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In a historic moment for Team USA, an Alpine skier clinched the first medal for her team at the Milan Cortina Olympic Games.
WASHINGTON — Breezy Johnson emerged as the standout U.S. skier, securing the inaugural gold medal for Team USA at the 2026 Olympics, only for an unexpected mishap to follow — the medal broke.
At 30 years old and hailing from Idaho, Johnson became just the second American woman to claim Olympic glory in the downhill event. She clocked a remarkable 1 minute and 36.10 seconds, narrowly edging out Germany’s Emma Aicher by a mere 0.04 seconds. Meanwhile, Italy’s Sofia Goggia, who previously won the downhill gold in 2018 and silver in 2022, captured the bronze.
While jubilantly celebrating her victory, Johnson experienced an unfortunate incident when her gold medal detached from its ribbon as she jumped in excitement.
The mishap was due to a break in the component at the top of the medal, designed to secure the ribbon in place.
“It’s definitely heavy. Heavier than I expected,” Johnson told reporters. “I think that’s maybe why it broke.”
It turns out she’s not the only member of Team USA dealing with this issue. Figure skater Alysa Liu posted on her Instagram a video of her gold medal from the team event without the ribbon.
Johnson was just the sixth racer of the day and found speed with a risk-taking trip along the iconic Olympia delle Tofana course on a sunny day in Cortina. She felt confident it was good enough for a medal, but not as sure if it would be gold.
“But I hoped that it would be enough,” she said. “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?’ That’s the line that you’re always trying to walk, and today was enough.”
Johnson won her medal on a day marred by the crash of her teammate Lindsey Vonn, who was the first U.S. skier to win the women’s downhill.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.