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End of the Run

February 1, 2002September 14, 2026 by Bill Donahue

Skier Bill Johnson won the gold medal in the downhill in the 1984 Olympics. Then in 1999, when he was 39 years old and ravaged by years of hard drinking, he tried to make a comeback. He crashed, incurring permanent brain damage.

Outside
Edited by Laura Hohnhold.

Republished in Best American Sports Writing 2003/>
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Posted in Selected Stories, Outside, Profiles, Sports

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