Desi Johnson and her bobsled partner Sarah Blizzard have opened up on how they have been using their fame on social media to fund their Winter Olympics dreams.
The pair will unite next week as one of two qualified Australian two-women sleds for the Games in Milan, with the first heats of the competition set to get underway on February 20.
In January, a heartwarming video was published on Instagram by the International Bobsled Federation, showing Johnson and Blizzard breaking down in tears upon realising that they had qualified for the Winter Olympics.
‘We’ve just qualified for the Winter Olympics,’ a teary-eyed Johnson said during the clip, as she smiled and hugged her team-mates Blizzard and Hayley Silvester.
The emotional moment symbolised just how much hard work and energy the Aussie bobsled side have put in to achieving their dreams of gaining a berth at the Games in Milan.
It was also a historic moment for Australian sport.
Desi Johnson (pictured) only began her journey in bobsleigh three years ago, but she is now set to compete at the Winter Olympics
The 2026 Games will mark the first time the country will have two female teams competing at the Winter Olympics in the two-women event, with Blizzard and Johnson set to race alongside team-mates Kiara Reddingius and Bree Walker.
Johnson hails from the rural town of Miles in Queensland, which has a population of just 1,874 people, and is situated approximately 16,000km away from Milan.
The 24-year-old has a strong foundation in athletics, having previously been a star on the running track, competing in the 100m and heptathlon.
However, her time in athletics was agonisingly cut short prematurely due to a series of injuries that included a fracture of the L4 vertebrae in her back and a dislocated knee.
But the setbacks never held her back.
‘I think every time someone told me I couldn’t do it, it just made me more determined,’ Johnson said during an interview with the official Winter Olympics website.
Johnson revealed that she even tried out Rugby 7s as she searched for a new sport.
‘I wanted to prove to myself that I could keep coming back.’
Sarah Blizzard (front) and Johnson (back) are seen in action at the Bobsled World Cup in St Moritz
Johnson (pictured) qualified for the Winter Olympics alongside her team-mate Blizzard in January
That’s when she happened upon an entirely new venture, something that she thought she would never have tried.
Johnson was invited to a training camp in La Plagne in 2023 where she and Blizzard had their first bobsled run together. They have been competing together ever since.
While Blizzard acts as the pilot, Johnson works as the brakewoman. This is where her athleticism and strength come to the fore, with the 24-year-old utilising her power to push the sled off the starting line.
‘I sprint, push the sled, jump in, hold on for dear life and then brake the sled at the end which means I stop the sled from going fast,’ Johnson explained in a video on YouTube.
The pair would go on to make their World Cup debut in November 2025 and finished 23rd on the Cortina d’Ampezzo track in the two-woman event.
‘I nearly quit so many times,’ she said. ‘There were moments where people didn’t really understand why I kept going, or why I couldn’t just be at home doing “normal” things.’
One of the other obstacles that the pair have had to overcome is the matter of how they will fund their Winter Olympics journey. That’s where social media comes in.
Johnson, who splits her time working as a content creator and a professional bobsled star, currently has 1.2million followers on Instagram, 1.6m on TikTok, and 209,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Johnson had previously been an accomplished track and field star, but a series of injuries would cut her athletics career short prematurely
Taking a scroll through her social media accounts, you will see the immense training and work Johnson puts in to prepare herself to compete at the Olympics.
Johnson also likes to get creative on the social media platform, giving fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse at what life is like for athletes competing at the top level.
The 24-year-old and her team-mates recently published a funny skit to reveal their brand new Winter Olympics racing kit. The video, which has over 250,000 likes, begins with their coach looking frustrated at why his teams were late for training.
‘Sorry we’re late, the girls were throwing a fit,’ a caption on the video read.
In the next frame, the athletes are then seen doing a catwalk in their green and gold Karbon suits in what appeared to be a corridor in their hotel.
Athletes must spend thousands to get to the Games, and Johnson states that brand partnerships are helping her and her team-mates fund their journey.
‘[Social media has] given me the ability to actually come over here and pursue my Olympic dream,’ Johnson told Nine.
‘There’s a lot of things that people don’t see and I think it’s really special to show the world that, especially showing people the experience of the Olympics and how it all works, I think people are enjoying that.’
On YouTube, Johnson has also given followers a deep dive into her rigorous training regimen, shedding a light on how she and Blizzard qualified for the Games in a new series entitled Road to the Olympics.
Johnson walks followers through everything from how athletes get their sled on the ice to even warming up in the car park before a training session.
Bobsleigh is not for the faint-hearted, and Johnson also delivers an explainer on some of the protective gear that the athletes must wear, including helmets and a burn vest.
The vest is designed to prevent athletes from being hurt due to the friction of the ice, should they fall off their sled.
‘Motorcyclists wear these when they’re on their motorbikes,’ Johnson said during a YouTube clip.
A two-woman bobsled can typically reach speeds of between 87 and 93 mph, with Johnson revealing that during one run, she felt the sled go airborne during one trial run.
Her story is an inspiring one, and ahead of the Winter Olympics, the Aussie star hopes her journey can help encourage others to achieve their dreams.
‘What I want people to know is this: life is adaptable. Injuries, setbacks, and failures aren’t the end, sometimes they’re a redirection,’ she wrote on Instagram, reflecting on qualifying for the Winter Olympics.
‘Every time I was knocked down, I became hungrier. The doubts in my head were wrong,’ Johnson wrote on Instagram.
‘Be patient with your goals. Learn to adapt. And never let an injury or a setback take your dream away.’
