CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — Earning Team USA’s first medal of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Games, Breezy Johnson secured gold in women’s downhill skiing.
The Western Washington University alum took home the gold medal on Sunday morning with a time of 1 minute and 36.10 seconds.
Johnson, 30, edged out Germany’s Emma Aicher by just .04 seconds while Italy’s Sofia Goggia took bronze.
“People are jealous of people with Olympic gold medals. They’re not necessarily jealous of the journey it took to get those medals,” Johnson said.
“If you’re going through hell, you keep walking because you don’t want to just sit around in hell.”
Johnson held back tears as the Star-Spangled Banner played during the podium ceremony but the clasp holding the medal reportedly broke while around her neck.
“It’s definitely heavier than I expected,” she said. “I think that’s maybe why it broke.”
Johnson’s next event is the Super-G at 2:30 am PT on Thursday, February 12.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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