Brendan Corey is preparing to take part in his second Winter Olympics in Italy this week.
But things could have been much different for the speed skating star, who was involved in a horrifying accident at the World Championships in Beijing in 2025.
The Canadian-born Australian was competing in the quarter-final of the men’s 1000m, and had entered the final lap of the race, when China’s Liu Shaoang slipped in front of him.
Shaoang crashed head-first into the ice, with his right leg flicking into the air. The blade of his skate accidentally caught Corey on the neck, with both athletes falling to the floor before skidding into a barrier on the side of the rink.
Corey, a bronze medallist in the 1500m at the 2024 World Championships, looked in some distress, clutching his neck with his hand.
‘I basically laid [on the ice] with my hand tightly pressed against my neck until I was in the hospital,’ he told Nine’s Wide World of Sport, recounting the horrific incident.
Brendan Corey is preparing to take part in his second Winter Olympicsin Italy this week
At the World Championships in 2025, the Australian (left) suffered a horrific injury after an opponent’s skate accidentally cut his throat
He had suffered two cuts to his neck, with the 29-year-old Melbourne-based skater also fracturing his thyroid cartilage.
‘It was extremely close. It could have been much, much worse than it was,’ he explained.
‘Luckily, it didn’t hit any arteries or anything like that.’
Corey is now set to feature in the men’s 1000m heats on Tuesday, but it has been a long road back to the top of the sport since then with the 29-year-old having opened up on his gruelling injury rehabilitation.
A testament to his resilience, the Aussie revealed that he was left unable to speak and could not swallow food. He added that it would take him nearly an hour to drink a glass of juice.
‘I was not speaking and I was not eating because every time I would swallow the Adam’s apple would move up and down, and that’s where the fracture was located, so every time it would move it would pierce into my oesophagus,’ he said.
After returning to Australia, he visited a doctor, who made a terrifying comment about the injury.
‘He said the only other time he’s seen that injury is in car crashes when someone hits their neck on the steering wheel,’ Corey told Nine, reflecting on his conversation with the specialist.
Corey revealed to Nine that he was left unable to eat or speak after he had fractured his thyroid cartilage
Despite the horrific nature of the injury Corey has put the accident behind him, adding that overcoming the ordeal has made him ‘stronger as a person’
Despite the horrific nature of the injury, Corey has put the accident behind him, adding that overcoming the ordeal has made him ‘stronger as a person.’
‘It’s not something I even think about anymore when I’m skating. When I get on the ice for a race I’m fully focused on the race, and not dwelling on: “Oh, am I going to get cut in the neck again?”’
It is also not the first time that an injury has threatened to end his hopes of competing, with Corey, who had played ice hockey as a kid, suffering a concussion in 2019.
Corey had been hoping to represent Canada, but the head knock would ultimately force him to take a break to rethink his career. It was here that he made the switch to pursue a move to qualify for the Australian team.
The Melbournian would go on to establish himself as one of the best skaters in the sport placing fifth in the 1000m World Cup A-final in 2021.
He later qualified for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, finishing 15th overall in the men’s 1000m.
After bouncing back from his terrifying neck injury, the 29-year-old is now gunning to win a medal at the Games in Italy.
‘I’m feeling physically ready to go and I’ll give my all, keep a level head and a good tactic,’ he told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Corey, who was born in Canada but would later go on to qualify for Australia through his Grandparents, is hopeful that he can win a medal when he takes to the ice in Milan this week
‘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.
‘Definitely it’s repeatable [a medal]. This weekend, I was feeling physically good.
‘I had really good tactics and achieved what I set out to achieve.’
