The Stars Aligned For Olympian Breezy Johnson

In Bustle’s The Pregame, we ask athletes about their pregame rituals. How do they get in the zone? What do they listen to? Do they have any superstitions before a big competition? Here, Team USA alpine skier Breezy Johnson talks about warming up, winning gold, and forgetting her mascara.

Breezy Johnson just had a movie-worthy Olympics. On Feb. 8, at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina, she won a gold medal in women’s downhill — the first Team USA skier to do so since Lindsey Vonn in 2010. Then, at the bottom of her Super-G run, her boyfriend, Connor Watkins, proposed. The two met on Bumble in 2023.

Johnson, 30, who has been skiing since she was 3 years old, has had quite the career so far. She finished seventh in the women’s downhill at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, then went on to win gold in the women’s downhill and team combined at the 2025 World Championships.

While she’s been on podiums before, Johnson says winning gold again at the 2026 Olympic Games felt surreal. “I’d come to terms with the fact that the Olympics is just really hard and it’s only once every four years. It’s hard to have all those stars align at the right time and in the right place,” she says.

The proposal made it even more memorable. While she didn’t expect it to get so much attention, she says the whole scene was perfect. As she puts it, “It was cool to combine the two loves of my life.”

After Johnson posted engagement photos on Instagram, including one of a mini plaque with “Honestly, who are we to fight the alchemy?” — a lyric from “The Alchemy” by Taylor Swift — the singer commented. “‘Where’s the trophy? He just comes running over to me’ CONGRATULATIONS!!!” Swift wrote. As a longtime fan, the skier says it was the icing on the cake for her. “It was really cool hearing that she was watching the Olympics,” she tells Bustle. “Our whole team went to go see the Eras Tour when it was in Denver.”

As we chat on Zoom, Johnson is in the middle of postrace physical therapy, her legs wrapped in compression boots. With the Winter Games in the rearview mirror, she’s currently prepping for the World Cup finals that will be held in Norway at the end of March. Here, the gold medalist talks about how she gets in the zone, her best pre-ski sleep tips, and why she’s happy to have zits on race day.

Walk me through how you get ready to race.

I’m an early riser. I’ll eat breakfast and then do three rounds of warm-ups, on and off hill. We then inspect our equipment and get reports from our coaches, who are stationed along the course, about the snow conditions, so we can make adjustments as we ski.

What’s going through you mind at the top of the mountain?

I do a lot of visualization. When I’m nervous I use the mantra “You’re only nervous because you have a chance.” I also like Eleanor Roosevelt’s “Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent,” but I change it to “Nobody can make you feel pressure without your consent.” The biggest person that I can let down on any day is myself.

Do you have any superstitions before an event?

I have a special pair of race socks. I also have to knit myself a new headband before every event, and I always fishtail braid my hair before a run. It stems back to the the first time I joined the World Cup [in the 2015-16 season].

There was one race where I forgot to braid my hair, and then I got hurt. Now I have to do it every time. A lot of people in ski racing also have ticks they do. Lindsey [Vonn] does her pole thing. Others click their poles together before they plant them. I’m a big stomper.

Do you listen to anything as you get ready?

I’m a big audiobook listener. Right now it’s the fantasy Dragon Blood series by Lindsay Buroker.

Did you have any rituals with Team USA?

We do a team clap where we all try to be in sync and clap at the same time, and then we ridicule whoever mistimes the clap. Team USA are also big Sour Patch Kids eaters.

How do you get good sleep before an event?

I’m a big napper, but the night before, I like to do progressive muscle relaxation. I’ll start at my toes and think about them getting heavier, then go up my body all the way to my head, since that’s where you have the most going on. If you relax your body first, hopefully your head will follow.

Did you sleep really well the night after you won?

I actually slept horribly! I had these visions that the next day I was told “Oh, yeah, sorry, we’re going to need that medal back.” Once I had the medal, I sort of couldn’t believe it. My brain’s still trying to understand it. I’m like, “OK, when’s the catch? When’s the film crew going to be like, ‘Gotcha!’?”

What’s your pregame skin care routine?

It’s actually funny because when I won the World Championships last year, I woke up that morning with a big zit in the middle of my forehead. I was like, “I think this is maybe a sign that I might win today.” The universe can’t deal with me both winning and being pretty.

Of course something like that would happen when cameras will be all in your face.

The morning of the downhill in Cortina, I got on the chairlift and realized that I forgot my eyeliner and mascara and I was like, “Oh, nice. So I’ll be really ugly.” And I was like, “Maybe that means I’ll win again today.”

It’s like when you go outside looking sloppy and run into your ex.

Exactly. For the girls who are worried about going out for that one day and running into their ex, some of us accidentally win the Olympics that way.

This article has been edited and condensed for clarity.