I always get a bit annoyed at his Olympics win being written off because everyone else stacked it, as if just getting to the Olympic final isn’t a massive achievement in itself… I mean the Matildas got the keys to the city for losing a semi-final if you want to play it that way…
Nice to see him carrying on being a legend regardless.
The 49-year-old former elite short track speed skater and four-times Olympian was recognised with a commendation for brave conduct by Australian Governor General David Hurley.
He got into the final because of the exact same thing that happened when he won the final. It literally happened twice! But yeah, he got into the semi-final through sheer skill, and frankly even in those last two races he was able to keep up with the leaders enough get the win. You put me on the ice with them and I’ll be lapped at least twice before the end. They could fall and get back up multiple times and I still wouldn’t win.
But anyway yeah, regardless of all of that, absolute legend just for this incident. And well done to his son too.
The guy pretty much defaulted his way to the medal, but we shouldn’t forget that it was because he was the only competitor able to obey the first rule of speed skating - stay on your goddamn feet.
I’m not even slightly mad - he seemed like a great dude, and this has only cemented that.