Canadian Montgomery wins men's skeleton Olympic gold

Canadian Montgomery wins men's skeleton Olympic gold

Canada's Jon Montgomery jubilates after men's skeleton at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Whistler, Canada, Feb. 19, 2010. Jon Montgomery won the gold medal with a total time of 3:29.73.

WHISTLER, Canada, Feb. 19 -- Jon Montgomery pulled off an upset to claim the gold medal in the men's skeleton at the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games here on Friday.

The bearded 30-year-old Canadian beat heavily favoured Martins Dukurs of Latvia in the fourth and final runs to triumph with a combined four-run time of three minutes and 29.73 seconds.

Dukurs, who had set a searing pace for the first three runs, uncharacteristically slammed into walls in an ill-fated final run to capture the silver in 3:29.80. Alexander Tretyakov of Russia won the bronze in 3:30.75.

"Stupendous, outrageous, unbelievable, all those things," Montgomery said as scores of Canadian fans chanted his name behind him. "I'm just going to soak it all in."

"You get beyond what's in front of your nose on a skeleton track and you are going to be ass-over-teakettle in a world of hurt," Montgomery said. "We'll worry about how this might change my life after the Olympics are over."

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Canada's Jon Montgomery jubilates after men's skeleton at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Whistler, Canada, Feb. 19, 2010.

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Canada's Jon Montgomery jubilates after men's skeleton at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Whistler, Canada, Feb. 19, 2010.

Latvia's Martins Dukurs competes during men's skeleton at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Whistler, Canada, Feb. 19, 2010. Martins Dukurs won a silver medal with a total time of 3:29.80.

Russia's Alexander Tretyakov competes during men's skeleton at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Whistler, Canada, Feb. 19, 2010. Alexander Tretyakov won a bronze medal with a total time of 3:30.75.
(Xinhua)