Text of Bill Demong’s speech at Friday’s Olympic parade
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SARANAC LAKE - Since Friday's parade and ceremony honoring the local athletes who competed at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, the Enterprise has been asked to print the full text of the speech delivered at the Harrietstown Town Hall by Olympian Bill Demong of Vermontville.
Demong, who captured gold and silver medals in nordic combined at the Vancouver games, spoke on behalf of the eight other athletes who participated in the welcome-home celebration and were sitting on the stage.
"I feel like my life came full circle today when I drove up here from New York City. I watched the snow accumulate as we turned off the highway down near Keene and started up through the mountains, through the Cascade Lakes and eventually turned that corner when the ski jumps break out into view.
"This is the place where I grew up. I grew up in Vermontville, and at one point in my life lived down the road from Tim Burke, three houses away and six miles or whatever.
"A lot of memories have come flooding back to me and maybe it's because I'm about to turn 30. During the Olympics it was already starting to happen. It seemed like I started to reconnect with more people in this community during the games, before the medal, than afterwards. It seemed like so many people reached out in Facebook, in text messages and over the phone, and I had the time. You guys watched the Olympics, and it looks like a lot of partying and a lot of crazy stuff going on, but these guys and us know that the Olympic Village is a place to put your feet up, sleep 10 hours a day, keep your head down and keep focused.
"As I came into town, it was by far the most emotional moment as everything started to come full circle for me: to remember my first ski race at Mount Van Hoevenburg, to remember going out with all these great friends of mine and learning how to ski at Dewey Mountain at night, and to remember my first jumps over in Lake Placid.
"It's so inspiring to me to think of all the people in this room that have contributed to the effort that I've put in along the way. I feel so fortunate to have been the guy who got the medal, but really it's all of you channeling all the things you had to give as coaches and teachers, as parents who drove us to practice, as peers that pushed us at training to get it done.
"People keep asking me what it feels like. For me, it was like I won a ski race. That's what I've been training to do forever. But I'm one of the thousands of people in this country that are enthusiastic about nordic sports. I'm one of the hundreds or a thousand people in this room who have waited 86 years for this thing. I feel so fortunate to have helped in that dream. I want to thank everybody here. This is the one room in the world where everybody has some, 'Boy, do you remember when Billy did that stupid thing?' story. Yet, you guys have all contributed to my success along the way.
"If there's one thing I truly hope comes out of this medal, I hope more kids and more people get out and try these sports that we love to do here in the North Country. When I was your age and I watched the Olympic Games, the highlight of the Bill Koch festival in 1994 was watching Todd Lodwick, my teammate - and that's how old he is - get 13th place. That was the nordic highlight of the Olympics for me and for a lot of people. That was our expectation. You carry that with you. That's what Americans do: They get 13th place at the Olympics, and that's pretty darn good. But we just killed the Olympics.
"I hope all you kids put that in the back of your head because I guarantee a lot more of these guys up here are going to be doing this in the future, too. Put that in the back of your head when you think about what you want to be. If you're a cross-country skier, if you're anything in sports - Americans kick butt. We are good at this. I hope that this medal, that these medals, go into the collective consciousness of these children and that someday this will be thought of as the beginning of nordic domination for the United States.
"I want to thank everyone in this room, and hopefully each person one at a time in the future, for helping me get here and helping all of us get here. It's such an incredible journey. I hope you all feel like you're a part of it because you are. So thank you."
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bedaball
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03-09-10 8:36 PM
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there's no better dude out there than the one known as billy demon!! couldn't happen to a better guy.
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movedtogreenerpastures
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03-08-10 11:43 AM
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Great job not only in the Olympics, but in putting your feelings into words, and making a tremondous impact on the future Olympians that may come out of the tri-lakes. I probably would have had a Billy story, but those are all in the past and my Bill, Olypic Gold Medal winner stories, now, are proudly told where I now live.
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ADKPrincess
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03-08-10 11:12 AM
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Great speech, Billy. We are so proud of you!
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Afinehowdoyoudo
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03-08-10 11:06 AM
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Wow. This guy is a king.
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