Jon Montgomery

Jon Montgomery

Jon Montgomery sings the Canadian national anthem at his 2010 Olympic medal ceremony
Personal information
Born (1979-05-06) May 6, 1979
Russell, Manitoba, Canada
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 74.7 kg (165 lb; 11.76 st)
Website www.jonmontgomery.ca
Sport
Country  Canada
Sport Skeleton
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Olympic Games
2010 Vancouver Skeleton
World Championships
2008 Altenberg Skeleton
2008 Altenberg Mixed team
2011 Königssee Mixed team

Jonathan Riley "Jon" Montgomery (born May 6, 1979, in Russell, Manitoba) is a Canadian skeleton racer and television host.[1] He won the gold medal in the men's skeleton event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.[2]

Career

Montgomery started skeleton racing when he lived in Calgary where he worked as an auctioneer not far from Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. Sometime in 2002 Montgomery visited the track with his parents where a skeleton race was being held. Montgomery was immediately hooked with the sport and started racing competitively not long after watching it in Calgary.[3] Initially Jon Montgomery did not do well in his first two seasons competing on the World Cup tour.[3] However, Montgomery won his first World Cup race in Cesana, Italy, in 2008. He won two silver medals at the 2008 FIBT World Championships in Altenberg, Germany, earning them in the men's skeleton and mixed bobsleigh bobsleigh-skeleton team event. Montgomery's highest World Cup overall placing came when he finished second overall in the 2007–08 Skeleton World Cup.

Montgomery qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver based on his results in the 2009-10 Skeleton World Cup. In the Olympic event Montgomery had trailed Martins Dukurs after the first run but established the fastest times the following two runs, including a track record 52.20 on his third run. In the fourth and final run on February 19, 2010, Montgomery still trailed Martins Dukurs by 0.18 seconds but Dukurs' was 0.25 seconds slower on his final run. Thus Montgomery won the gold medal by 0.07 seconds. Montgomery celebrated exuberantly at first and quickly apologised to Dukurs for his celebration. Montgomery was quoted after the race, "I had said at the beginning of the race that if I was in that position and I did get gold coming from behind that I was going to remain stoic and respectful because you never want to cheer when somebody else loses. But I have to apologize to Martins. That didn't happen. I lost my mind when I saw the .07 come up. It was like I had stuck my finger in a light socket."[4] He accepted his gold medal at the medal ceremony in Whistler on February 20, 2010. Montgomery became the second Canadian in a row to win gold in the men's event, after Duff Gibson in 2006.[5]

Following his win, Montgomery marched through a crowd of Canadian fans singing the national anthem and chugging a pitcher of beer.[6] In an interview with CTV, he stated that he has a tattoo of a maple leaf over his heart with the word Canada above it which he got with his mother after he graduated from high school in grade 12. Montgomery stated that he hopes his gold medal performance inspires more people to enter amateur sports, and went on to reassure mothers that skeleton is a safe sport for children to enter.[6] Jon Montgomery also said that he hopes his gold medal victory will help to establish an all-amateur sports channel for Canadian athletes.[6]

Montgomery also wore an image of a painted turtle on the crown of his helmet while racing and explained the usage, saying he had decided to do so after finding one trying to cross the road in British Columbia. BC Hydro noted his representation of the endangered species (in coastal British Columbia) in describing their sponsorship of research into the turtle's conservation.[7]

Montgomery failed to qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and has announced he is "99 per cent sure" his skeleton career is over.[8]

The Amazing Race Canada

On June 5, 2013, it was announced that Montgomery would be the host of CTV's The Amazing Race Canada.[9] As of September 2015, he finished his third year as the show's host and will return for the fourth year.

Personal

Montgomery is married to Darla Montgomery, who is also a skeleton athlete.[10]

When not skeleton racing, Montgomery works as a sales consultant and automobile auctioneer in Calgary.[11]

Montgomery looks up to fellow Russell native Theoren Fleury.[12]

Montgomery is also an alumnus of the Canadian Automotive Institute, now the Automotive Business School of Canada, Georgian College.

References

  1. ↑ Bennett, Dean (2010-02-03). "Jon Montgomery seeks gold in Olympic skeleton". The Canadian Press/MSN Sports. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  2. ↑ "Canada's Winter Games Medals". Sporting News. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
  3. 1 2 Tait, Ed (2010-02-20). "The full Monty -- gold". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  4. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Frank (2010-02-21). "Jon Montgomery brings glory to Canada". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on February 26, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  5. ↑ Rutherford, Kristina (2010-02-19). "Canada's Montgomery wins gold". CTV News Channel (Canada). Retrieved 2010-02-19.
  6. 1 2 3 Kevin McGran (2010-02-21). "Jon Montgomery is the life of Whistler's party". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  7. ↑ Walker-Larson, Jennifer (2010-02-26). "Painted Turtle in Games spotlight, at a speed of 145 km/h". This Week at BC Hydro. BC Hydro. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  8. ↑ "Vancouver Olympic hero Jon Montgomery looking forward to new direction".
  9. ↑ The Canadian Press (June 5, 2013). "Olympian Jon Montgomery to host 'Amazing Race Canada". CTV News. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  10. ↑ "About Darla". Jon Montgomery. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  11. ↑ "About Jon". Jon Montgomery. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  12. ↑ Scaringi, Joe, "Shooting the breeze with four Olympic medalists", August 11, 2010, accessed August 13, 2010.
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