Johnson, "Bill" (William D.)
Skiing
b. March 30, 1960, Los Angeles, CA
Johnson learned to ski in Idaho, where his family moved when he was seven, and he began competing in Oregon when he was eleven. After graduating from high school in 1977, he attended a ski academy in Washington state.
He joined the U. S. ski team in 1979, but was dropped in 1982. After rejoining the team in 1983, Johnson finished sixth in his first World Cup downhill event. He won the U. S. championship that year and finished second in the North Americans.
Early in 1984, Johnson became the first American to win a World Cup downhill event and he then became the first male American skier to win a Gold Medal in the Olympic downhill, with a time of 1:45.59. He won the U. S. national championship again and two more World Cup events to place third in the overall standings.
Johnson had off years in 1985 and 1986. Late in 1986, he suffered a severe knee injury in a car crash. He returned to competition during the 1987-88 season, but with little success, and he failed to make the 1988 Olympic team.
On March 22, 2001, Johnson was critically injured in a crash during warmups for the U. S. alpine championships. He was in a coma for three weeks and spent another five months in hospitals and rehabilation centers. Exactly a year after the terrible crash, he skied down the same slope at Whitefish, Montana, where he had nearly lost his life.