Innovation and Realism

Jon Montgomery

Host of Amazing Race Canada & Olympic Gold Medallist

No stranger to tough competition, Jon Montgomery is the host of CTV’s Amazing Race Canada. In 2010, Montgomery won the Olympic gold in Vancouver by 0.07 seconds and became the second Canadian in a row to win gold in the men’s event, after Duff Gibson in 2006.

In 2002, a casual trip to Canada Olympic Park left an indelible mark on Montgomery. While on a tour of the Park, he witnessed a skeleton race, and immediately fell in love with the sport. Montgomery quickly enjoyed success during his development path in the sport. In 2005-06, he became the first Canadian man to win the Europa Cup Overall men’s title, and is now considered one of Canada’s top skeleton athletes.

Montgomery’s start to his rookie season on the World Cup could not have been drawn any more perfect. He kicked off the 2006-07 World Cup campaign with a bronze-medal finish on his home track in Calgary. He went on to finish in the top-10 three more times during the season, and finished sixth in the Overall World Cup standings.

Montgomery’s sophomore season on the World Cup was equally remarkable where he enjoyed a breakout season by racking up five podium finishes, including his first World Cup victory and a silver medal at the World Championships, en route to finishing second overall on the World Cup.

Following his win, Montgomery marched through a crowd of Canadian fans singing the national anthem and chugging a pitcher of beer. 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 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.

Abstract

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,... [ view full abstract ]

Session

KN-2 » Keynote - Sponsored by Huawei (08:30 - Tuesday, 21st June, Myer Horowitz Theatre)