From Disaster to a Dream: Johnson Makes Course Correction After Vonn Goes Down

U.S. Alpine skier Breezy Johnson made the perfect course correction to capture downhill skiing gold on Sunday at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Johnson became just the second American woman to win the event, clinching the victory as superstar Lindsey Vonn, the first to accomplish the feat for the United States, crashed on the famed Olimpia delle Tofane course.

The victory was no surprise run, though. Johnson came to the Games as the event’s reigning world champion and has a strong resume. In fact, the 30-year-old has had to wait for her chance on the big stage.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency slapped her with a 14-month suspension in 2023 for failing to properly provide her whereabouts during out-of-competition drug testing. World-class athletes are required to be available and provide daily whereabouts information for unscheduled random doping tests. Three whereabouts failures in 12 months result in a ban of up to two years with the length dependent on degree of fault.

Prior to that, Johnson crashed at the same venue in Italy four years ago and was unable to compete. She admitted she wasn’t perfect on Sunday, but she solved the slope at the perfect time.

Johnson, skiing in her second Olympics, was aggressive at the top of the course and reached the bottom in 1 minute, 36.10 seconds. She spent the rest of the competition in the leader’s box, watching the remainder of the field chase her time.

No one could top her, although Germany’s Emma Aicher was only .04 of a second behind for silver. Coming in third was Italy’s Sofia Goggia, who won gold in the downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and took silver four years later in Beijing.

“Last year in the Worlds, I won from bib one so had to wait the entire race, so I know a little bit about what that’s like,” the International Ski Federation homepage quoted Johnson as saying about the waiting game at the finish area. “I personally prefer to run early and then have to wait at the bottom rather than the top.”

There are more events for Johnson in Italy, but she couldn’t have dreamed of a better start.

“It’s an emotional full turnaround, coming after missing the Beijing 2022 Olympics due to injuries. I had a good feeling about today,” Johnson said.

“I still can’t believe it yet, I don’t know when it will sink in. I knew I had to push, go harder than I did in training. I had to be super clean and felt like I did that. But I knew the speeds were good so I hoped it would be enough.”

Meanwhile, the 41-year-old Vonn, who ruptured her left ACL in the runup to the Games, was the unlucky 13th skier down the course.

Sporting a massive brace on her compromised knee, Vonn was third during the final training session and looked poised to vie for a podium spot. But she wiped out early on in her run and a helicopter had to transport her to a hospital.

She was trying to pull off the kind of story upon which American heroes are built, skiing on a rebuilt right knee and torn up left knee. But her stint at the Games came to a screeching halt just 13 seconds into her run when she crashed, landing on her back, crying out in physical pain and mental anguish.

U.S. residents, and the skiing world as a whole, were likely ready to tune in for a historic display of movie-worthy guts and glory.

Instead, Vonn’s day ended way off course.

“My heart goes out to Lindsey. I know how difficult it is to ski this course, and how sometimes because you love this course so much, when you crash and it hurts you, it hurts just that much worse. My heart goes out to her,” Johnson said.

Vonn was reported in stable condition with a fracture in her left leg, according to the International Olympic Committee, which posted a hospital statement on the athlete’s status on its website.

“Update: Lindsey Vonn sustained an injury but is in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian physicians,” the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team posted on X.

Jacqueline Wiles of the United States nearly gained a medal, finishing in fourth after her run of 1 minute, 36.69 seconds.

International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry used X to deliver a message of support to Vonn.

“Dear Lindsey, we’re all thinking of you,” the post read. “You are an incredible inspiration and will always be an Olympic champion.”