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Alpine skier Breezy Johnson shared her gold medal broke immediately after she won the women’s downhill title—and secured Team USA’s first gold—at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Feb. 8.
By Adrianne Reece Feb 09, 2026 3:24 PMTags
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Breezy Johnson is sliding from one snowy hurdle to another.
Indeed, the alpine skier shared her gold medal broke off its handle shortly after she won the women’s downhill title at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Feb. 8.
“Do not jump in them. I was jumping in excitement and it broke,” Breezy told reporters in a post-ceremony interview, before showing the detached medal to the camera. “So there’s the medal, there’s the ribbon, and here’s the little piece that is supposed to go into the ribbon to hold the medal. Yeah, it came apart.”
While an unexpected mishap, the 30-year-old—whose golden victory marked Team USA’s first win in the Milan Cortina Games—indicated her medal won’t stay in this condition forever.
“I’m sure someone will fix it,” she joked. “It’s not crazy broken, but it’s a little broken.”
Breezy’s latest win comes after she hit two icy roadblocks in her career. The athlete didn’t compete in the downhill course at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics due to a knee injury. At the time, she revealed in a lengthy Instagram note she was training in Italy when she “immediately felt a massive crack in my knee,” and later found out a “large chunk” of her cartilage had been dislodged.
Then, four years earlier, she landed in seventh place during her Olympic debut at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. But despite those moments, she’s proud the world is witnessing the start of her impressive comeback.
“I was telling my mom a week ago: You go to your second Olympic Games to win a medal, and you go to your third Games to win the whole damn thing, so it’s really special,” she explained at the latest press conference. “This is the third team I’ve made and obviously it didn’t go to plan on the second one, but I’m really excited to see what all of Team USA is capable of.”
Agence Zoom/Agence Zoom/Getty Images
As for how Breezy—whose fellow Team USA competitor Lindsey Vonn suffered a devastating injury during her own run—locked in to take home the gold medal? She admitted she had to learn to “fall back in love” with the downhill course.
“I think part of what hurt the most in 2022 was that I did love this course,” she expressed in her first post-race interview. "Sometimes the things you love can hurt you the most. Just because it’s beautiful doesn't mean that it can also hurt. It means that you have to go and make that possible.”
She added, “Taking ownership of that is what I’ve been trying to do for the last four years. And today, it paid off.”
Keep reading to see more empowering moments at the 2026 Olympics so far…
Daniel Kopatsch/VOIGT/GettyImages
Never Give Up
U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn looks determined as she attends a training session on Feb. 6, days after rupturing her ACL in a crash.
Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Ice to See You
Alysa Liu of United States performs the Biellmann spin during the women's single skating short program event on Feb. 6.
Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images
Jennifer Dodds
Team Great Britain's Jennifer Dodds has a nail-biting reaction to the curling mixed doubles round robin match against South Korea on Feb. 6.
Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images
Curl It Like It's Hot
Snoop Dogg, serving as an Olympics correspondent for NBC, tries his hand at curling at a Feb. 6. practice.
Tim Clayton/Getty Images
In Sync
U.S. figure skaters and real-life couple Evan Bates and Madison Chock are a perfect match while performing their rhythm ice dance routine on Feb. 6.
Federico Manoni/NurPhoto via Getty Images
On the B-rink of History
Laila Edwards, the first Black woman representing the U.S. in Olympic hockey, faces off against Czech player Sara Cajanova during the United States vs. Czech Republic game on Feb. 5.
Hannah Peters/Getty Images
Friendship Knows No Borders
Australian snowboarder Valentino Guseli shares a hug with Team Czechia's Jakub Hrones during the men's snowboard big air qualifiers on Feb. 5.
Javier SORIANO / AFP via Getty Images
Photo Finish
Bulgarian ski jumper Vladimir Zografski hits the brakes during a Feb. 5 training session.
Al Bello/Getty Images
Swept Away With Joy
American curler Korey Dropkin lets out a victorious shout after his team defeats Switzerland in a mixed doubles round bobin match on Feb. 5.
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