Australia at the 1994 Winter Olympics

Infobox Olympics Australia
games=1994 Winter
competitors=25 (20 men, 5 women)
sports=9
flagbearer=Kirstie Marshall
gold=0
silver=0
bronze=1
total=1
rank=22

Australia competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

Australia won a bronze medal in the men's 5000 metres short track relay, the first medal at the Winter Olympic Games for the nation. A total of 27 Australian athletes competed, participating in alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, figure skating, freestyle skiing (in both aerials and moguls), luge, short track speed skating and speed skating.

= Alpine skiing =

;Men
* Combined: Anthony Huguet (DNS)
* Downhill: Anthony Huguet (DNS)
* Giant slalom: Anthony Huguet (DNF)
* Super-G: Anthony Huguet (37th/48)

;Women
* Combined: Zali Steggall (DNF)
* Giant slalom: Zali Steggall (24th/24)
* Slalom: Zali Steggall (22nd/28)
* Super-G: Zali Steggall (DNS)

= Biathlon =

* 7.5km: Kerryn Rim (née Pethybridge) (21st/69), Sandra Paintin-Paul (40th)
* 15km: Kerryn Rim (8th/68), Sandra Paintin-Paul (64th)

Bobsleigh

* Two-man: Justin McDonald and Glenn Carroll (27th/42)
* Four-man: Justin McDonald, Glenn Carroll, Scott Walker and Adam Barclay, Jason Giobbi (reserve) (20th/29)

Cross-country skiing

* 10km (classic): Anthony Evans (51st/88), Mark Gray (67th)
* 15km pursuit (freestyle): Anthony Evans (57th/74), Mark Gray (66th)
* 30km (freestyle): Mark Gray (61st/71)
* 50km (classic): Anthony Evans (47th/61), Mark Gray (59th)

Figure skating

* Men: Stephen Carr (18th/25)
* Pairs: Stephen Carr and Danielle Carr (11th/17)

Freestyle skiing

;Aerials
* Women: Kirstie Marshall (6th/22), Jacqui Cooper (16th)

;Moguls
* Men: Adrian Costa (14th/29), Nick Cleaver (16th), Paul Costa (26th)

Luge

* Men's singles: Roger White

hort track speed skating

;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 [American] 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.

= Speed skating =

* 1000m: Phillip Tahmindjis (37th/40)
* 1500m: Danny Kah, Phillip Tahmindjis (36th/41)
* 5000m: Danny Kah

External links

* [http://www.olympics.com.au/ Australia NOC]
* [http://www.owia.org/ Olympic Winter Institute of Australia]

References

*"2002 Australian Winter Olympic Team Guide" [http://web.archive.org/web/20030308012801/http%3A//www.olympics.com.au/cp7/c9/webi/externaldocument/000114aq.pdf PDF file]

*"The Compendium: Official Australian Olympic Statistics 1896-2002" Australian Olympic Committee ISBN 0-7022-3425-7 (Inconsistencies in sources mentioned in )

*"Australia and the Olympic Games" by Harry Gordon. ISBN 0-7022-2627-0

* [http://www.olympics.com.au/games.cfm?GamesID=344 Australian Olympic Committee]