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Breezy Johnson put Team USA on the board Sunday when she won a gold medal in women’s downhill skiing at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Johnson was the sixth rider to go down the mountain and scorched the course with a time of 1:36.10. She wasn’t exactly the favorite going into the race and had to hold her breath as 30 other competitors had to go downhill after her.
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USA’s Breezy Johnson celebrates at the finish line of a women’s alpine skiing downhill race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Italy’s Sofia Goggia won a silver medal in 2022 and a gold medal in 2018 and had a good chance of picking up another gold medal in the Milan Cortina event. However, a false move bought her enough time to keep Johnson in the lead.
Johnson also had to wait through Lindsey Vonn’s race. But Vonn’s hopes of eclipsing her American teammate and achieving a miraculous gold medal victory came to an ugly halt.
As Vonn entered the first sector, she crashed hard. The event was put on hold for several minutes as doctors tended to Vonn and waited for a helicopter to carry her off the mountain. She came to the meet injured when she tore her ACL in a crash before the Olympics began. Vonn completed a practice session on Friday to stay in the event.
Breezy Johnson of the United States rushes down the track during a women’s downhill skiing event, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
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Johnson is the first American to medal at the Winter Olympics. It is also the first time she has won a medal at any Games. She was supposed to compete for Team USA in 2022, but a knee injury forced her off the team.
She is the second American woman to take gold in the event, following in Vonn’s footsteps.
Breezy Johnson of the United States rushes down the track during a women’s downhill skiing event, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Germany’s Emma Aicher won the silver medal and Goggia picked up the bronze.
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The Wyoming native won gold medals at the 2025 World Championships in the downhill and team combined. Now she can call herself an Olympic gold medalist.
