At the closing ceremony of the Olympic
yesterday, Vermontville, New
York’s Billy
Demong was the U.S. flag bearer. But he also carried the banner as the first U.S. Olympic champion in Nordic sports.
The United States won their first ever gold medal in the Nordic sports
when Billy Demong of Vermontville, New
York and Johnny
Spillane finished with gold and silver in a Nordic combined large hill
competition.
We’ve been checking with Patrick Garrity of the
Burlington Free Press from Vancouver during these 2010 Olympics and now that they’re
almost over we’re catching up with him once more. This time, we talk hockey.
Shaftsbury’s Andy Newell took part in the
men’s cross country 4 by 10 kilometer relay. But it was a disappointing run for
the American team, they came in 13th, that’s next to last place.
Local cross country skiers
had a strong day yesterday in Olympic competition in Vancouver. The men and women’s team sprint finals took place in
warm weather, around 50 degrees, some spectators were wearing short-sleeved
shirts.
Vermont Olympic gold medalist Hannah Kearney will be honored
with a hometown parade. Friday’s parade will start in Hanover and end in Kearney’s hometown of Norwich.
A big weekend for Franconia, New Hampshire’s Bode Miller. He picked up a gold medal yesterday in
the men’s super-combined. It was an amazing run down the slalom portion of the
race, after finishing seventh in the down hill portion.
Vermonters have had plenty of local heroes to
root for in the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Stratton Mountain School has Five alumni competing
in this year’s games, but so far the results have included a couple of big disappointments.