From Crash to Proposal: Olympic Champion’s Perfect Day Gets Even Better

Breezy Johnson’s Olympic journey took an unexpected turn when a devastating crash led to the most magical moment of her life.

When Dreams Collide

The 30-year-old Johnson, who won gold in the women’s downhill on Sunday, crashed out of Thursday’s super-G race in what seemed like a crushing end to her Olympic campaign. She was able to get to her feet after the crash and make it down the mountain, disappointed but unaware that her boyfriend Connor Watkins was waiting at the finish line with something that would change everything. What started as athletic heartbreak was about to become the proposal of a lifetime.

A Ring and a Taylor Swift Surprise

Wearing a USA jacket, Watkins dropped to one knee in the finish area, surrounded by skiers and competitors from other countries, and held up a silver ring with a blue stone at its center. But the real surprise wasn’t just the blue sapphire set in a white gold band with an asymmetrical diamond halo. Watkins also gave Johnson a piece of wood carved with the lyric, “Honestly, who are we to fight the alchemy?” from Taylor Swift’s song “The Alchemy,” off her 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department. The couple had moved in together around the time the song was released, making it deeply personal to their relationship.

A Year in the Making

Watkins told NBC News he had planned the proposal for a year and said the moment had “gone above and beyond our wildest imagination.” Johnson added she had a sense the proposal might happen and that she had long imagined getting engaged at the Olympics. Johnson didn’t keep it a secret that she hoped to get married at the Olympic Games, so she told the media afterwards, “I had an inkling” that Watkins might be planning to pop the question. “At my first Games, there was talk that one of my teammates was going get engaged at the Olympics, and it stuck in my mind. It felt fitting to combine two of my loves, and it’s a special place at the Olympics”.

Taylor Swift Joins the Celebration

The story took another magical turn when Swift took notice—and left Johnson a comment on the Instagram, where the skier shared her engagement news. “Where’s the trophy? He just comes running over to me” CONGRATULATIONS!!!” Swift wrote, quoting her own lyrics from “The Alchemy.” Johnson replied, “Don’t know what’s better, Olympic gold or this comment. Sourdough engagement gift please???? Would love to teach you how to ski”. Johnson posted a screenshot of Swift’s reply on her Instagram story, saying, “I am deaddddddd”.

Perfect Timing, Perfect Love

Johnson and Watkins met on the dating app Bumble around the summer of 2023, according to The Athletic. Per the outlet, he didn’t know she was an Olympic ski racer, but was a little intimidated when he figured it out about 10 minutes into their first date. Now, while Johnson’s career has built her career on the slopes, Watkins works in the construction business. “But it’s definitely a lot more crazy with everything just happening all at once, and the reality of it is so different than the way you imagined, and so much better,” Johnson said about her Olympic engagement dream coming true.