February 22, 2008 – Competing in Nordic combined, Bill Demong of the United States on the ski jump hill of the Nagano 1998 Olympic Winter Games. (Al Bello/Allsport/Getty Images)Bill (Billy) Demong of Vermontville, New York, competes for the United States in Nordic combined. Demong has been an international competitor since 1998. His breakout performance was a silver medal in the 15-kilometre individual event at the 2007 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo, Japan.

Demong has competed in three Olympic Winter Games: Nagano 1998, Salt Lake City 2002 and Torino 2006. His best finish at the Winter Games was fourth place in the 4 x 5-kilometre team event in Salt Lake City. Rising in the World Cup standings, Demong is currently second overall.

A Tale of Two Cities by Bill Demong

Every two years, millions of people around the world turn their attention to the Olympic Games. The celebration of sport connects people in a harmonious tribute to our similarities and our human drive to excel.

For me, the Olympic dream began much more personally than watching the events on television. I was immersed in the history of the Olympics while growing up near the town of Lake Placid, New York, host of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games.

There, people often told stories of events they had seen and the unique experience they had of sharing their town with the world. I remember my parents telling me how they pressed themselves against the fence at the speed skating oval to watch Eric Heiden win his fifth medal, and how the crowd at the medal ceremony on Mirror Lake was so vast that the ice boomed, shifting under the load. I have no memory of this myself — but having been born scarcely a month after my mother cheered Heiden and the other champions onto the podium, maybe a bit of that most sacred moment of the Olympic Games was impressed onto me.

When I was five my father brought me to Mount Van Hoevenberg and signed me up for a cross-country ski race. I remember the bright sunshine and the groomed snow, but what I remember most is racing around the 1 or 2-kilometre race instinctively pressing for the finish line with abandon. From then on, skiing became a passion and going to the Olympics became my dream.

At nine-years-old, I was introduced to ski jumping and the looming towers of the Olympic ski jumps beckoned to me each time I passed them. Having been fortunate enough to train and compete on the same venues on which Uli Wehling won his third Olympic title in Nordic combined, I slowly gained the skills I needed to compete against the world. In 1998 I had the honour of representing the United States in the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.

Fast forward 10 years and three Winter Olympics and I am now 27. I have begun to polish and fine tune those skills I learned as a child in Lake Placid. I have started to not only compete against the world, but to realize success in the World Cup.

I had the opportunity this past summer to visit the venues of the XVI Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. I was amazed at the beauty of the Callaghan valley where the Nordic venue lay — a perfect framework in which the fast approaching Olympics shall take place. As I toured the state-of-the-art ski jumps and cross-country courses I envisioned myself flying down the landing hill of the jump and attacking the huge climbs of the cross-country course. I daydreamed of the moments that shall pass there.

It is my biggest goal right now to once again represent my country in the Olympic Winter Games, this time in Vancouver. I will also think of the children who will watch, whether on television or in the stadium, and who will be inspired by the power of the athletes and drama of the events unfolding to pursue dreams of their own with such ferocity.