Show your support, Montgomery says
2010 medallist asks Canadians to embrace athletes in London
Move over Joe Canada. Make room for Jon Canada.
Embracing the spirit of a Molson beer commercial, the 2010 Olympic gold medallist in skeleton is appealing to his countrymen to get behind the men and women destined to represent Canada at the 2012 Games in London.
To that end, Jon Montgomery released an online video Tuesday (http://www.missionmontgomery2.com/jon-Canadian) to spread the love for Canada’s oft-forgotten summer warriors.
“I really believe as Canada’s athletes we’re all in this together,” Montgomery said Monday from his hometown of Calgary. “As amateur athletes, we train in anonymity for years before we get our opportunity to show Canada what we can do.
“And I’d like to inspire Canadians to get behind their summer athletes the same way they rallied behind winter athletes in Vancouver 2010.”
In 2010, Canadians from coast to coast fell in love with Montgomery when the red-headed auctioneer grabbed a pitcher of beer from someone in the crowd and took a victory swig en route to the medal ceremony in downtown Whistler, B.C.
It was a signature moment for a country that went head-over-heels for an Olympic team that finished, against all odds, atop the gold-medal standings.
“We identify ourselves as a winter nation, because we had so much success and were able to be the No. 1 sport nation at the Vancouver Olympics,” Montgomery said. “It’s easy to get behind something like that and a little tougher to get behind a country that’s trying to be in the top 12 at the summer Games.”
Nevertheless, Montgomery expects to see magic unfold for Canada in London.
“We’re going to see fantastic performances by guys like Dylan Armstrong and girls like Jessica Zelinka,” he said. “That’s going to be pretty special to see somebody take part in a marquee event like 100-metre hurdles and also to compete in the toughest female event, which is the heptathlon.”
Through the wonders of Twitter and Facebook, the solidarity between Canada’s summer and winter athletes is clear, with athletes sending best wishes back and forth over the divide.
“People might not realize just how much their support helped us in Vancouver,” Olympic bobsled silver medallist Helen Upperton said. “But we fed off the energy. All those emails, and letters and messages – they all helped more than anyone could ever know.”
Upperton plans to fly to London to cheer on her summer counterparts in person.
Because of training commitments, luge Olympian Sam Edney can’t make it to London no matter how much he would love to.
So instead, he’s planning to break the bank and pay for cable – perhaps even high definition – so he can cheer from afar.
“I’ve got the rabbit ears right now,” he said. “But I think I’m going to get one of those one-month bundles, so I can watch everything.
“They’ve worked so hard for this one event, this one moment.”
In Montgomery’s mind, all athletes – whether summer or winter – deserve support in their moment on the ultimate stage.
“I can’t remember how many people said to me in 2010 that reality TV just didn’t do it for them anymore,” he said. “The reality shows are not real – the kind of energy we felt from the 2010 Games makes regular television seem kind of pathetic.
“The only difference between the summer and winter Games is the sports we play.”