"He has been such a great hero to us in sport and especially like me so I'm excited to represent his spirit,".

VOA: standard.2009.08.19

"I know that in his staff are a lot of very good specialists, But his politics and pro-Russian orientation, I do not like that."

VOA: standard.2010.02.14

"We were all so excited to go and meet up with him,". "I remember putting on an outfit just like his, the black and white outfit, and doing the moon-walking dance.

VOA: standard.2009.07.01

"Going out there, getting on the podiumand then watching two American flags go up while the national anthem was playing, and then to turn and there was like - it seemed like two or three seconds, but it was probably two-10ths where Johnny and I made eye contact - it was like 'We did it,'" Shortly after winning his gold medal, the 29-year-old Demong surprised his girlfriend Katie Koczynski by proposing at the post-race celebration.

VOA: standard.2010.02.27