Shiffrin says sharing gold with childhood friend Johnson ‘tops the list of any medal I’ve ever won’

By Andrew Dampf

Born 10 months apart, Mikaela Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson have known each other since they were placed in the same room at a junior race when they were 11. According to Shiffrin, they were “a little bit lost in a world where young girls were not really supposed to be as ambitious as we were.”

Now both 29, Shiffrin is the sport’s most accomplished racer of all time and Johnson — until just a few days ago — was someone who had struggled to break through and realize her potential.

So you might think that when Johnson and Shiffrin were paired together in the new team combined race at the world championships that Shiffrin would be the one taking the role of leader.

Turns out it was Johnson, who had just won an unexpected gold medal in downhill.

That’s because Shiffrin didn’t really want to compete.

Struggling to overcome her “PTSD-esque” fears following a