William Demong (born March 29, 1980 in

Vermontville, New York Vermontville is a hamlet in Franklin County in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seat of government of the town of Franklin. Vermontville is located near the southern town line on New York State Route 3. History Vermontville was settled by m ...

) is an American former

Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympic ...

skier and Olympic gold medalist. Demong is a five-time Olympian, having competed in Nagano, Salt Lake City, Torino, Vancouver and Sochi.

Career

Demong competed at the World Cup level starting in 1997. His first World Cup victory came in 2002 in (

Liberec Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...

, Czech Republic). Two more in 2007, (

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

, Finland: March 9;

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

, Norway: December 8). He also has three victories in World Cup B events in the United States in 2004 and 2005 as well. In the 2008 season Bill had one victory in Ramsau am Dachstein in the 2008 season but his first real banner year occurred in 2009 when Bill racked up five World Cup victories and took third in the overall World Cup standings. Heading into the 2009–2010 season, Demong had nine World Cup victories and numerous top-tens. At the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

, in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, Demong placed fourth in the 4 × 5 km team event and 14th in the 7.5 km event. Demong won a complete set of medals at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship e ...

with a gold (10 km individual large hill:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

), a silver (15 km individual:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

), and a bronze (10 km individual normal hill: 2009). Demong retired in 2015.

2010 Winter Olympics

Demong skied the final lap for the United States team consisting of

Johnny Spillane Johnny Spillane (born November 24, 1980) is an American athlete who competes in Nordic combined, a combination event consisting of ski jumping and cross-country skiing. Spillane is a world champion and three-time Olympic silver medalist. He ann ...

Todd Lodwick Todd Lodwick (born November 21, 1976) is an American Nordic combined skier. He competed at the 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 Olympics and won a team silver medal in 2010. His best individual result was fourth place in 2010, when he finis ...

and

Brett Camerota Brett Camerota (born January 9, 1985) is an American Nordic combined skier. Competing at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, he won a silver medal in the 4×5 km team event in 2010, while his best individual finish was 36th place in the 10&nb ...

in the team large hill/4x5 km, winning the silver medal. In the 10 km individual large hill, Demong won gold. Demong is the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in a nordic event. After the medal ceremony held later that evening for the 10 km individual large hill event, Demong proposed to his girlfriend,

Katie Koczynski Kathrine "Katie" Koczynski-Demong (born September 16, 1980, in Upper Nyack, New York) is an American skeleton racer who competed internationally from 2000 until 2005. Koczynski competed on the FIBT World Cup circuit from 2002 through 2005 and plac ...

, in front of teammates and coaches at the team headquarters near

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

."Hours after gold medal, U.S. skier proposes to girlfriend".
– Chris Chase Yahoo! Sports February 26, 2010 article Retrieved February 27, 2010. Koczynski said yes. Also on that same day, Demong found out he was named the flagbearer for the American team at the

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the 2010 Winter Olympics on February 28. It was Demong's teammate, Spillane, who gave Demong the courage to propose to his future wife. Demong and his fiancée discussed how this happened on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' show the following morning. On July 11, 2010, Demong married Koczynski in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh. ...

Personal life

Demong learned to jump through the New York Ski Educational Foundation (NYSEF). He attended the National Sports Academy National Sports Academy (Lake Placid, New York) during high school, and competed in the Nagano Olympics during his senior year. In 2009, Demong began appearing in

Alka-Seltzer Alka-Seltzer is an effervescent antacid and pain reliever first marketed by the Dr. Miles Medicine Company of Elkhart, Indiana, United States. Alka-Seltzer contains three active ingredients: aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) (ASA), sodium bicarbonate ...

Plus television commercials as part of the medication's sponsorship of the

U.S. Ski Team The U.S. Ski Team, operating under the auspices of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. Since 1974 the team and ...

. His mother is a Korean-American retired chorus teacher from Saranac Lake High School.

References

External links

*
U.S. Ski Team Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demong, Bill 1980 births American male Nordic combined skiers Living people Nordic combined skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Nordic combined skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Nordic combined skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Nordic combined skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Nordic combined skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic Nordic combined skiers of the United States Olympic gold medalists for the United States in Nordic combined Olympic silver medalists for the United States in Nordic combined People from Franklin County, New York FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in Nordic combined Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics American people of Korean descent