Johnson Wins Downhill Gold, Wiles Fourth

Breezy Johnson, the reigning World Downhill Champion, added Olympic gold to her collection, winning the 2026 Olympic downhill on the Olimpia delle Tofane course in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy on Sunday. Jackie Wiles just missed the podium, finishing fourth.

"I felt like it was solid," Johnson said of her run. "I thought that there were definitely some places that weren't the best, but I hope that it would be enough. I just tried to keep it rolling. I knew it was fast, and 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.'"

Lindsey Vonn crashed just 13 seconds into her downhill run after hooking a right-hand gate and was taken off the course for treatment. 

Johnson, wearing bib six, posted a winning time of 1 minute, 36.10 seconds. Germany's Emma Aicher took the silver medal, 0.07 seconds back, followed by Italy's Sofia Goggia, with the bronze at 0.18 off Johnson's winning time. Wiles was fourth at 0.86 back. Bella Wright was 21st for Team USA.

Johnson's gold is the first medal won by Team USA at the 2026 Olympics, and she did it with mastery on a course that knocked her out of the 2022 Olympics.

"I don't think my journey (to this gold medal) is something that many people are envious of, and it's been a tough road," she said. "But sometimes you just have to keep going because that's the only option and you know if you're going through hell you keep walking because you don't want to just sit around in hell and sometimes when you keep going, maybe you'll make it back to the top."

For Wiles, it was a bittersweet day watching her close friend crash, and then just coming up short for a medal. "There were a lot of emotions before (my run)," Wiles said. "I saw Breezy have an incredible run and I was really pumped for her. It was cool to watch. Then watching Lindsey go down from the start was pretty awful. To watch that happen to someone whom you really care about, my heart just broke for her.

"I tried to stay in the moment," she continued. "I still had a job to do, and I'm proud of the way I skied. But it's hard being in fourth after everything I have been through in my career. At my age, I don't have many chances left, so yeah, it hurts. It's really hard, but I'm trying to look ahead to a lot more racing and that is all I can do."

RESULTS
Women's Olympic downhill