Australian short track speed skater Brendan Corey is through to the quarter-finals in the 1000m, 20 years after Steven Bradbury's famous gold medal.
Making his Olympic debut, Canadian-born Corey clocked one minute 23.908 seconds -- an Australian record -- to finish second in the eighth and final heat on Saturday night at Beijing's Capital Indoor Stadium.
That put him through to Monday's quarter-finals, with the medals to be decided later that night.
Bradbury won Australia's first Winter Olympics gold medal at the 2002 Games in the 1000m, crossing the line first after all the other finalists crashed in front of him on the last corner.
"It's just the nature of short track, anything can happen. It's an awesome story he has, and I'm hoping to have Australia known for somebody else other than Bradbury and his amazing finish," Corey said after Saturday night's heat.
Corey, who has family in Australia, started racing for his adopted country in 2020 after previously representing Canada at youth level.
He had met an Australian coach at an international competition and decided to make the change when a concussion in 2019 meant Corey was unable to skate for Canada.
"It's boosted me up to another level because I want it so bad, and Australia has given me the opportunity to prove myself internationally," he said.
"That's all I ever wanted, to skate internationally, and now I'm here at the Olympics and I couldn't be more proud."
Corey was giving nothing away about his tactics for Monday's racing.
"But I know what I need to do, and I'm ready for it," he said.