Bill Johnson in Coma After Ski Crash

W H I T E F I S H, Mont., March 23, 2001 -- 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.

"He won that championship in another era, but he is an Olympicchampion," Kelly said. "People know him. They associate with him.He accomplished some things a lot of skiers just dream of."

Trying to Mount Comeback

After the Olympics, Johnson won two more World Cup races duringthe 1984 season, then retired after 1988-89. A year ago, heapproached Ski Team officials about trying again.

"It would have been easy for people to say, 'This guy can't doit,"' Kelly said. "Most of us looked at him and said, 'This is anOlympic champion. If he wants to come back, he needs to have thatopportunity."'

Team officials helped him enter early-season races on the NorthAmerican circuit, but the results were unspectacular. Johnson cameto Montana ranked 404th in the world downhill standings and 577thin super-G.

Speeds on the Big Mountain course can reach 65 mph, but Johnsonhad slowed to negotiate a series of turns called the corkscrew whenhe crashed. Officials estimated his speed at 45 mph.

"He was a very capable downhill racer and had every right andability to be on that downhill course," Kelly said.

Johnson went through a turn and was negotiating a tight rightwhen his legs spread, he lost his balance and smacked the icy snow.He tumbled through two sets of safety netting.

"The netting did its job, but he did have a significant impactwith the snow," Kelly said.