Breezy Johnson on her Olympic love story: "Who are we to fight the alchemy?"

3 hours ago 3

U.S. downhill skier Breezy Johnson is ending her tally astatine the 2026 Winter Olympics with a golden medal, a fiancé and a connection from Taylor Swift.

In an interrogation with CBS News, Johnson says the beingness of a nonrecreational jock tin sometimes beryllium astatine likelihood with her idiosyncratic life, but astatine Milano Cortina, the 2 paths became 1 aft her fellow Connor Watkins got down connected 1 knee astatine the decorativeness enactment of her last race.

"I had conscionable ever had this similar happening successful the backmost of my caput that was similar 'it'd beryllium amusive to get engaged astatine the Olympics,'" Johnson said.

An Olympic emotion story

Watkins recalled Johnson giving him a subtle hint successful 2024, successful which she reminded him that if he's superior astir their narration — the Olympics are 2 years away. While the 2 knew they were connected the aforesaid page, the connection this week inactive came arsenic a astonishment to Johnson.

The 30-year-old picked up her archetypal Olympic gold in the women's downhill lawsuit past week, but she crashed retired of contention successful the women's Super-G connected Thursday. She wasn't expecting overmuch erstwhile Watkins asked her to conscionable by the decorativeness line.

"I was similar 'Man, everybody's gonna leave. I'm gonna beryllium present each alone'...And past helium got down connected 1 genu and I was like, 'Oh,'" Johnson said. "He just...his words, and I conscionable started crying."

When asked astir what helium said to Johnson, Watkins recited: "Breezy Noble Johnson, you worked truthful hard and achieved truthful much, yet you inactive find the clip to marque maine consciousness special. Make maine consciousness love. And astir importantly, instrumentality the clip to assistance maine emotion myself. And present that one cognize what that feels like, I privation to walk the remainder of my beingness with you by my side."

A congratulations from Taylor Swift

Watkins, a self-acknowledged planner, said helium had the ringing since August, telling CBS News helium worked with a jeweler with a guidance from a person to make the sapphire and achromatic sapphire engagement ringing with a achromatic golden band.

He besides had a woody jewelry container made, engraved with "Honestly, who are we to combat the alchemy?" — lyrics from a Taylor Swift song, "The Alchemy," successful which the vocalist appears to notation her fiancé Travis Kelce.

"That opus truly resonated with me," Johnson said. "There's truly nary amended feeling than not the winning, but the getting to stock that winning with the radical that you love."

When Swift congratulated her connected Instagram, Johnson said, "I conscionable mislaid it."

"Mikaela [Shiffrin] was there," Johnson recalled the infinitesimal she and her Team USA colleague, the astir decorated alpine skier ever, saw Swift's remark connected the engagement. "And I could archer [Shiffrin] was similar 'I've ne'er been truthful jealous of Breezy successful my life.'"

Breezy Johnson's Valentine's Day and wedding plan

The mates says they were keeping Valentine's Day beauteous "low key," but they had plans to ticker their bully person Avital Carroll vie successful women's dual moguls.

Carroll, an American-born skier who present competes for Austria, helped Watkins designed the engagement ring.

When asked astir the wedding planning, Watkins said there's inactive a batch of decisions to beryllium made.

"We've got to fig retired if we privation a large oregon a tiny wedding," helium said. "We've talked astir a skis wedding. We've talked a destination...We gotta fig retired what we want."

In: