The Olympic Speed Skating finals, the event he had trained for all his life. He had a poor start, but caught up to the crowd of competitors when one slipped and caused the rest to fall. He tried to leap over the fray, but a stray skate blade cut deeply into his right thigh. He bounced on the ice, quickly getting back on his skates, gaining valuable time on the rest of them.

His leg buckled as he pushed through the turn. Just two left, he thought. Two left until gold. His vision tunneled, the sound of the crowd faded behind the thumping of his heartbeat pounding his eardrums. Form be damned, it was all he could do to stay upright. He exaggerated his movements, straining to get the most from each push.

He pushed into the final turn, still a couple seconds ahead of the crowd racing for silver. With gritted teeth he strove hard into the curve. His thigh buckled again, and failed. His momentum took him crashing into the outer wall, breaking bones and shattering dreams. His crumpled body lay short of the finish.