Breezy Johnson wins Olympic downhill gold, Vonn crashes out

Cortina d Ampezzo, Italy: Breezy Johnson won the gold medal in the alpine skiing downhill at the Winter Olympics on Sunday after Lindsey Vonn s comeba...

Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy: Breezy Johnson won the gold medal in the alpine skiing downhill at the Winter Olympics on Sunday after Lindsey Vonn's comeback ended with a horror crash.

American Johnson, already the reigning downhill world champion, clocked 1min 36.10sec in an early run to claim her first Olympic medal on a bittersweet day for the US team in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Johnson had never claimed a podium spot in Cortina before Sunday but outshone the rest of the field from sixth on the starting list, pipping Germany's rising star Emma Aicher by just 0.04sec.

Home hope Sofia Goggia had to settle for bronze after finishing 0.59sec behind Johnson following a long wait for her run due to Vonn's dreadful crash.

Johnson is in the odd position of having never won a World Cup race but is now world and Olympic champion in her preferred discipline.