Steven Bradbury (speed skater)

Steven John Bradbury ( born October 14, 1973 in Sydney ) is a former Australian short track speed skating athletes and was at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City Olympic champion in the 1000 m range.

Career

Youth and successes to 1994

For short track speed skating Steven came through his father, who had heard in the 1960s among the best in the country. Soon, he was one of the best in his country. In 1991, he won the relay at the World Championships gold medal in 1992, however, at the Olympic Games of Albertville he was only reserve runner; the team crashed in the semi-finals and was eliminated. 1993 relay at the World Championships was third, and 1994 was even a silver medal to be won. 1994 Bradbury therefore counted as individual runners of the favorites in Lillehammer in 1994 but dropped out early. In the 5000 m team race he won with the Australian team back a bronze medal. These were the first medal in the Winter Games for Australia at all.

1994-2002

In a race after the Olympics Steven crashed and suffered by the blade of a follower such a large cut on his leg that he had already lost several liters of blood before he could be treated medically. The wound had to be then sewn with 111 stitches. Also at the Games in Nagano in 1998 remained Bradbury without a medal. In 2000, he broke in a race by a fall in the page limit a cervical vertebra, survived the accident but without further sequelae.

Olympic victory in 2002

2002 Bradbury drove an outsider to his fourth Games in Salt Lake City. His march through the finals over 1000 m, with a curiosity is: His quarter-final run, he finished in third place, but came on because the second-placed Canadian Marc Gagnon was disqualified. In the semifinals, he was already the last of its course, as three other runners collapsed and Bradbury so still could qualify as the runner-up for the final.

The final of denied beside Bradbury, including the American Apolo Anton Ohno, the biggest victory chances were attributed. However, the " fall of happiness" remained faithful to Steven Bradbury: In the last corner of the race runners collapsed and tore all other drivers except the now clearly severed Bradbury with it. Bradbury was free to go through the target and brought his country's first gold medal at Winter Games ever.

Retirement from active sports

On his return Bradbury was stylized as a national hero. The Australian Post was analogous to the Australian gold medal winners of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, a special stamp with Bradbury's picture out. For a long time it was this fact not right. Today Bradbury thinks differently about his victory and sees in him the deserved success for his efforts and injuries earlier years. The phrase doing a Bradbury ( " a Bradbury make " ) has since been regarded in Australia as a synonym for success underdog against all odds.

After his victory sparked Bradbury, together with Alisa Camplin, who also was Olympic champion in freestyle skiing, a winter sports boom, so that Australia could send to the Games in Turin in 2006 its largest team with 40 athletes. The club of Bradbury, the Roos Brisbane has since power base for short track speed skating.

His experiences in the short track speed skating sport has in his memoir Last Man Standing processed, which became a bestseller in his home country immediately Steven Bradbury. 2006 Steven Bradbury was a co - presenter for the Australian television at the Games in Turin.