When thinking of famous Olympic athletes affected by breast cancer, your mind might first make a double axel jump to Olympic figure skater Dorothy Hamill (one of my skating heros as a little girl – yes, I had the haircut) who underwent treatment for breast cancer in 2008. Peggy Flemming, one of her rivals, was also diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, and now has created a wine to raise money for breast cancer research.

But for a couple of athletes competing at the 2010 Winter Olympic games, breast cancer hits pretty close to home. American speed skater Jennifer Rodriguez is in the middle of her 4th Olympic appearance, but this year it almost didn’t happen after her mother, Barbara, 59, died of breast cancer after a 16 year battle with the disease, during which  (and between treatments) she traveled to watch Jennifer compete at three Olympics in Nagano, Salt Lake and Turin.

Snowboarder and recent Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Hannah Teter is a part of the Boarding for Breast Cancer organization, and actively raises money for a variety of charities.

US Olympic Bobsledder Emily Azevedo was 5 when she found out her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since then, she says, her mother has dedicated her life to raising awareness for breast cancer. So now, Emily Azevedo has partnered with the NBCF to bobsled for breast cancer awareness.

During the torch running, Canadians even wore their support along the way:

Torch-followers are encouraged to wear pink as breast cancer survivor Judy Caldwell carries the torch on a 300-metre segment through downtown Vancouver this morning.

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) is asking people to line Caldwell’s route along Denman Street at Davie, to the Inukshuk on Beach Avenue, with everything pink, from wigs to boas, scarves and T-shirts. Caldwell, founder of CBCF, will carry the torch at 7:50 a.m.