Brendan Corey

www.facebook.com/brendancorey.aus
twitter.com/BrendanCoreyAUS

Reason for choosing this sport	He began skating after his father enrolled him in a local ice hockey programme. "My father was a hockey player and wanted me to be one too. But after a couple of years I said to him, 'I don't care where the puck is, I just want to skate fast'. That's when I discovered speed skating and loved it ever since I tried it for the first time at eight years old. I love short track for the feeling of speed, the right turns, and the satisfaction of outsmarting my opponents."
Training Regime	He trains six days a week, totalling around 30 hours. He has two to three sessions a day, with eight sessions on the ice each week.
When and where did you begin this sport?	He took up the sport at age eight. He had previously played ice hockey from age six.
Name of coach	Richard Nizielski [national], AUS

Memorable sporting achievement	Finishing fifth in the 1000m at the 2021 World Cup event in Dordrecht, Netherlands, and placing 11th in the overall 1000m rankings in his debut World Cup season in 2021/22. (olympics.com, 04 Feb 2022)
Hobbies	Watching sports including Formula One and basketball. (Australian Ice Racing YouTube channel, 20 Oct 2021)
Injuries	He sustained a concussion in 2019. (Australian Ice Racing YouTube channel, 20 Oct 2021)
Ambitions	To compete at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, and to finish on the podium at a World Cup event. (Australian Ice Racing YouTube channel, 20 Oct 2021)
Most influential person in career	His parents, and coach Richard Nizielski. (olympics.com, 04 Feb 2022)
Hero / Idol	Australian short track skater Steven Bradbury. (olympics.com, 04 Feb 2022)
Other information	REPRESENTING AUSTRALIA Born in Fredericton, NB, Canada, his maternal grandparents are dual citizens of Australia and Canada. He represented Canada at youth level before switching to compete for Australia. "My mother grew up in Australia through grade school. My grandfather was involved in successfully discovering and developing a gold mine in Australia. I was training with the Canadian national development team when I met Richard [Nizielski] at the world juniors in Montreal in 2019. We began chatting and he said to me that Australia were trying to rebuild their programme to how it was with success in the 90s, and with my connection to Australia I was thinking this could be a good opportunity. Later that year, I suffered a concussion and was unable to compete for my spot on the Canadian team for the next season. So I thought Australia could be a new, interesting route for me to take. It just seemed like the stars aligned and I was meant to go down this path." (Australian Ice Racing YouTube channel, 20 Oct 2021; tj.news, 19 Oct 2021)