Top 5: Australia’s greatest ever hotdog eater, strongest woman, and a game changing 10-pin bowler

But we start our series off broadway, looking back at our top five niche sport stories – all of which taught us plenty.

We learnt how to dead lift a car, what it takes to be a competitive eater, why two hands are better than one, and what the acronyms MW, PI and WTB stand for.

We also found out what happened to the other two men on the podium after Steven Bradbury’ famous gold medal win.

What happened to Bradbury’s fallen rivals

It’s the most iconic story in Australian Winter Olympics and speed skating history. Now, BRENDAN BRADFORD uncovers the tale of the other guys on the dais with Steven Bradbury.

If he closes his eyes and presses down hard enough, the 10cm scar on Apolo Ohno’s left thigh still hurts as much now as when it was first sliced open 20 years ago in the most famous crash in short track speed skating history.

He can’t explain it. The pain is a strange physical reminder of that 1000m final in Salt Lake City, even if his outlook on the collision that delivered Steven Bradbury the unlikeliest of gold medals is refreshingly honest and open.

His physical scars are as visible as ever, but for Ohno, who was the favourite to win gold and was leading with just 50m to race, skin deep is as far as they go.

“It’s the single most important race of my life, both in terms of life lessons and defining moments,” Ohno says as the 20-year anniversary approaches. “We typically go through life believing that we should be deserving of something, but sometimes life slaps you down.

“All you can do in those moments is to continue in some capacity, and that’s very reflective of how I’d like to live my life.”

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The softer side of Australia’s strongest woman

Dairy farmer Alirene Clair watched workmates struggle as she easily transported 60kg calves up and down a hill, but didn’t really think anything of it. Years later, she realised she had an incredible gift, writes JACOB KURIYPE.

Closing in on her 30s, Alirene Clair found herself in a deep, dark hole and quite literally lifted herself out of it.

A new mother to a beautiful daughter, she had lost her sense of self and direction.

She found it again lifting weights few mortals can, and in March this year was officially crowned Australia’s Strongest Woman.

Clair had always suspected she was exceptionally strong. Back home in New Zealand she’d been stronger than all the boys in school but kept that under wraps.

A decade working as a dairy farmer proved she was strong by adult standards, too.

“When the calves are born they weigh about 50-60kgs, and I would be lifting one over my shoulder and carrying it up the hill and drop it off, and he’d (a workmate) be falling over with it.”

In 2018, she was able to put some kind of number on just how strong she was as she stepped into a gym for the first time in her life. The gym was stunned, the lifter oblivious.

In 2019 she’d join a dedicated Strongman gym and take out the women’s title at the Australian Strongman Alliance nationals; deadlifting a car in front of her awe-struck mother.

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The Aussie eating his way to the top

James Webb will be the first Australian in history to compete at the iconic Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. LACHLAN MCKIRDY takes us inside the mind – and mouth – of one of the world’s top competitive eaters.

James Webb and his girlfriend, Kate, were driving to a holiday booked in the Hunter Valley when they passed through the Khartoum Hotel in May last year.

James wasn’t a big drinker and the plethora of food options was what caught his eye. In particular, the pub’s infamous five-kilogram burger challenge.

“No one had completed it, 50 people had failed,” Webb tells CodeSports.

Two massive beef patties, bacon, eight cheese slices, beetroot, and eggs. The burger had it all, as well as wedges and onion rings served for good measure.

The challenge was to finish the beast within 30 minutes. Webb finished it with four minutes to spare and still had room for dessert: a double serving of cheesecake.

In just over a year, Webb has made a career out of his love of food. He’s won multiple challenges, broken records across the country, and gained a cult following of over 570,000 fans on TikTok.

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Inside the big-money world of AFL jumper collecting

What started as a trip to Kmart as a toddler has evolved into an obsession for devoted Kangaroos fan Shane Gray, who boasts a huge and extraordinary set of guernseys, writes PAUL AMY.

‘MW’ stands for match-worn.

‘PI’ is short for player issue and ‘COA’ for certificate of authenticity.

Welcome to the world of AFL jumper collecting, a happy home not only for acronyms but devoted football supporters like Shane Gray.

Every night he checks the North Melbourne website, eBay, Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace and a Facebook group of fellow AFL jumper enthusiasts, nosing around for new buys.

“You have to keep watching it pretty closely,” he says. “You don’t want to miss out if something good comes up. That happens. There are always jumpers you might be keen on but you end up being five minutes late on it, especially on Facebook.’’

From time to time he also pops into op shops. And a few years ago at a garage sale he picked up a training jumper that belonged to former North defender Max Warren. He paid $20 – and felt like a thief.

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The influential Aussie who changed ten-pin forever

Jason Belmonte is the most influential Australian sportsperson you’ve probably never heard of. DANIEL CHERNY chats to him about the nuance behind professional bowling.

Jason Belmonte is the most influential Australian sportsperson you’ve probably never heard of.

There is an argument to say he should be in the same conversation as Walter Lindrum, Ben Lexcen and Shane Warne given the way he has single-handedly altered his sport.

Sorry, single-handedly would be the wrong way to describe it. But more on that later.

Belmonte is on the Sunshine Coast this week, competing for Australia at the International Bowling Federation World Cup.

He is the event’s star attraction, and with good reason. Belmonte, 39, is the world’s No.1 bowler and was earlier this month named Professional Bowlers Association player of the year for the seventh time. The father of four is an all-time great of the sport, and this year received Queen’s Birthday honours for significant service to ten-pin bowling at the elite level.

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