Steven Bradbury
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Steven Bradbury OAM (born October 14, 1973 in Camden, Sydney) is a former Australian short track speed skater.
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's short-track speed skating | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 2002 Salt Lake City | 1000 m | |
| Bronze | 1994 Lillehammer | 5000 m (4x1250 m) relay | |
Contents |
[edit] 2002 Winter Olympic Games
Bradbury is most well known for his memorable and unlikely gold medal win in the men's short track 1000 metres at the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympic Games, due to three unlikely events occurring.
In the quarterfinals, Bradbury thought himself eliminated. He finished third (only the top two advance), but Marc Gagnon was disqualified, thus allowing Bradbury to advance to the semifinals.
In his semifinal, Bradbury was in last place, well off the pace of the medal favourites. However, three of the other competitors in the semifinal crashed into each other, leaving to him the second place and thus allowing him through to the final.
Again well off the pace in the final, once again all four of Bradbury's competitors (Apolo Ohno, Ahn Hyun-Soo, Li Jiajun and Mathieu Turcotte) crashed out at the final corner, leaving a shocked Bradbury to take the gold medal, the first for Australia or any Southern Hemisphere country in an Olympic Winter Games event.
In an interview after winning his gold, he said:
- Obviously I wasn't the fastest skater. I don't think I'll take the medal as the minute and half of the race I actually won. I'll take it as the last decade of the hard slog I put in.
The "hard slog" included surviving two life-threatening accidents. During a 1994 race in Norway, he had another skater's blade slice through his leg after a collision; he lost 4 litres of blood, and had to have 111 stitches to close the wound. In 2000, he broke his neck in a training accident, and spent the next six weeks in a halo brace.
Bradbury was acutely aware of the possibility of collisions after his semi-final race. In an interview after the race he said:
- I was the oldest bloke in the field and I knew that skating four races back to back, I wasn't going to have any petrol left in the tank. So there was no point in getting there and mixing it up because I was going to be in last place anyway. So I might as well stay out of the way and be in last place and hope that some people get tangled up.[1]
In the same interview he acknowledged that he never imagined a scenario in which all four of his competitors would fall.
Bradbury had been the favourite going into the 1000m short track speed skating event at the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, Norway but fell after colliding with a competitor. Bradbury later won a bronze medal at those Olympics as part of an Australian four-man short track relay team.
Bradbury's triumph was celebrated by Australia post issuing a 45 cent stamp of him, which followed on from them issuing stamps of Australian gold medallists at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Bradbury's stamp was issued on 20 February, four days after his victory[1] He received $20,000 for the use of his image. He said "Should get me a car. I haven’t had a car for a long time."[2] and later described having a stamp issued as "a great honour".[3]
[edit] Personal Life
In 2005 Bradbury was a contestant in the second series of the Australian variety show Dancing with the Stars.
Bradbury has retired, and did not participate in the 2006 Winter Olympics as an athlete, however he did serve as a commentator.
In January 2007 Bradbury was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympic Games.
[edit] "Doing a Bradbury"
Bradbury's Olympic feat has entered the Australian vernacular in the phrase "doing a Bradbury", delivering a similar meaning to the more traditional Australian expression "to come in on the grouter" (which means to gain a financial advantage in a game of two-up, as a late-entering contestant, from the previous wagers of others), and meaning an accidental win or unexpected or unusual success. [2]
In the Matthew Reilly novel Hover Car Racer, the main character wins several of his races by listening to his father's advice of never giving up in case of the 'Bradbury Principle' coming into action, where several leading racers are eliminated in a crash.
[edit] References
- ^ Aussie golds in Winter games bring more instant stamps by Glen Stephens. Linn's stamp news. March 11, 2002.
- ^ "Gold medallists get framed stamps" Australian Olympic Committee February 25, 2002.
- ^ "Steven Bradbury: Last Man Standing" by Gary Smart and Steven Bradbury ISBN 0-9757287-8-4, 2005.
- http://www.sptimes.com/2002/02/18/Columns/Sure_footed_champion_.shtml
- Bradbury still enjoying the race of his life
- AOC Biography
[edit] Biography
"Steven Bradbury: Last Man Standing" by Gary Smart and Steven Bradbury ISBN 0-9757287-8-4, 2005.
[edit] External links
- Profile at Elite Sports, Australian sports marketing site
- Interview with Bradbury on "The Sports Factor" ABC Radio National 28th October 2005
- IOC Footage of the Gold Medal Race, 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics
Categories: 1973 births | Living people | Recipients of the Order of Australia Medal | Australian speed skaters | Olympic competitors for Australia | People from Brisbane | Winter Olympics medalists | Olympic gold medalists for Australia | Olympic bronze medalists for Australia | Short track speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics | Short track speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics | Short track speed skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics
