From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Dean ("Bill") Johnson (born March 30,
1960 in Los
Angeles, California) is a former ski racer with the
U.S. Ski Team. He was the first
American
male to win an Olympic gold medal in alpine skiing,
winning the downhill at
the 1984 Winter
Olympics in Sarajevo.
Olympic
triumph
Raised in Sandy, Oregon, Johnson was a troubled youth who began
competitive skiing on Mt.
Hood as a means of harnessing his energy. After a run-in with
the law at age 17, the juvenile defendant was given the choice
between six months in jail or attending the Mission Ridge ski academy in
central Washington
state, and he chose the latter. His talent in the downhill eventually landed
him a spot on the U.S. Ski Team.
In 1984, at age 23, Johnson challenged the long-established
European domination of downhill ski racing. After mostly
undistinguished finishes, his unexpected victory on January 15, 1984 on the storied Lauberhorn course at Wengen, Switzerland was the first for an
American male in World Cup
downhill competition.
A month later at the 1984 Winter
Olympics in Sarajevo,
Yugoslavia (now Bosnia), the
cocky American had promising downhill training runs and boldly
predicted his Olympic victory, evoking comparisons to Joe Namath and Muhammad Ali, and
irking his European
competitors. His gold medal win at Bjelašnica in a time of 1:45.59
edged out silver medalist Peter Müller of Switzerland by 0.27
seconds.
Post-Olympic
slide
After two more World Cup
downhill victories in Aspen and Whistler in March 1984, Johnson was at the
top of his sport. With four downhill wins in just two months, he
was an Olympic champion and finished third in the downhill season
standings.
But after the 1984 season, his best results were two 7th place
finishes: at Wengen in
January 1985 and at Whistler in
March 1986, his final World Cup
downhill race.
Due to injuries to his left knee and back which required
surgery, and more significantly, sagging results, Johnson was left
off the U.S. team for the 1988 Winter
Olympics in Calgary, unable to
defend his gold medal. By the end of the decade, he was done as a
serious competitor.
Comeback
attempt
Johnson's personal life suffered as well, when his 13-month-old
son drowned in a hot tub in 1992. At age 40, his marriage ended in
divorce, and he was bankrupt and living in his class A motorhome
when he mounted an improbable comeback bid for the 2002
Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The comeback ended
abruptly on March 22, 2001, when Johnson crashed horribly during
the downhill race of the 2001 U.S. Alpine Championships, held at The Big Mountain near Whitefish, Montana.
Bill Johnson sustained serious injury to the left side of his
brain, nearly bit off his tongue, and was comatose for three weeks.
He remains brain-damaged and in need of constant care, mostly from
his mother. He lives on disability and has become slightly more
functional, though his speech and memory are permanently
impaired.
Other
facts
- Johnson’s stated personal motto (tattooed on his arm) was “Ski
To Die.”
- Bill has 2 sons, named Tyler and Nick
References
- Jennifer Woodlief (2006). Ski
to Die : The Bill Johnson Story. Cincinnati: Emmis Books.
ISBN
1-57860-248-3.
- IMDb.com - Going for
the Gold: The Bill Johnson Story - (TV movie)
- Outside Magazine - "End
of the Run," by Bill Donahue, February 2002
- ESPN.com - January 8,
2002
- FIS-ski.com - race
results - Bill Johnson
- FIS-ski.com - World Cup
season standings - Bill Johnson - 1983-86
- Ski-db.com - results -
Bill Johnson
- SkiersJournal.com -
2005
External
links
United
States
Wikis
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