Skier Breezy Johnson Wins Gold in Women’s Downhill, Notching First Medal for Team USA at 2026 Winter Olympics
Johnson’s win came during the same event where her teammate Lindsey Vonn crashed just 13 seconds into her race
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/GettyImages-2259953627-2d3e42a0d59e43ae95bf0d5270e11bd4.jpg "US' Breezy Johnson reacts in the finish area after competing in the women's downhill event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on February 8, 2026.")
Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Breezy Johnson won gold in the women’s downhill ski race on Feb. 8
- The win marked the first gold medal for Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics
- Johnson’s gold came in the same race where teammate Lindsey Vonn crashed
Taking home Team USA’s first medal of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics was a breeze for skier Breezy Johnson.
Johnson, 30, won gold in the women’s downhill race on Sunday, Feb. 8 in Cortina with a time of 1:36.10, just .04 seconds faster than second-place finisher Emma Aicher of Germany. Sofia Goggia of Italy rounded out the podium in third place.
Team USA just missed a bronze medal in the men’s snowboarding big air final on Feb. 7, when Ollie Martin came in fourth place.
Still, Johnson’s win was slightly bittersweet, as her teammate Lindsey Vonn crashed in devastating fashion just minutes after Johnson’s own race. Vonn, who was competing with a ruptured ACL, went down 13 seconds into her run, and was airlifted off the slopes after being tended to by a medical team.
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Americans Jackie Wiles and Bella Wright also competed, coming in fourth and 21st, respectively.
For Johnson, the medal is the cherry on top of a hard-earned road to Olympic glory; she previously competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics but finished seventh in the women’s downhilll, and sat out at Beijing in 2022 due to injury.
Because the athlete clocked her winning time early in the competition, she was shown throughout the day watching her competitors race, and at one point, was seen wiping away tears.
“I feel good and ready for the downhill tomorrow. I hope I haven’t peaked yet,” she said at a press conference prior to the race. “This is probably as healthy as I’ve been since I got injured before the last Olympics.”
Johnson won her first world title in women’s downhill last year at the 2025 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships.
Before Vonn’s crash, Johnson said she was one of few people who could understand what the star was going through, as she once competed with the same injury.
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“I’m maybe the only person on this slope that’s ever actually raced it with a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), so I know it’s quite difficult off those jumps,” she said at the Feb. 7 press conference. “I wish her the best, and I’m glad she’s safe.”
Vonn’s injury was a disappointing end to her inspiring comeback, which suffered a major setback last week when she ruptured her ACL.
The 41-year-old got twisted up as she passed a marker on the slopes, and crashed to the snow, flipping and spinning in the air several times before finally landing. She was eventually airlifted away, as per protocol, and was taken to a hospital in Innsbruck, Austria.
The determined Vonn posted an emotional statement to her Instagram just before the race, saying she believed in herself and had come out of retirement simply because she loved the sport.
“I will race tomorrow in my final Olympic Downhill and while I can’t guarantee a good result, I can guarantee I will give it everything I have,” she said. “But no matter what happens, I have already won.”
