To celebrate a 100 years of the Winter Olympics, we are looking back at some of the greatest stories and athletes from across the century.
To many it’s the ultimate underdog story that championed a folk hero in their native country. For me the result was a just reward for a calculated approach to defeating the odds when they’re stacked against you.
The moment in question is Steven Bradbury’s triumph at the Salt Lake Winter Olympics 2002.
You’re probably all wondering how it’s been 100 years since we haven’t had a Winter Games this year. From 1924 to 1992 the event occurred in the conforming years as the Summer Olympics. The switch to offset from the Summer Games occurred for the XVII games in Lillehammer, Norway, which took place in 1994.
Eight years later, it was the backdrop of the snow capped Rockies in Utah where Bradbury’s success occurred. The event in question was the 1000 metres short track speed skating.
As a huge motorsports fan, speed skating fills that adrenaline rush with strategy and aggression, and two blades of metal separate glory from a trip to the ice and crash padding.
It’s no surprise why Bradbury’s triumph is my Winter Olympics sporting moment. It joins an elite club alongside Michael Smith’s 9-darter at the 2023 PDC Darts World Championships and Lewis Hamilton’s pole lap for the 2018 Singapore GP as clips that I will always rewatch when they come up on my socials.
Whilst a groundbreaking gold was the result, Bradbury’s glide to glory in Salt Lake is an incredible story.
Having sailed through his qualifying round, progression to medal-contention was hanging in the balance come the Quarter Finals.
Drawing both the home hero, Apolo Anton Ohno and the reigning World Champion, Canada’s Marc Gagnon, continuation was unlikely as only the top two finishers would seal a semi final spot.
Bradbury came home in third and was initially eliminated, however the Brisbane-native was progressed as Gagnon was disqualified for blocking another skater.
Hurdle #1 overcome, perhaps sensing lady-luck was on his side, a crucial tactical decision with his coach saw Bradbury take a back seat in the semi finals. Letting his younger and more aggressive competitors rush to the front whilst keeping to the back and out of danger.
The tactic paid off, three of his fellow skaters tangled within sight of the finishing line and Bradbury advanced to the finals after coming home in second.
Finals night occurred hours later on 16th February 2002, in a rare occurrence five skaters took part as a third athlete progressed from another semi final after being unfairly hindered by another competitor.
The four men standing in Bradbury’s way were fierce competitors at the top of their game. Home hero Ohno with the patriotic support, gold-medal favourite Li Jiaju, a 10x World Championship Gold Medal winner from China as well as Canada’s Mathieu Turcotte (3x World Championship Gold Medalist). Also joining the final was Ahn Hyun-soo, the latest hot property who would go on to dominate the sport representing South Korea before switching allegiance to Russia and returning to the ice as Viktor An in 2014.
The quintet lined up with Bradbury drawing the outside starting position. Closest to the cameras, the Australian in his dark green and navy lycra, copied his semi final tactic. Nine laps of the 111 metre rink and four skaters stood in Bradbury’s way.
Making a steady start and towing at the back of the pack. Bradbury was gradually being dropped from contention as the race progressed, he was trailing by 5-10 metres before his destiny changed.
The frantic final saw multiple leader changes, the usual bumping and barging before it all came to blows with just two corners to go. As Jiaju and Ohno jostled for the lead it was the Chinese skater to fall from second place at the penultimate corner, then inheriting second place, South Korea’s Hyun-soo crashed to floor on the inside, wiping out leader Ohno and Turcotte, leaving the plucky Australian unopposed to taking a huge result.
Celebrations were subdued though, a dismayed home crowd and a judges investigation unfolded which threw the result into question. Ultimately the result stood and it was Bradbury who deservedly stood on the top step of the podium.
A maiden gold not only for him, but for Australia and the entire southern Hemisphere.
Bradbury’s success, as unlikely as it was on the night, was no flash-in-the pan result. He had been an Olympic medallist before taking bronze in the 5000m relay in 1994. His gold-medal success also put a fitting end to a career that navigated significant setbacks, requiring over 100 stitches after being sliced by a blade and even ending in a back brace after a skating crash.
Hardcore and casual sports fans love an underdog story but we often forget that they are just as deserving of results as favourites. The fact that to “do a Bradbury” was coined as a common phrase in Australia shows the gravity of his achievement.
