Steven Bradbury

Steven John Bradbury OAM is an Australian former short-track speed skater and four-time Olympian. He won the gold medal at the 1,000 m event at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He was the first athlete from Australia and also the first from the Southern Hemisphere to win a Winter Olympic gold medal, and he was also part of the short-track relay team that won Australia's first Winter Olympic medal, a bronze in 1994. The nature of his gold medal win – a relative veteran and 50:1 rank outsider who had come through from last place in the final straight as the entire field ahead crashed out on the final corner – became iconic of underdog success and perseverance at the Olympic Games and in life in general, especially in Australian culture.