For years, Breezy Johnson was the other American alpine skier. The one with the near-misses, the injuries, the suspension and the unfortunate timing to exist in the same stable at the same time as Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin. On Sunday, three weeks after her 30th birthday in the shadow of the Dolomites above Cortina d'Ampezzo, she became an Olympic champion.
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy -- American ski racer Breezy Johnson won the Olympic downhill Sunday with a hard-charging run on a day marred by teammate Lindsey Vonn's crash that saw her being taken off the mountain in a helicopter. Johnson was the sixth racer and found speed with a risk-taking trip along the iconic Olympia delle Tofana course on a sunny day in Cortina.