Has Breezy Johnson been to the Olympics before? Injury history
USA TODAY and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article. Pricing and availability subject to change.
Has Breezy Johnson been to the Olympics before? Injury history
Marcus D. Smith, USA TODAYFebruary 8, 2026 at 5:07 AM
0
American ski star Breezy Johnson is geared for another Olympic games experience and another shot to add an Olympic medal to her career accolades.
Johnson is a participant in the Alpine Skiing women's downhill event during the 2026 Winter Olympics games in Milano Cortina. The event begins Sunday, Feb. 8 at 11:30 a.m. CET (5:30 a.m. ET; 2:30 a.m. PT).
The main competitions that the Idaho native takes part in are downhill skiing, the super-G and team combined event.
"Alpine skiing has long been a huge individual sport and the biggest person you're trying to succeed for is yourself, and the biggest person you can let down is yourself," Johnson told USA TODAY Sports' Nancy Armour on podcast Sports Seriously. "Team combined turns that on its head a little bit because you suddenly are competing for somebody else."
Her last competition was during the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2025 in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria.
Johnson placed first in two events: the downhill event, finishing in 1:41.29, and the team combined event with a 2:40.89 finish.
"I always learned the adage, winning is no fun when you're alone on the top of the podium. It's just another lonely place," Johnson said. "It's not lonely when you're with a team member, so that's a really cool piece about the team combined. When we did it at the World Championships this past year, it was both, the most fun race that I'd ever been a part of, and also the most stressful race."
HOW TO WATCH: Here's the complete 2026 Winter Olympics competition schedule
2026 Winter Olympics. See the most stunning images from the Milano Cortina games. Sofiia Dovhal of Poland and Wiktor Kulesza of Poland in action during the Milano Cortina 2026 figure skating team event Feb. 6, 2026.
" style=padding-bottom:56%>Athletes have flocked to Italy to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics. See the most stunning images from the Milano Cortina games. Sofiia Dovhal of Poland and Wiktor Kulesza of Poland in action during the Milano Cortina 2026 figure skating team event Feb. 6, 2026.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/oqFgMzPoM81DbsAr65oRVA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/22f9e648a3b52d9013c4f5d235318d5f class=caas-img data-headline="Incredible photos from 2026 Winter Olympics" data-caption="
Athletes have flocked to Italy to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics. See the most stunning images from the Milano Cortina games. Sofiia Dovhal of Poland and Wiktor Kulesza of Poland in action during the Milano Cortina 2026 figure skating team event Feb. 6, 2026.
">Athletes have flocked to Italy to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics. See the most stunning images from the Milano Cortina games. Sofiia Dovhal of Poland and Wiktor Kulesza of Poland in action during the Milano Cortina 2026 figure skating team event Feb. 6, 2026.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/oqFgMzPoM81DbsAr65oRVA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/22f9e648a3b52d9013c4f5d235318d5f class=caas-img>
1 / 9Incredible photos from 2026 Winter Olympics
Athletes have flocked to Italy to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics. See the most stunning images from the Milano Cortina games. Sofiia Dovhal of Poland and Wiktor Kulesza of Poland in action during the Milano Cortina 2026 figure skating team event Feb. 6, 2026.
Winter Olympics Today: First gold medals awarded, snowboard Big Air on tap
Not at all a stranger to competition, but still fairly new to the Olympics, is Johnson.
The 30-year-old made her Olympic debut at the 2018 PyeongChang Games in Korea, where she placed 7th in the downhill ski event, and 14th in the Super G competition.
Looking to earn medals on the Olympic stage, Johnson will compete in the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.
In addition to her downhill events, she will also participate in team combined events as one of four U.S. teams in the competition, she said.
"It's gonna be really exciting. It's also super cool because unlike some other team events, we will be putting forward four teams, four team combined," Johnson said. "We could theoretically sweep the podium in team combined, which would be amazing, having six Americans on podium. Crazy."
Breezy Johnson injury history
Johnson seeks to take the podium and awarded medals after bouncing back from a bit of adversity in her career.
Throughout her professional tenure, Johnson has been someone whose defined the saying "fall down seven times, stand up eight" as she battled back from injuries a multitude of times.
She suffered a tibial plateau fracture in her left leg after a crash during a downhill race at the 2017 World Cup Finals in Aspen, Colorado. Following a speedy recovery, she was able to get back into form for the 2018 season where she competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Korea.
After getting a taste of the Olympian experience, Johnson faced back-to-back setbacks. She missed the entire 2019 season after an ACL tear in her right knee in September 2018. When she was cleared to return, she tore her MCL and PCL, both in her left knee.
But again, she never wavered or whimpered, just rolled with the punches and got back to rehabbing to once again hit the slopes. Johnson was back competing by 2020, but years later, a knee cartilage injury caused her to miss the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Johnson suspended by USADA
Although she overcame significant misfortune with her physical health, Johnson was suspended from competition in 2024 due to "Whereabout Failure", according to the U.S. Anti-doping Agency.
Johnson accepted a 14-month sanction for committing three Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period, according to the USADA.
She could not be located on three occasions for "out-of-competition testing" on Oct. 29, 2022, June 13, 2023 and third on Oct. 10, 2023, the USADA said.
Johnson issued an apology to her fans on social media and said she "made an human error and am paying those consequences."
"I would like to clarify that filing failures are not a drug test failure, but as the name describes, an issue with drug testers being able to find me," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter in May 2024. "All of my tests have been clean. I apologize to my fans for letting them down and being unable to race this past season.
pic.twitter.com/HT7y42ndfM
— Breezy Johnson (@_BreezyJohnson) May 14, 2024
Johnson ready for comeback
She returned in Dec. 2024 and competed in the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2025 in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, where she finished first place, taking the podium in two events.
Johnson is now ranked No. 8 in the 2025-56 World Cup rankings in downhill skiing. She's No. 23 overall, after being ranked No. 18 in the super-G event.
She seeks her first Olympic gold medals, and first Olympics medals overall at the 2026 Winter Olympics games in Milano Cortina.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How many Olympics has Breezy Johnson been to? See injury history
Source: “AOL Sports”
