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Twenty years after Steven Bradbury famously won Australia’s first Olympic Winter Games gold medal, an unassuming skater from New Brunswick, Canada is aiming to put Short Track back on the map in the land down under at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. 

Brendan Corey has emerged from his first international season in 2021/22 as the leader of Australia’s Short Track Speed Skating team, two years after switching his allegiance to the country where his mother grew up.

Brendan Corey (AUS) competes in the Men's 1000m final during the ISU World Cup Short Track 1 in Dordrecht (NED) 2021 @International Skating Union (ISU)

Corey committed to Australia in 2019 when a concussion left him unable to compete for a spot on Canada’s team, but his initial attempts to relocate to his adopted country in early 2020 were curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic.

While Corey has been able to spend only limited time in Australia, it has made an impression on him.

“I was living in Australia earlier in the year (2021) and it was nice to be there, experience the life there,” the 24-year-old said. “There are a lot of similarities to Canada, so that’s nice and it made the transition a little bit easier.

“It’s a very beautiful country, nice people, the life outside of skating is enjoyable – and much warmer. Even in the winter, it’s much warmer.”

On the ice, Corey has already had an impact on the young Australian team.

“He’s brought an extremely high work ethic,” said Australia’s national coach Richard Nizielski. “He’s been in a system before that required everyone to have a high work ethic just to be there, and he’s carried that through.”

“He doesn’t have any expectations about what the program should give him, he’s there to provide something for the program at every session. He does things by example but it’s up to everybody else to lift to that rather than him having to drag them up.”

After being appointed as national coach in 2018, Nizielski is attempting to rebuild Australia’s Short Track program back up to the level it previously reached when he and Bradbury were part of the Men’s 5000m Relay team who won World Championships gold in 1991 and Olympic bronze in 1994.

Eight years after that breakthrough Olympic medal, the crowning moment of Australia’s Short Track glory days came at Salt Lake City in 2002, when Bradbury won the 1000m gold after the four racers in front of him tangled and crashed on the final turn, allowing him to cross the line unopposed in first place.

Since then, however, the program has stuttered. Australia can no longer produce enough elite skaters for Relay teams, and individual results at international level have been underwhelming.

“It’s challenging,” Nizielski admitted. “Australia was one of the best countries in the world back in the 90s and since then it hasn’t been as prosperous for us. The world’s moved on, the world’s gotten a lot faster.

“Now that we’ve got someone like Brendan here at this point in time, hopefully we can be part of that and others can see that it can be done.”

While Australia is a sport-loving country and regularly shines on the global stage, especially at the Summer Olympic Games and in sports such as cricket and rugby, building sustainable winter sports programs without adequate infrastructure has proven difficult.

There are 100 days to #Beijing2022 and we invite you, Australia, to start #ChasingWinter with us!#100DaysToGo #WinterOlympics @beijing2022 pic.twitter.com/ERNDNZ749J

— AUS Olympic Team (@AUSOlympicTeam) October 26, 2021

“As skating is in other countries where there’s an ice rink on every corner in the winter, there’s a football park in Australia on every corner where you can just walk out and kick a football or hit a cricket ball,” Nizielski said. “So the possibilities are a little more challenging.”

After switching from a country that has won 13 Short Track medals, including four golds, at the past three Olympic Winter Games, Corey is usually met with mild bemusement when he tells Australians what he does for a living.

“Short Track is not a very popular sport in Australia as you can imagine, so they are surprised and most people ask, ‘What is Short Track?’” he said. “So I explain it and once I tell them what it is they say, ‘OK, that’s cool, I’ve seen it on TV at the Olympics before, it’s a really exciting sport.’”

Brendan Corey (AUS), Stijn Desmet (BEL), Yoongy Kwak (KOR), Kazuki Yoshinaga (JPN) and Semen Elistratov(RUS) competes the Men's 1000m Semifinals during the 2021/22 ISU World Cup Short Track test event for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. @International Skating Union (ISU)

When Australians tune in to Short Track at Beijing 2022, they might just be able to cheer for Corey, who earned an Olympic spot for Australia in the 1000m after making the A final at only his fourth World Cup event in Dordrecht in November.

“It would be a dream come true,” Corey said of participating at the Olympic Games. “Since I was a little boy I’ve always dreamed of being at the Olympics and this is just the next step of me getting there.

“I’m hoping to rewrite Australia’s name so that we’re not just known for Steven Bradbury.”