The first man to cross the line following a pile-up in the 1,000m short-track speed skating final at the Olympic Winter Games Salt Lake City 2002, Australia’s Steven Bradbury recorded a memorable victory that guaranteed him a place in Olympic history.

Celebrated sports photographer Clive Mason is forever grateful that, as a junior member of Getty Images’ Olympic team, he was shunted out to the fourth-choice position for the short track speed skating 1,000m final at the Salt Lake City 2002 Games. From there, the young Mason had the perfect angle to shoot one of the most memorable Olympic moments. 

Australia’s Steven Bradbury arrived in Salt Lake City as a relatively unheralded athlete, but left as one of the Games’ stars. Certainly, his victory in the men’s 1,000m short track can claim to be the most replayed gold of these Games, as it combined a massive upset with the unbridled astonishment and joy on the part of the winner.

Apolo Ohno, the USA’s most decorated winter Olympian of all time, is finding life after sport so thrilling, so complex, so challenging, so rewarding, that he is writing a book about it. Here, he looks back on his startling short track speed skating career and outlines how he is striving to make his time off the ice just as successful – both for him and for others.

In February 1994, Steffi Graf and Pete Sampras had just won the Australian Open titles, Alan Border was winding up as Australian cricket captain and Australia won its first winter Olympic medal. 

Medal events: 8 Athletes: 120 Dates: 10–21 February

Coming into the five-man final, Steven Bradbury was the rank outsider and as the race progressed his chances looked slimmer with each passing lap. But as the leading quartet rounded the final bend, Lia Jiajun (CHN) tried an over-ambitious overtaking manoeuvre outside Apollo Ohno (USA), sending them both onto the ice and bringing down Mathieu Turcotte (CAN) and Ahn Hyun-soo (KOR) in the process. This left the way clear for a nonplussed Bradbury to cross the line unchallenged and claim the most unexpected of gold medals.