Lindsey Vonn falls as soon as she leaves and her cry of pain freezes the Winter Olympic Games

Lindsey Vonn. Since it was announced that she was returning after a five-year absence, everyone was looking at the Games. It was her goal to participate for the fifth time in the Olympic adventure. The idea that her return was a swan song was mercilessly buried by the Minnesota native. Two downhill victories this season (St. Moritz and Altenmarkt-Zauchensee) added to the legend. No one before, at 41 years of age, had managed to win in the World Cup.

On February 8, Olympic downhill day, it began to take on another dimension as Vonn's form in the season was seen. The best speedster of the past was also the best of the present. Her dominance translated into seven podiums in eight races, a fourth place in the other and her spell, conquering again any place she passed through.

But in Vonn's life, nothing is normal. Ten days before the Olympic downhill, she fell in the Crans-Montana downhill. With her right knee made of titanium, her left knee suffered a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament. For almost anyone it would have been the end of the world. Not for Lindsey. "My Olympic dream is not over," she said hours after the fall and without knowing the extent of an injury that was confirmed three days later.

And, to the amazement of the world and doubts about her torn ligament that have angered her greatly, at over 41 years of age, with an artificial knee and another with a frayed cruciate ligament, Lindsey Vonn stood in the starting gate of the mythical Olympia delle Tofane to attack the 2,572 meters of the Olympic downhill. In these extreme conditions, and with bib number 13, Vonn launched herself for the gold she had already won in Vancouver, her only Olympic title. Reason said no, but Vonn and logic don't go well in a sentence.

Monopolized by the enormous figure of Vonn and her circumstances, it was Malorie Blanc who opened the fire. Winner a week ago of the super-G in Crans-Montana, the Swiss was a good reminder that, as much as Vonn claimed attention, her rivals for gold were powerful: Goggia, Pirovano, Aicher, Hutter, Suter, Wiles, Raedler, Delago...Blanc was the first of the 36 skiers entered, with fifteen nations represented plus the neutral flag of Russian Julia Pleskhova. After foggy training, Sunday dawned glorious in Cortina d'Ampezzo. On hard snow and struggling to keep the line, Malorie stopped the clock in 1:38.77. It was not expected to be a long reference.

The first to improve on it was the second to go out, Austria's Ariane Raedler (-0.68). The third on the scene was Fede Brignone, for whom the Games are a joy after almost certainly missing out after her serious crash and injury in April. In the Milanese's first downhill of the season, she was nine hundredths of a second behind the Austrian.

Raedler's time, the best Austrian bet to touch a podium that has been denied in downhill since 2006, lasted until the appearance of the downhill world champion: Breezy Johnson. The Wyoming native not only improved on Raedler, she destroyed it to reduce it by more than a second (1.10). It was a time with the scent of metal.

Breezy had just put a price on Olympic glory. The first bullet from the powerful Italian team, Nicol Delago, went to 1.55. It was an example of the value of the American's time. Another Italian, Laura Pirovano, did better, finishing second, but almost a second behind (0.94). The door was already open for the big favourites, all of whom were mega-demanding after Breezy Johnson's superb run

Emma Aicher, the German flag-bearer who competes in all disciplines, appeared on the scene. She did move in Breezy's times, so much so that the German was only four hundredths of a second behind. A minor mistake prevented her from taking the lead. It was a message that Johnson could be beaten.

With the American flag in charge of the descent, at 12.00 it was time. Lindsey Vonn launched herself down the Olympia delle Tofane with a roar from the crowd in her favor. As if she were an Italian. It lasted nothing, because Vonn went to the ground. A huge cry of pain filled the air. It was her left knee. It was the end of a legend. She knew the risk, she assumed it and ended her career with tears. And an ovation on the ice.