Bill Johnson: After gold, a downhill path

It hasn’t been the easiest life for Bill Johnson.

The 1984 Olympic gold medalist, who boldly predicted — and delivered — victory in Sarajevo, was laid low by a downhill crash in 2001 on Whitefish’s Big Mountain.

He has spent the last 13 years in recovery, mostly in the care of his mother, D.B.

Today he lives in an assisted living home in Gresham, Ore., near his parents.

“He’s had a whole lot of changes since then,” D.B. said this week. “He had about seven years of mobility between the crash and now.”

The devastating crash occurred when Johnson slid into netting and course barriers on Big Mountain’s Corkscrew section.

He was on a training run on March 22, 2001, before the downhill race for the 2001 U.S. Alpine Championships. Johnson was mounting a comeback in a bid to ski at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

The Big Mountain crash left him in a coma for three weeks after emergency treatment on the mountain and life-saving brain surgery in Kalispell. The left hemisphere of his brain was badly damaged and he nearly bit off his tongue.

Johnson spent another six months being stabilized and another three months spent in rehabilitation in Bakersfield, Calif.

Johnson actually gained enough of his motor skills to ski and drive.

“He drove for a couple months before we realized he had trouble making rational decisions,” D.B. said. “He also started to lose his right side, little by little. We stopped him driving pretty quick after that.”

That was in January 2008. Since then his right side has lost all mobility. He was still living on his own but using a walker. In 2010, Johnson suffered a massive stroke (following a series of smaller ones).

From there he was moved to the long-term care facility where he now lives. His left side has slowly lost mobility and he has completely lost the ability to speak.

According to his mother, who is dealing with health issues of her own, the two have a fairly black sense of humor about the whole situation.

“It’s the blind leading the blind,” D.B. said. “We have a good laugh about it all.”

But the rebellious spirit that marked Johnson from a young age hasn’t gone anywhere.

At 17, a run-in with the law left Johnson with a choice: Six months in jail or attending the Mission Ridge ski academy near Wenatchee, Wash.

It was an easy choice.

At the age of 23 he splashed onto the world skiing circuit, where his brash and bold personality annoyed established skiers from Switzerland and Austria. His gold in the downhill was a high point.

Injuries and slower times ousted him from the U.S. team and tragedies in his personal life followed him home.

Even today, with his mobility severely limited, some of the “bad boy” comes out.

“He’s out on his smoke break right now,” D.B. said. “I’ve told him I won’t take him out there to do that, so he gets on his scooter and goes without me.”

Physically, Johnson is still healthy. Everything but his brain seems to be getting the message. Nevertheless, skiing brings him joy.

He has been watching the athletes at the Sochi Olympics religiously.

“Oh yeah, he wouldn’t miss it,” D.B. said. “And he’d say he watches only skiing, but he watches everything.”

After all, this is the man who had “Ski To Die” tattooed on his arm.

Even though things have gone downhill since the crash, D.B. said her son the fighter hasn’t diminished.

“I don’t try to make it anything but positive,” she said. “He’s a lot of fun. He’s just so appreciative. He’s always had a good spirit, that hasn’t changed.”

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.