Toast of Canada Montgomery to Appear on Oprah

Jon Montgomery isn't afraid to be himself. (AP Images)

Canadian skeleton racer Jon Montgomery is living his 15 minutes of fame right now, as he has become the toast of Canada – almost literally. Montgomery, from Russell, Manitoba, has become a media darling ever since winning gold last Friday in the skeleton, the first medal won by a Canadian in Whistler, which hosted all of the Olympic alpine, sliding and Nordic events. But it’s almost more about what happened after Montgomery won. When asked what was in front of him in the post-race press conference, he said this: "I’ve got doping (testing) and then I hope beer.”

Indeed he did, as television cameras caught him chugging from a pitcher of beer offered to him by a fan soon after he stepped off the podium and headed to another interview. That easily made him the toast of Whistler. He later auctioned the pitcher of beer on camera, all in good fun. He also belted out “O Canada” during the medal ceremony.

Montgomery also did a classy thing by apologizing to second-place skeleton finisher Martins Dukurs of Latvia after Montgomery went haywire after seeing that Dukurs had come up just .07 of a second shy of his winning time on the event's final run.

With his wild red hair and beard to match his personality, Montgomery has become such a national sensation that he is set to appear on the Oprah Winfrey show on Friday afternoon. When you’ve made Oprah, you’ve truly made the big time! The 30-year-old former used car auctioneer also seems to be on the short list to carry the Canadian flag during Sunday’s Closing Ceremonies.

A celebration is planned for March 14 in Russell, located 340 kilometers northwest of Winnipeg near the Saskatchewan border. That should be some party.

If Americans are looking for a comparison of Montgomery, think of Bode Miller, although Miller was all flash and no substance in the 2006 Games but has performed well in Vancouver. Plus Miller isn’t as charismatic and never had the positive outlook that Montgomery clearly does on the whole Olympic experience.

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