MILAN — The buildup to Sunday’s women’s Olympic downhill, Lindsey Vonn’s comeback story, had been extraordinary.

Then, just 13 seconds into the race, she crashed in an explosive shower of ice and snow. For the second time in 10 days — the fall Jan. 30 in Switzerland that destroyed the ACL in her left knee — she was airlifted off the mountain.

“It’s like the man in the arena,” Vonn’s sister, Karin Kildow said, citing Teddy Roosevelt’s famed speech from 1910. “She dared greatly. She put it all out there.”

Now, perhaps the most profound image that will linger from these 2026 Winter Games will be that helicopter framed against the sky — Vonn, in a red body bag, suspended, with what’s next a complete unknown.