By Tyler Urke Breezy Johnson will be attending Western in the spring. She just has to make a quick trip to the Olympics in South Korea first.Western sophomore Breezy Johnson has been picked as one of 22 athletes to represent the U.S. Olympic Alpine Ski Team at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea in February.She joins a team consisting of Olympic gold medalists Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin, Ted Ligety and two-time medalist Andrew Weibrecht.
Sophomore Breezy Johnson competing professionally in 2017. // Photo courtesy of Christine Melby
“We have a good mix of veterans, Olympic champions who know what it takes to win at the highest level, and new, younger talent who have consistently shown throughout the qualifying process that they are ready now to fly the flag for the USA at the greatest competition of all,” U.S. alpine director Patrick Rimi said in a news release.Johnson, 22, competes in the Downhill and Super G events, which are the fastest and most dangerous. Last March, she wrecked during a World Cup Final race in Aspen, Colorado, fracturing her tibia.
Johnson will represent the U.S. as an alpine skier at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. // Photo courtesy of Christine Melby
“The part where I did the splits wasn’t too bad, but then I do a cartwheel and basically hyperextended my knee,” Johnson told The Western Front in October. “My femur and my tibia got in a fight and my femur won.”Johnson attends Western only in spring quarter. She is pursuing a degree in English and is part of the Honors Program.
