In the new team combined event at the Alpine skiing world championships, Mikaela Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson won gold Tuesday.

Mikaela Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson won the gold medal in the new team combined event at the Alpine skiing world championships, rising from fourth place after the downhill leg when the leaders faltered in the slalom.

Breezy Johnson is the fourth American woman to win the downhill at the World Alpine Skiing Championships, marking the first major victory of her career. Johnson, the first racer, put down a time and then waited in the finish area for more than an hour to see if anybody would beat it. No one did.

The Jackson Hole, Wyoming, native was on the verge of victory when she recorded three second-place World Cup results over a one-year period ending in December 2021. Then a crash a month later ruled her out of the 2022 Beijing Olympics with a knee injury.

American Breezy Johnson wins the women's downhill title at the World Ski Championships after returning from a 14-month ban.

Breezy Johnson earned her first top-level victory and became the first American woman to win a world downhill title since Lindsey Vonn in 2009. Courtesy

American Breezy Johnson was the first starter and then watched in disbelief as none of the 32 others managed to go faster which gave her a surprise gold medal in the world championship downhill on Saturday.