Many sports fans remember Steven Bradbury’s remarkable 1000m speed skating gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics because of the immense crash in the final lap that granted him victory. However, the true beauty of his road to glory comes from his survival and determination to become a champion.

A skilled speed skater, Bradbury was representing an Australian Winter Olympic team that at the time had never won a gold medal. After winning the men’s final, being half a lap behind as he entered the final stretch, he claimed, “I’m not taking it for the 90 seconds of that race, I’m going to take it for the 12 years in the lead-up to those 90 seconds”. 

However, it was Bradbury’s journey to victory that was the most sublime part of his story. In 1994, while competing in a race, one of his opponents’ skates sliced open an artery in his leg, causing him to nearly bleed to death out on the ice. Six years later, a freak accident in training left him with a broken neck. Bradbury spent a month and a half in a halo brace, with doctors having to insert four pins into his skull and bolt plates into his back and chest. 

Medical staff were insistent that Bradbury could never take the ice again. But he didn’t quit. He could have walked away, and no one would have blamed him. Instead, he entered months and months of excruciating rehab, rebuilding his body from nothing. Through the pain, he stayed committed. He knew his fight wasn’t done yet. 

When Bradbury arrived at the 2002 Winter Olympics, he was already a champion in his own eyes. However, he approached his races with a carefully curated gameplan – one that in his own words was “built out of experience and judgement and knowing my own limitations”. Instead of trying to be at the forefront of the race, Bradbury hung back, waiting for chaos to ensue. Almost laughably, massive crashes in both the quarter and semi-finals meant that he had somehow qualified for the final, a chance to bring home his country’s first-ever Winter Olympic gold. 

After staying out of trouble, but going into the final lap well behind, the almighty struggle for first position led to every single one of Bradbury’s competitors being wiped out on the final corner of the race, leaving him stunned as he crossed the finish line unchallenged.

After all the setbacks and intense pain, his mind had never wavered. His steadfast determination and refusal to quit ultimately guided him to his goal. A beautiful reminder that the greatest champions are the ones who refuse to give up on their dreams. 

In Australia, “doing a Bradbury” is now a commonly uttered phrase, used when one triumphs unexpectedly against all odds.