Brendan’s throat was sliced by a competitor’s blade. It won’t stop him racing in Milan

Milan: When Australian short track speed skater Brendan Corey’s throat was sliced by a competitor’s blade during the 2025 Beijing World Championships, he briefly lost the capacity to speak or eat solid food, counting the blessing that the upright blade didn’t sever arteries or his larynx.

Physically, Corey’s recovery is complete, the result of his palpable grit and focus. Still, as with any athlete who suffers a near-death accident in a dangerous sport, the extent to which Corey would continue to take racing risks was open to question.

Brendan Corey is stretchered off the ice after having his neck sliced open by a competitors blade.Credit: AP

The throat cut, from the blade of China’s Liu Shaong, came on the chaotic last lap in the 1000m short track quarter-final when Corey was accelerating from behind, crouched and moving between opponents. He was making his move. Boldly.

On Sunday (local time), as Corey – Canadian-born with links to Australia – readies for his first of three short track qualifiers, the 2024 world championship bronze medallist (1500m) says he will not be deterred from racing aggressively by the near-calamity of Beijing.

The throat accident – which wrought a fractured thyroid cartilage and four stitches in his neck – wouldn’t stymie his ambition or audacity in his opening race, the same event (1000m) that could have been catastrophic.

“I put that behind me. I don’t think about that much really,” Corey said of Beijing’s legacy.

“But in the moment I thought it was the right choice. I wanted to go for it and I yeah I’ve learned from that and moved on, and it’s not going to affect how I skate here.”

The blade of China’s Liu Shaoang inches towards Brendan Corey.Credit: Getty

Corey had raced to win in the moment of the accident. “Yeah, it was either I … try the pass for second, or sit in third, and I didn’t want to be the guy to just sit there and not make the move.”

He was not at all tactically inhibited by the blade accident.

“I mean I’m a bit smarter about it now. Like if it’s too risky now I won’t always go for it, especially in a qualifying round because the penalty is the last thing you want. No, I’m not afraid to throw myself into the mix.”

Corey’s bronze medal at Rotterdam’s 2024 world championships was the first by an Australian in two decades. He reckoned he could get back on the podium here.

“It’s short track so anything can happen. I’m feeling physically ready to go and I’ll give my all, keep a level head and a good tactic. I think I’m in for a chance, I’ve been studying my competitors quite intensely the past two months...hopefully I’ll be able to predict what they may do and base my strategy around that,” he said.

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“Definitely it’s repeatable [a medal]. The weekend I was feeling physically good, and I had really good tactics and achieved what I set out to achieve.”

Short track speed skating is a lonely sport for Australian Olympians, despite the unparalleled story of Steven Bradbury’s accidental gold medal, a legacy that Corey is compelled to carry as an adopted Aussie.

“For me, it’s how I’m used to training anyways, since I’m always overseas on my own and I’ve been with the Italian team the past couple of years and they’ve adopted me as almost one of their own,” he said.

“So I’m still here training with them, it feels like day as usual.”

Corey’s willingness to take chances was evident in his decision to compete in the 500m and 1000m short track sprints here, when he might have saved his energy for his favourite event, the 1500m. He had contemplated leaving the 500m alone.

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“I considered it, early in the summer in the off-season maybe if I sacrificed the 500 and focused on the other two,” he said.

“I decided that I wanted to give all three another shot and worked really hard on my top speeds and my starts especially, yeah, and I’m proud that I was able to accomplish the 500 qualification as well.”

Short-track speed skating is replete with accidents and falls – a mini Formula 1 on skates. Corey’s Beijing incident was frightening, but falls also have beneficiaries, none more history-making than Bradbury.

“Well, it’s always going to be historic in the sport,” Corey said of his Australian predecessor who took gold in 2002.

“Everyone in the sport knows Steven and what happened. I don’t think anything like that will happen again, but even if it does people will always remember Steven because he was the first to do it.”

The Winter Olympic Games will be broadcast on the 9Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.

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