A speakers bureau that represents the best original thinkers,
writers, and doers for speaking engagements.
When you step outside your comfort zone, you truly find life.
Jon Montgomery first delighted Canadians by winning Gold in Men’s Skeleton at the Vancouver Olympics. Now, as the host of The Amazing Race Canada, he is a charming ambassador for the country’s most beautiful sights. In talks, he combines his experience as a professional athlete and national spokesperson to show us how to value our strengths, rise to challenges, and follow our passion.
How did Jon Montgomery achieve his dream of becoming an internationally-lauded athlete? The former Skeleton racer contends that it was an unwavering belief and commitment to himself that led to his most important victory: an Olympic gold medal. The ability to believe that we will actually achieve what it is that we seek is a large part of actually getting there, Montgomery says. In his talks, Montgomery walks us through the physical discipline, mental conditioning, and emotional resilience that allowed him to climb the ranks from amateur athlete, to World Cup winner, to Olympian. High spirited and good natured, Montgomery easily shows us the parallels between professional sport and everyday life, and how we, too, can optimize ourselves for high-performance.
Now retired, Jon Montgomery is the host of The Amazing Race Canada, a position that has given him an even greater appreciation for the country. “I already had a profound sense I was a lucky man to be Canadian, but doing this show, you get to meet other Canadians, you get to see how they interact with the racers and a sense of commonality amongst the people.” For his work on the show, Montgomery received a Canadian Screen Award for Best Host in a Variety, Lifestyle, Reality/Competition, or Talk Program or Series.
Montgomery and his wife Darla are also committed and passionate about giving back. They are affiliated with WaterAid, which works with the poorest and most marginalized communities in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Pacific region and Central America, and Right to Play, which uses the power of play to educate and empower children to be guardians of their own health and active participants in their communities.
It was Jon Montgomery’s natural curiosity that launched his Skeleton career. Wandering through Calgary Olympic Park years ago, he saw a Skeleton racer whip down the track face down, head first. Fearing it was a Luge accident, he inquired about it at the visitor’s centre, only to find that Skeleton was a different kind of competitive sliding sport. Intrigued, Montgomery immediately signed up for a “discover session”—and so began his long journey to Olympic gold.
It was keeping his eyes open, living outside his comfort zone, trying new things, and accepting the challenges that presented themselves that enabled Montgomery to find his passion and gave him the opportunity to realize his dreams. With an effortless charisma, Montgomery uses his story to remind us that developing curiosity for the world around us has the potential to reveal our greatest gifts.
When Jon Montgomery won the Whistler World Cup, which served as a test event for the Vancouver Olympics, he called the victory the highlight of his career. Though it was especially meaningful to win at home in front of family and friends, what he really yearned for was a chance at Olympic gold. The following year, he was given the opportunity. Montgomery defended his home track once more, but this time, he did it in front of the world. The now infamous video of Montgomery drinking a pitcher of beer while walking through the streets of Whistler surrounded by screaming fans is sure to go down in Canadian lore.
This is the story of Montgomery’s quest to join the world’s most elite athletes. He shares how a small-town boy from Manitoba, who grew up playing hockey and idolizing his hometown hero, Theo Fleury (the smallest guy to ever play in the NHL), was inspired to become a national champion. Peppered with entertaining anecdotes and Montgomery’s relaxed humor, this talk reveals the most important factors of his success: determination, ambition, teamwork, and the power of believing in yourself.
In an individual sport like Skeleton, one’s success as an athlete is directly tied to an ability to work collaboratively with the team behind the front lines. Jon Montgomery invites us into the world of his professional sport, detailing the lengthy training, preparation, and conditioning that was required in advance of his gold-winning turn in the Vancouver Olympics. Outside of the professional support of his team, he opens up about the other forms of support—from his family, friends, and community—that also contributed to his victory. This talk serves as a powerful reminder that no man is an island, and every man is only as good as the strength of his team.
