Winning a gold medal at the Olympics requires talent, sacrifice and, sometimes, a significant dose of luck. The story of the former Australian skater Steven Bradbury he is living proof of this. The athlete won an incredible gold in short track – the ice skating discipline – at the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympic Games, starting as a super underdog. In Italy it has become a myth thanks to the famous comment by Gialappa’s Bandwho turned his feat into a viral phenomenon. Yet that unexpected triumph was not entirely undeserved. The Australian, in fact, had a very respectable career behind him, especially considering that Australia (and Queensland, where he was born) is famous for surfing and beaches, certainly not for snowy slopes or ice rinks.
Bradbury wasn’t just “the lucky man”: he was a pioneer for his country. He had already won the historic first winter bronze for Australia at Lillehammer 1994 and several medals at the world championships with the relay. At the end of the story, Steven is a symbol of resilience: two very serious injuries threatened to end his career in a tragic way. Despite everything, he was there, in Salt Lake City, in the right place at the right time.
How Steven Bradbury won gold at the Salt Lake City Olympics
His 2002 Olympics seems to have come from the pen of a Hollywood screenwriter. The event was immediately a joke – or rather a gift – of fate. In the quarter-finals of the 1000 m short track, the Australian crossed the finish line in 3rd place (only the first two passed). It seems over, but the first sign of providence arrives: the second place is disqualified, allowing Bradbury to advance in the draw.
In the semi-final Bradbury started as an underdog and, unable to keep up with the pace of the best, remained at the back of the group. Another small miracle, three skaters in front of him fall, leaving him free for 2nd place. It’s in the final.
Having reached the final is already an unexpected success. On February 16, 2002, at the Salt Lake City Ice Center, five players will compete for the medals. Bradbury is on track with the sacred monsters of the discipline: the Korean Ahn Hyun-Soo (known as Viktor Ahn, six Olympic gold medals), the American star Apolo Anton Ohno (8 Olympic medals), the Canadian Mathieu Turcotte (3 Olympic medals) and the Chinese Li Jiajun (10 world gold medals).
Bradbury spent the entire race detached, watching the champions battle from afar. On the last lap, destiny knocks again, and this time it breaks down the door. At the last corner, Li Jiajun attempts a risky overtaking on Ohno. The two touch and both fall, dragging Ahn Hyun-Soo and Turcotte onto the ice with a domino effect. In the general chaos, between blades and bodies sliding towards the barriers, Bradbury is the only one left standing. In disbelief, he crosses the finish line undisturbed and raises his arms to the sky. It is the first Winter Games gold medal in Australia’s history.
His victory went around the world and Steven immediately became an idol in his homeland, so much so that they printed a stamp with his photo to celebrate the feat.
Career between medals and injuries: who is the former Australian skater
Not everyone knows that behind this medal, which arrived in a daring way, there is a dramatic story of determination. Bradbury was not in Salt Lake City by chance, in addition to being his third Olympic participation, in the 1990s he had led the Australian relay team to win many three world medals (Gold in Sydney 1991, Bronze in Beijing 1993, Silver in Guildford 1994). Not only that: he had already given Australia the first medal in its history at the Winter Games in Lillehammer 1994, when he won bronze in the 5000 m relay together with teammates Richard Nizielski, Andrew Murtha and Kieran Hansen.
His career, however, seriously risked being interrupted long before he could reach the much dreamed of individual goals. In 1998 in Montreal, during a competition, a rival’s skate tore the muscles of his right thigh. He lost liters of blood and it was needed 111 stitches and 18 months of rehabilitation to get him back on his feet. If this wasn’t enough, in 2000 in Sydney, during training, he crashed violently into the barriers, causing neck fracture. The doctors were categorical: it was impossible to compete again.
Yet, he didn’t give up. Having retired immediately after his Olympic triumph, he wrote a biography with the perfect title: “Last man standing” (The last man standing). Today he is a national hero, so much so that the expression was coined in Australia “Doing at Bradbury“: Achieving resounding and unexpected success against all odds, thanks to patience and the ability to stay standing when all others fall.
