US 1984 Olympic hero Johnson dead at 55

Bill Johnson, the 1984 Olympic downhill champion who helped spark US alpine ski racing, died Thursday night at an Oregon assisted living facility aged 55, the US Ski team announced.

The Los Angeles-born racer burst onto the world ski scene in 1984 at age 23 by winning the Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen, the first World Cup downhill victory by an American man in the modern era.

Johnson backed up the feat in the following month by winning Olympic gold in Sarajevo, then closed the season with victories at Whistler, Canada and on home snow in Aspen, Colorado.

Johnson retired from competition in the late 1980s after a series of injuries, but tried a comeback for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

On March 22, 2001, he was critically injured in a crash at The Big Mountain in Montana during the US Alpine Championships. Johnson remained in a coma for three weeks before regaining consciousness. While he did ski again, his racing career was over.

Johnson's 1984 Olympic victory was part of a five-medal haul that also saw Phil Mahre win gold.

"Olympic Champ Bill Johnson will be remembered as one of America's great downhill ski racers," US Ski team spokesman Tom Kelly said on Twitter.