SAM Magazine-Vancouver, B.C., Feb. 26, 2010-Nordic combined gold medalist Billy Demong (Vermontville, N.Y.) will be the flag bearer for the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team at the Closing Ceremony. Demong, who earned the first-ever gold medal for a U.S. skier in Nordic combined, was selected for this honor by his Olympic teammates.

Demong becomes the fourth U.S. skier to carry the flag at Closing, the last being 1984 Olympic slalom champion Phil Mahre.

It has been a tremendously successful Games for U.S. skiers, but perhaps none more so than the Nordic combined team. No U.S. combined skiers had ever medaled; this year the team earned four-Demong's gold, Johnny Spillane's two silvers, and the silver in the team event, a medal shared by Brett Camerota, Todd Lodwick, Spillane and Demong.

Demong capped his historic win by proposing to his girlfriend Katie Koczynski; we assume he was successful in that bid as well. \