It was gold and diamonds at the 2026 Winter Olympics for Breezy Johnson.
The American skier won gold in the downhill Sunday in Italy — but then crashed out in Thursday morning’s super-G event.
However, her day took a turn about an hour later when boyfriend Connor Watkins proposed at the base of Cortina D’Ampezzo with an emotional Johnson accepting.
Breezy Johnson looks at the engagement ring she was given by Connor Watkins, at the finish area of an alpine ski, women’s super-G race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. APThe couple was surrounded by the US ski team, with Watkins reciting the lyrics from the 2024 Taylor Swift song “The Alchemy” and presenting her with a ring of blue and white sapphires set in white gold.
“It felt fitting to kind of combine two of my loves,” Johnson said. “I don’t know. It’s a special place at the Olympics. I feel like there’s a lot of mystique around it.”
During the race, the 30-year-old Johnson caught her right pole on a gate shortly after exiting the speed-building chute at the course and lost her balance.
She ended up in the catch fence but was able to get to her feet.
Watkins told the Washington Post that he initially hesitated after seeing the race result, but used an intermediary — Mikaela Shiffrin’s publicist, Megan Harrod — to make sure Johnson was in the right frame of mind.
Breezy Johnson skis to the finish area after crashing in the super-G event. Michael Madrid-Imagn Images2026 WINTER OLYMPICS
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“I was feeling kind of stupid, which I feel like is the moment that you kind of want the people that you love around you, when you’re just feeling dumb and childish,” Johnson said. “You’re like, ‘Tell me that I’m okay.’ Just seeing him, I was just like, ‘Yeah, it’s nice to see you. Let’s go commiserate a little bit together.’ And then everything else happened.”
Breezy Johnson and Connor Watkins celebrate their enagement. APJohnson and Watkins, who is in the construction industry, initially met on Bumble — and he had no idea what she did as a profession.
“I was a little taken aback,” Watkins said. “I had very little knowledge of ski racing and everything else, and over the last couple of years I’ve grown to really love it.”
Johnson, who came out as bisexual in 2022, was one of a dozen racers who crashed out or skied off the course.
A video screen on the mountain shows Johnson off the course after her crash. APThis was Johnson’s third and final event at the 2026 Games.
Johnson’s downhill victory — which netted her first Olympic medal — was overshadowed by Lindsey Vonn’s devastating fall that caused a broken leg.
Now, Johnson has a much different Olympic moment at the most of unlikely times.
— With AP
