Vonn Crashes, Breezy and U.S. Skaters Win Gold

Hello and welcome to Sports Illustrated's Daily Rings, SI's daily Olympics podcast.

I'm Dan Gartland here with Mitch Golddich.

Mitch, a fantastic 2nd day of the Olympics.

We got a lot to get to.

We do.

We came on here about 24 hours ago and said that yesterday felt like a full day.

Let me tell you, today was a full day.

We had major, major news at 6 o'clock in the morning, Eastern time, and then also big news with a huge event at about 5 p.m. Eastern.

And so that was like bookends on the day and then tons of stuff in between.

It was really a packed schedule.

Yeah, it was like putting it that way, giving, giving the timestamps makes it a little daunting, but puts in perspective how busy my day was.

That's as busy as sitting on the couch can be, but still, you know, I, I had the computer up and I was taking notes.

Um, anyway, no, I think we should start there with that 6 o'clock news you alluded to the 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 pull 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.

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.

Been 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's, 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.

Yeah, looking forward to seeing if that happens.

Is there anything else you have on that or should we move on to the thing we just watched?

Yeah, no, let's move on to the thing we just watched , I think.

OK, so moments before we started recording here, we watched the US finally win that gold medal in the team figure skating.

It was up in, up, uh, you know, up in the air.

There for a while.

It came down to Ilia Malinen and uh Shun Sato of Japan.

Whoever came in first in the men's free skate would win the gold medal for their team, and it was Malinin, despite a stumble, who pulled it out, uh, really thrilling way to end the day at these Olympics.

Yeah, and so we've talked about him and his advantage that he has, where he just does so many more elements and more difficult elements than anyone else that he has a huge margin for error, um, and so I guess he took advantage of that today, but yeah, watching him, uh, I thought Sato, to my sort of untrained eye, uh, Sato was just like very clean, and I think the, um, the broadcasters agree with this.

Like I think he was just nails on everything, like every element just looked perfect.

Perfect and flawless and effortless.

And Mallinin stumbled a little bit, um, which remember, he had, uh, he had also not performed his best in the, uh, short program earlier in the team and Sato had beaten him.

We knew he probably had a better chance to win, uh, in this longer program just because there are 7 jumps and more elements.

Um, but it was really interesting listening to the commentary during the race because he sort of, uh, Mainin, he sort of dialed back a little bit.

There were a few times when they were like, OK, sometimes.

He does a quad here and he goes for the triple.

And so you think about that as just like, in this team environment where I guess if you're in the individual, you can, you know, go big or go home and do everything.

There's a different kind of pressure when you're competing alongside teammates who have been, uh, going all out for 3 days and, uh, you know, their fate depends on how you perform.

And so I don't know if that was why he went down to triples in some areas, or if, uh, you know, or if it was the pressure or if he just felt like he He didn't need to and, and clearly he didn't because he put up a great score and as good as Sato was, it still wasn't enough to, to top Malinin.

And yeah, it was very, it was a dramatic way to go and, and it was, uh, the two sides, uh, US and Japan were tied going into the final round, and so they knew that they were going to be the last ones.

And then Malinin goes 2nd to last, Sato goes behind him, and there's that moment where they're sitting there and you're just waiting for the score from the judges and, you know, the score is gonna come in and, and determine gold and silver.

Yeah, it was, and you mentioned how it was tied before.

One of the reasons it was tied is because, um, Amber Glenn, she, she had a, a, a worse than expected run in the, uh, in the women's free skate.

And did you see your interview that she did after her, her, after her routine?

I did, yeah, she talked about how it was really illuminating, I thought, yeah, yeah, yeah, she was talking about how, like, she had, you know, she was like, maybe the adrenaline got to me, it was her first time on the Olympic ice.

Um, she talked about how it was difficult, how usually she's used to having, uh, the short program before the free skate, and here she's being asked to go directly to the free skate.

So it's a bit of a, uh, an unusual circumstance in that way.

And I just thought it was really fascinating.

She was so open, um, in ways that you don't really usually hear from athletes, especially after a disappointing performance like that.

And, um, yeah, all credit to her for being honest and, and taking us inside the game in that way.

I thought that was really interesting.

I agree, and it came back to a couple of conversations you and I have had this week also about the idea of like substituting and the fact that it might be good to go and get a first skate in and get rid of some of those nerves and how difficult it might be to go in and do the free skate when you haven't done the short program and, and that's your first.

Time on Olympic ice and we talked about that in the men's competition when people were suggesting that Main and maybe shouldn't skate, which in hindsight seems kind of ridiculous after he was, uh, you know, basically, uh, the, the, uh, the final, what was, you know, the last leg of the relay and wins it for the team.

Um, but yeah, that was, uh, that was interesting.

And then I also, the, um, I want to talk about, uh, Ellie Cam and Danny O'Shea, who we talked about, uh, the very first day, I think was that day 0 or day minus 1.

they're already blurry together and it's only day 2, but we talked about them.

They had a fall earlier and then they were great today.

Um, there were, uh, 2 throws and they were both better than last time.

And also, uh, sorry, just looking down at my notes here, the, uh, the broadcasters were again, obviously very helpful here.

Talking about how important the lifts are in, uh, their competition, and it's really amazing how good Danny O'Shea is.

Like, he's lifting her over his head and his arm is just like full extension, like perfectly straight out and up, and like some of the things that they were able to do.

Um, it was awesome to see them have, uh, I don't know if you would call it a bounce back performance from just like one, stumble earlier in the Olympics, but they were, they were great today , and I know that was really helpful.

And so that's, you know, hey, it's a, it's a team gold and it feels like everybody contributed up and down the roster.

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I also really enjoyed the free skate from Italy's Matteo Rizzo, who had a great performance to secure a bronze for Italy.

Um, that, that he had a great moment at the end with, you know, going to the crowd, going to the team, his teammates, you know, just everybody cheering, like their lungs out.

It was amazing, the, the support Italy's getting.

Uh, 6 medals for Italy today.

So there's just the bronze in the, uh, in the team figure skating.

Um, Ricardo Lorello won a bronze in the men's 5000 m speed skating.

Lucia Damaso won, uh, bronze in the women's parallel giant slalom snowboard.

There was a luge bronze, a biathlon relay bronze, and Sofia Goggia bronze in the women's downhill.

So, yeah, 6 medals for Italy today, brings them up to 8.

They lead the medal count, total medals behind Norway on golds.

But yeah, 8 of their 5 medals or 5 of their 8 medals are bronze.

They won 17 of the last Olympics and 11 when they hosted in 2006, so already well on their way to smashing that record.

We talked about that home field advantage and it's really paying off for Italy so far.

Yeah, I thought, uh, not sorry to fact check your numbers.

I thought they had 3 yesterday, cause they had Lala Brigida, the speed skater, and then I thought there was an event where they took 2nd and 3rd.

Um, uh, that is correct.

So do they have 9 today as of now?

Um, I don't know the exact number they have today, but, but yes, I also noticed the Italians had a very impressive day and, and they're off to a great start, which is always cool when the, the fans are excited for the host country.

When you started talking about, uh, Italian skaters, I thought you were gonna maybe bring up, um, Gutman, uh, sorry if I'm pronouncing her name, on the women's free skate who did the Jaws routine, which was also , I didn't catch that.

I think I was watching curling at.

Oh, OK, yeah, so that's, uh, so, you know, so much of it is the, uh, talent of the skaters, but I always love it when someone has just like a great musical routine, and she did this like, like a haunting version of the Jaws, uh, score, and it's like the it was just like, it was really good.

Um, so I was getting into that one too.

So yeah, yeah, Riso used the music from Interstellar.

So there was a bit of a, a Hollywood theme there with the.

Italian team and somebody else was using Gladiator earlier today.

So yeah, love, love it.

And by the way, I had this in my news headlines, but let's just mention it now while we're talking about, uh, the skating music.

Our, uh, minions skater, he is approved.

Did you see this?

They got his answer.

I didn't see there's a lot going on.

Somehow the minions film update slipped through my fingers there.

Oh, come on, this is a big story.

No, I saw this.

Um, Front Office sports had this, um, Spanish figure skater Tomas Guarino said in a statement, quote, I am very happy to announce that we have made it.

We have obtained the licenses for all 4 musical pieces, and I will be able to skate my minions program at the Olympic Games.

So I'm sure we will be talking about that when it comes up.

But while we're on the topic of, uh, you know, music and skating, that's the time that I got to bring it up.

So I'm glad we got to, uh, sneak that.

I think that news might actually be a couple of days old, but, uh, here you go.

For anyone who's only following the Olympics from our podcast, now, you're aware that we'll be seeing the minions.

And I will confirm, I did not update my, my notes after that final bronze.

It is 9 medals for Italy, so congrats to them.

OK, it did happen like right before we, yeah, yeah, give me a break.

So it was, it was about 3 minutes.

All right, um, let's see.

So I think, uh, moving on to the next sport, I think maybe it's time to talk about parallel giant slalom snowboarding, which was also, uh, excellent today and a very fun watch in the, I don't know, mid-morning, early afternoon.

Should we go, uh, should we talk snowboard, Gart?

Yeah, I love this, and I , I, I'm gonna push back a little bit on really fun to watch because, I mean, although I love the races, this was the most infuriating broadcast experience I've had.

Of these Olympics.

The races take 45 seconds and NBC's cutting to a commercial after every single one .

Like, you gotta be kidding me.

And the, and the announcers aren't even aware they're cutting the commercial.

They'll cut away in the middle of a sentence, come back in the middle of another sentence.

It's just, it was, it was beyond infuriating.

It's like you're really getting into the rhythm of this fast-paced, exciting sport, and then you're cutting away to see another car ad or Hershey's chocolate or whatever it is.

It was, it was, it was getting under my skin.

I don't know.

I don't think I had that experience, so I now, I don't know what feed you were on.

Uh, I was on the solo, uh, PGS feed on, uh, on Peacock.

Hm, I thought I was too, I don't know if maybe I didn't notice if I had like two other things up and I was just like, uh, subconsciously looking away.

Um, but no, I thought, my thoughts on the broadcast and I, a couple of people, um, sort of, so I think you and I both, by the way, posted screenshots of, um, sorry, where.

What is his name?

Uh, Benjamin Karl Benjamin Karl from Austria, who won gold in the men's and then immediately ripped off at least 4 shirts and flexed for the camera and dove into the snow, like lying down shirtless.

Um, I, you know, I was talking about how much fun the race was, and a few people made the comments.

The broadcaster spent a lot of time talking about the course itself and a little bit less on the athletes.

So I was fascinated by the course because it is interesting and for those who didn't watch, we'll sort of.

Describe, they have, this was just like head to head heats, and it's not timed.

They basically made a big bracket, um, and they go down side by side and there's a blue and a red and they have gates.

And it was really interesting to me that there is like an advantage, uh, you know, the blue and the red have different advantages at different times on the course.

And so, like, every time down, they're like, OK, red has a chance to catch up here at the bottom, and it was just like fascinating to me, and I guess it makes sense that it's tougher on the mountain to build, like exactly identical courses.

So it's almost like when you watch, um, Like track and field events and they're on the track and someone's in lane 2 and someone's in lane 3.