Doing a Bradbury
What does it mean? Any Australian with even a passing interest in sport knows the story.
Steven Bradbury is an Australian former short track speed skater and four-time Olympian. He famously won the 1,000m event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City after all of his opponents were involved in a last-corner pile-up. The delighted-and-yet-slightly embarrassed look on his face as he skated past all of those crashing bodies, arms and legs has become part of the visual history of the Olympic Games. He was the first athlete from Australia and also the Southern Hemisphere to win a Winter Olympic gold medal.
You can watch highlights from the race HERE – and a short Olympics story below.
Coming into the event in 2002 toward the end of what had been a long career, Bradbury was a very distant outsider, more tortoise than hare. He won the final ultimately because he was the “last man standing” – the title of his subsequent book and even the brand of a beer in which he has a founding interest.
But it wasn’t all dumb luck. It was in fact somewhat pre-meditated.
After consulting his national coach Ann Zhang, Bradbury’s strategy from the semi-final onwards was to cruise behind his opponents and hope that they crashed, as he could not hope to match their pace. He reasoned that risk-taking by the favourites could cause a collision, and if two or more skaters fell, the remaining three would all get medals. His thinking was that as he was slower than his opponents, trying to challenge them directly would only increase his own chances of falling.
It succeeded beyond his wildest imagination, and, in his mind, delivered some just deserts, not just for that race, but for what had been many years of hard work, near misses and serious injuries in the lead-up to that day.
The world was quick to embrace this ultimate tortoise-and-hare sporting victory, giving newfound hope to underdogs everywhere. It seems that the secret to success involves both turning up and staying upright.
Bradbury’s feat has entered the Australian colloquial vernacular in the phrase “Doing a Bradbury”, meaning to enjoy an unexpected or unusual success, and “Do a Bradbury” was given the official stamp of recognition when the second edition of the Australian National Dictionary included the phrase in 2016.
But wait, there’s more.
In 2023 Bradbury was awarded a different type of medal, having rescued four teenage girls from treacherous surf conditions at Kings Beach on the Sunshine Coast. The Australian Governor General recognised Bradbury’s heroic efforts, alongside four other courageous Queenslanders, for their selfless acts of bravery.
Doing a Bradbury has become embedded in Australian culture. It means being there at the end with commitment and self-belief … and being rewarded for that effort.
Videos
Episode 7: IKEA FRAKTA Bag, Phobias, Doing a Bradbury, Chopin's Heart
What's the story with the iconic blue IKEA FRAKTA tote – surely the world's most functional and hardworking bag? Turophobia is the fear of cheese. What are some of the more unusual phobias? What does it mean to be “Doing a Bradbury”? And finally, in this episode … why did the Polish composer Frederick Chopin ask for his heart to be removed from his…
REMORANDOM Book Chapter
