Monday Milestone: Last Man Standing

"So I might as well stay out of the way and be in last place and hope that some people get tangled up" – Steven Bradbury

This Week in History:
2002, February 13,
Steven Bradbury is the toast of his nation after accidentally becoming the first Australian Winter Olympic gold medallist.

 

Australians aren’t exactly known for the Winter Olympics. Actually, they’re not exactly known for winter in general. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Australia is a piss-poor -23 Celsius. Please. The Netherlands dropped to that cold just last week.

So being such the sunburnt country, it’s surprising that Australia have submitted athletes to every Winter Olympic Games (bar one) since 1936. Especially considering that the first Olympic medal wasn’t until a bronze in Lillehammer in 1994. Gold wasn’t a consideration.

So when Steven Bradbury entered Salt Lake City in 2002, a seasoned campaigner nearing retirement, in his third Olympics in the short track speed skating there was limited fanfare. Little did the Winter Olympics realise what they were about to witness.

After winning his heat, Bradbury drew stiff competition in the quarter finals, finishing third. Only incredibly when the defending world champion was disqualified for obstruction, Bradbury was able to advance.

Heading into the semi-finals, even Bradbury would admit he was out of his depth, and it showed, well off the pace. But then, somehow, in a final push for victory, three of the skaters collided, crashing out just before the line. Somehow, unbelievably, Steven Bradbury was in the 1000m short track Olympic final.

Entering the Olympic final, Bradbury knew he was outclassed. Not to mention it had taken four capitulations for him to even be here.

When the gun sounded Bradbury comfortably slipped straight to the back, letting the others go on ahead. As each lap completed, the anticipation built. The skaters entered the final moments. The world watched on, seconds away from another Olympic champion. Bradbury was some fifteen metres behind the pack, heading into the final corner.

Then it happened. The unbelievable. The unthinkable. Apolo Anton Ohno, Ahn Hyn-Soo, Li Jiajun and Mathieu Turcotte began seriously jostling for position. A gold medal was at stake. Then suddenly Li fell, spiralling into the corner of the track. This incredibly brought down Hyn-Soo who so desperate to get ahead, as he fell, dragged down both Ohno and Turcotte with him.

It was dreamlike. Bradbury rounded the corner. There was the finish. Every other competitor lay strewn across the ice in a pile up. How could this be? It was almost an ethereal moment of calm as he coolly skated across the line. In the most bizarre and unfathomable way, he had become the first man to win gold for Australia.  

Watching the footage, I’m pretty sure as he crosses the line that Steven Bradbury mouths "Oh my f–king God!" in a combination of exclamation and sheer disbelief. No one could believe what Bradbury had just achieved, least of all he.

Some might argue that Steven Bradbury might almost feel fraudulent, that he didn’t really deserve the gold. It took eight skaters to fail to finish for him to win. But nonetheless he is still an Olympic gold medalist. Australia’s first. The last man standing. And my view is a French cut to the boundary is still four runs.

 

Milestone Five: Top (and only) Five Australian Winter Olympic gold medals:

5. Lydia Lassila (nee Ierodiaconou)  – 2010 Vancouver – Women’s aerial skiing
Continuing Australia’s longstanding success in women’s freestyle skiing, Lassila built on her World Cup success and record scores by taking gold.

4. Dale Begg-Smith – 2006 Turin – Men’s moguls
Ok – so he’s primarily Canadian – grew up in Canada, learned his craft in Canada but he was skiing in green and gold when he won in Turin so Australia will claim him.

3. Torah Bright – 2010 Vancouver – Women’s snowboarding halfpipe
The girl with the million dollar smile, wowed Australia when she achieved what seemed like her destiny with gold in the women’s halfpipe in Vancouver.

2. Alisa Camplin – 2002 – Women’s aerial skiing
Probably the first legitimate gold medal Australia had ever won at the Winter Olympics took home gold just days after the short track.

1. Steven Bradbury – 2002 Salt Lake City – Mens short track skating
Is there a better way to win Australia’s first ever Olympic gold medal other than almost purely by accident?

 

With thanks to Raoul Wegat/Getty Images AsiaPac for the photo