Short Track Speed Skating
For more details on this topic, see Short track speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics.- Men
- 500m: Steven Bradbury (8th/31), Richard Nizielski (10th), Kieran Hansen (23rd)
- 1000m: Richard Nizielski, Kieran Hansen, Steven Bradbury (24th)
- 5000m relay: Australia (Steven Bradbury, Kieran Hansen, Andrew Murtha, Richard Nizielski, John Kah (reserve)) (3rd - bronze)
- Women
- 500m: Karen Kah (12th/30)
- 1000m: Karen Kah (11th/30)
The relay result was Australia's first Winter Olympics medal. In the semi-final, they beat Japan and New Zealand to qualify behind Canada. They went into the final with three objectives: to stay on their feet (to avoid a repeat of what happened in Albertville), to remain undisqualified, and to beat at least one of the other three finalists. With 21 of 45 laps to go, a Canadian crashed into the side, and was out of contention. With 12 laps to go, Italian Mirko Vuillermin accelerated away, creating a gap such that Australia was unlikely to win gold. Until the last change, it seemed that Australia might win silver. Nizielski was the final skater, and said later that "At the last change Eric Flaim got a good push-away and he stepped underneath my feet and stopped me. I thought, well I'm not going to fight him for this. I didn't want to let the team down. And I was very aware that I had taken a fall in Albertville. I just wanted to get through and get the medal." Team member Steven Bradbury went on to win Australia's first winter gold in 2002.
Read more about this topic: Australia At The 1994 Winter Olympics
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Quarrel or reprimand:
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