Roughly twenty minutes after Breezy Johnson’s Olympic downhill race on Sunday, Lindsey Vonn pushed out of the gate for hers. Unfortunately, the ends were poles apart. Johnson cruised to a gold position, while Vonn spun almost 360 degree and crashed horribly. But, despite writhing in pain for several minutes, the thought of her compatriot Breezy didn’t leave Vonn’s mind, in a message now revealed.

Vonn’s coach, Aksel Lund Svindal, revealed on social media that even in a moment of excruciating pain and uncertainty, Vonn was keen to congratulate Breezy Johnson for being in lead while she waited for the helicopter.

“Tell Breezy congrats and good job,” Vonn sent a message to her compatriot.

Vonn’s coach praised this gesture on social media saying, “Lindsey. You’re incredibly brave. You inspire people that follow your journey and us that work closely with you every day. Yesterday was a tough day on the mountain. For everyone, but most of all for you.”

“Still something happened that I think says everything. Your teammate was in the lead, and that’s the message you wanted the US skiteam coaches to remember before you got airlifted to the hospital. Real character shows up in the hard moments.”

Johnson was the sixth skier down the Tofane slope, while Lindsey Vonn was the thirteenth. Thus Vonn was well aware that Johnson had already jumped into gold medal position by more than a second: 1:36.10.

And while Vonn’s wishes for Johnson worked as she won the Olympic title, the 41-year-old on the other hand underwent surgery.

13 seconds into her downhill race Vonn hit the gate with her right ski pole, injuring herself severely. An update that came in later in the evening revealed, Vonn was transferred to a hospital in Treviso where she was treated by “a multidisciplinary team and underwent an orthopedic operation to stabilize a fracture reported in her left leg.”

Vonn’s condition remains stable as of now, however, more updates from the skier herself are awaited. Meanwhile, Johnson basks in the glow of her medal, which coincidently makes her the second American woman after Lindsey Vonn to win an Olympic gold in the downhill final.

And well, if anything, she already had a hint that Vonn was cheering for her from the helicopter!

Lindsey Vonn and Johnson have often supported each other

After winning the Olympic gold, Breezy Johnson told the reporters, “Her coach said she was cheering for me in the helicopter, so I hope for the best for her. I hope that it’s not too bad. My heart aches for her.”

Being compatriots, its natural that Breezy and Vonn have a dynamic that relies on mutual respect and support.

This even came to light when Lindsey Vonn’s decision to compete at the Olympics 9 days after a ‘complete’ ACL tear had come under the scanner. Fans and doctors worried if this was the right decision. However, Breezy Johnson stood up for her Lindsey Vonn’s call.

“If Lindsey cannot compete … or doesn’t feel competitive enough others can take her place,” Johnson wrote on Threads on Wednesday night.

“But more athletes have competed without an ACL than you think. They just often don’t talk about it because they don’t want to hear about it from the peanut gallery.”

Well, Lindsey Vonn’s final Olympic act did end in a crash but the motivational message for her fellow Team USA skier showed just how much she cared and wanted for an American to bring the title home. This confirmed that her legacy isn’t just defined by medals but with elegance!