More than two decades after his extraordinary “last man standing” Winter Olympics gold medal, Steven Bradbury has been hailed for his bravery after saving four girls in the Sunshine Coast surf.

Australia’s first Winter Olympics’ champion helped rescue the teenagers from rough seas at Happy Valley, Caloundra, in March last year.

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 was giving son Flyn surfing lessons when he spotted a teenage girl in big swell out to sea.

“I thought there was no way someone should be swimming out there,” Bradbury told ABC Radio Brisbane.

“I grabbed my son’s board and told him to run to the lifeguards. Once I got out there, I realised there were three more heads a bit further out that were right in the impact zone, getting smashed by 2-metre plus waves.

“I got to the first girl. The look on her face stuck in my head for about two months. I’ve never seen a human with so much fear in her eyes before.”

Realising he couldn’t save all the teenagers at once, he opted to paddle the first girl to safety before heading back out to the other three.

By the time he got to the trio, one was hyperventilating, one was “in a lot of distress” and the third, who was “actually a pretty good swimmer”, was trying to calm the other two.

“I tried on about six waves to get them all in on the board,” Bradbury recalled.

“But the board was too heavy with three of them on it, plus me at the back trying to kick. I was going to have to ditch them and take one in at a time but the lifeguards showed up quickly after that.

“They plucked two out of the water, I got the third one and paddled her in and the emergency from there was over. But it was about five or six minutes of maximum intensity.”

Bradbury said he wasn’t scared during the rescue, saying he could “handle myself in the water”.

“It was kind of nice to know that under extreme circumstances, that I could still go back into what I call Olympic mode, even though I’m not as fit and a little older than I used to be,” he said.

Steven Bradbury raises his arms in triumph after winning gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics

Steven Bradbury celebrates his shock gold medal victory in the men’s 1,000m short track final at the Salt Lake Winter Olympics on February 16, 2002.(Reuters: David Gray)

One of the teenagers hugged him so hard it took his breath away and she thanked him for saving her life.

“That feeling is something I’ve never experience before in my life,” Bradbury said.

“I’m not sure exactly how to describe it. You feel a little bit proud, but a little bit, I don’t know, a little bit like you need to take another breath as well.”

Another of the girls was still hyperventilating 20 minutes after the rescue and had to be given oxygen by paramedics.

Bradbury, who will turn 50 later this year, described the situation as a “good father and son bonding moment” with Flyn, who helped with the rescue by alerting lifeguards.

He was unsure whether the rescue would form part of a film being made about his life by Deeper Water Films which stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bradbury famously won gold in the 1,000 metre event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, after all his opponents were involved in a last-corner pile-up.

He was also part of the short track relay team that won Australia’s first Winter Olympic medal, a bronze, at the Lillehammer Games in Norway.

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