Johnson teared up as she held up the medal at the top of the podium. Unfortunately, that was the last time it remained intact.
After being told five-time medalist and British Olympic diver Tom Daley wanted to meet her, she immediately lunged into the air in excitement.
“I’m obviously a big fan because he knit at the Olympics and I knit at the Olympics,” Johnson said. “I was jumping up and down and the medal just ripped off the end of the ribbon and fell to the ground. Thankfully, they gave me a new medal.”
She wasn’t the only one with medal issues in Italy. Alysa Liu, a figure skater and part of the gold medal-winning U.S. team, had the same thing happen after winning late Sunday night.
Regardless of the physical status of her gold medal, Johnson said the honor of winning and representing her country on a worldwide stage “has not sunk in yet.” She also reveled in the fact that her latest accomplishment came exactly one year after winning the world championship.
“It’s been a crazy whirlwind,” she said. “I was joking yesterday that I don’t know that I’m always the best downhill skier in the world, but maybe on Feb. 8, I can’t be beat.”
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