Downhill racer Breezy Johnson, one of the top medal prospects for the United States, was seventh in downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
The United States team for next month’s Olympics lost one of its top medal prospects Tuesday when downhill racer Breezy Johnson said injury will force her to miss the Beijing Games. Johnson placed second behind Olympic champion Sofia Goggia in each of the three World Cup downhills she started this season, then crashed in training runs before two races in January. “I have to announce that I have unfortunately injured my knee and must withdraw from the Olympics,” Johnson said on her Instagram account. The 26-year-old racer crashed in training in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, last week, one week after skipping a downhill in Austria to let a cut and bruised knee heal. Johnson wrote that in Cortina she “immediately felt a massive crack in my knee” and had dislodged cartilage. Johnson placed seventh in downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. Hector won the final World Cup GS on Tuesday in San Vigilio di Marebbe, Italy, with 2018 gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin in fifth. Hector was second after the opening run but overtook defending overall champion Petra Vlhova for her second straight GS victory, and her third this season.
