Gold medalist Breezy Johnson's latest Olympic bling? A sapphire engagement ring

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Downhill champion Breezy Johnson didn't add to her Olympic medal haul during the women's super-G on Thursday.

The American star left Tofane with something precious anyway: an engagement ring.

Johnson's longtime boyfriend, Connor Watkins, proposed to her near the finish line while surrounded by members of the U.S. Ski Team.

Reciting lyrics from the Taylor Swift song “Alchemy," Watkins slipped a ring of blue and white sapphires set in white gold on the ring finger of Johnson's left hand. She tearfully accepted, then turned the ring toward the sea of cameras to celebrate a dream that turned into reality.

“It felt fitting to combine two of my loves,” Johnson said. “It’s a special place at the Olympics. I feel like there’s a lot of mystique around it.”

She then added with a laugh, "Also you get free photography.”

The two met on a dating app a few years ago, with Watkins totally unaware that Johnson happened to be one of the best skiers on the planet. It wasn't until Watkins asked about 10 minutes into their first date (a brunch) that Johnson fessed up.

“I was a little taken aback,” said Watkins who works in construction back in the U.S. "I had very little knowledge of ski racing and everything else, and over the last couple of years I’ve grown to really love it.”

The joyful proposal came about an hour after Johnson's bid to reach the podium in the super-G ended with a crash high in the course when her right pole clipped a gate and sent her tumbling into the catch fence. Johnson pulled herself to her feet and was unharmed.

Down in the finish area with the ring in his pocket, Watkins briefly wondered if he might need switch to Plan B just in case the moment wasn't right.

Turns out, having Watkins there was exactly what Johnson needed.

“I was feeling kind of stupid, which I think is kind of the moment you want the people you love around you, like when you’re just feeling dumb and childish,” Johnson said. "You’re like, ‘Tell me that I’m OK.’ Just seeing him, ‘It’s nice to see you,’ and let’s go commiserate together. And then, obviously, everything else happened.”

Something that took an already surreal stay in Cortina to another level entirely.

“I think most people want to peak at the Olympics,” Johnson said. "I just extra peaked.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

United States' Breezy Johnson, right, is kissed by fiancee Connor Watkins as they are interviewed after he proposed to her at the end of an alpine ski, women's super-G race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

United States' Breezy Johnson looks at the engagement ring she was given by Connor Watkins, at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's super-G race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

United States' Breezy Johnson looks at Connor Watkins after being given an engagement ring, at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's super-G race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

United States' Breezy Johnson hugs Connor Watkins, at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's super-G race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

United States' Breezy Johnson touches the engagement ring she was given by Connor Watkins, at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's super-G race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

United States' Breezy Johnson looks at the engagement ring she was given by Connor Watkins, at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's super-G race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

United States' Breezy Johnson looks at the engagement ring she was given by Connor Watkins, at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's super-G race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities in overnight attacks, officials reported on Thursday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow was “hesitating” about another round of U.S.-brokered talks on stopping the fighting.

Washington has proposed further negotiations next week between Russian and Ukrainian delegations either in Miami or Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, which was the location of the last meeting, Zelenskyy said late Wednesday.

Ukraine “immediately confirmed” it would attend, he said. “So far, as I understand it, Russia is hesitating,” Zelenskyy told reporters in a messaging app interview late Wednesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that another round of talks was expected “soon” but gave no further details.

American officials made no comment on the possibility of further talks as part of a yearlong peace effort by the Trump administration. Zelenskyy said last week that the United States has given Ukraine and Russia a June deadline to reach a deal.

But with Russia’s invasion of its neighbor marking its fourth anniversary later this month, disagreements between Moscow and Kyiv over key issues have held up a comprehensive settlement. The issues include who keeps the Ukrainian land that Russia’s army has so far occupied, especially in the eastern Donbas industrial heartland, and Moscow’s demands for Kyiv to surrender more territory.

Ukraine wants Western-backed security guarantees, including a date for joining the European Union, and a postwar reconstruction package in place before it can contemplate signing a proposed 20-point settlement, Zelenskyy said.

Russia has meanwhile continued to pound Ukrainian civilian areas, including residential areas and the power grid, and Moscow has not responded to a U.S. proposal for an “energy ceasefire” that would also halt Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil facilities, Zelenskyy said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged Russia to stop hitting electricity infrastructure, reminding Moscow in a statement that targeting civilian infrastructure is prohibited under international humanitarian law.

Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, Russia fired 219 long-range strike drones, 24 ballistic missiles and a guided aircraft missile at Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian air force.

The main targets were the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, the second-largest city of Kharkiv, Dnipro in central Ukraine, and the southern port city of Odesa, the air force said — all cities that have come under relentless bombardment.

In Dnipro, Russian strikes injured four people, including a 4-year-old girl and a newborn boy, regional head Oleksandr Hanzha wrote on Telegram.

In Kyiv, several residential buildings were damaged, and two people were injured, according to the city administration.

In Odesa, one person was injured as a residential high-rise was partially destroyed and a market and a supermarket caught fire, regional head Oleksandr Hanzha wrote on Telegram.

Temperatures have moved above freezing point in Kyiv, but it is still bitterly cold in the city.

Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine, said 2,600 buildings were left without heating after the Kyiv attack in addition to 1,100 buildings in the capital that already were without heating due to previous attacks.

In Odesa, nearly 300,000 residents were left without running water, Kuleba said, while in Dnipro the central heating system stopped working for some 10,000 people.

Ukraine has hit back at Russia with long-range strikes on military targets and oil refineries that generate a large slice of Russia's income.

Ukraine’s general staff said Thursday that one of its domestically developed long-range drones hit the Ukhta oil refinery in Russia’s Komi region, around 1,750 kilometers (1,000 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

An official with Ukraine’s Security Service, known as the SBU, told The Associated Press that it was the first time Ukrainian drones have flown so far. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Ukraine’s General Staff also said that one of its domestically produced, long-range “Flamingo” missiles hit one of the Russian military’s biggest storage sites for missiles, ammunition and explosives in the Volgograd region and caused major explosions.

Separately, Ukrainian forces also hit and started a fire at the Michurinsk Progress Plant in Russia’s Tambov region, a defense enterprise producing high-technology equipment for aviation and missile systems, the General Staff said.

Ukraine's military also confirmed it damaged the Volgograd oil refinery in a strike the previous day.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

People look at a ruined city market following a Russia's attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)

A man walks at a ruined city market following a Russia's attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)

People walk at a ruined city market following a Russia's attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)