AFP - Six-time Canadian figure skating champion Joannie Rochette will pursue her Olympic dream despite being dealt a devastating blow on Sunday with the death of her mother just two days before she is just due to compete.

The world silver-medallist took to the ice for practise at the Pacific Coliseum just hours after 55-year-old Therese Rochette died of a heart attack at Vancouver General Hospital.

"I wasn't expecting to see her and skating well," said Skate Canada CEO William Thompson.

"But being able to stick with her plan, practising and competing is giving her some stability in a very uncertain time for her."

He said: "At the moment she intends to stay in the Olympic Village. That is probably the best choice.

"She's a very well trained, high performing athlete. We're taking it one step at a time. Whatever she needs we will provide her with."

The 24-year-old is Canada's best hope of a first gold in women's figure skating.

"Competing at the Olympic Games has always been her dream, and her mum has always supported that dream," said Thompson.

"Her mum was very close to her, and a big part of her skating life. It would mean a lot to her mum and to herself."

"Her Dad is with her, as well as many family friends. They are very close and they are doing everything they can to support Joannie."

The Rochette family arrived in Vancouver on Saturday and Therese Rochette was taken to hospital early Sunday morning.

The skater had been in contact with her mother but had not yet seen her, Skate Canada president Benoit Lavoie, a close friend of the family, said.

He said that Joannie's father Normand broke the news to the skater at the athletes village and that she had let them know very soon afterwards that she still intended to compete, with the women's short programme scheduled for Tuesday.

Rochette did not attend the draw on Sunday morning but arrived at the rink hours later and despite falling on her first attempted jump she landed triples before running through her short programme without attempting jumps.

She was watched by her coach and friends of the family who had travelled together with her parents from the small Quebec town of Ile Dupas to support the skater.

"We can see how strong she is. She demonstrated a lot of control," said Lavoie.

"She had a reaction like anyone but right after she remained composed. She's going back to her Olympic goal."

Rochette is hoping to become the first Canadian woman to stand on the podium since Elizabeth Manley in Calgary in 1988.

She is competing in her second Olympics after finishing fifth in Turin four years ago.

"I think today is going to be a very hard, emotional day for her, a roller-coaster where she's going to alternate between crying and fighting," said Canada's chef de mission Nathalie Lambert said.

"So the plan for her at the moment is to keep on going. She may change her mind and we'll support her either way.

"We'll do everything we can to make sure that she has the most positive Olympic experience, despite what's happening to her right now."

Rochette's fellow skaters rallied around the Canadian.

World champion and gold medal favourite Kim Yu-Na of South Korea said: "I just hope that she can get through this quickly and get back into competition."

US skater Mirai Nagasu believes it will make the world silver medallist determined to compete well as she herself has been motivated following the news that her Japanese-born mother Ikuko had thyroid cancer last October.

"I think this will just make her do even better. She'll skate for her mom," said 16-year-old Nagasu.