Jon Montgomery

Olympic Gold Medalist & Host of The Amazing Race Canada

Canada’s Celebrity Auctioneer

Jon Montgomery became a celebrated Canadian when he defied great odds to win the Gold Medal in skeleton racing at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics – beating out his closest opponent by 7/100th of a second. Montgomery became the second Canadian in a row to win gold in the men’s event, after Duff Gibson in 2006. The Vancouver Sun claimed that his victory walk post-win made him “the most famous beer drinker in Canada.”

Montgomery’s love of skeleton racing began in 2002 on a casual trip to Canada Olympic Park when he witnessed his first race. He immediately joined a learning session and from there his skill for the sport grew. He won his first World Cup event in January 2008, and also won a silver medal at the World Championships that same year, finishing the season ranked second overall on the World Cup. From there he went on to win his first Olympic gold medal at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

As the host of The Amazing Race Canada since then, he’s been across the country and all over the world sharing his insights on what makes Canada great. Montgomery hopes his gold medal performance inspires more people to enter amateur sports, and reassures mothers that skeleton is a safe sport for children to enter. Jon Montgomery also hopes his gold medal victory will help to establish an all-amateur sports channel for Canadian athletes.

Dreaming Big: Living Bigger

While Jon always wanted to be a Canadian National Team athlete, he didn’t know which sport it would be in. Keeping his eyes wide open, living outside his comfort zone, trying new things and accepting the challenges that presented themselves enabled him to find his passion and his opportunity to realize his dreams. Jon’s story will inspire others to go after what they’re looking for, no matter how daunting a task it may at first seem.

Innovation and Realism

While we must be realistic about the things in life we can’t change, there are always ways in which we can optimize ourselves and our situations through creative thinking and innovation. Unless you’re moving forward, you’re getting left behind!

Jon’s Olympic Journey

The story of how a small town boy from Manitoba who grew up playing hockey and idolizing his home town hero, Theo Fleury (the smallest guy to ever play in the NHL), and what inspired him to become an Olympic Champion.

Teamwork

In an individual sport like skeleton, one’s success as an athlete is directly tied to their ability to work collaboratively with their team. Jon explains the importance of teamwork in our families, workplaces, or communities.