Breezy Johnson engaged after finish-area proposal caps a whirlwind Olympic week

On Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026 (ET), American Alpine star Breezy Johnson said yes to a finish-area proposal in Cortina d’Ampezzo, moments after a crash in the Olympic super-G — a dazzling personal milestone just four days after winning gold in the downhill.

A whirlwind moment at the bottom of the hill

Johnson, 30, had barely gathered herself from a hard spill that tossed her into the safety nets when boyfriend Connor Watkins met her near the finish, dropped to a knee, and presented a ring. The scene, equal parts relief and elation, unfolded with teammates and support staff looking on as Johnson embraced Watkins and accepted.

She later acknowledged she had long imagined a proposal on sport’s biggest stage. “I always kind of had the dream of getting engaged at the Olympics,” Johnson said, beaming as she showed the ring to well-wishers. The surprise landed at the end of a bruising day on the mountain, turning a crash into a memory she called unforgettable for all the right reasons.

From gold on Sunday to a life-changing Thursday

The engagement crowned a remarkable run across the Games. On Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026 (ET), Johnson claimed her first Olympic gold medal in the women’s downhill, the signature triumph of her career. Two days later, on Tuesday, Feb. 10 (ET), she flirted with another podium in the combined before Thursday’s super-G ended early. The week showcased both the knife’s edge of speed events and Johnson’s resilience: victory, near-victory, and a fall — each met with poise.

Her arc in Cortina carries special resonance. The same slopes were the site of heartbreak four years ago, when an ACL rupture torpedoed her Olympic hopes. Johnson has often described the venue as a place that can reveal both her fastest skiing and her biggest mistakes. This week added a bright, personal chapter to the complicated history she shares with the Olympia delle Tofane.

The ring and the plan behind it

Watkins, who works in construction, had planned the moment for more than a year and designed a sapphire-centered ring framed by white stones in white gold. He admitted he carried a backup plan in case the day took a difficult turn — and it nearly did when Johnson’s ski bit and sent her tumbling. “I’m hoping she’s OK, first and foremost,” he said. When she stood and skied down, the moment felt right.

The couple met about two and a half years ago on a dating app. Watkins has said he didn’t initially realize Johnson was an elite racer; that dawned on him minutes into their first date. Since then, he’s been a quiet presence on the World Cup circuit and at championships, navigating travel, training blocks, and the unpredictable rhythms of speed racing — all leading to this meticulously plotted proposal.

A mountain that bites — and gives back

Johnson arrived at these Games mindful of Cortina’s dual nature. She’s called it beautiful but unforgiving — a venue where attacking lines tempt and punish in equal measure. In the span of days she experienced both edges: the pure joy of downhill gold and the sting of a super-G crash. Yet the finish-area engagement reframed the day’s narrative, flipping a difficult race into a celebration and embedding a life milestone into the same snow that once took so much from her.

Even in the throes of adrenaline and disappointment, the embrace with Watkins and the gleam of the ring shifted the atmosphere at the finish into one of shared relief and delight. Friends within the ski community quietly helped coordinate the timing to ensure Johnson would be in the right headspace after her run.

What’s next for the newly engaged champion

With medal ceremonies behind her and a new engagement to savor, Johnson’s immediate plans center on recovery, celebration, and whatever racing remains on the schedule. The gold anchors her Games; the proposal personalizes them. Together, they form the kind of Olympic story athletes and fans carry for years — part triumph on the time sheets, part love story in the finish corral.

As Johnson reflected on the week, she acknowledged Cortina’s bite but also its unexpected gifts. For a racer long defined by speed and grit, the most enduring souvenir of these Games might be found not in a start gate or on a podium, but in a small sapphire that caught the sun at the bottom of the hill on Thursday — and the yes that followed.