Connor Watkins had been planning the moment for a year. And on Thursday, at the base of the Winter Olympics Super-G course in Cortina d'Ampezzo, he made it happen.
Watkins dropped to one knee in the finish line, proposing to his girlfriend, downhill gold medalist Breezy Johnson. Wearing a Team USA jacket, Watkins raised a silver ring with a blue gem at its center as competitors and coaches from multiple countries gathered nearby. Johnson said yes as her US teammates and skiing officials cheered.
Apparently, Johnson gave Watkins the idea. "I may have told him that I just always kind of had the dream of getting engaged at the Olympics," she said.
The Connor Watkins proposal capped a rollercoaster morning for the 30-year-old downhill champion. Johnson crashed out of the Super-G final and did not finish, joining more than a dozen skiers who failed to complete the course.
Just the day before, Johnson and teammate Mikaela Shiffrin finished fourth in the women's team combined after Johnson led the downhill portion.
However, none of it dimmed the occasion. "There's nothing better than doing well and having somebody to share it with," Johnson said after Watkins proposed.
The new engagement ring now joins Johnson's women's downhill gold medal, after she became just the second U.S. woman to claim the top Olympic title after Lindsey Vonn in 2010.
Milano-Cortina marks Johnson's second Winter Olympics. She also competed at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, finishing seventh in the downhill and 14th in the Super-G, before sitting out Beijing 2022 with injury.
