Montgomery returns to his roots

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This article was published 28/10/2019 (2414 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Blink.

How long did that take you to do? Likely a tenth of a second.

You’d think not much can happen in the blink of an eye, but Jon Montgomery would beg to differ.

That’s because all it would’ve taken was 0.08 seconds — less time than the blink of an eye — for Montgomery’s life to look a lot different today.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Montgomery won gold in the skeleton event by the slimmest of margins as he outraced world champion Martins Dukurs of Latvia by 0.07 seconds. But it’s what happened after the race that led to Montgomery’s rise to fame.

The Russell native celebrated his gold-medal victory in true Canadian fashion. While on his victory walk, a fan in the crowd handed him a pitcher of beer, and Montgomery carried it through a crowd of supporters and brought it on stage for an interview on national television. The memorable moment put Montgomery on the map, and a couple of years later in 2013, he was named the host of CTV’s popular reality series The Amazing Race Canada, which he still hosts today.

Montgomery’s most recent honour, thanks to his gold-medal performance, was headlining the 2019 Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame induction class. The induction ceremony takes place Saturday, and Montgomery, who now lives in Victoria, B.C., will be returning home for the festivities.

But would have all of this happened, including his Hall of Fame nod, if Montgomery left Vancouver with a silver medal? Not likely, he says.

“Well, I’d be watching The Amazing Race Canada hosted by Ben Mulroney and it would be a fantastic program,” the 40-year-old Montgomery said in a phone interview. “And I’d be selling cars. I don’t dwell on it, but life would be very different. Very different.”

With the win, Montgomery became the first Manitoba male to win an individual Olympic gold medal — something he was unaware of.

“I won’t be the last. Let’s just say that,” Montgomery said.

But it’s incredible Montgomery was able to make history, especially in skeleton, as he had no idea what skeleton racing was while he was growing up in small-town Russell. It wasn’t until 2002, when he watched a race at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary with his parents, that he learned about the sport. Shortly thereafter, Montgomery tried skeleton for himself, and in the years leading up to the 2010 Games, he began to climb the World Cup rankings. By the time of the Vancouver Olympics, Montgomery was ranked No. 5 in the world.

The ranking didn’t make home an obvious gold-medal contender, but Montgomery thought otherwise.

“It was just a number on my shirt,” Montgomery said. “That had nothing to do with the race in front of us and my ability to perform on the day that mattered most. Nothing that I had done in a race previously to the Olympics mattered a lick. So I was 100 per cent confident that I could be the best version of Jon Montgomery on the day that mattered most, and that was Feb. 18-19, 2010.”

Montgomery’s winning time after four runs was 3:29.73. Dukurs finished second at 3:29.80 and Russia’s Aleksandr Tretyakov claimed the bronze at 3:30.75.

Montgomery said heading into the Games, he believed he had to be “virtually flawless” to bring home the gold and was extremely confident he could do it.

While Montgomery took up skeleton racing when he was a Calgary resident, he still attributes his mindset and success to his Manitoba roots. Next to his parents, Montgomery believes his time in Russell is one of the biggest reasons for the life he’s currently living.

“I am the man I am today because I grew up in Russell, Manitoba,” said Montgomery, who has two young children with his wife, Darla. “I’d be decidedly different if I had grown up anywhere else. I wouldn’t have had the beneficiary of being busted for every miserable thing I ever did. Egging your sixth-grade teacher’s house and getting caught for it because the lady across the street recognizes your bike. It’s something you ultimately have to own, and something that in Russell, you have to make amends for. You had to do the face-to-face restitution. You had to take responsibility and ownership for all the miserable stuff you did, but also you got recognized for standing out, for contributing, for doing well. Those types of things are what being part of a tight-knit community is all about.”

Montgomery didn’t get to defend his gold medal, as he failed to qualify for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. However, his experience in 2010 was more than enough to leave a lasting impression on the country and made his induction into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame a slam dunk.

“I think the recognition that comes well after performances and careers and everything, they are more nuanced and it’s not just another accolade. It’s really, really special,” Montgomery said.

“To be included in the group, to be recognized by your home province, and I might live in B.C., but I’m a Manitoba kid living in B.C. I’m not a B.C. person. My kids are B.C. people, but I’m a Prairie dog, and that’s in the fabric of my DNA. That is so much a part of my personality that having your homies recognize that is really, really special.”

 

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31