Breezy Johnson won Team USA’s first gold medal of the 2026 Winter Olympics — and it’s already broken.
Johnson secured not only her spot in history, but also the first medal for the United States at the Milan Cortina Games in the women’s downhill skiing event, the same event marred by teammate Lindsey Vonn’s crash and trip to a hospital.
For Johnson, the road to an Olympic gold medal was similar to the winning downhill run she turned in Sunday: It was full of jarring bumps that nearly knocked her off course, but not off target.
Her long-awaited medal? That didn’t hold up so well as the clasp holding the ribbon to the medal broke. She placed the pieces in her pocket.
Speaking at a news conference following her Johnson revealed she was jumping up and down in celebration when the break happened, adding that the medal is “heavier” than she expected.
“Don’t jump with them,” Johnson said. “I’m sure someone will fix it; it’s not crazy broken.”
The 30-year-old from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is now only the second American woman to win gold in the event — a title that only she and Vonn now hold.
Her gold was the only medal won for Team USA for much of Sunday, before the U.S. figure skaters joined her on the board.
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