Magic moments in pictures: Every Australian medallist in Winter Olympic history
Bradbury becomes 'the accidental hero'
February 16th, 2022 marks the 20th anniversary of undoubtedly the most iconic and bizarre medal in Australia's Winter Olympics history.
Steven Bradbury conquered the men's 1000m short-track speedskating final at the 2002 Winter Games.
When Bradbury became the first-ever Australian to win a Winter Olympics gold medal, the Sydneysider with frosted blonde tips was dubbed 'the accidental hero'. 'The last man standing' was another phrase that instantly stuck.
His four rivals collided, collapsed and sprawled across the ice, opening the door for Bradbury to slide through the finish line alone.
The result left the American media furious, with demands for the race to be re-run, a move that could have been ordered by chief referee, Australian Jim Hewish.
NBC commentator, former US skater Eric Flaim, complained that American Apolo Anton Ohno was an innocent victim in the whole debacle.
"The chief referee makes the decision. He can review a video and replay. Ahn Hyun-soo clearly fell [causing the crash] yet he was not disqualified," he explained.
"The skaters who were fouled had no remedy. It doesn't seem right for the sport. The only remedy is to rerun the race and give a chance for Ohno to win the gold."
Bradbury's iconic crowning moment
Steven Bradbury has been compellingly open about his immediate reaction to his staggering 2002 Olympic victory.
The New South Welshman gave in 2009 a stark insight into the whirlwind of emotions that him.
Bradbury had almost lost his life due to blood loss in an accident at the 1994 Olympics, and he'd crashed in training 18 months out from the 2002 Games and found himself in a neck brace.
"I wasn't sure if I should put my hands up in celebration or go and hide in the corner," Bradbury admitted in an interview with Nine's Wide World of Sports.
"I had no idea what the appropriate celebration was in that moment. I suppose in some people's mind the question will always remain: 'Did I win Olympic gold by accident?'. Half a dozen blokes have just fallen over and they wanted me to go up and take a gold medal for it. I wasn't sure if I deserved to.
"I only had a few minutes to think about it, but during that few minutes I decided, 'Yeah, I'm going out there on the podium and I'm taking that gold medal'. But I'm not taking it for the 90 seconds of that race; I'm gonna take it for the 12 years in the lead-up to that 90 seconds."
The two men who won silver and bronze in the 1000m speedskating final at the Salt Lake City Olympics both look back on the final-corner chaos with inspirational outlooks.
Silver medallist Apolo Ohno of the USA explained to Code Sports ahead of the Beijing Games what being stripped of gold in the dying moments had taught him.
"It's the single-most important race of my life, both in terms of life lessons and defining moments," Ohno said.
"We typically go through life believing that we should be deserving of something, but sometimes life slaps you down.
"All you can do in those moments is to continue in some capacity, and that's very reflective of how I'd like to live my life."
Canadian bronze medallist Mathieu Turcotte was just rapt to get on the podium.
"Just getting the medal … That changes everything," Turcotte said.
"If you become an Olympic medallist … the step between a fourth place and third place is really big. It's really helped me out in many ways.
"My feeling is what happened to everybody there in the race is the best situation that could have happened."
Jaclyn Narracott - Beijing 2022
Jaclyn Narracott of Australia won Australia's first ever medal in the women's skeleton, finishing second in Beijing.
It was Australia's fourth medal in Beijing, making it our most successful Winter Olympics.
Narracott's medal came despite having to overcome a massive hurdle that is simply an accident of birth.
"There's no infrastructure for sliding sports here in Australia, so there's no development programs. That's the difference," her father Paul told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"They live on the track. Our people get across and they might have four or five runs before the first World Cup, if they're lucky.
"They're a long way behind the curve when they start, but that's the way it is. It's probably not going to change too much."
Jakara Anthony - Beijing 2022
Jakara Anthony become the sixth Australian to claim gold at the Winter Olympics after triumphing in the women's moguls at Beijing in 2022.
Anthony produced top scores in both the final-20 and final-12 events, before once again coming out on top in the Super Final to clinch the gold medal.
In a thrilling Super Final, in which she was the last to run in, Anthony edged out American Jaelin Kauf.
The 23-year-old saved her best for last and was rewarded with a score of 83.09 to earn Australia's first gold medal since the 2010 Vancouver Games.
Scotty James - Beijing 2022
Scotty James was within touching distance of a gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, but ultimately had to settle for second.
James recovered from a crash with a jaw-dropping second run in the men's snowboard halfpipe final.
James held the lead heading into the final run before Japanese youngster Ayumu Hirano took the gold medal with the last run of the final with a top score of 96.00. Hirano's score pipped James' best of 92.50
Despite losing out on the gold, James said he was "absolutely, incredibly over the moon" after claiming his second Olympic medal after his bronze at Pyeongchang in the same event four years earlier.
Tess Coady shows her bronze medal.
Tess Coady won Australia's first medal at the 2022 Winter Games, nailing bronze in the women's snowboard slopestyle final in Beijing on Sunday. For the 21-year-old Victorian athlete, the podium moment was a tough four years in the making.
She was set to compete at the 2018 Games - only 17 years old at the time - but ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee during a trial run. Her sister, Lulu, explained to Today the pain Tess has endured.
"It's so exciting. Everyone just sees the end result, no one really gets to see the work that is put in behind the scenes," Lulu said.
"Since her injury… it's so exciting after what happened four years ago. It's such a great comeback. It was such a crazy injury and everyone was so devastated."
Coady's mother, Kate, was rapt to see her daughter on the Olympic podium.
"It does make the victory even better," Kate said.
"She's made of really tough stuff. She could have gone either way four years ago, because she was so gutted by the whole experience, so devastated.
"She had a lot of work to do, first and foremost to recover from the injury, but then to catch back up because the level of women's snowboarding is pushing ahead in leaps and bounds.
"She was injured in practice on Saturday too, so she rode yesterday with an injury that they had to work on all night on Saturday. To do what she did yesterday with that too is just incredible. We are so proud of her."
Scotty cleans up bronze in epic won by USA legend
Halfpiper Scotty James secured bronze at the 2018 Olympics in an enthralling battle with a US snowboarding legend and Japanese star.
The tournament, described by James as the "best snowboard halfpipe competition ever", was conquered by the great Shaun White in a flawless run worth 97.75.
Ayumu Hirano picked up silver as James reveled in his bronze.
"It feels like a gold to me," James said at the time.
"This has all come to fruition at the right time."
White is a three-time Olympic gold medallist in halfpipe snowboarding.
Heartbreak to glory for gutsy Hughes
Jarryd Hughes overcame remarkable adversity on his way to securing silver in the men's snowboard cross at PyeongChang 2018.
The then 22-year-old from Sydney's northern beaches fought back from five knee operations to haul in silver.
Frenchman Pieere Vaultier wrapped up gold and Spaniard Regino Hernandez took bronze.
Graham grabs silver in South Korea
Moguls skiier Matt Graham had a brilliant 2018 Olympic campaign en route to bagging silver in PyeongChang.
The Gosford product pumped his first after passing the line and was awarded 82.57 in the medal round.
Canadia's Mikael Kingsbury eclipsed Graham by 4.06.
