Yellowknife (Jan 12/07) - Set goals, stick with them, and watch your dreams come true, was just one message from an inspirational speech by a world ultimate Frisbee champion to local students Thursday morning.

Lara Mussel, who was named the 2004 Canadian Aboriginal Athlete of the Year, was at Sir John Franklin school representing the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, along with Donna Wilson, executive vice-president for the Vancouver Olympic Committee.

Mussel told the students that she was born and raised on a small reservation outside of Chilliwack, B.C.

She became inspired to become an Olympian by watching the 1994 Olympic Winter Games.

She is now a two-time world champion in ultimate Frisbee, a sport she first learned in high school.

"There's a champion in every one of you," she told the group of students. "I hope the 2010 games will inspire and touch you the way past Olympics have touched me."

When Mussel concluded her speech, she announced that she had a special surprise for everyone.

When she pulled an Olympic torch out of her bookbag, a hush fell over the room.

As Meghan McCormic, a Grade 9 student at Sir John Franklin and a goalie for the NWT women's hockey team, held the torch, she stared intensely at it and seemed lost in thought.

"It's really cool to have a world class athlete come and talk to us," McCormic said after the event. "She has inspired me to follow my goal of playing as hard as I can."

At the end of the presentation, senior track athlete Chris Gillander was able to pull Mussel aside and ask her some pertinent questions.

"I asked how hard you must work to become a professional athlete," Gillander said. "She told me about the devotion it takes. Basically, she eats, breathes and sleeps her sport. It's the main focus in her life."

Mussel seemed to enjoy her time with the students. While many lingered at the end of the presentation, she challenged senior track student Sekou Sonko to a race across the gym.

When Sonko hit the gym wall a split second before Mussel, she turned to him and gave him a double high five.

"She has inspired me," Sonko said while catching his breath. "She has shown me the devotion it takes. I now know I must train harder."

Wilson said that the main theme of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics is aboriginal culture and lifestyles.

She said their northern trek was set up to inspire aboriginal peoples, especially students, and involve them in the upcoming Olympic spectacle.