Bill Johnson RIP

[Turdacious]

First American Gold Medalist in any Alpine Skiing event
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkdB42lN1AE[/youtube]

[Turdacious]

Johnson, who was born in Los Angeles, grew up racing at Bogus Basin, Idaho, and Mt. Hood, Oregon.

Caught stealing cars as a teenager, the judge gave him a choice: Attend ski school or head to jail. So he went to Mission Ridge Ski Academy in Washington, where he developed his talent.

Johnson established himself on the global scene when he won the Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, in 1984 in his second year on the World Cup circuit.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/01/22/bi ... at-55.html

In 2010, Johnson talked about how much he loved his children, two sons he later reconnected with while he was in the nursing home. He showed me the Olympic gold medal he won in Sarajevo at age 22, but refused to put it around his neck. He revealed that he only tried to come back at age 40 because he believed that winning another Olympics championship would bring his estranged wife back.

"I wanted my life back," he said.
Anyone who saw Johnson in 1984 remembers him flying down the mountain. The comeback was the stuff of legend. But that ended in 2001 with Johnson slamming his head against the side of a mountain, hurling forward, end over end, in a training-run accident in Montana. His life ended up messy, like that ski wreck. Johnson said in 2010 that he still didn't remember any of it.

"Maybe the brain has a way of protecting itself," he said then.
His body may have been broken, his brain changed, but Johnson was always the same stubborn warrior inside.

Johnson was a fighter. Anyone who skied against him competitively understood it. He dared to go faster, and push harder than his competition. Over the years, he was held up as the example of a man who gambled against the mountain, went too far, caught an unfortunate edge, and was never the same. But those who spent time with him knew that wasn't all true.

His body may have been broken, his brain changed, but Johnson was always the same stubborn warrior inside.

He lived independently for years, sometimes against the wishes of those close to him. He was unable to ski like he could before the accident, but for years, Johnson insisted that he sleep in that mobile home planted in the shadow of Mt. Hood. His victories were smaller in the end -- playing solitaire, eating lunch weekly with his mother, talking with friends -- but they remained wins of determination and focus.

Bill Johnson remained a champion.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/01/22/bi ... at-55.html

[Kazuya Mishima]

Remember it like it was yesterday.

[Mickey O'neil]

Me too.

Remember it like it was yesterday.