In a thrilling yet heartbreaking display at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, American skier Breezy Johnson stormed to gold in the women’s downhill on Sunday (February 8), securing Team USA’s first medal of the Games. The 30-year-old from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, delivered a fearless run on the iconic Olimpia delle Tofane course in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, clocking 1:36.10 under sunny skies. This victory marks her first Olympic medal and places her alongside Lindsey Vonn as the only American women to win Olympic downhill gold.
Johnson, starting as the sixth racer, attacked the demanding slope with precision and aggression. She held the lead through challenging sections, overcoming a slight line error in the middle turns to edge out Germany’s Emma Aicher by a razor-thin 0.04 seconds for silver. Italy’s Sofia Goggia, the 2018 Olympic downhill champion and 2022 silver medalist, claimed bronze at 0.59 seconds back.
