Demong gets hitched

Thu, Jul  15, 2010 - By US Ski Team

LAKE PLACID, NY (July 13) – On a blue-skied, perfect, sunny afternoon, 2010 Olympic medalist Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) stood waiting patiently at the altar for his bride-to-be Katie Koczynski to walk down the aisle. The couple exchanged vows in Lake Placid on Sunday, July 11, 2010.

"It was awesome, we had a really great weekend of weather, friends and family in Lake Placid," said Demong. "It was a cool way to come back home to get married and to do it with people that have been very special to us over the years."

Koczynski and Demong were married by town justice Jim Rogers, at the Crowne Plaza Resort and Golf Club. The wedding was filled with Olympic and elite athletes including Demong's teammates and groomsmen Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO), who was the best man, and Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO). U.S. Cross Country Ski Team member Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT) was also there.

"There are a lot of former and current athletes across many sports that Katie and I both know," said Demong. "She was on the bobsled-skeleton team. We had all sorts of fun guests."

The wedding was traditional, set on a golf course with the guests facing the Adirondacks looking at Whiteface Mountain, the bobsled/skeleton site and the ski jumping site. The backdrop could not have been more suiting for the pair as they move into a new chapter in their lives.

Koczynski looked radiant in a beautiful white beaded strapless gown. The bridesmaids wore yellow dresses matching the groomsmen's ties and boutonnieres. The wedding party consisted of four bridesmaids, four groomsmen and two flower girls, one of which was Lodwick's daughter.

The reception was filled with laughter and fun particularly during Spillane's best man toast when he bragged that "he spent more nights in a hotel room with Billy than his wife." After the evening ended, the newlyweds spent their wedding night at the Mirror Lake Inn which is owned by fellow Olympic super G bronze medalist Andrew Weibrecht's family, before heading off on their honeymoon.

"We're going to stay around here. It's so pretty and we have a house on the lake," said Demong. "It's a little secluded. We have to get there by boat."

Demong made history with his teammates in Vancouver, winning silver in the team relay, the first ever for the U.S. in the event, as well as the USA's first gold medal in nordic combined history.

Demong proposed to Koczynski in February at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver at the U.S. Ski Team/Spyder House in front of his teammates, family, sponsors and USSA staff. Earlier in the day, Demong won gold in the large hill competition and was elected flag-bearer at closing ceremonies.

The newlyweds will make their home in Utah where he trains at the Team's Center of Excellence. The Olympic champion has been juggling training, wedding prep and bike racing this summer while remodeling his entire Park City house himself, becoming a regular at the local Home Depot.

Demong will rejoin the Team for U.S. Nordic Combined Championships in Park City, July 30-Aug. 1.