Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Breezy Johnson grabbed yet another top-five result in Saturday’s FIS Ski World Cup downhill at Crans-Montana, Switzerland—her fifth-straight top five in downhill this season. Bella Wright continued the points-scoring momentum, landing in 25th. 

Snow fell overnight once again, but the Swiss Army came to the rescue at Crans-Montana, clearing the track and enabling a fair and safe race to take place, despite the fact that it was a bit soft. Italy’s Sofia Goggia won her fourth-straight downhill race and was joined on the podium by Switzerland’s Lara Gut (+.27), followed by Italy’s Elena Curtoni (+.60). 

Coming into Saturday, Johnson had scored four consecutive third-place finishes in downhill races during the 2020-21 season, and for a moment it looked like she’d break that trend, as she skied into second place behind Goggia. Then, Gut skied a clean and solid run into second, bumping Johnson to third place. For another moment, it appeared she’d once again grab a third. However, Curtoni snuck in there, as well as teammate Laura Pirovano, pushing Johnson back to fifth and breaking her third-place streak. 

“I came down and I thought, ‘there’s no way this is going to be a podium run, and then I was in second and I was like wooooo...maybe I broke the streak in a good direction,’ and then I broke the streak in the not-as-good direction,” Johnson said after the race. “But, I’m still happy with fifth place, it’s a great step forward for me and I’ll keep building and keeping moving up.”

After five downhill races and heading into Garmisch, Johnson sits in second in the downhill standings, behind Goggia. Johnson had a previous career-best fourth at Garmisch in the downhill in 2018—a race that former teammate Lindsey Vonn won. “I’m really excited for Garmisch—it’s one of my favorite tracks—it’s where I scored my first points, and moving on to that race is very exciting,” Johnson added. “And, obviously, super-G tomorrow—I really love the super-G slope here.”

Bella Wright continued her momentum, finishing in 25th, her fourth-straight points-scoring race. Rounding out the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team, Laurenne Ross—in just her fourth race back from injury—was 37th. Jackie Wiles, who returned to competition this weekend after being sidelined for a broken clavicle, was 41st. 

Speaking of Vonn, she joined Dan Hicks to make her debut in announcing on Saturday, and will also call Sunday’s super-G alongside Hicks. 

The women will wrap up the speed weekend with a super-G Sunday before the women’s tech crew heads to Kronplatz, Italy for a giant slalom on Tuesday. 

RESULTS
Women’s downhill

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST

Saturday, Jan. 23
4:30 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Downhill - same-day broadcast, Crans Montana, SUI, Broadcast NBCSN
6:00 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Downhill - next day broadcast, Kitzbuehel, AUT, Broadcast NBCSN

Sunday, Jan. 24
4:20 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Downhill - LIVE, Kitzbuehel, AUT, Streaming Peacock
6:00 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Super-G - LIVE, Crans Montana, SUI, Broadcast Olympic Channel
6:00 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Super-G - LIVE, Crans Montana, SUI, Streaming Peacock
6:30 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Super-G - same-day broadcast, Crans Montana, SUI, Broadcast NBCSN

Monday, Jan. 25
4:45 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Super-G - LIVE, Kitzbuehel, AUT, Streaming Peacock

Tuesday, Jan. 26
4:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Giant Slalom, run 1 - LIVE, Kronplatz, ITA, Streaming Peacock
7:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Giant Slalom, run 2 - LIVE, Kronplatz, ITA, Broadcast Olympic Chanel
7:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Giant Slalom, run 2 - LIVE, Kronplatz, ITA, Streaming Peacock
11:45 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Slalom, run 1 - LIVE, Schladming, AUT, Streaming Peacock
2:45 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Slalom, run 2 - LIVE, Schladming, AUT, Streaming Peacock
11:30 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men's Downhill (Sunday), Kitzbuehel, AUT, Broadcast NBCSN
12:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Giant Slalom - same-day broadcast, Kronplatz, ITA, Broadcast NBCSN