Breezy Johnson Wins Gold After Vonn's Crash

Anyway, no, I think we should start there with that 6 o'clock news you alluded to, the uh Lindsey Vonn crash.

I mean, I, I woke up, you know, I think Mitchy did a great job, uh, setting the table for just how early people should wake up so they'll be able to catch Vaughn.

I woke up, I, I actually, I was so late getting, not so late getting up, but I got up so soon before Vaughn went down, I ended up watching it on my phone before I could get the TV, uh, loaded up.

So I'm watching on my phone and I'm just sitting there in disbelief as she crashes 12 seconds into the race and a really bad crash at that.

It was, it was, uh, I think just the worst case scenario for her.

It was, yeah, and this has a chance to be, I mean, one of the biggest news stories of the entire Olympics, which is kind of unfortunate because you want the big, big story to be some athlete winning a gold medal, uh, achieving their dreams, but this is just such a huge story in the run up to the games.

We've been talking about it all week.

Lindsey Vonn was going to be a major, major story at these Olympics, no matter what, and then she just became, uh, just, you know, 10.

Told that big of a story just with everything that happened with her being airlifted after an injury, rupturing her Achilles nine days ago, and then all the question of, you know, is she gonna compete?

Can she compete?

She does the training runs, they seem to go fine, at least well enough, uh, that she feels comfortable going into the, uh, the actual, uh, women's, uh, downhill final.

And then, uh, yeah, like you said, and, and it was a quick wipeout.

It was, um, I think it was like 13 seconds into the race maybe.

So it happened quickly.

I, it sounds like I woke up maybe like 12 minutes before you did because I was, I was set up at my TV, but I like watched this happen and then was just trying to form complete sentences to write updates, um, you know, uh, at that, at that early hour in the morning.

Um, but yeah, I think a lot of people, and there were questions, there are a lot of people saying like she shouldn't do this at all, and, um, we talked about some of those storylines yesterday, I think.

I think she totally had the right to.

Then I think the next question moves into, OK, did the injury cause what happened today?

And that I think is a little more complicated to answer, um, because I think, not directly, um.

It was not like she went around a corner and the bad knee gave out, and that was the reason that she fell.

What happened more was that, um, a pole hit the gate and then that caused her to spin and spin out of control.

Um, but it's impossible to say that the knee had no effect, right?

Cause everything is so connected in the body that, uh, you know, if you're favoring one knee or putting pressure a different way, then that could cause you to lean one direction or have a pole or just feel less support.

So, I think some people were saying, like, you see, it wasn't related, it's like I, I'm not ready.

To say it wasn't related.

Of course, as you and I have said, plenty of disclaimers, we are not downhill skiing experts, but it's, and, and at the very least, just thinking about her mental space where she was all week thinking about this, um, you know, going in, it would be understandable that she's not 100%.

So we'll never really know how much, I mean, I guess we may know if she, um, Eventually tells us more about it, um, when she's ready to speak.

But yeah, I think the actual injury that she had was a, um, fractured leg, and I saw that she was, um, she was sent to a hospital, she's in stable condition.

We haven't even talked, by the way, Breezy Johnson of Team USA actually did win the race and win the gold medal, Team USA's first medal of the Olympics, um, just like so many different areas we could take this next.

I don't know if you have more that you want to say about Lindsey Vonn before we then talk into sort of the effect that that had on the rest of the race.

No, I, I think, you know, the one thing I, I was gonna say is that as I was watching her prepare to go down, and I'm not, granted, we have established we are not skiing experts, but I saw, I was really struck by the way that she appeared to be, like, really taking deep breaths in the gate in a way that indicated to me, I thought she seemed a little nervous.

I think she seemed, like, really on edge as she was getting ready to go down, and then, you know, so quickly thereafter, she has, it seemed like, I think one of the commentators said, like, certainly it was the pole hitting.

The gate that caused the crash, but that there were, she was in a little bit of trouble before that gate, a little bit off balance, and that's what led to the pole hitting it.

Um, so, you know, obviously, some, you know, she was not at top form so early in the race.

It seemed to me like she was a little bit on edge and, um, and it seems to have cost her.

Yeah, she also took a very aggressive line from, uh, that's what I've read from people who, uh, were actually there, and again, follow this a little more closely than you and I do, and we're not hopping in come Olympic time.

Um, but that's the Lindsey Vonn we've been talking about all week, that she's a risk taker and she's aggressive and she goes for speed, and we talked about how fast she was going when she crashed 9 days ago and the one that caused the, the ACL injury.

Um, so it's not a surprise at all that she gets up there and says, I'm gonna take, uh, you know, the most aggressive line I can and try to be fast and try to win this whole thing.

Um, after it was also, oh yeah, sorry, go ahead, no, I was just, I, I, I, were you gonna say, I think you might have been going to say the same thing as me.

After it happened, the, the silence in the crowd was stunning.

I mean, it was like, and, and it, it stayed that way for so long because she received medical attention for like 25 minutes or something.

I mean, obviously it's a really serious injury, you mentioned, broken leg, you know, placed in the stretcher, airlifted out.

It was just like, the pall that was cast over the entire venue was really striking and speaks to, you know, the impact that she has on the sport.

All right, quick shout out to one of my favorite things in my closet right now, Cozy Earth.

First off, their bamboo pajamas, ridiculous.

These are hands down the softest pants I own, like unbelievably soft.

I wear them when I'm working from home, running errands, even just lounging on the couch.

They somehow feel cozy without being too warm, and they actually look good enough to leave the house in, which is rare for pajamas.

Whether it's for someone special or just for yourself, Cozy Earth makes it easy to bring comfort and care into your everyday life.

This Valentine's Day season, we are offering a buy one, get one pajama deal you won't see any other time of year.

These viral PJs are so good, they sold out during the holidays, and now they're back with an exclusive deal only available January 25th to February 8th.

Head to cozyEarth.

com and use my code Daily Rings BOGO, that's daily Rings B O G O to get these PJs for you and someone you love.

And if you get a post-purchase survey, be sure to mention you heard about Cozy Earth right here.

Celebrate everyday love with comfort that makes the little moments count.

Yeah, gruesome injury and you could hear her screaming, which was like kind of unsettling.

That happens sometimes.

I feel like a lot of uh sporting events they're, I don't know if good about, but like good about when someone has like a really bad injury, they'll be like, OK, we're not gonna show this and we're gonna cut the commercial break and we'll come back in a few minutes after this, uh, you know, we move on from this scene, and here they were like, we're just gonna show it, and the fans didn't say anything, and so you could just like hear.

Her screaming, which was uncomfortable.

The helicopter came out and, and I thought the commentators did a good job, sort of walking people through it, that they were like, you know, this is common, that they go to the helicopter.

It's just an easy way to get people out.

It's not necessarily indicative of, uh, how bad the injury is, what the diagnosis is going to be.

Um, that said, she was like, they had her hanging from the helicopter instead of like putting her, um, on the stretcher of the board or whatever, like putting that inside of the helicopter, and I I think some people I was following on social media were saying that that could be a sign that it was a little more serious.

They didn't want to risk that.

Uh, unbelievable, like the medical staff, everything that they do, like seeing them hanging with her dangling from the helicopter was like unbelievable just to see, uh, you know, just the credit to all of, uh, those people who were involved in that cause that was like amazing.

Just you think about, um, the injuries.

It's not like a basketball game where the trainer just runs out onto the court to help.

It's like they're in the mountains with helicopters.

It's like, that's.

That is really intense.

Um, but yeah, that scene afterward.

And then, uh, the other part about it was like, imagine being the first skier after that.

Um, the event was moving really quickly.

Um, you know, I had told everybody, like you said in the primary yesterday, I told everybody like Breezy Johnson, I think she was maybe 5th down and Lindsey Vonn was 13th.

And so I turned on and they were just flying.

It was like one after another.

It's not like some of these other sports where there's like a longer break in between.

Um, and then there was this long delay, and just imagine being one of the athletes up in the starting house.

And you're like, OK, I'm gonna go.

My Olympic dreams are happening in 3 minutes here, and then, like you said, 2025 minute delay.

And the other thing, and, and so by the way, Breezy Johnson, who we are gonna talk, we are gonna talk about Breezy Johnson, gold medalist, um, she was before Lindsey Vonn and she put up a good time early, and then that held all the way through.

And so I was thinking like, I wonder if the layoff affected the athletes, um, and if that made it challenging, and then our, uh, our guy Tim Leighton.

Who I have talked about several times and probably will continue to for the rest of the Olympics.

He had a great column on Lindsey Vonn, and he actually talked about the impact of the layoff, um, like on the environment, um, and basically it was a warm sunny day, and so the snow was melting, and, uh, according to him, that just made the course slower.

And so, it's one of those things, it's so unfortunate, it's like wind and, uh, rain and snow, and they affect all kinds of.

Outdoor sporting events, but I think when we're talking about hundreds of a second up on the mountain, a lot of things can make a big difference.

And so, yeah, whether it was all related, and I, I think not all of the skiers wanted to go there and talk about this right after the race, but it's very possible that that had an impact, um, that the times are just slower after the long, uh, delay, and then that could have had an effect on Breezy Johnson and her time holding up, which, by the way, she won by 400 of a.

Second, um, I forgot, uh, I, I had the stat somewhere, but it was like the closest, uh, downhill final in maybe forever, or at least in a very long time, but like 400 of a second.

And so, uh, again, when the margins are that close, like, sure, I buy it, but a 25 minute delay with the, uh, temperature and the snow melting and all that, uh, having an effect on the course that, that definitely could have had an impact, not to take anything away from Breezy Johnson, who, uh, should feel very, very good about herself winning a gold today.

Yeah, you talk about compounding factors, right?

Like with, with Vaughn's, you know, mental status of the injury and the physical elements of the injury coming together.

There's also the compounding factors of the, um, the the mental aspect of the, uh, skiers having to wait and then also the, the physical aspect of how the snow is changing.

Changing as time goes on.

So, yeah, it's, and, you know, all those things, they, they're, they're, they're little things, little details that all add up and then in a lot of cases, of course, they might add up to 4/100 of a second, and that's the difference between gold and silver.

And so, Breezy Johnson, uh, benefited from that, it seems like.

Yeah, now I do, I wanna tell Breezy Johnson's story cause we mentioned her, uh, a couple of times, uh, leading up to the games, I know, but I don't know that we've fully, uh, told her whole story, partly because they're just, uh, so many other big names we've talked about.

Uh, we've talked a lot about Lindsey Vonn, of course, and we've talked about Mikaela Shiffrin.

Um, Breezy Johnson, for those who don't know, so she's 30 and competed in the 2018 Olympics, where she finished 7th in the downhill and 14th in the super G.

Now, part of the interesting story for her is that she missed the Beijing Olympics with an injury, and that injury was actually suffered on this exact course in Cortina.

So that is just like an Incredible fact to me, uh, the sort of life coming full circle moment that you're injured on this course, come back, an 8-year layoff in between Olympic appearances, and then look where the race is, and here you are and you conquer it and win a gold medal on that course.

Um, I was reading more about her.

NBC had a good story breaking down.

She also, part of her story is that she was, um, suspended 14 months.

And I think this was in 2024 for, it was by US anti-doping, but it was not for a failed doping test.

It was for a whereabouts failure.

Um, basically, it was like out of competition, they have drug testing, and I think the skiers are, the athletes are required to, uh, tell the US anti-doping like what their whereabouts are basically every single day so that they're available for random testing.

Um, and she, uh, failed on the whereabouts and then was suspended for 14 months, like I said.

Um, so, you know, I don't, I don't wanna, I wanna talk about that a little bit carefully cause I don't wanna, um, say like, oh, poor her, cause like it is, you know, it is like kind of their fault.

They are responsible for, you know, it's the same rules for everybody, but it is, it's just an interesting part of her story when you think about.

like her journey and all the stuff that she has been through.

Um, again, being careful how I talk about what she's been through.

Um, but it's just an interesting part of her story that she had the injury, she had the suspension, and then here she is back.

We had talked about her winning this race, um, at the World Cup, being the reigning world champion, and now Olympic champion, adding to it.

It's just sort of a remarkable story over the last 4+ years.

Yeah, I believe the whereabouts failure was 3 of them.

It was 3 times that she was not made available for testing.

So it's, it's different, you know, you talk about being careful about it.

It's not just like she missed 1 test and like you, then that's like, you, you know, kinda.

Uh, horse hockey.

I'm trying, I'm trying to avoid a way not to curse, but, uh, yeah, and I don't want to make it, we shouldn't like make her big day all about that.

It's just I think it is.

I do think it, but it is, it is, it's an important part of her story, I think, and yeah, and, and at least, yeah, it's part of the narrative of, of, you know, where she's come from.

You mentioned those, those underwhelming results of previous Olympics and the injury on this mountain and then, you know, to have that crowning achievement after everything she's.

Through is uh is interesting for sure.

Yeah, and then I'd say the other thing that really shined through in the NBC profile, um, was talking about her just being a really popular member of the team and her camaraderie and, uh, that experience of having been through, uh, an injury, and I, uh, I think it was Lauren Masuga who tore an ACL shortly before the Olympics and her being there for her, and it seems like she's just like a really popular member of the team.

When you think about them, it, it's in some ways, it's a, in many ways it's an.

Individual sport, but then there is also that team aspect.

And there are team races and it looks like she is going to be Mikaela Shiffrin's teammate for the combined event.

We had talked about possibly Shiffrin and Vaughn being teammates, but I, I think it, it's, uh, maybe it's even possible that that Breezy and Shiffrin were going to be together all along.

Um, but now with Vaughn, uh, being airlifted out, I think it's even more likely that it'll be the two of them.

So, um, very possible that she'll be winning another gold medal, uh, pretty shortly later these Olympics.