“Doing a Bradbury” has become a concept. Win when others fail. Steven Bradbury won gold in the 1,000 meters in Salt Lake City in 2002 after the competition left.
For Martin Johansson himself, seventh place is his best Olympic result. He often raced against Steven Bradbury and rarely lost races to the Australian.
– Steven was absolutely world class. The worse you make it, the better the story is. At the World Cup he regularly reached at least the semi-finals. We were pretty evenly matched. But he had higher peaks, says Martin Johansson.
Today Martin Johansson has passed the 50 mark (born 1973), works as a civil engineer and lives in Åkarp outside Malmö.
Last fall, he slipped back into skates in a temporary comeback.
– In a weak moment, I promised to take part in the SM. I kind of trained. But I actually won a bronze medal in the 500 meters. There aren’t as many people racing short track these days, so maybe it’s not much of an accomplishment anymore.
The love for short track remains.
– The appeal is that it happens extremely quickly and there are small margins. You drive at 50 kilometers per hour. It’s like a speedway and there’s a lot going on. There are many tactical measures during a race. “You have to change and adapt tactics many times,” says Martin Johansson.
Brendan Corey was in Milan Australia’s short-range hope. The 29-year-old is from Canada, but his grandfather was a geologist and owned a gold mine in Australia. Mother Melanie grew up “Down Under”. Therefore, Brendan Corey was able to change his nationality in a sporting context.
As a child he played hockey, but he didn’t care where the puck was. Brendan Corey had only one thing in mind: to skate fast.
It’s no surprise that Steven Bradbury is a great source of inspiration.
“It was an incredible sporting moment, I don’t think it will happen again,” Brendan Corey told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Brendan Corey won bronze in the 1500 meters at the 2024 World Championships and had big plans for the Olympic Games.
But it ended with modest placings, 26 in the 1000 meters, 17 in the 1500 meters and 27 in the 500 meters.
Martin Johansson has his explanation Why we’re fascinated by Steven Bradbury’s unexpected Olympic gold 24 years ago.
– There is probably no country where Steven Bradbury is actually taller than Sweden, except Australia. We grew up with Gunde Svan and Tomas Gustafson, they won cleanly and honestly. Because they were better. Steven Bradbury’s gold, as was Tre Kronor’s loss to Belarus [Belarus]we see strange events. In many other countries it is considered part of sport.
Johansson says that Steven Bradbury coins the Olympic gold.
– He still lives on it. Steven has a beer brand called Last Man Standing. He also appeared in a promotional video for the Netflix series “Squid Games.”
In both cases, the main thing is that Steven Bradbury is the winner when the competition is set in stone.
Olympic facts. Martin Johansson
Born: 1973.
Club: SK Skrinnaren, Malmö.
Sport: short distance.
Three Olympic Games: Lillehammer 1994: 7th – 500 m, 17th – 1000 m.
Nagano 1998: 20th – 500 m, 12th – 1000 m.
Salt Lake City 2002: 21st – 500 m, 9th – 1500 m.
Facts.The Miracle of Salt Lake City
Steven Bradbury won Olympic gold in short track in 2002 after his competitors fell in the semifinals and final.
The expression “Do a Bradbury” means to win unexpectedly thanks to the mistakes of others.
He also won Olympic bronze in the relay in 1994, Australia’s first winter medal.
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