closing ceremonies and the men's hockey team - which gave her team another note of satisfaction, since they got to sit beside the U.S. women's hockey team.

Before taking a few more questions, she told students that accomplishing anything takes a lot of hard work and confidence in themselves.

"I just want to say to follow your dreams," said Bechard.