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Hard road ahead for Montgomery's Olympic swan song

Defending champ to begin season off World Cup team roster
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sochi still in sight Jon Montgomery stands on the Whistler Sliding Centre finish dock after an Oct. 25 training run. The 2010 Olympic skeleton champ will start his season racing at the lower-tier Intercontinental Cup level. Photo by Eric MacKenzie

Jon Montgomery would like nothing more than for his career in skeleton racing to end with a chance to defend his Olympic gold.

The 34-year-old plans to retire from the sport at the end of the season. For the man who provided Whistler's most memorable moment of the 2010 Games, stepping back onto the podium is far less important than simply being there to compete in Sochi this February.

"It is about putting all your cards on the table and doing everything you can," Montgomery told Pique on Oct. 25. "It's very little about the result, and if you get too results-focused and oriented, I think you're not focusing on what's important.

"You can't control what other athletes do, you can't control what sort of luck swings your way or swings against you. All you can do is put yourself in the best possible position for success and that's really what's important."

But as the 2013-14 skeleton season draws near, Montgomery making a trip to Sochi isn't guaranteed.

Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton announced this week that that Manitoba native will begin his season on the Intercontinental Cup circuit, bumped off the three-man team that will represent the country on the top-tier World Cup tour this year. He's not the only past Olympic medallist to be starting the winter at the Intercontinental level, as Mellisa Hollingsworth was also kept off the women's World Cup opening roster.

Montgomery finished fifth in the Canadian Skeleton Championships on Sunday, Oct. 27 at the Whistler Sliding Centre, one of two selection races used to help set the roster for the World Cup squad, the other held the previous week in Calgary.

The makeup of the team isn't set in stone, as head coach Duff Gibson and his staff can tinker with the lineup after the first two World Cup events. But that the country's most famous slider could be left off the squad to start the year speaks to how his up-and-coming teammates are making big strides, and how the results have been hard for Montgomery to come by since 2010.

The first race following the 2010 Games was back in Whistler, where he won again to open the 2010-11 World Cup season. He hasn't finished in the top five of a World Cup or world championship race since, although that period includes a one-year hiatus from competition.

Montgomery took the 2011-12 season off to focus on building a custom sled, then returned last year to finish 11th in the men's World Cup rankings. He continued to work on sled development this summer, a project which he said has been "probably the most frustrating thing I've ever undertaken in my life," yet very rewarding at the same time.

"It's hard. There doesn't seem to be a magic bullet. You're not going to find that magic three-tenths of a second that you're looking for," said Montgomery, adding that the goal has instead become building a ride that suits his style and needs.

"It may not be the best sled out there by the time it's all said and done. But it's the best sled for me and it's something that will give me peace of mind when it's all over."

He may have peace of mind, but Montgomery is still likely to have a busy schedule once his skeleton days are done, as his celebrity status clearly remains intact.

He is perhaps the greatest example of how much a Canadian athlete's life can change in an instant after a memorable Olympic performance. Montgomery stole the hearts of Canucks while chugging a beer along the Village Stroll the night of his gold-medal win, and he hasn't given them back.

Montgomery's most recent step into the spotlight came as host of The Amazing Race Canada during the offseason. He said the reality TV show's filming schedule provided the balance he needed to keep focused on preparations for the skeleton season and that he'd be "an idiot" not to take advantage of the opportunities that are still stemming from his Olympic fame.

"I've been really lucky, there's no question," he said. "I never anticipated getting into the sport that some of the career options that have presented themselves would ever have manifested themselves in the way that they have, but I'm enjoying a great deal what I'm doing right now."

Canada is likely to receive three spots in the men's skeleton field at the Olympics, and although Kelowna's Eric Neilson needs just one top-six finish on the World Cup to guarantee one for himself, the others will be there for the taking. Montgomery can assure himself a spot with three World Cup top-sixes, three Intercontinental Cup victories or a combination of both, but it's looking more and more likely that a coach's decision will factor into who slides in Sochi this winter.

Either way, it will be up to Montgomery to prove that he still deserves one of those spots. But with retirement on the horizon, the former auctioneer said simply leaving his athletic career behind having no regrets is what will make his final season a success.

"The Canadian public has been supporting me on this journey — financially, emotionally, mentally and in every capacity — so I owe it to Canada to do everything in my power to make sure I've got the best performance possible if I get the privilege of getting to represent Canada in Sochi," he said.

"If I get to go to the Olympics and I finish last, I can walk away knowing I did everything within my power."