Lionel Cironneau/AP
Apolo Anton Ohno, Ahn Hyun-Soo and Mathieu Turcotte collide as Li Jiaiun hits the wall in a
crash that allowed Steve Bradbury to capture the gold.
Apolo Anton Ohno, Ahn Hyun-Soo and Mathieu Turcotte collide as Li Jiaiun hits the wall in a
crash that allowed Steve Bradbury to capture the gold.
10: Crash Gives Australian Speed Skater Steven Bradbury the Gold
At the 2002 Salt Lake Games, short-track speed skater Steven Bradbury won Australia’s first-ever gold medal in an unlikely manner. Bradbury was in last place when his four competitors collided and crashed on the final turn, allowing him to glide past a pile of bodies to victory.
Bradbury, who was also on a relay team that won Australia’s first Olympic medal of any kind in 1994, had survived two potentially fatal accidents in his career: he lost four pints of blood when his thigh was sliced by a skate in 1994 and he broke his neck in 2000. In the gold medal victory, wrote The Independent, “every bit of bad luck this 28-year-old Brisbane racer has encountered in a 10-year career balanced itself out.”
Watch Steven Bradbury win gold.
Bradbury, who was also on a relay team that won Australia’s first Olympic medal of any kind in 1994, had survived two potentially fatal accidents in his career: he lost four pints of blood when his thigh was sliced by a skate in 1994 and he broke his neck in 2000. In the gold medal victory, wrote The Independent, “every bit of bad luck this 28-year-old Brisbane racer has encountered in a 10-year career balanced itself out.”
Watch Steven Bradbury win gold.
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