Breezy Johnson won Team USA’s first medal of the 2026 Winter Games on Sunday when she claimed gold in the Women’s Downhill.
But it wasn’t all joy for the American, as, just moments after soaring into the lead in Cortina, Johnson was forced to watch legendary teammate Lindsey Vonn crash out of the games in heartbreaking fashion.
The 30-year-old breezed down the Olimpia delle Tofane in a time of of 1:36.10, just .04 seconds faster than second-place finisher Emma Aicher of Germany. Sofia Goggia of Italy rounded out the podium in third place.
The medal is the mountain top for the American who has faced a challenging Olympic journey to reach the top of the podium.
Johnson competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics but finished seventh in the women’s downhill and was forced to sit out of the 2022 games in Beijing due to injury.
She won her first world title in women’s downhill last year at the 2025 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships.
Breezy Johnson won Team USA’s first medal of the 2026 Winter Games on Sunday
The American claimed gold in the Women’s Downhill with a time of 1:36.10
Her teammate Lindsey Vonn tragically crashed out after she appeared to lose control
With her victory, Johnson became just the second American woman to ever win the Olympic gold medal in downhill skiing, joining Vonn, who was triumphant in 2010.
However, Vonn was unable to replicate her feat of Vancouver, as she crashed just 13 seconds into her run in Cortina.
With Johnson already at the bottom of the slope with the time to beat, the 41-year-old launched herself out of the gate, only to round the second corner and lose control.
Vonn sped over a hill and careered into one of the plastic markers on the side of the track before hitting the ground. Her right leg appeared to hit the ground first, with Vonn tumbling forwards before she was seen also smashing her shoulder into the ground.
The Cortina crowd fell silent as medical crews rushed to attend to Vonn, who was later airlifted off the mountain.
Immediately after the crash, the American was seen lying on the ground with her skis still attached and looked in agony, wincing as her head sank backwards.
In horrible scenes, Vonn was also heard crying in pain as the medics attended her on the slope.
She had defied the impossible by coming back to compete after rupturing her ACL prior to the Games and had completed multiple training runs in the build-up to Sunday’s event.
The 30-year-old Johnson appeared emotional as the Star-Spangled Banner played
Vonn lost control and crashed to the ground, before medics rushed to attend the American star
Vonn initially landed on her right leg – she had undergone a reconstruction on her right knee in 2024 – before she flipped over and appeared to smash her shoulder into the ground
The 2010 downhill Olympic champion had made the decision to race despite having a reconstruction in her knee in 2024 while also having no ACL in her left leg.
Vonn’s coach was heard shouting ‘keep charging, keep pushing’ just as she left the gates.
It took a while for medics to attend Vonn on the slopes but the American was eventually placed onto a stretcher. Organisers had also played background music over the skier’s cries.
Johnson covered her face as a replay of the crash was played on the big screens at the 2,650m Olympia delle Tofane slope at Cortina d’Ampezzo.
After Vonn had been evacuated from the slope, Austrian star Nina Ortleib would also fall during her run.
Ortleib was in the final third of her downhill run when she appeared to jump into the air after going over a bump. She landed in the middle of the slope before losing control, with the Austrian falling to the ground and sliding around 10m down the slope.
Ortleib, thankfully, got up onto her feet and began to ski down the mountain.
However, more worrying scenes later emerged from the mountain as Andorran star Cande Moreno was also airlifted from the course, after she had also suffered a horrific-looking crash further down from Vonn.
