Breezy Johnson

Breezy Johnson
Johnson at 2026 Olympic Downhill Medal Ceremony
Personal information
BornBreanna Noble Johnson
(1996-01-19) January 19, 1996
Jackson, Wyoming, U.S.
OccupationAlpine skier ♀
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)[1]
Sport
Country United States
Skiing career
DisciplinesDownhill, Super-G
ClubRowmark Ski Academy
World Cup debutDecember 2015 (age 19)
Olympics
Teams2 – (2018, 2026)
Medals1 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams4 – (2017, 2021, 2023, 2025)
Medals2 (2 gold)
World Cup
Seasons9 – (2016–2018, 2020–2023, 2025-2026)
Wins0
Podiums10 – (9 DH, 1 SG)
Overall titles0 – (17th in 2021)
Discipline titles0 – (4th in DH, 2021)
Medal record
Women's alpine skiing
Representing the  United States
World Cup race podiums
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Super-G 0 0 1
Downhill 0 3 6
Total 0 3 7
International competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 0 0
World Championships 2 0 0
Total 3 0 0
Olympic Games
2026 Milano Cortina Downhill
World Championships
2025 Saalbach Downhill
2025 Saalbach Team combined

Breezy Noble Johnson (born Breanna Noble Johnson; January 19, 1996)[2] is an American World Cup alpine ski racer on the U.S. Ski Team.[3] She competes in the speed events of downhill and super-G. A two-time Olympian, she won a gold medal at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.

Life and career

Born in Jackson, Wyoming, Johnson grew up in nearby Victor, Idaho, and made her World Cup debut in December 2015. She attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, where she pursued a degree in English.[4] In her first World Cup season in 2017, she finished 18th in the downhill standings. At the World Cup finals in March at Aspen, Johnson crashed in the downhill and suffered a tibial plateau fracture to her left leg.[5][6] Johnson quickly recovered from this injury and in the 2018 season finished 11th in the downhill standings and competed in the Winter Olympics, finishing seventh in the downhill and fourteenth in the super-G.

While training in Chile in September 2018, Johnson partially tore her right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and missed the 2019 season.[7][8] After returning to snow, she tore her left posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) in her left knee in training in June 2019.

She returned to the World Cup circuit in January 2020 with a 25th in the downhill at Altenmarkt and consecutive top tens at Bansko. Her first World Cup podium came in December 2020 at a downhill in Val d'Isère, France. She qualified to represent the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics,[9] but injured her knee in January 2022 and did not compete.[10]

Johnson served a 14-month competition ban issued by the United States Anti-Doping Agency from October 2023 to December 2024 for an anti-doping rule violation after missing three tests during a 12-month period ("Whereabouts Failures").[11] At the 2025 World Championships, she won the gold medals in downhill and team combined. That was the inaugural race of the team combined, where Johnson skied the downhill and Mikaela Shiffrin skied the slalom.[12][13] At the Toyota U.S. Alpine Championships, Johnson was awarded with the 2025 Stifel Alpine Best Comeback (Women) award.[14]

2026 Winter Olympics

Johnson won the women's downhill at the 2026 Winter Olympics at the Olimpia delle Tofane in Cortina d'Ampezzo, earning the United States' first medal for the games with a time of 1:36.10.[15] She is the second American athlete to win gold in this event, following Lindsey Vonn in 2010.

World Cup results

Season standings

Season
Age Overall Slalom Giant
slalom 		Super-G Downhill Combined
2016 20 125 — — — 50 —
2017 21 53 — — 36 18 —
2018 22 39 — — 44 11 —
2019 23 Injured in summer: out for entire season
2020 24 38 — — 41 20 30
2021 25 17 — — 30 4 N/a
  2022[a] 26 28 — — 24 9
2023 27 35 — — 38 11
2024 28 Suspension
2025 29 39 — — 33 7
2026 30 18 — — 22 6
  1. ^ Season-ending injury in January 2022
Standings through March 15, 2026

Race podiums

  • 0 wins
  • 10 podiums (9 DH, 1 SG), 35 top tens
Season
Date Location Discipline Place
2021 December 18, 2020 Val d'Isère, France Downhill 3rd
December 19, 2020 Downhill 3rd
January 9, 2021 St Anton, Austria Downhill 3rd
January 22, 2021    Crans-Montana, Switzerland Downhill 3rd
2022 December 4, 2021 Lake Louise, Canada Downhill 2nd
December 4, 2021 Downhill 2nd
December 18, 2021 Val d'Isère, France Downhill 2nd
2025 February 28, 2025   Kvitfjell, Norway Downhill 3rd
2026 January 31, 2026    Crans-Montana, Switzerland Super-G 3rd
March 6, 2026 Val di Fassa, Italy Downhill 3rd

World Championship results

Year
Age Slalom Giant
slalom 		Super-G Downhill Combined Team combined
2017 21 — — 28 15 DNS1 N/a
2019 23 injured prior to season
2021 25 — — 15 9 DNF1
2023 27 — — 28 DNF DNF1
2025 29 — — 19 1 N/a 1

Olympic results

Year
Age Slalom Giant
slalom 		Super-G Downhill Combined Team
combined
2018 22 — — 14 7 — N/a
2022 26 Injured, did not compete
2026 30 — — DNF 1 N/a 4

Personal life

Shortly before she finished high school, Johnson's parents legally changed her first name from Breanna to Breezy to match her nickname.[16] She came out as bisexual in 2022.[17] Johnson became engaged to construction professional Connor Watkins on February 12, 2026, on the ski slopes after completing her final event at the 2026 Winter Olympics.[18] Johnson and Watkins met on dating app Bumble, and the box for her engagement ring featured a quote by singer Taylor Swift's song "The Alchemy": "Honestly, who are we to fight the alchemy."[19]

References

  1. ^ "Breezy Johnson". nbcolympics.com. NBCUniversal. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  2. ^ Stefanie Loh (February 9, 2018). "WWU ski racer Breezy Johnson has made it to her first Olympics — but she's just getting started". seattletimes.com. Heather and her husband, Greg Johnson, named the baby girl who was born in the ski town of Jackson Hole, Wyo. on Jan. 19, 1996, "Breanna Noble Johnson."
  3. ^ "Profile". fis-ski.com. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  4. ^ "2018: After the Olympics, back to the books | Window | Western Washington University". window.wwu.edu. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
  5. ^ Hall, Gabbi (March 17, 2017). "Johnson injured in final World Cup downhill". Ski Racing. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  6. ^ Zaccardi, Nick (March 17, 2017). "American Breezy Johnson suffers leg fracture in downhill crash". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  7. ^ Graham, Pat (September 18, 2018). "She breezed to 7th at the Olympics, but an ACL tear will slow down this WWU student". Bellingham Herald. Washington. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  8. ^ "Downhill skier Breezy Johnson out for season with torn ACL". ESPN. Associated Press. September 13, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  9. ^ OlympicTalk (January 22, 2022). "Team USA athlete roster for 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics". OlympicTalk | NBC Sports. Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  10. ^ "Breezy Johnson, a missed Olympics, and the consequences of a beautiful, brutal sport". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  11. ^ U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (May 13, 2024). U.S. Skiing Athlete Breezy Johnson Accepts Sanction for Whereabouts Rule Violation.
  12. ^ "Johnson wins world downhill title after ban". BBC Sport. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  13. ^ "US skier Breezy Johnson wins gold in the women's downhill at the Alpine world championships". ABC News. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  14. ^ Ryder, Sierra. "2025 Stifel Alpine Awards Announced". U.S. Ski & Snowboard. U.S. Ski & Snowboard. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
  15. ^ Becky Sullivan. "Breezy Johnson's downhill gold is America's first medal of 2026 Winter Olympics". NPR.
  16. ^ Loh, Stefanie (February 9, 2018). "WWU ski racer Breezy Johnson has made it to her first Olympics — but she's just getting started". The Seattle Times.
  17. ^ Weldon, Shelby (November 9, 2022). "Olympic skier Breezy Johnson comes out as bisexual". Outsports.
  18. ^ Svrluga, Barry (February 12, 2026). "Gold medal in the bag, Breezy Johnson gets more hardware: An engagement ring". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  19. ^ Comiter, Jordana (February 12, 2026). "Who Is Breezy Johnson's Fiancé? All About Connor Watkins (Who Proposed at the 2026 Winter Olympics!)". People. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
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