Salt Lake City resident and reigning downhill world champion Breezy Johnson crossed the finish line Feb. 8 with a time 1:36.10.
The 30-year-old sat in the hot seat and watched as skiers came down after her. Germany’s Emma Aicher finished just four hundredths of a second behind Johnson to claim second and the Italian Sofia Goggia rounded out Sunday’s podium almost six tenths back. Johnson’s teammate Jacqueline Wiles crossed the line in fourth, her career best Olympic finish.
Two other Utah skiers started in the downhill this weekend. U.S. skier Bella Wright finished 21st and five-time Olympian Lindsey Vonn was flown off the hill after crashing on the fourth gate. Johnson remained on top.
After her gold medal run, she said when she crossed the line, she was sure it was enough for a medal.
“I just tried to keep it rolling, I knew it was fast in some of the places where I made mistakes, I was like, ‘Did I just make a mistake? Or did I make a mistake because I was going fast?’” she said. "And that's the line that you're always trying to walk and today was enough.”
The Rowmark Academy graduate and University of Utah alum’s rise to Olympic gold was hard-won. Johnson crashed on that same Cortina hill just days before the 2022 Olympic Games, tearing her ACL and forcing her to miss the Winter Games in Beijing.
Johnson said it's hard for people to understand what it takes to win an Olympic medal.
“People are jealous of people with Olympic gold medals,” she said. “They're not necessarily jealous of the journey it took to get those medals. I don't think my journey is something that many people are envious of, and it's been a tough road, but sometimes you just have to keep going, because that's the only option.”
After missing the 2022 Games, she was banned for 14 months for missing three anti-doping exams and violating “whereabouts” rules. She returned to racing in December 2024. She came back from the ban to win the world championship in downhill in February 2025.
Despite her world and Olympic champion status, Johnson has never won a World Cup race. Since starting her World Cup career, the skier has eight downhill podiums from 2020 to 2025 and claimed her first super G podium finish in late January 2026.
Johnson is one of more than 80 Olympians representing Utah at the Games this year. The 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics continue through Feb. 22. The 2026 Paralympics begin March 6.
