Places 15th As American Teammate Wins Shocking Downhill Gold At FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
Places 15th As American Teammate Wins Shocking Downhill Gold At FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
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Breezy Johnson found redemption, Lauren Macuga continued her ascension and Lindsey Vonn left satisfied after Saturday’s world championship downhill in Saalbach, Austria.
Johnson — who returned to competition two months ago after a 14-month ban for violating anti-doping rules — skied from bib 1 to finish No. 1 in the final speed event of the 2025 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. The 29-year-old scorched the Ulli Maier course in 1 minute 41.29 seconds to claim a 0.15-second win.
“It has not sunk in yet,” Johnson told assembled media after winning her first world title. The two-time Olympian collected all seven of her World Cup podiums between 2020 and 2021 before an injury knocked her out of the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
“I came to Cortina for my second World Championships. I hip checked and I won three splits, but that was not gonna work with a hip check so I didn’t walk away with a medal,” she continued. “Then I came into Meribel with the green light and I fell, so it’s been a long time coming. But if you keep trying then maybe one day you’ll get it.”
Mirjam Puchner of Austria took the silver and Ester Ledecka finished 0.21 seconds back for the bronze. The Czech athlete has won Olympic golds in both skiing and snowboarding. American Lauren Macuga added to her super-G bronze from two days prior, placing fifth.
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“I put forward my best skiing, and I couldn’t be more excited,” Macuga said. “It’s so cool to see our team thriving like this. We’ve been building it up and now we get to represent such a strong team.”
Vonn, who has been battling illness throughout the week and is still dialing in her equipment, placed 15th after crashing out of the super-G on Thursday.
“For me it was important to be at the start and be clear minded and be able to execute under pressure,” Vonn said. “It is good preparation for next year for the Olympics.”
Given Macuga’s rise and Johnson’s accomplishment, a reporter understandably questioned Vonn’s assumption that she would make the 2026 Olympic roster. The 40-year-old replied, “I know that I’m competitive; just sometimes, things aren’t working exactly the way I know that they can. But I’m not worried about qualifying. If I ski my best, then I’ll be fine.”
Johnson’s ban resulted from her three violations the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s ‘whereabouts rules,’ which require athletes to notify testers of their location for one hour each day to provide samples. After Saturday’s win, she explained the missed tests to The Associated Press, saying the first “was my fault,” the second came from texting her whereabouts to the wrong number and the third resulted from a “glitch on the app.” Olympic gold medalist Sofia Goggia, however, was not so gracious in her evaluation of Johnson’s ban.
“We have availability every day. Every night, I have to say where I sleep and I have to give the time slot. I set it between 5 and 6 in the morning and this year at Christmas they came to ring my bell” Goggia told The Associated Press after finishing 16th. “We have rules to follow. We stick to the procedure. Period.”
Vonn was thrilled for her teammates’ performances and said the American team’s energy is unique.
“We cheer each other in the starting gate,” she said. “You don’t see that really with anyone else.”
The 2009 downhill world champion, who retired in 2019 after amassing 82 World Cup wins, acknowledged the work to be done in order to be at her best next season, but viewed her two speed competitions this week as an unexpected bonus.
“You know, not everything is working perfectly together,” she said. “I need to still work on my material, I need to get stronger, but I think in general it was good. It wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but I had to be optimistic and understand also that I wasn’t meant to be here anyways. Just being here already is a success.”