Breezy Johnson’s Winding Road Leads To Olympic Downhill Gold For U.S. On Day Marred By Vonn’s Crash | EUROtoday

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — For Breezy Johnson, the highway to an Olympic gold medal was much like the profitable downhill run she turned in Sunday: It was stuffed with jarring bumps that just about knocked her off beam, however not off track.

There was the knee damage right here in Cortina throughout a coaching crash that finally stored the American competing within the 2022 Beijing Games. There was the 14-month ban for violating “whereabouts” guidelines with regards to testing for doping.

She stored a hard-charging perspective and that was on show in Cortina on a day marred by teammate Lindsey Vonn’s crash and journey to a hospital. The 30-year-old Johnson joins Vonn, 41, as the one American ladies to win the Olympic downhill.

“People are jealous of people with Olympic gold medals. They’re not necessarily jealous of the journey it took to get those medals,” stated Johnson, who has by no means gained a World Cup race. “I don’t think my journey is something that many people are envious of and it’s been a tough road, but sometimes you just have to keep going because that’s the only option. If you’re going through hell, you keep walking because you don’t want to just sit around in hell.”

Johnson completed in 1 minute, 36.10 seconds to carry off Emma Aicher of Germany by simply .04 seconds, securing the primary medal for the United States on the Milan Cortina Games within the course of. Italy’s Sofia Goggia, the 2018 Olympic downhill winner and 2022 silver medalist, completed with the bronze.

The tears started welling within the eyes of Johnson as racer after racer couldn’t high her time, wiping them away with a mitten.

Her long-awaited medal? That didn’t maintain up so effectively. The clasp holding the ribbon to the medal broke. She positioned the items in her pocket.

“It’s definitely heavier than I expected,” Johnson stated of her new {hardware}. “I think that’s maybe why it broke.”

Johnson was simply the sixth racer of the day and located pace with a risk-taking journey alongside the long-lasting Olympia delle Tofana course on a sunny day in Cortina. She felt assured it was adequate for a medal, however not as positive if it could be gold.

“But I hoped that it would be enough,” she stated. “I just tried to keep it rolling. I knew it was fast in some of the places where I made mistakes. I was like, ‘Did I just make a mistake or did I make a mistake because I was going fast?’ That’s the line that you’re always trying to walk, and today was enough.”

She was within the chief’s field when Vonn, the No. 13 racer, reduce a nook too shut and was spun round earlier than crashing. The race was placed on maintain for greater than 20 minutes.

“I kind of wish the TV directors maybe wouldn’t have replayed some of the crashes as much as they did,” Johnson stated. “It’s a little hard when you’re surrounded by cameras and stuff, not wanting to watch that.”

It’s definitely been a bumpy highway to the highest for Johnson, given the knee damage and a 14-month ban that expired in December 2024. She returned to win the world championship final February.

Now, she’s an Olympic downhill gold medalist. Teammate Jacqueline Wiles completed simply 0.27 seconds away from a medal in a tie for fourth place.

“I think that this was the best run Breezy’s ever skied,” teammate Bella Wright stated. “There was a lot of expectation, and she rose to the challenge.”

Johnson figures to have one other shot at gold within the crew occasion and could possibly be paired with Mikaela Shiffrin.

Vonn’s crash put a somber temper over the occasion. Vonn, who gained the downhill on the 2010 Vancouver Games, was a gold-medal favourite earlier than her crash in Switzerland final week when she suffered a ruptured ACL for her newest main knee damage. She returned to elite ski racing final season after almost six years and after receiving a partial titanium knee alternative in her proper knee.

“I hope it’s not as bad as it looked,” Johnson stated. “My heart just goes out to her.”

Like Vonn, Cande Moreno of Andorra additionally was taken away in a helicopter after a crash through which her left knee appeared to buckle whereas touchdown after a soar.

For Aicher, the silver medal pairs with the silver she earned as a part of the crew parallel occasion on the 2022 Games.

“At the third turn I thought, ”Oh (crap), what am I doing? Come on, Emma,’” she recounted. “But I managed to let the skis go pretty well.”

Both downhill golds this weekend had been gained by the reigning world champions after Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland gained the boys’s race on Saturday. Both races additionally featured up-and-coming silver medalists (Aicher, Giovanni Franzoni of Italy) and Italian veterans in bronze place (Goggia, Dominik Paris).

With her bronze medal, Goggia now has an Olympic downhill medal of each shade.

“So-so with my performance, but in the overall I got a medal again,” Goggia stated. “It’s a privilege.”

Graham contributed from Bormio, Italy.