Greg Wells will finally fulfill his dream of participating in the Olympics — not as a competitor but as an on-air expert.

After a gruelling selection process, including four on-camera auditions, CTV and TSN chose Dr. Wells as their on-camera sport science and medicine consultant for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Wells, a scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children, will host 12 pre-filmed segments to illustrate how the human body works during sports, the first of which will air during the opening ceremonies this Friday, February 12. In addition, he will do a live rundown of injuries and gold medal performances to enhance awareness and understanding of the science behind why some athletes prevail over others.

“The segments will feature some incredible video footage like what happens to the knee joint during mogul skiing or the heart during biathlon,” Wells explained. “At the Games I’ll provide sport science and sport medicine analysis for the various sports on a daily basis.”

As a competitive swimmer growing up, Wells fought for a spot in the Olympics twice. Although he did not make it to the Games, he chose a career that allows him to study the human body during exercise. In his work, he examines the entire spectrum of physical ability from patients with chronic disease to elite athletes.

The chance to highlight his work on an international stage and represent SickKids globally is an opportunity Wells could not pass up.

“As a former athlete, coach and now a physiological scientist, the Olympics represents the ultimate laboratory for discovering how far the human body can be pushed,” he said. “And from my personal perspective, I am a huge sports fan so watching the Games up close will be absolutely fantastic.”

To follow Dr. Wells as he reports from the Olympic Games, check out his daily blog or his Twitter account, @drgregwells.

Toronto’s underground walkway, the PATH, will bustle with excitement this Family Day (February 15) for the inaugural Family Day Race for SickKids. Teams of families and friends will explore sections of the 27-kilometre PATH as they race to solve puzzles and brainteasers.

Groups of four to six people will receive a map to navigate through the underground walkway. They will decipher clues and fill in the blanks of a Family Day story related to The Hospital for Sick Children. They will compete to get the most points within a two-hour period by trying to solve as many puzzles as possible, all while raising money for SickKids Foundation.

To truly make this experience about family fun, the Foundation called upon some current and past patients of the Hospital, known as SickKids patient ambassadors, to help create all of the storybook answers for the puzzles.

These patient ambassadors and their families gathered at the Royal Ontario Museum this past weekend to test out some of the brainteasers and to brainstorm creative clues for the Family Day Race. Teams will use their clues during the official Race on Family Day.

The Family Day Race for SickKids is the first signature event of its kind for SickKids Foundation. The event will begin and end at The Design Exchange at 234 Bay Street. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the Race will take place from 10 a.m. to noon with a ceremony for the top-prized teams and individuals to follow.

Register today for this special event. Grab a few of your family members, colleagues or friends, sign up on the Family Day Race for SickKids website, and begin fundraising for your team!

Get started now!

Photos taken by Christy Sampson.

Children’s faces were all aglow on Thursday night in the Atrium at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).

For the first time in the Hospital’s 134-year history, the Olympic Flame passed through the doors of SickKids to make one of its many stops along a coast-to-coast, 106-day journey. It wasn’t simply one torch but a total of FOUR torches and torchbearers that entered into the Atrium at SickKids.

The lit Flame was carried in by Stephanie Belanger, a social worker in the Crisis & Psychosis program at SickKids, and made its grand entrance in the Atrium a little after 7 p.m.

Stephanie and the other torchbearers were greeted by more than 300 cheering patients, their families and SickKids staff. Team SickKids, who took part in the World Transplant Games this summer in Australia, lined the running route decked out in their Canada uniforms and proudly displayed their medals. Ben Mulroney made a special guest appearance to host the event.

Stephanie raised the flame to light the torch of the next torchbearer. In total, four flames were lit in the Atrium and the Canadian Anthem was sung. Patients and their families stood along the windows on the eight floors of the Atrium to participate in this momentous event.

Along its journey, the Flame will pass through more than 12,000 Canadian hands en route to B.C. Place in British Columbia where the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron will signal the start of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

RBC is a Premier National Partner of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and a presenting partner of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay. It chose to bring the Olympic Spirit to SickKids and requested that a SickKids staff member from psychiatry carry the torch.

RBC has a long-standing history with the Hospital; this year marks the 22^nd anniversary of their relationship. To date, a dedicated team of RBC employees have raised more than $2.6 million for SickKids. In addition, RBC Foundation committed $2 million in 2007 to further much-needed training, research and outreach for paediatric mental health at The Hospital for Sick Children.

Torch photos taken by Dodge Baena and Atrium photo taken by Jay Charendoff