Breezy Johnson would not have changed anything about her Olympic engagement.
Addressing recent chatter from “armchair quarterbacks,” who suggested Johnson’s now-fiancé, Connor Watkins, stole the spotlight when he popped the question at the conclusion of last Thursday’s super-G event, the American skier said the “special moment” was what she envisioned in bringing the loves of her life together.
“I think there were a lot of armchair quarterbacks out there who were like, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s stealing her moment.’ There were people that seem to think he did it while I was standing on the medals stand and I was like, ‘Hey, let’s not yuck other people’s yum,’ and this is what I wanted. He wasn’t stealing anything, that moment had happened days ago with the gold medal and for me, it was a really cool moment to bring two loves of my life together and have that special moment,” Johnson told USA Today this week.
Competing in her third Olympics, Johnson claimed the first U.S. gold medal of the Milano Cortina Games in the women’s downhill on Feb. 8.
Days later, the 30-year-old Johnson crashed out in the super-G event when her right pole got caught on a gate after exiting. She ended up in the catch fence before making her way to the finish area.
Watkins then proposed at the base of the event, presenting Johnson with a ring of blue and white sapphires set in white gold.
He used the lyrics to Taylor Swift’s 2024 track, “The Alchemy,” when popping the question.
“It’s a special place at the Olympics. I feel like there’s a lot of mystique around it,” Johnson said of the engagement, which drew well-wishes from Swift, a fellow bride-to-be.
With wedding planning now on the horizon for Johnson, she’s also leaving a parting message to her critics.
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“Just because it’s not what you want, or it’s not the outfit you would want to wear, or whatever, doesn’t mean you have to make a comment about it, so that was kind of my response on that,” she told USA Today.
Johnson, who came out as bisexual in 2022, initially connected with Watkins on the dating app Bumble.
He works in the construction industry.