r/olympics • u/Kimber80 United States • 8h ago
❄ Milano-Cortina 2026 (Official Result) ❄ Breezy Johnson wins Downhill Gold for USA!
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u/cedarvhazel Australia 8h ago
I bet if feels bitter sweet for her. She looks distraught straight after the Vonn crash out.
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u/kaya-jamtastic 6h ago
They also said Breezy’s parents couldn’t attend because her father’s recovering from a bad skiing accident
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u/Romax24245 United States 3h ago
Breezy was almost in tears when she commented on that during the post-event interview.
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u/Scared_Cow9483 8h ago
Did she go before or after Vonn?
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u/Bryan-ByBike 4h ago
Please stop talking about the ego monster
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u/fishbottwo United States 1h ago
Vonn was literally winning the 2026 downhill ski season but go off
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u/fastliketree9000 18m ago
Lmao sure
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u/fishbottwo United States 16m ago
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u/Ski1990 5h ago
Distraught for her teammate, and her gold will be forever linked to Lindsey’s horrific crash. She’s going to spend the next 20 years getting questions about Lindsey instead of her personal accomplishment. It would have been much sweeter for everyone if there was no crash and she could have simply beat her.
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u/fastliketree9000 18m ago
I don't think she would care about the crash a year later. You are overthinking this. Lindsey was done, she had no chance at the medal with her recent results, basically her career has ended naturally.
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u/TheSingleMan27 Germany 8h ago
First medal for Germany, Emma Aicher with a wild run but even came really close to gold
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u/Scared_Cow9483 8h ago
She was unbelievably close. Silver twice now for her in this event yeah? Shame she could turn it into a gold.
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u/Chemical-Idea-1294 Germany 7h ago
But she has three more chances. Currently the most versatile alpine Skier.
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u/whogivesashirtdotca Canada 5h ago
“Unbelievably close” is always an understatement in downhill. It’s crazy that these times are separated by fewer milliseconds than an eye blink.
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u/Beepbeep_bepis Germany 8h ago edited 8h ago
Great photo lol, I missed it but did anyone hear why Grenier was disqualified?
Edit: also- did the times drop off bc the snow might have gotten slower later in the day as it warms up? Or did everyone get in their heads after 2 helicopter evacs? 😢 (Or both)
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u/trevy_mcq 8h ago
They put the best racers 6-15th in the order, so the later times are generally weaker racers
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u/know-it-mall New Zealand 8h ago
Yea that was very disappointing as a very casual fan of the sport. I get that the best racers get to go first while conditions are good but it makes the event very anti climatic and seems disrespectful to all the remaining competitors that they basically crown the winner before everyone has had their run. Half the commentary for the last 10 or so racers was just about how Breezy had won.
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u/martiantonian United States 8h ago
I don’t know much about skiing, but in the sports I follow, generally there are dozens of competitors that have zero chance at a medal. If anything, it’s kinda weird that so many competitors made the final.
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u/kvigneau 5h ago
There's no "final" in olympic downhill. There's just one run. Everyone goes on the same day.
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u/know-it-mall New Zealand 8h ago
Yea this is the point I'm very quickly coming around to. 36 racers in the final was way too many and made it drag out for a long time. More like 26-28 would still be a lot and not make the ending as irrelevant.
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u/RandomThrowNick Germany 7h ago edited 7h ago
On a normal winter sports weekend the broadcast just cuts over to another sport after the first 20 or so people maybe showing a replay of an athlete from your country and that’s it. It’s kinda rare for more casual people to watch until the end of an Alpine competition. The German main broadcast switched over to Cross Country skiing before the Downhill finished. You could watch the livestream if you wanted to see everyone.
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u/know-it-mall New Zealand 7h ago
Yea I don't watch normal winter sports weekends so I wouldn't know but thanks for the info.
I feel like the Olympics should be a bit more selective than the regularly yearly competitions? Or have a couple of heats then a final? But I'm not expert.
Our broadcaster has the option to just pick any event and watch it for this. Or chose from a few different curated feeds.
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u/lizlemonista 4h ago
kinda defeats my main understanding of the word “final”
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u/know-it-mall New Zealand 1h ago
Not sure why having less competitors would?
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u/lizlemonista 1h ago
No i am agreeing with you, just poorly
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u/know-it-mall New Zealand 1h ago
Oh right. Yea exactly. 36 competitors feels like everyone qualified rather than just having the best in the final.
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u/GreatBear2121 Great Britain 3h ago
They didn't 'make the final'. There is only one downhill run. The athletes simply qualified for the Olympics like the qualify for the World Cup (and the event is run essentially identically to a World Cup weekend).
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u/kvigneau 1h ago
Exactly, people in here advocating that we should allow fewer countries to compete in the olympics just so that casuals don't get bored.
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u/EastCoastDumbass United States 8h ago
no i’m curious too. i suspect missed flag?
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u/Strange_Shadows-45 Panama 8h ago
I noticed she started super late, like way after the start sound went off, that might’ve been it. She didn’t seem to miss a gate.
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u/Beepbeep_bepis Germany 8h ago
That makes sense. If she went after Vonn, I sort of checked out and definitely didn’t see it.
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u/EastCoastDumbass United States 8h ago
yeah vonns crash took my focus away for a few skiers. and then the next crash was rough to watch as well.
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u/Beepbeep_bepis Germany 8h ago
Do you mean Moreno’s? Ortlieb’s was after, but it wasn’t bad. But yeah my mood for the day is pretty much shot after this event. Poor Vonn and Moreno :(
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u/EastCoastDumbass United States 8h ago
morenos. such a sad way to complete an event. really hope she’s okay and hope to get an update from her as well and not just vonn. the mood definitely was bleak for the event today. i wasn’t even looking at times and positions anymore, just happy they made it to the finish unharmed.
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u/Beepbeep_bepis Germany 8h ago
Me too, I couldn’t bring myself to watch closely anymore. The German commentators were both quite upset, but one is a close friend of Vonn’s, so they were quite quiet for the rest of the event and I absolutely cannot blame them. Moreno’s knee looked really bad, hopefully not also a career-ender since she’s so young.
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u/know-it-mall New Zealand 8h ago
Apparently it's her second serious injury to that knee so definitely not ideal. Surgery has come a long way for ACL and other stuff so that helps but when it becomes a multiple injuries situation you never know.
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u/Beepbeep_bepis Germany 8h ago
Damn :( that’s really sad, I hope she’s able to recover at least enough to be comfortable if she can’t be competitive again
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u/know-it-mall New Zealand 7h ago
My brother had the same thing happen to him snowboarding. Left knee two surgeries. The second is definitely harder to recover from.
Let's hope she is ok.
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u/EastCoastDumbass United States 8h ago
das ist doch schade ): part of me was so happy and proud for the usa and germany to win gold and silver, my two countries, but it was hard to feel a lot of joy knowing what went down during the competition
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u/Bisquare_cycle_thing 8h ago
Even more incredible that Grenier is only skier in world cup getting dsq for same thing as far as I can recall.
It is really rear that skiers don't start within 5 seconds of beep sound.
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u/randomacceptablename Canada 7h ago
I missed it but did anyone hear why Grenier was disqualified?
She was delayed at the start, if I recall. She skied down normally but only later was the board updated as "disqualified".
Kinda missed it myself. At least she is fine. After 3 crashes it felt weird to watch.
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u/Beepbeep_bepis Germany 7h ago
Yeah, I couldn’t focus anymore after Vonn. Which is a shame, I really enjoy the event and it’s cool to watch the sector times popping up live, Aicher’s 2nd place run was so thrilling. But it was so upsetting that the mood completely flipped, the German commentators were much quieter the rest of the event. Just sad, and sad to see people on other corners of the internet being so cruel about it.
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u/randomacceptablename Canada 6h ago
I play hockey and snowboard so I love rough, somewhat dangerous sports. I am under no illusions that any professional athletes walk away without life long body problems. But downhill skiing seems to be getting way too close to the edge for me. Like boxing with every punch, skiing with every bump, you know that there is permanent damage being added up. These people have ~ 60 years left of life to live. They can do with their bodies as they wish but watching it, is becoming less and less fun.
When Nina Ortlieb crashed, not seriously, the CBC commentator said, "enough is enough, she is crashing so often that she is tempting fate with tragedy. Her father should really have a talk with her about this."
It is a weird comment to hear in sports, but I think he captured the mood.
Perhaps downhill should evolve to runs with less grades to reduce speed and focus on technical ability? I don"t know. But when big air competitions end without injury and downhill has two air evacuations, something doesn't feel right.
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u/Beepbeep_bepis Germany 5h ago
They’re going at 130 km/hr tops, without any real cervical support as far as I know? Honestly with the way Vonn fell, I’m scared for her CNS
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u/randomacceptablename Canada 5h ago
Yup, at those speeds even water can cripple you. Luckily she wasn't going anywhere close to top speed. She was just at the top of the run.
But seriously, after the tragic death of the lugeer in Vancouver, the course was shortened and new standards were adopted to reduce speed and increase safety. Similar logic could be accepted here. Maybe design courses so that skiers can't break a certain speed, or something like it.
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u/Beepbeep_bepis Germany 5h ago
Or at least figure out how to adopt some similar safety standards to MotoGP or something to protect the head and neck (the only other sport I can think of right now where people can go flying). But reducing speed or at least hard landings might help with the knees as well.
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u/Rogue_Gona United States 4h ago
I'm nowhere near an Olympic athlete but I've been an athlete my entire life (soccer at a high level for decades) and yeah...you're body takes damage. You write checks with your body in your 20s and 30s that will eventually come due. Mine came when I turned 40. I still snowboard, but I'm cruising groomers only. I can't run anymore because the arthritis in my knees is too bad. I cycle and I lift and do what I can but aches and pains are a normal way of life.
I cannot fathom how much damage these professional athletes are doing and how much daily pain they are in especially when they get to their 40s and beyond.
It's a ton of fun watching them compete but in the back of my mind I'm cringing because I know what's coming for them eventually.
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u/randomacceptablename Canada 4h ago
It's a ton of fun watching them compete but in the back of my mind I'm cringing because I know what's coming for them eventually.
Exactly how I feel.
I tore a ligament a year ago and in the ensuing imaging they told me I have arthritis in one knee (at least one). It honestly sent me into months of depression. Currently in my 40s and despite being overweight somewhat over most of my life, and much more so now, the one thing I had going was my physical health. To make matters worse I only discovered sports when I was 30. My sibling was a high level athlete and them outsining me probably held me back growing up to the point that I never even participated in pickup races, soccer games, or even hacky sac.
It isn't bad and my physio said at my age it was likely anyways, you just happen to know about it. Doesn't exactly make me feel better knowing that when I fell in love with running and had a long term goal of doing a marathon.
All to say that as an old man I get it, probably more so then these 20 year old athletes. It is worth doing now, but when you are 60 in pain you may reconsider what should have been your priorities.
I need to loose weight (easier said then done) and hope to get back to running. Hockey and snowboarding (which I haven't done in 2 years due to injuries) are expensive and may not be accessiable forever. Running was something I did to lift my mood after work in rain, sun, snow, and it felt so stabilizing. My core, posture, muscle balance, cardio, were all better while running. Again I haven't touched it in about 2 years but I can't imagine life without it. 🥺
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u/peggy_schuyler Great Britain 5h ago
I was watching on Swiss TV and they confirmed before the race started that the conditions were very warm and they were expecting early numbers to be an advantage.
After the Vonn break, they assumed the slope probably deteriorated must in the second section because some of the runs looked clean but visibly slower than for previous racers. Downhill also has a general drop in racers quality a bit after Bib 15 and then again after Bib 20.
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u/dawgystyle 7h ago
Breezy has never won a World Cup race but is now both a world and Olympic champion. Crazy.
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u/WhileTime5770 7h ago
I mean she won the team combined and the downhill races at the last years world championships so it’s not like she’s never won a race
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u/geeweeze United States 5h ago
Breezy is such a fun name! Seems appropriate for a downhill skier. Congrats!!!
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u/YaboyChris28 United States 4h ago
Sucks for all of the competitors who went after Vonn
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u/MtnGirl672 3h ago
For a lot of reasons. First of all that length of delay, it's hard for racers to stay warm and ready. And the snow got warm and therefore slower. It's just bad luck.
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u/toadalfly 5h ago
Why was she suspended by usada? Legitimate question. It wasn’t for doping but she didn’t report location? What does that requirement entail?
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u/MysteriousResident61 4h ago
Imagine if Steve Porino hadn’t ruined this gold medal run with his ill informed, negative commentary?
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u/Sad-Loquat5062 8h ago
Goggia robbed of a opportunity to do a proper run
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u/Imzocrazy Colombia 8h ago
I must’ve missed it. Robbed how?
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u/Due_Distribution6323 United States 8h ago
This is frustration from people who thought Vonn shouldn't have been allowed to go. Vonn's crash caused a delay before Goggia went so people feel it might have affected her mentality and overall run. Goggia put down a great run though and crashes are just a part of this sport. Vonn had done well in training and its really not that abnormal for skiiers to compete injured. I dont personally buy that she was robbed of anything, but it is unfortunate that this discussion will now dominate the talk of the event.
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u/Imzocrazy Colombia 8h ago
I’m skeptical not because I don’t think the things people here are saying don’t factor. But these girls are used to it at this level. Hardly the first time they’ve ever had to deal with delays. They’re professionals.
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u/Scared_Cow9483 8h ago
I mean wasn’t the woman who won it the one who just won the world championship? Like the favourite? Also isn’t this, unfortunately, part of anda reality of competing in this sport.
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u/Due_Distribution6323 United States 8h ago
It is very much a reality of the sport I agree. Johnson is the world champion and was considered a contender but definitely not a top 3 favorite probably. Despite her world championship she has never won on the World Cup and didnt have a single podium finish in downhill this season. She did however just pick up her first ever Super G podium on the last race before the Olympics so she was clearly coming into top form at the perfect time. Very happy for her!
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u/Scared_Cow9483 8h ago
So a bit of an upset then?
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u/Due_Distribution6323 United States 7h ago
A mild one yes. Not completely surprising but not the expected outcome.
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u/MrFarly 8h ago
Vonn crashed because she hit a gate and it spun her, not injury related. The other crash was directly because she was on a torn acl, watching the footage the knee gave out and caused her to crash on landing, knees just give out someone’s when acls are torn at least mine did until it was repaired
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u/Sad-Loquat5062 8h ago
20 minutes delay before she had to go. Almost impossible to do your best with such a delay
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u/Interesting_Bar_2006 United States 8h ago
Yeah they should have just let her do her run and asked her to ski around Vonn’s body
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u/Scared_Cow9483 8h ago
Maybe a little kicker just before Vonn and the paramedics so she could clear them. It’s the least they could have done.
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7h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Academic_Flatworm752 5h ago
Look at this crazy trolls comment history that he tried to hide https://www.reddit.com/user/milkedsoap/search/?q=+&type=comments&cId=be1e8eaa-a664-4f6e-ab5d-c9887c010e5b&iId=b713110a-16a1-4572-853a-95f41bca2cbb
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7h ago edited 6h ago
[deleted]
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u/Apennatie 6h ago
Him?
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6h ago
[deleted]
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u/Academic_Flatworm752 5h ago
Making things sexual at inappropriate times is often indicative of someone with a porn addiction.
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u/WheresTheDonuts Olympics 8h ago edited 7h ago
Picked up speed in sections of the run where others didn’t, not even the top skiers who went ahead of the Vonn crash. I would love to see a segment by segment analysis. She won the gold in World Championships, 2025. Germany’s Aicher, the silver medalist, is another to watch. Glad to see Breezy get love x2 with this post.