American Olympic skier Breezy Johnson has plans for his broken and repaired gold medal

American skier Breezy Johnson told CBS News that he was carrying the gold medal carefully in his place after the first one, which he did. succeeded in reducing women event e 2026 Winter Games in Italy on Saturday, broken.

“I think because they were so heavy, they couldn’t really hold the ribbons,” Johnson said, calling it “a little disappointing” that Olympic medal winners have to be so careful to celebrate, since “that’s all anyone wants to do.”

Johnson said he was initially told he wouldn’t get his first medal, but it has been fixed, and he plans to keep it and trade it in for a replacement. She also plans to weave a special bag to keep it safe.

“I’m a knitter,” Johnson told CBS News reporter Seth Doane on Wednesday. “I weave a new hat or headband for every race. It’s my biggest superstition.”

He wears his special handknit racing accessories only once, in their race, after which they are retired.

“They are piling up in my bags, but for a long time I have wanted to put some of them up for auction, so that people can buy them and donate the proceeds to the needy,” she said. “I have nothing else in common with them.”

Asked about his views on representing America, he offered political debate around the Games, Johnson refused to come down from that cliff.

“There’s been a lot of talk. I personally prefer to focus on ice skating. I personally don’t know anyone who has changed their political affiliation because of something said by any celebrity or person. So, I personally prefer to focus on ice skating and donate the money I make to charities that I feel are actually doing work that I support.”

Despite winning the first one gold medal for Team USA in Italy, the Milano-Cortina Winter Games were not a complete success story for Johnson.

She failed to make the podium after skiing with teammate Mikaela Shiffrin in the team slalom event on Tuesday. After the race, Johnson was seen talking to Shiffrin, giving what appeared to be a pep talk.

“I said, ‘I know you tried your best and it’s going to be okay,'” Johnson told CBS News in a private interview. “I don’t like, that I hold any of this to anyone because I know this game. There are a lot of variables, and there were variables yesterday, too. They were not really in our favor, and we came out and we both gave everything, and it didn’t happen, but that’s okay.”

Johnson said he’s very good at handling the pressure of competing at the highest level of his sport — and he understands that such competition, and such high speed, comes with a lot of risk.

After Team USA’s Lindsay Vonn was injured in a fall in a downhill race on Saturday, which Johnson went on to win, she said her teammate, the 41-year-old world champion, texted her.

“He said, ‘Congratulations,'” Johnson said. “You know, I know what he’s going through is tough, and I think he’s going through a lot. So, we haven’t talked on the phone or anything, but I wish him the best.”

Johnson said he also understands what made Vonn compete in these games just a week after tearing her ACL.

“Part of what breaks your heart is that you tend to go against the odds. You tend to write fairytale endings. And the truth is that those things are made into movies because they are very impossible. And unfortunately, you don’t always know – it’s not always like the movies,” he said.

“It’s hard to understand what makes people do it, but when you do it well, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Johnson, adding that spectators can participate in this race: “It’s Formula One on ice and big knives. Who doesn’t want to watch it?”