SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria — American skier Breezy Johnson won gold in the women’s downhill at the Alpine skiing world championships Saturday.
Johnson finished 0.15 seconds ahead of silver medalist Mirjam Puchner of Austria. Czech skier Ester Ledecka came 0.21 behind in third to take bronze.
The first starter, Johnson led the race from start to finish, mainly thanks to a near-perfect second half of her run, where she posted the fastest split times in three of the four sections.
Even with no competitor’s time to compare to, Johnson pumped her first when she completed her run.
“I knew I made some mistakes, but I also knew that I charged and gave everything I could,” said Johnson, 29. “So, I knew it wasn’t the perfect run but I knew it was good and then, when I came across the line and saw it was a low 41, I was like, maybe…”
It’s Johnson first medal from a major event and came two months after she returned from a 14-month ban for three “whereabouts” violations of anti-doping rules.
“I was thinking about it this morning and I was like, it’s a privilege to be able to play the game, to be able to be here,” Johnson said. “When you know that,…
