Hello everyone,
After switching things up last week, I’m going back to yet another story on truly unexpected success. Today, the magic of the Olympics is once again the focus ( this time the snowy one, which the country of Norway, no shock there, totally dominates) as I’m going to talk about the remarkable of story of Steven Bradbury, who due to incredible hard work and being the luckiest man ever ( he must have sold his soul to the devil to get this lucky) pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history.
Bradbury was born in the country where everything that moves is somehow trying to kill you, Australia. He was born in Camden, a small town near Sydney on the 14th of October 1973. During that same year, one of the defining inventions was done, the wireless cellphone by Motorola. This state-of-the-art device, only accessible to the wealthy, weight a meagre 1,1 kg. ( I mean who doesn’t want to stroll around the streets with a 1,1kg contraption in their pocket, very convenient if you ask me).
Steven fell in love with ice speed skating when he was young and quickly became one of the best in the world (Let’s be honest, the number of professionals probably isn’t more than 200, but you do you Steven). At the ripe age of 18, he made the Australian National team for the 1991 World Championships where they won gold in the 5000m competition, playing a big role in the final. (My boy had ice in his veins, pun intended). He worked on his craft religiously, and when it came to 1994 Winter Olympics, it was Steven’s time to shine.
He was involved in three competitions, the team competition and two individual events. In the team event Australia placed 3rd, clinching a very impressive bronze medal. It was now time for the individual competitions which are divided into 4 phases, the heat, the quarterfinals, the semifinals and the finals. Bradbury came into the event as one of the clear favorites. So, it came as no surprise that Bradbury failed to make the finals in any of the events, as he was knocked over by his competitors in both events. (Life at its best if you ask me, maybe he wasn’t so clutch after all).
Bradbury’s immense luck continued in the World Cup in Montreal in 1995, when during one of the qualifying stages, he suffered one of the most gruesome injuries possible. It so happened that another competitors’ blade had completed slashed the Australian thigh. (And against common belief, it is actually better to not have your leg cut open. Shocking revelation, I know). This was a truly life or death situation for Bradbury, with him losing four liters of blood in total (In many cases losing 5 liters is considered fatal) and having his heart rate reach an impressive 200 bpm ( 120-140 Is considered dangerous). Miraculously, besides the 111 stiches and 18-month recovery time, he didn’t suffer any life altering damage with this whole blade incident (If you think about it, it’s a cool story to tell at a party, and that scar must be fire).
When the 1998 Olympic Games came around, Steven was more than able to complete and hunt the gold medal that he truly deserved. In the team competition Australia crumbled under pressure, with the team that had finished 3rd in the Olympics, falling into the last place in the competition, ending up in 8th place. This horrific finish happened due to (you guessed it) 2 of Bradbury’s teammates falling down in both races. ( I don’t understand this sport, but, from what I gather, if you don’t fall, your primed to win, as it seems that everyone else goes to the ground at least once per event). The dream was not dead yet, as Bradbury entered the individual competitions as one of the undisputed favorites. Unsurprisingly, lighting does strike twice as in both the 500m and 1000m race, the Aussie suffered a collision that took him out of the race. (Imagine training for 4 straight years, being one of the best in the world, and in the first round seeing your hopes shattered because people bumped into you. Nobody deserves this amount of pain).
In 2000, whilst preparing for his final Olympics, tragedy truly struck. He was just doing a regular race with fellow racers, when out of the blue, one fell to the ground. To avoid contact, Bradbury jumped over the individual and smashed full speed into the barricade. Unfortunately, for Bradbury, the human body isn’t made for smashing into barriers at 55 kilometers per hour. This ferocious impact resulted in the Australian breaking 2 vertebrae in his neck. (One of the worst injuries an athlete can sustain). After this event, many doctors said Bradbury wouldn’t be able to skate again as he had four pins inside his skull and several screws throughout his back. Bradbury risked everything for a last Olympics run. This one for all the marbles.
He eventually qualified for the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. By that time, nobody saw Steven as one of the favorites as he was a shell of the man he previously was. So he came up with a risky plan for the competition. Play it safe and hope that others fall down. (Genius if you ask me). In the heat, his conservative strategy worked as he finished 2nd , enough to get to the next round. In the quarterfinals he had is work cut out for him, as he would face two of the main favorites to win gold, those being home superstar Apolo Anton Ohno (You know, the traditional American name) and world champion Marc Gagnon. Only the top two would got onto the next round, so, when the Australian finished 3rd his Olympic dream was all but over. He was ready to leave the arena, but then he received the news, Marc had been eliminated for obstructing another racer, the dream lived on.
Next up: the semifinal. This time he took his strategy to a next level, not even being near his competitors to avoid any type of freak incident. His strategy was a long shot, a symbol of somebody who clearly didn’t have what it took to win in normal circumstances. Well, the beauty of it, is that long shots sometimes do pay off, fortunately, for our Aussie this was one of those times as the top three all crashed in the final stages of the race, which opened an opportunity to clinch a place in the final. Our main man did exactly that. One race left, to capture one of the most improbable gold medals in the history of the Olympics.
To say Bradbury was, in theory, competing to win a gold medal, would be a complete lie. He was the definition of an underdog; nobody gave him a chance. (And oh boy, do I love a good underdog story). The final went on as planned, the other four racers maintaining a much higher pace than the Australian, whilst taking big risk for a chance of winning gold. The last lap came and the four racers where neck to neck, whilst Bradbury stayed 15 meters behind. All hope seemed lost, the dream on winning gold was disappearing in front of his very eyes. Then, with just 20m left in the 1000m race, the unexpected happened. A collision had taken out the other four men and a lane opened up for Bradbury, who raised his arms and slowly shocked everyone in the crowd as he passed the finish line. The gold was his, and the nickname Accidental Hero was born (Funny thing: my parents also call me this, if you remove the hero part). Imagine what was going on in his head: he was probably thinking about his retirement, and how unlucky he was throughout his career, and then, out of blue, everyone slips and he becomes Olympic champion, talk about an emotional roller coaster!
Despite being one of the weakest competitors in the event, Bradbury had taken home the gold for his beloved Australia, becoming the first person from down under to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics. History was written in a matter of seconds. Bradbury retired after the event.
Instantly, he become a national hero in Australia, doing an interview with every news channel under the sun. Just off this event, he became a feature in Australian television, participating in several Australian TV shows and working as a commentator during the 2006 Olympics. From there he turned into a world famous motivational speaker, doing speeches all around the world. To put a cheery on top of the cake, he made the news in 2022 for rescuing four female teenagers from drowning in Australia. ( I mean what can’t this man do).