Olympics
Sunday, February 8 marked the highly anticipated women’s downhill at the 2026 Olympics. The crowd had turned out in numbers and was deep American-blue—a huge turn out by the U.S. supporters. With four American contenders in the starting gate, there was plenty to keep them entertained.
The race was opened by Switzerland’s Malorie Blanc who set the pace for the Tofane course at 1:38.77. She was promptly outclassed by arch-rival Austria, with Ariane Rädler beating her by 1.57 seconds—a strong benchmark for the next few skiers that even Federica Brignone could not beat, although the Italian came close, finishing just 0.09 seconds behind—an incredible feat considering Brignone has not really competed in the World Cup this season after a devastating leg fracture at the end of last season.
However, ready for the challenge was Team USA’s Breezy Johnson who shot into the lead in bib 6 with a time of 1:36.10–more than a whole second faster than the Austrian, and the crowd was here for it. Her lead left a big gap to Rädler with 30 skiers left to go but ultimately only six other skiers managed to slide into it.
Most significantly, Germany’s Emma Aicher in bib 10, who on the top section looked poised to unseat Johnson but gave back valuable milliseconds on the bottom, crossing the finish a mere 0.04 seconds behind the American. Johnson breathed a sigh of relief but there was still a strong field in the starting gate, not least of all her teammate Lindsey Vonn.
But Vonn, skiing in bib 13, suffered a devastating crash on the top section of the Tofane race course, ending her Olympic dream with what looked like a bad injury of her left knee. The crowd was in shock as the legendary American was helicoptered off the course and the remaining field waited for an agonizingly long time to make their Olympic bid.
Sofia Goggia remained focused on the top of the course, going with closed eyes through the race course in her head while the race was interrupted and when it resumed, the Queen of Speed was ready to pounce. Goggia shot out of the gate and delivered a confident, flawless run and crossed the finish line 0.59 seconds behind Johnson to the roar of the Italian home crowd. It was third place for the Italian—an Olympic bronze medal on home turf and Goggia was not afraid to show how much this meant to her, looking emotional in the finish.
Her medal was briefly in contention just two runners later, when Team USA’s Jacqui Wiles delivered an aggressive run, but Wiles finished just shy of the podium in fourth, 0.27 seconds behind Goggia and 0.86 seconds behind her teammate Johnson, tying with Austria’s Conny Hütter. Isabella Wright ended the day in 21st place.
It was an incredible day albeit it overshadowed by Vonn’s crash, however, that should not take away from Johnson’s incredible performance today. While Johnson may not have won a World Cup race yet, the 30-year-old American keeps delivering on high-pressure events, like the World Championships and now the Olympics. The 2025 double World Champion can now add Olympic Champion to her list of ski titles—an achievement that firmly puts her in the short list of elite ski racers in history.
For 22-year-old Aicher, it is her second Olympic medal and her first individual medal, after a silver medal in the 2022 team parallel event in Beijing, China. Meanwhile, Goggia, who had won downhill gold in 2018 in PyeongChang, Korea, and downhill silver in the 2022, now completes her collection of Olympic medals with a downhill bronze.
The women’s alpine races continue with a team combined on Tuesday, February 10. The men’s team combined is currently under way.
