U.S. downhill skier Breezy Johnson thought her Olympic dreams were dashed in 2022 when she injured her knee in a crash just weeks before the Beijing Games. The devastation took place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy — the same location where she competed this week hoping for redemption.
So it’s not inconceivable that Johnson would have nerves at the top of the hill before her medal run on Sunday.
“The best way for me to compete is to know that, though tough things can happen, it’s still worth it in the end,” Johnson said on NBC’s “TODAY” show. “Going out and giving it your all despite the risks is something that not a lot of people can do. To be able to put your whole heart into something that can be so dangerous is something that I consider to be an accomplishment on itself.”
Johnson did that and more. She finished in 1:36.1 — just 0.04 seconds ahead of German Emma Aicher — to earn the first Olympic medal of her career and the first medal for Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The Jackson Hole, Wyoming, native was visibly emotional as the U.S. national anthem played and gold was placed around her neck.
“I haven’t heard the U.S. national anthem played for me very often in my career,” she said. “I think that the first time was actually at the world championships last year, and it was a very emotional moment then. To hear it be played again yesterday at the Olympics was really just a surreal moment.”
Johnson teared up as she held up the medal at the top of the podium. Unfortunately, that was the last time it remained intact.
After being told five-time medalist and British Olympic diver Tom Daley wanted to meet her, she immediately lunged into the air in excitement.
“I’m obviously a big fan because he knit at the Olympics and I knit at the Olympics,” Johnson said. “I was jumping up and down and the medal just ripped off the end of the ribbon and fell to the ground. Thankfully, they gave me a new medal.”
She wasn’t the only one with medal issues in Italy. Alysa Liu, a figure skater and part of the gold medal-winning U.S. team, had the same thing happen after winning late Sunday night.
Regardless of the physical status of her gold medal, Johnson said the honor of winning and representing her country on a worldwide stage “has not sunk in yet.” She also reveled in the fact that her latest accomplishment came exactly one year after winning the world championship.
“It’s been a crazy whirlwind,” she said. “I was joking yesterday that I don’t know that I’m always the best downhill skier in the world, but maybe on Feb. 8, I can’t be beat.”
