Stephen Bradbury, from Never Say Goal to a true Australian hero

From an atom to a hero. Stephen Bradbury, the gold medalist for the short-track 1000m at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, became famous in Italy for the satirical glorification that Gialaba made of him in Never say goals. The Australian actually managed to win the first Winter Olympic gold in his country’s history as the only “survivor” of the final in which all the others fell or were disqualified.

in the waves

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But now Bradbury has exacted his revenge. In fact, on Saturday he saved four girls who risked drowning. The 48-year-old Olympian was in Caloundra, in the Brisbane area, for surfing lessons with his son Flynn and a friend when he noticed the two girls were in trouble. “It was just me and instinct,” he told Radio 949. With the heroes’ reaction times, Bradbury quickly grabbed his son’s surfboard and rushed into the waves high in the sky to save one of the girls. Meanwhile, the rescuers, who had been warned by their son, helped the others.

a hero

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The satisfaction was overwhelming this time: “Someone gave me a big hug and thanked me, and I felt my knees sag because of the gravity of the situation I was in.” All the girls were rescued, only one of whom was hyperventilated but was not in danger of life. The four then said that without the help of the former athlete, they would not have been able to do so. And if even “making Bradbury” once meant “winning an exciting and unexpected success,” now it means having the courage of true heroes.