Olympic downhill champion Bill Johnson has died after a long illness, the U.S. ski team said Friday. He was 55.
Johnson died Thursday at an assisted living facility outside Portland, according to a release on the team's web site.
On Feb. 16, 1984, Johnson stunned the world with his victory in the men's downhill. No American had ever won a medal in the men's Olympic downhill. The 23-year-old American beat the European favorites on a fast course.
But speed would also bring hardship to Johnson, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2001 when he crashed at The Big Mountain near Whitefish, Mont.