Post-Olympic Slide
After two more World Cup downhill victories in Aspen and Whistler in March 1984, Johnson was at the top of his sport. With four downhill wins in just two months, he was an Olympic champion and finished third in the downhill season standings.
But after the 1984 season, his best results were two 7th place finishes: at Wengen in January 1985 and at Whistler in March 1986. Due to injuries to his left knee and back which required surgery, and more significantly, sagging results, Johnson was left off the U.S. team for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, unable to defend his gold medal. By the end of the decade, he was done as a serious competitor; his final World Cup downhill race took place in Aspen in March 1989.
Johnson's Olympic career was the subject of a 1985 TV movie called Going for the Gold: The Bill Johnson Story, featuring future ER actor Anthony Edwards in the title role.
Read more about this topic: Bill Johnson (skier)
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