Hot favorite Lindsey Vonn of the United States overcame a shin injury to capture the gold in the women's downhill on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old was timed one minute, 44.19 seconds, and would go down in history as the first American woman to earn gold in an Olympic downhill.

"It's incredible, one of the most emotional moments in my life," said Vonn, who saw her dream ruined by injury four years ago in Turin.

Gold medalist Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. holds up her country's flag as she celebrates winning the women's Alpine Skiing Downhill race at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, February 17, 2010. [Xinhua]

"To come into the finish area and see my name and Julia's up there was amazing. I knew what I had to do, I knew what type of run I needed to take," she said.

"I had to attack and I did that," she added. "I made it down. It's awesome, it's all I ever wanted."

Vonn shocked fans worldwide two days before the start of the Olympic Games when she announced that she had suffered a shin injury.

Thanks to bad weather which had forced cancellation and delays, Vonn got the precious days to heal in time to race.

Her teammate Julia Mancuso took the second step on the podium with a time of 1:44.75. Austrian Elisabeth Goergl scored the third fastest time, 1.46 seconds adrift of Vonn with a time of 1:45.65.