Bill Johnson in Coma After Ski Crash
W H I T E F I S H, Mont., March 23 -- Bill Johnson, the boastful Olympic skichampion in 1984, is in a coma after crashing during a comebackattempt at age 40.
Johnson, trying to win a a spot on the team for the 2002Olympics, suffered severe head trauma Thursday during adownhill warmup to the U.S. Alpine nationals that open today.
"He was unconscious at the scene and has not regainedconsciousness," U.S. Ski Team spokesman Tom Kelly said. "That'snot necessarily good or bad. They have him stabilized, but in acoma condition."
‘It’s a Matter of God and Time’
Johnson needed a breathing tube at Big Mountain Resort, andemergency room doctors at Kalispell Regional Medical Center did atracheotomy. Surgeons later drained blood from his brain and leftlung before his brain swelled.
"It's a matter of God and time," Kelly said. "They'll justcontinue to follow his progress. There's nothing moreneurologically that can be done for him right now."
Hospital officials referred questions to Kelly.
Known for Confidence, Independence
Johnson is most famous for brashly predicting victory at theSarajevo Olympics, then backing it up.
It was the same kind of risk-taking that led him to race again.After he was divorced earlier this year, Johnson committed toresurrecting his career. He even had a tattoo, reading "Ski toDie," put on his right biceps.
"He's a wild and crazy guy. He is a very independent guy. Hehas a lot of qualities of the on-the-edge character you need to bea successful downhill ski racer," Kelly said.
Johnson played the role of ugly American to the hilt inSarajevo. As day after day of snow buried Mount Bjelasnica, forcingorganizers to postpone the downhill, Johnson talked and talked.
"It's a battle for second place," he said.
His boasting was ignored by European rivals, who deemed himreckless and immature. Johnson had won a World Cup downhill inWengen, Switzerland, before the Olympics but only after nearlycrashing midway down.
When the Olympic downhill finally was held Feb. 16, 1984, a weekafter it was scheduled, Johnson's victory was a real shock,especially because he beat Swiss great Peter Mueller by a whopping27-hundreths of a second.
