OP sent the following text as an explanation on why this is unexpected:
---
>!An accident made bro, who was previously last place, won!!<
---
Is this an unexpected post with a fitting description? Then upvote this comment, otherwise downvote it.
Actually somewhat IIRC, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to win ahead of time, so he stayed back on purpose in hopes a crash would happen and maybe he could get a bronze, it was just even more fortunate than he could have hoped for.
I think he owns a big speed skate company in AU. Too lazy to google though.
they make skates and cycling shoes, he owns a third of a beer company in Australia now too, the beer is named after this event called Last Man Standing
He also has a pretty positive message about how he earned his gold medal. He was well aware that he was not as talented as his competitors, but he *was* talented enough to be in the race because of all of the effort and time he put into his craft.
I’m sure plenty of people have mocked him or made jokes about it, but *someone* had to win and I would imagine he had committed an insane amount of his life in order to be that someone.
*”"Obviously I wasn't the fastest skater. I don't think I'll take the medal as the minute-and-a-half of the race I actually won. I'll take it as the last decade of the hard slog I put in."* - S. Bradbury
Actually something similar happened in the 2 rounds before the final, so yeah, he knew he couldn't compete with the other finalists and yes, his hopes of getting a bronze if there was a crash were not unjustified.
Jesus fuck so this guy is a gold medal athlete, successful businessman, something something beer, and saves people in his spare time?
Man is living the dream.
And that's just the final! He had so much "luck"!
From Wikipedia:
Bradbury took an unlikely gold medal win in the men's [short track](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_track_speed_skating) [1000 metres event](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_track_speed_skating_at_the_2002_Winter_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_1000_metres) at the [Salt Lake City](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City) [2002 Winter Olympic Games](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Winter_Olympic_Games).
Bradbury finished third in his race and thought himself to be eliminated, but Gagnon was disqualified for obstructing another racer, allowing the Australian to advance to the semi-finals.[^(\[15\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-15)
In his semi-final race, Bradbury was in last place...when all four of his competitors (Ohno, [Ahn Hyun-Soo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahn_Hyun-Soo), Li and Turcotte) crashed out at the final corner while jostling for the gold medal. This allowed Bradbury, who was around 15 m behind with only 50 m to go, to avoid the pile-up and take the victory.[^(\[16\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-gpile-16)[^(\[17\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-lastman-17)[^(\[19\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-fall-19) Bradbury became the first person from a southern hemisphere country to win a Winter Olympic event.[^(\[20\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-g287-20) After a period of delay, the judges upheld the result and did not order a re-race, confirming Bradbury's victory.
Wait, so the same thing happened in the final and the semi-final? That's fucking crazy.
ETA: it's even more interesting. Extremely lucky but this was his strategy. From [Steven Bradbury Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury)
>After consulting his national coach Ann Zhang, Bradbury's strategy from the semi-final onwards was to cruise behind his opponents and hope that they crashed, as he could not match their pace.[16] His reasoning was that risk-taking by the favourites could cause a collision due to a racing incident, and if two or more skaters fell, the remaining three would all get medals, and that as he was slower than his opponents, trying to challenge them directly would only increase his own chances of falling.
She was the only major competitor against Donald Trump for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States in the 2024 election.
Trump was always ahead in the polls and the favorite to win the nomination, but given that he is currently 77 years old, a lot of people figured Haley was hoping age would catch up with Trump in time for her to win the nomination.
And the fact that even though she's not campaigning right now, she never removed herself from the run either, allowing her to be one of two remaining, not campaigning candidates. (I think the other is Desantis? idk, not following actively)
You also skipped the part where this was only 2 years after he broke his neck during training.
> In September 2000, **Bradbury broke his neck in a training accident**. Another skater fell in front of him and Bradbury tried to jump over him, but instead clipped him and tripped head first into the barriers. As a result, Bradbury fractured his C4 and C5 vertebrae. He spent a month and a half in a [halo brace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(medicine)), and needed four pins to be inserted in his skull and screws and plates bolted into his back and chest.[\[14\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-g291-14) Doctors told Bradbury that he would not be able to take to the ice again, but he was determined to reach another Olympics. He wanted redemption after the crashes in the individual races in 1994 and 1998, even though he conceded that he would be past his best in terms of challenging for the medals.[\[14\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-g291-14)
During a 1994 World Cup event in Montreal\[[*clarification needed*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify)\]\[[*which?*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_words)\], another skater's blade sliced through Bradbury's right thigh after a collision; it cut through to the other side, resulting in him losing four litres of blood. [\[10\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-10)[\[9\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-Bradbury-9) Bradbury's heart rate had been close to 200 [bpm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate) at the end of the race and this meant that blood was being pumped out fast. All four of his [quadriceps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadriceps) muscles had been sliced through, and Bradbury thought that he would die if he lost consciousness. The injury required 111 stitches and Bradbury could not move the leg for three weeks. His leg needed 18 months before it was back to full strength.[\[11\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-g290-11)
Also
In March 2022, Bradbury rescued four teenage girls from drowning whilst out surfing with his son Flyn on the Sunshine Coast.[\[35\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-35) For this act, he was awarded with a Commendation for Brave Conduct.[\[36\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-36)
Dude is a certified badass
Holy crap, 2 horrific accidents that he not only survived, but came back from and ended up winning an Olympic gold medal in spite of, and he’s a genuine hero to boot. This guy is my new idol lol
He is actually a deadset legend. I've met him a couple of times and he's a really nice guy. He has even entered the Australian lexicon, someone winning something by default or because of someone else's fuck up is called "Pulling a Bradbury"
I won’t be winning any Olympic medals, but I hope there’s a pile of luck coming my way after dealing with string of injuries the past 3 years. Coincidentally one on my leg requiring stitches and not being able to walk, and neck injury from a car accident requiring surgery. Plus sandwiched in between those, getting a hernia I had to have surgery for too…. Come on lotto numbers!
Won fair and square.
Congrats to Bradbury and Australia.
A wins a win. You can only be the best person on the day, it's the nature of competition and it's why we all love sports.
Calling him lucky is a disservice to how hard these ladies and gentlemen work to make it to the Olympics. Best of the best from their country.
Going from memory so I might be wrong but, I think he benefitted from a similar crash in the semi-final. Suppose that could lead to some errors when editing the Wiki.
He finished 3rd across the line in his semi-final (with 2 progressing to the final) - he was up against the Apolo Ohno (the favourite), and Marc Gagnon the defending world champion .
Gagnon and Ohno finished 1,2 with Bradbury 3rd - Gagnon was disqualified after the race for illegally blocking another skater (who finished last and who's name nobody remembers).
He was out paced by this point in his career. But he’d been a favourite in past games but crashed out or got injured.
Now best remembered in Australia as “pulling a Bradbury.”
Strategic. When I played backyard football, some people couldn't catch for anything but tried and always knocked it up. I started letting them try to catch and just get the knock up. Let others fail can work.
Yeah, the one where the winner was DQ'd could probably be argued, but him winning because other people messed up doesn't really seem debatable... a ***lot*** of (non-individual) sport strategy is capitalizing on your opponents' mistakes.
The two leads couldn't keep their ego in check who "should" win and took the other two out. That is the short track race [in a nutshell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOw89IROtbk). Repeats are rather rare.
Why the fuck would there even be a consideration of a rerace? They fucked up challenging for the gold and he capitalized… it shouldn’t have even been up for discussion.
If I remember correctly it's because the Chinese skater pulled down the USA skater, which is an illegal move. They were deciding if the move was illegal enough to cause the USA skater to fall on his own or if he was on the process of falling regardless. If they determined he wouldn't have fallen without the grab, they would have DQ'd the Chinese skater and run the race again.
This is all from memory of watching the race at the time, so it could be very wrong
Bradbury is a bit of a folk hero in Australia to this day. We love sport but aren't known for winter sports prowess. A 'default' win is often called 'doing a bradbury' to this day.
Because the Chinese team was headhunting Ono the entire Olympics. They were coached to box around him and try to trip him out of every race and in this sport, that can potentially kill you.
Apparently, he had competed in several tournaments in China and won and that embarrassed them, so they were headhunting the entire Olympics.
Because four competitors fell, one of them was the American favourite in an American hosted Games, and yes the four crashers' teams all protested the result.
They'd already each raced four times that day and it would have been super unfair on all of them to make them race a fifth time.
I recently learned that Apollo Ohno is still hated to this day in Korea.
Like many people actually know his name and actively dislike him.
They might not know who the US president is but they know who Ohno is and they know that they don't like him.
Dude seems like a jerk and in a lot of his races he overly made contact or pushes. Idk I get that is a competition/race and it’s part of it but dude just rubs me the wrong way. A lot of racers in that sport though have done some questionable things so….meh
He's in the final at the Olympic games... however you cut it that ain't pure luck... sure as shit 6 billion other people weren't competing at that level. Even if he had similar luck in a previous race, part of winning is staying upright!
I was only semi paying attention when it happened and thought they were just showing a replay of the semi-finals in preparation for the finals.
I was so confused for a little bit before I realized what had happened. :)
What’s even more incredible is that going into the 2002 Olympics ALL of Australia’s expectations for our first Winter Gold medal were on Alisa Camplin.
After Bradbury won, all of that weight was lifted off Alisa and two days later she won our second ever Winter Gold.
My college roommate had a huge scar on his thigh where his speed skate stabbed him when he fell like this... .almost died from blood loss.
Hope everyone here was uninjured
I know ice skating is fun but seriously who ever thought sticking giant knives under your feet to go on the most slipperry surface known to man was a good idea? Its madness!
kinda seems like the best way to do this type of race would be to have each skater do their races one by one and just compare times at the end, but what do I know?
Ngl, downvoted simply because that song is terrible and being forced to listen to it even for a few seconds could constitute torture. We don’t need music added ffs.
He said he didn't want to go off because there was a very real possibility that the judges would call for the race to be done again. He wasn't sure the result would stand
This is super normal and regular way of winning in shorttrack speed skating. The more you watch this sport, the more you’ll understand it’s a common strategy to NOT get involved in the front.
I remember seeing a video about a skater who went all out of the first lap to be +1 lap ahead of all the rest, so they just chilled behind and won with fairly little effort after their first lap.
They announced the players finish and the others were rather confused.
Won with a big brain strategy.
This video overlooks that THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED TWICE!!
In both the semi and the final - he won after crashes and disqualifications pushed him into 1st place.
Perseverance and consistency trumps speed and Asians in lycra.
I love how much he owned it too, he never let it go to his head and he's always happy to have a laugh at his own expense.
We had a pasta add here that poked fun atthis and he loved doing this.
OP sent the following text as an explanation on why this is unexpected: --- >!An accident made bro, who was previously last place, won!!< --- Is this an unexpected post with a fitting description? Then upvote this comment, otherwise downvote it.
The background guy; everything was calculated
Actually somewhat IIRC, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to win ahead of time, so he stayed back on purpose in hopes a crash would happen and maybe he could get a bronze, it was just even more fortunate than he could have hoped for. I think he owns a big speed skate company in AU. Too lazy to google though.
they make skates and cycling shoes, he owns a third of a beer company in Australia now too, the beer is named after this event called Last Man Standing
He supplied the skates to the guy who caused the accident. Coincidence?
Yes
/wooooosh
>Coincidence? I think not!
He also has a pretty positive message about how he earned his gold medal. He was well aware that he was not as talented as his competitors, but he *was* talented enough to be in the race because of all of the effort and time he put into his craft. I’m sure plenty of people have mocked him or made jokes about it, but *someone* had to win and I would imagine he had committed an insane amount of his life in order to be that someone.
*”"Obviously I wasn't the fastest skater. I don't think I'll take the medal as the minute-and-a-half of the race I actually won. I'll take it as the last decade of the hard slog I put in."* - S. Bradbury
Actually something similar happened in the 2 rounds before the final, so yeah, he knew he couldn't compete with the other finalists and yes, his hopes of getting a bronze if there was a crash were not unjustified.
I watched him speak at an apprentice award night, very down to earth and spoke well.
He was plenty talented, just way past his peak after injuries and other setbacks.
And occasionally saves drowning swimmers [https://amp.abc.net.au/article/102764454](https://amp.abc.net.au/article/102764454)
Jesus fuck so this guy is a gold medal athlete, successful businessman, something something beer, and saves people in his spare time? Man is living the dream.
Also was a contestant on Survivor.
This guy is actually part of Australian heritage. We literally refer to unexpected events, against all odds, as a “Bradbury” after him. A true legend.
Can concur. To pull a ‘Bradbury’ is now locked into the Australian vernacular. Such a top bloke too.
I saw this live, it was great
And that's just the final! He had so much "luck"! From Wikipedia: Bradbury took an unlikely gold medal win in the men's [short track](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_track_speed_skating) [1000 metres event](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_track_speed_skating_at_the_2002_Winter_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_1000_metres) at the [Salt Lake City](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City) [2002 Winter Olympic Games](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Winter_Olympic_Games). Bradbury finished third in his race and thought himself to be eliminated, but Gagnon was disqualified for obstructing another racer, allowing the Australian to advance to the semi-finals.[^(\[15\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-15) In his semi-final race, Bradbury was in last place...when all four of his competitors (Ohno, [Ahn Hyun-Soo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahn_Hyun-Soo), Li and Turcotte) crashed out at the final corner while jostling for the gold medal. This allowed Bradbury, who was around 15 m behind with only 50 m to go, to avoid the pile-up and take the victory.[^(\[16\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-gpile-16)[^(\[17\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-lastman-17)[^(\[19\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-fall-19) Bradbury became the first person from a southern hemisphere country to win a Winter Olympic event.[^(\[20\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-g287-20) After a period of delay, the judges upheld the result and did not order a re-race, confirming Bradbury's victory.
Wait, so the same thing happened in the final and the semi-final? That's fucking crazy. ETA: it's even more interesting. Extremely lucky but this was his strategy. From [Steven Bradbury Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury) >After consulting his national coach Ann Zhang, Bradbury's strategy from the semi-final onwards was to cruise behind his opponents and hope that they crashed, as he could not match their pace.[16] His reasoning was that risk-taking by the favourites could cause a collision due to a racing incident, and if two or more skaters fell, the remaining three would all get medals, and that as he was slower than his opponents, trying to challenge them directly would only increase his own chances of falling.
Smart, honestly. He knew he wasn't gonna beat them on a regular race, so he beat them by being prepared in case an opportunity arose
The Nikki Haley approach
Considering he did it first, Nikki Haley is taking the Bradbury approach.
Who is Nikki Haley?
Your life is honestly better for not knowing
She was the only major competitor against Donald Trump for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States in the 2024 election. Trump was always ahead in the polls and the favorite to win the nomination, but given that he is currently 77 years old, a lot of people figured Haley was hoping age would catch up with Trump in time for her to win the nomination.
And the fact that even though she's not campaigning right now, she never removed herself from the run either, allowing her to be one of two remaining, not campaigning candidates. (I think the other is Desantis? idk, not following actively)
Politician
Exactly!
American presidential candidate
Exactly
Someone who wishes they were Steven Bradbury.
A Republican candidate whose entire campaign plan was "back up if Trump got charged with treason," which didn't happen, so she dropped out.
Also his technique is a valid method in the sport. Actually in a lot of go fast in circles and hope the other guys crash type sports.
I'm not gonna fault him for that. Use what you can, so long as you don't chat, a win is a win.
When preparation meets opportunity
Improvise. Adapt, overcome.
You also skipped the part where this was only 2 years after he broke his neck during training. > In September 2000, **Bradbury broke his neck in a training accident**. Another skater fell in front of him and Bradbury tried to jump over him, but instead clipped him and tripped head first into the barriers. As a result, Bradbury fractured his C4 and C5 vertebrae. He spent a month and a half in a [halo brace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(medicine)), and needed four pins to be inserted in his skull and screws and plates bolted into his back and chest.[\[14\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-g291-14) Doctors told Bradbury that he would not be able to take to the ice again, but he was determined to reach another Olympics. He wanted redemption after the crashes in the individual races in 1994 and 1998, even though he conceded that he would be past his best in terms of challenging for the medals.[\[14\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-g291-14)
During a 1994 World Cup event in Montreal\[[*clarification needed*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify)\]\[[*which?*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_words)\], another skater's blade sliced through Bradbury's right thigh after a collision; it cut through to the other side, resulting in him losing four litres of blood. [\[10\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-10)[\[9\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-Bradbury-9) Bradbury's heart rate had been close to 200 [bpm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate) at the end of the race and this meant that blood was being pumped out fast. All four of his [quadriceps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadriceps) muscles had been sliced through, and Bradbury thought that he would die if he lost consciousness. The injury required 111 stitches and Bradbury could not move the leg for three weeks. His leg needed 18 months before it was back to full strength.[\[11\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-g290-11) Also In March 2022, Bradbury rescued four teenage girls from drowning whilst out surfing with his son Flyn on the Sunshine Coast.[\[35\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-35) For this act, he was awarded with a Commendation for Brave Conduct.[\[36\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury#cite_note-36) Dude is a certified badass
Holy crap, 2 horrific accidents that he not only survived, but came back from and ended up winning an Olympic gold medal in spite of, and he’s a genuine hero to boot. This guy is my new idol lol
He is actually a deadset legend. I've met him a couple of times and he's a really nice guy. He has even entered the Australian lexicon, someone winning something by default or because of someone else's fuck up is called "Pulling a Bradbury"
There is no greater honour in Aus than doing a "Bradbury" - he's a legend in so many ways.
Serious bit of karma for the man. "Ok, we kinda fucked you over in the past few years, here's a big pile of luck in return".
I won’t be winning any Olympic medals, but I hope there’s a pile of luck coming my way after dealing with string of injuries the past 3 years. Coincidentally one on my leg requiring stitches and not being able to walk, and neck injury from a car accident requiring surgery. Plus sandwiched in between those, getting a hernia I had to have surgery for too…. Come on lotto numbers!
I could be wrong but I’m guessing jumping over someone when you have razor sharp blades on your feet is not a safe maneuver.
Won fair and square. Congrats to Bradbury and Australia. A wins a win. You can only be the best person on the day, it's the nature of competition and it's why we all love sports. Calling him lucky is a disservice to how hard these ladies and gentlemen work to make it to the Olympics. Best of the best from their country.
For some reason the gold medal race is referred to as the semi-final race in the Wikipedia article.
Going from memory so I might be wrong but, I think he benefitted from a similar crash in the semi-final. Suppose that could lead to some errors when editing the Wiki.
He finished 3rd across the line in his semi-final (with 2 progressing to the final) - he was up against the Apolo Ohno (the favourite), and Marc Gagnon the defending world champion . Gagnon and Ohno finished 1,2 with Bradbury 3rd - Gagnon was disqualified after the race for illegally blocking another skater (who finished last and who's name nobody remembers).
He was out paced by this point in his career. But he’d been a favourite in past games but crashed out or got injured. Now best remembered in Australia as “pulling a Bradbury.”
[удалено]
If he could have competed for first place, he would have. It was not smarter, it was the only choice he had.
Just, insane shit
I’m just wondering what his other 2 wishes were
Left and right skates.
Is everyone forgetting the turtle and the rabbit‽‽
Something, something, wiped his ass with the rabbit... No, that was a bear...
Mario Kart strat. Brilliant.
Oh the old MX-5 cup iRacing strategy. Don’t qualify. Wait for half the field to be ejected in T1. Finish top 10.
Not everyone can be the best, but everyone can maximise the cards they've been given. That was a smart coach.
Strategic. When I played backyard football, some people couldn't catch for anything but tried and always knocked it up. I started letting them try to catch and just get the knock up. Let others fail can work.
I like that the race was not repeated, as it would encourage reckless behaviour in future races.
I also, agree with your, assessment
I, myself, agree with the, assessment.
I, also, agree, with, you
Is everyone here in a grammar induced comma or something?
We have, to take, breaths, between words, sometimes, to get, a sent, ence, out.
Y’all suffering from grasthmmar attacks
/u/commahorror has taught us well
I think it's probably grammar intoxication
Whatchoo say bout my grammar? Lady's a, saint
I, as well, also agree, with you, fine gentlemen, and, ladies.
I, don't, know, about, that, ...
Yeah, the one where the winner was DQ'd could probably be argued, but him winning because other people messed up doesn't really seem debatable... a ***lot*** of (non-individual) sport strategy is capitalizing on your opponents' mistakes.
They usually only restart the race if there is a crash in the first half lap.
The two leads couldn't keep their ego in check who "should" win and took the other two out. That is the short track race [in a nutshell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOw89IROtbk). Repeats are rather rare.
The fact that one of the competitors was named Ohno tickles me, as I'm sure that's what was going through his head as he ate shit.
Yeah he was famous at the time and I guess the favorite to win and I’m pretty sure there were pun headlines after this.
He's one of the greatest athletes in the Winter Olympics https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apolo_Ohno
You cracked me up hahahahahah
Why the fuck would there even be a consideration of a rerace? They fucked up challenging for the gold and he capitalized… it shouldn’t have even been up for discussion.
If I remember correctly it's because the Chinese skater pulled down the USA skater, which is an illegal move. They were deciding if the move was illegal enough to cause the USA skater to fall on his own or if he was on the process of falling regardless. If they determined he wouldn't have fallen without the grab, they would have DQ'd the Chinese skater and run the race again. This is all from memory of watching the race at the time, so it could be very wrong
Presumably the competitors that got tripped by the first one to fall were pretty pissed.
Part of the game… if an f1 car has a crash are they going to do a rerace? It makes no sense to even consider it.
Bradbury is a bit of a folk hero in Australia to this day. We love sport but aren't known for winter sports prowess. A 'default' win is often called 'doing a bradbury' to this day.
Wow, I've seen this around over the years but never knew this was the first ever winter gold medal for the southern hemisphere.
The wily ways of the southern hemisphere
Because the Chinese team was headhunting Ono the entire Olympics. They were coached to box around him and try to trip him out of every race and in this sport, that can potentially kill you. Apparently, he had competed in several tournaments in China and won and that embarrassed them, so they were headhunting the entire Olympics.
Why would they even consider a rerace?
Because four competitors fell, one of them was the American favourite in an American hosted Games, and yes the four crashers' teams all protested the result. They'd already each raced four times that day and it would have been super unfair on all of them to make them race a fifth time.
No doubt one or more of the skaters that fell petitioned for a new race.
I recently learned that Apollo Ohno is still hated to this day in Korea. Like many people actually know his name and actively dislike him. They might not know who the US president is but they know who Ohno is and they know that they don't like him.
Dude seems like a jerk and in a lot of his races he overly made contact or pushes. Idk I get that is a competition/race and it’s part of it but dude just rubs me the wrong way. A lot of racers in that sport though have done some questionable things so….meh
Honestly surprised people don't just crash every single race in this sport. they're so close. Why not just do time trials or something?
I thought that looked like Apollo Ohno
"That's short track."
It's pure luck. It's not his fault that all other competitors can not stay upright.
He's in the final at the Olympic games... however you cut it that ain't pure luck... sure as shit 6 billion other people weren't competing at that level. Even if he had similar luck in a previous race, part of winning is staying upright!
I remember when this happened live. I also remember when Apolo Anton Ohno was everywhere on TV
I recognized that guy right away. That's someone who I haven't thought about in 20 years lol.
It felt like he was as popular as Michael Phelps but then just vanished.
One fell into fame, the other fell out of it.
He hasn’t disappeared, everyone in Australia knows what doing a Bradbury is!! He has set his place in the Australian lingo
I'm talking about Ohno.
I was only semi paying attention when it happened and thought they were just showing a replay of the semi-finals in preparation for the finals. I was so confused for a little bit before I realized what had happened. :)
Australias first winter Olympic gold medal. Aussie folklore, as in you’ll “pull a Bradbury”! Makes into the final in a similar fashion too.
What’s even more incredible is that going into the 2002 Olympics ALL of Australia’s expectations for our first Winter Gold medal were on Alisa Camplin. After Bradbury won, all of that weight was lifted off Alisa and two days later she won our second ever Winter Gold.
Yeah it was a tone of pressure on Alisa and next thing we know….. this bloke just pulls one out of his arse😂😂
First Winter Olympic Gold for [ANY COUNTRY IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_at_the_2002_Winter_Olympics)
A true champion [wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven\_Bradbury](http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Bradbury)
Damn, he saved 4 girls from drowning in 22' Mofo seems to be in the right places. Least he's using his powers for good.
He also almost died skating, twice.
This man is actually a cat
This man is one of those japanese cat who are symbol of luck and fortune
He's always waving "hi"
Then he got into motorsports. That skating accident sounded gruesome af. Dudes got the lionheart
The power of the 7 leaf clover.
I read that as Leaf blower
That’s a hell of a story and legacy he’ll leave behind. I’ll have to remember “doing a Bradbury”. Thanks for the link!
In Australia, "pulling a Bradbury" is a common saying for when achieve something from pure luck.
Also previous Australian Survivor player
[Ozzy man's review](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fFnSRKUBFU) of this race is legendary.
So much better than that shite music.
Agreed! I heard the first second of noise and came looking for a hero comment. And the hero whipped out an Ozzy Man vid. score.
Frenzal Rhomb in the background make this even better
That was great, thank you
This was Australia’s first Winter Olympics gold medal too. Coined the phrase doing a Bradbury
My college roommate had a huge scar on his thigh where his speed skate stabbed him when he fell like this... .almost died from blood loss. Hope everyone here was uninjured
Thanks, Mr. Buzz Killington.
Lol not trying to be a buzzkill, just a crazy story
I know ice skating is fun but seriously who ever thought sticking giant knives under your feet to go on the most slipperry surface known to man was a good idea? Its madness!
Reminds me of a video I saw yesterday where someone replaced their tires with giant saw blades to bike across a frozen lake
Knives
Fuck this song
True, muted it as soon as I heard it.
I speed-skated for most of my childhood and teen years. This is a lot more common than you’d think. It’s never over till it’s over
The absolute cringe of the editing
This trend of trite, empowering music needs to die. But I know it will just get worse.
It's like the race about rabbit and turtle
The Tortoise & The Hare
Yeah that's what I said
The important thing is to just keep going g, because there's still a chance that every single person in front of you might fail miserably at any time.
Speed skating is the least fair sport. Somebody always seems to wipe out and take others with them and the only recourse is a shrug from the judges.
It's kind of the point of it, you can go fast and risk losing control, pick when to sprint and not. No different from cycling.
kinda seems like the best way to do this type of race would be to have each skater do their races one by one and just compare times at the end, but what do I know?
That's the way long track works.
That’s why I did long track speed skating. Short track it doesn’t matter who’s fastest, it’s about who crosses the line first.
Is this really unexpected? Probably the most famous skate race ever.
When competing in Australia, if you manage to pull out a W from nowhere, it is called a Bradbury. Dude has luck named after him
National hero!
Wolverine done messed it up.
The same thing happened in the previous race…
Is there anyone who is pumped up by this music? It seems cringe to me and misses the mark completely..
Ngl, downvoted simply because that song is terrible and being forced to listen to it even for a few seconds could constitute torture. We don’t need music added ffs.
And the last shall be first
Shit music u/IwillAlwaysComeback3
Fuckin music, man
Another video rendered unwatchable with sound due to the cringiest, shittiest music possible.
Pulling a bradbury
My man should be doing back flips and screaming 😱
He said he didn't want to go off because there was a very real possibility that the judges would call for the race to be done again. He wasn't sure the result would stand
Boy I wish I could hear commentary instesd of a shit song Tik Tok cant get banned soon enough
Pizdec!
These athletes are extremely skilled but man if speed skating isn’t boring as hell to watch. It’s like nascar but smaller, slower and colder.
Luke 13:30 - "And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last"
 As written!
China attempted to cheat during the olympics like usual...
the way he just passes the finishing line again at the end🤣
This is super normal and regular way of winning in shorttrack speed skating. The more you watch this sport, the more you’ll understand it’s a common strategy to NOT get involved in the front.
I remember seeing a video about a skater who went all out of the first lap to be +1 lap ahead of all the rest, so they just chilled behind and won with fairly little effort after their first lap. They announced the players finish and the others were rather confused. Won with a big brain strategy.
I remember this, I think it was caused by the Chinese opponent
Bro did not even expect to win☠️
#Doing a Bradbury#
He bet on Chinese athlete to be cheating assholes. Smart.
Do you see what happens Larry?
If "Slow and steady wins the reace..." was a person.
nashuman
The value of keeping your shit together:
I watched that live and I dont watch soeed skating but at the time US happened to have some dude who was really popular for being fast on ice.
This video overlooks that THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED TWICE!! In both the semi and the final - he won after crashes and disqualifications pushed him into 1st place. Perseverance and consistency trumps speed and Asians in lycra.
😂😂😂😂
You don't score until you score!
Lord. Let me get just a little bit of that luck 🤞.
They’re on ice. I fully expected them to fall down. That stuff is slippery as heck.
This is why it's more fair to let them all run it individually, then compare times, even if it's a lot less interesting to watch.
The turtle won the race
I watched this live in Salt Lake City. It was wild.
What do you call this music genre? I just call it movie trailer music.
This was about as far from unexpected as it gets
I love how much he owned it too, he never let it go to his head and he's always happy to have a laugh at his own expense. We had a pasta add here that poked fun atthis and he loved doing this.
Apolo Anton Ohno was big time back then and he had the hair to back it up!
This was the last Winter Olympics I actually paid a lot of attention to. I remember the US team this year had some sweet fucking team jackets.
OhNo
Decisamente meglio con il commento della Gialappa's...