Breezy Johnson Wins Women’s Downhill, Securing Team Usa's First Gold Medal - Beritaja

MILAN — Breezy Johnson became the 2nd American female ever to triumph the Olympic golden badge successful downhill skiing Sunday, hours aft the first personification to execute the feat, Lindsey Vonn, collapsed violently connected the famed Tofane course.

Johnson vanished successful 1:36.1 to gain the first Olympic badge of her career. A autochthonal of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Johnson was skiing successful her 2nd Olympics. The triumph was not an upset — Johnson entered the title arsenic the reigning world champion successful downhill.

It was the United States' first medal of the Milan Cortina Olympics. Johnson extended some arms supra her caput arsenic she stepped atop the podium earlier accepting her golden medal. She held backmost tears while mouthing the words to the U.S. nationalist anthem.

Breezy Johnson cries arsenic she receives her golden badge successful Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy connected Sunday.Mattia Ozbot / Getty Images

"I had a bully emotion about today, I benignant of still can't judge it yet, I don't cognize erstwhile it will descend successful yet," Johnson said. "I knew I had to push and spell harder than I did successful training. I had to beryllium ace cleanable and I felt for illustration I did that."

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Emma Aicher of Germany earned the metallic medal, conscionable four-hundredths of a 2nd down Johnson. Italy's Sofia Goggia earned bronze to triumph the big country's 4th badge of these Olympics.

The triumph required Johnson, 30, to face and flooded her ain history of trouble connected this course. In 2022, she collapsed connected a training tally successful Cortina and tore cartilage successful her correct knee, forcing her to miss that year's Olympics successful Beijing.

"I'm going to person to travel backmost to this aforesaid spot pinch a assemblage that's been put backmost together and effort to execute my goals," she told NBC past May. "It's a beautiful place, (but) it has teeth and has besides wounded a batch of people."

Johnson survived the 1.6-mile people pinch much than 2,000 feet of elevation driblet connected Sunday by making up clip connected the 5 women who taken the people up of her during the backmost half of the race.

Seven skiers later, however, Vonn did not — crashing violently aft only 13 seconds. She was airlifted disconnected the course, which reopened aft an about 30-minute delay. It came 16 years aft Vonn won the Olympic golden badge successful Vancouver, Canada.

All the while, Johnson sat successful a "leader's chair" astatine the bottommost of the run, waiting retired the 30 competitors down her to spot whether immoderate could dip nether her time. She wore a headband she had hand-knit herself, arsenic has go her wont to walk the clip earlier races. By halfway done the field, aft the world's top-10 classed skiers had already had their runs, it became a overmuch clearer likelihood that Johnson would look the winner, and she became emotional, and was seen tearing up.

"Last twelvemonth astatine world championships, I won from Bib 1 (the first racer), truthful I had to hold done the full race, truthful I cognize a small spot about what that's like. I personally for illustration to tally early."

Like the Tofane people itself, Johnson's way to golden was not a consecutive line. In May 2024, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency suspended her for 14 months for missing 3 anti-doping tests successful 12 months. Johnson has said the missed first trial was her ain fault, but told Beritaja successful July that issues pinch the doping agency’s app led to the 2nd and 3rd misses.

Last fall, Johnson injured her backmost while lifting weights, about 8 weeks earlier the skiing play began, calling it connected societal media "the worst symptom of my life, and that includes the 3 knee surgeries, the dislocations, and the surgery leg."

Sunday's title will beryllium remembered for much beingness symptom — aft Vonn could beryllium heard screaming pursuing her autumn and crash. The 41-year-old was attempting to go the oldest Alpine skier, man aliases woman, to badge astatine an Olympics, and was competing only 9 days aft tearing the ACL successful her near knee.

"My bosom goes retired to her, I dream it's not arsenic bad arsenic it looked and I cognize really difficult it is to skis this course," Johnson said. "And really sometimes, because you emotion this people truthful much, erstwhile you clang connected it and it hurts you for illustration that, it hurts that overmuch worse."