Steven Bradbury

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Steven Bradbury (born October 14, 1973 in Camden, Sydney) is a former Australian short track speed skater.

Stamp of Bradbury and his 2002 Olympic gold medal.

Contents

1 2002 Winter Olympic Games
2 \"Doing a Bradbury\"
3 References
4 Biography
5 External links

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, 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, the other competitors in the semifinal all crashed into each other, 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.[link]

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[Aussie golds in Winter games bring more instant stamps] by Glen Stephens. Linn's stamp news. March 11, 2002. 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.""Gold medallists get framed stamps" Australian Olympic Committee February 25, 2002. and later described having a stamp issued as "a great honour"."Steven Bradbury: Last Man Standing" by Gary Smart and Steven Bradbury ISBN 0975728784, 2005.

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.

\"Doing a Bradbury\"

Bradbury's Olympic feat has entered the Australian vernacular in the phrase "doing a Bradbury," meaning an accidental win or unexpected or unusual success. []

Another example, the 2005 National Rugby League grand final winners, the West Tigers, are also referred to as the "Bradbury" Premiers because all the more favored teams were beaten during the final series of matches, leaving Wests as "the last man standing".

References

http://www.sptimes.com/2002/02/18/Columns/Sure_footed_champion_.shtml
[Bradbury still enjoying the race of his life]
[AOC Biography]

Biography

"Steven Bradbury: Last Man Standing" by Gary Smart and Steven Bradbury ISBN 0975728784, 2005.

External links

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