R.I.P Olympic Gold Medalist Bill Johnson

Former Olympic skier Bill Johnson, who won the Men’s Downhill at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, died January 21st, 2016 at an assisted living facility near Portland, Oregon according to the U.S. ski team. He was 55.

Johnson was the first American to win an Olympic Downhill Gold Medal, and it’s still not a common occurrence. The only other U.S. skiers to do so are Tommy Moe in 1994 and Lindsey Vonn in 2010. Here’s Johnson’s winning race:

Johnson’s rise was meteoric, but his career was short, and his life relatively tragic. He failed to qualify for the 1988 Olympics, and retired in 1990 at age 30. His wife divorced him, and he wound up broke. In 2001, he attempted a comeback with an eye to the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. But Johnson crashed during a training run for the U.S. Alpine Championships in March of 2001, and he suffered traumatic brain injuries, leaving him permanently impaired. He suffered multiple mini strokes after that, and a major one in 2010.