Adam Lambert was on the final corner when he fell. (Reuters: Marko Djurica)

It seemed that only a disaster would cost Australia a second medal at the Winter Olympics in Livigno on Monday.

Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened — although that’s not how Adam Lambert saw it.

Lambert and Josie Baff had cruised through the mixed team snowboard cross event, with Olympic champion Baff in particular looking in sublime form.

The pair produced two hugely impressive displays to advance to the final.

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In mixed snowboard cross, the men race first, with the women following, handicapped by the amount of time their partner finished behind the leader.

With Baff arguably the form rider of the Games, all Lambert needed to do was get down to the bottom in contention with the leaders.

Adam Lambert (left) was in contention throughout the race, right up until the last corner. (Getty Images: picture alliance/Oliver Weiken)

And, right up until the final corner, that’s exactly what appeared to be happening, with Lambert hot on the heels of Italian Lorenzo Sommariva.

But then came that disaster.

“So I came around turn five, and I had speed on Lorenzo,” Lambert said.

“I would have preferred to have been on his left.

“But unfortunately, I kind of just landed on his right, landed on his tail a little bit and then I had to go inside in turn six, and Lorenzo also was as far inside as he could be.

“My nose mounted his tail, and his tail slipped out. I lost all contact with my toe-side edge.

“So that’s what set me down.”

Adam Lambert fell late on his run in the two-person relay.

With Lambert down, Baff was assigned the maximum time deficit — 4.16 seconds — calculated according to the length of the course.

A penny for the thoughts of Baff, marooned up at the top of the course while her rivals sped away.

“I was thinking, wow, 4 seconds is a really long time,” Baff said.

She’s not wrong.

Baff had made up a deficit of half a second in the semifinal comfortably, which the 23-year-old said gave her confidence she could pull off a miracle.

“I knew that I was strong, my starts were way better today — I think I was less nervous and I was kind of going back to my normal starts.

“So I was like, ‘You know what, anything’s possible and I’m going to trust that these three might have some contact lower down and I want to be in that race if anything does happen.’

Josie Baff had been boarding miraculously this week, but she still couldn’t pull off a miracle. (Getty Images: Andy Cheung)

“I guess that was the mindset here, and also, I don’t ever give up, not until I cross that line.

“So I just kind of went in with that [attitude], and I could see, I was like, ‘Wow, I’m getting closer. I actually am getting closer. I thought this could still work.’

“But unfortunately, 4 seconds is a long time.”

Lambert acknowledged that Baff was capable of extraordinary things, but even that was beyond her.

“I know Josie could have pulled back half a second — she probably could have pulled back a second and a half, she’s been riding so well — but 4 seconds is just slightly too much.”

It left the Australians in the worst possible place to finish at an Olympic Games — fourth in a four-team final.

As Britain celebrated gold, Adam Lambert and Josie Baff had to walk away. (Getty Images: Andy Cheung)

As the three teams they had been racing with shoulder-to-shoulder just moments before went up and claimed their medals and accepted the plaudits from the massive crowd, Lambert and Baff trudged through the mix zone.

These Games have been tough on the snowboard cross riders, especially Lambert.

Cameron Bolton is his roommate and best friend. Seeing him be airlifted away from Livigno with a broken neck clearly affected the 28-year-old, at least in part, resulting in his mixed form and early exit in the men’s competition.

The fact that he came within touching distance of an Olympic medal must sting, but despite the obvious disappointment, Lambert was philosophical.

“It’s a tough place to be, fourth at the Olympics,” he said.

“But we’re also at the Olympics, and we’re also in the finals.

“There’s only so many people that get to be on the podium, and I’m proud to have been in the final to begin with.”

Adam Lambert said it was still beautiful to represent Australia in a final. (AP: Lindsey Wasson)

Lambert — who only won his first FIS World Cup event earlier this year after eight seasons — said it was “too soon” to know whether this mistake would keep him up at night.

It may be the case that, after toiling for so many years without claiming a World Cup victory, Lambert has a different relationship with winning than others, taking a more holistic view of the sport.

Regardless, Lambert still said representing Australia in a final was “beautiful”.

“I’m feeling a lot better about it [my Olympics] after today,” Lambert said.

“I feel like, even with my crash in the final, I showed a little bit more of my style of riding and my ability.

“I’m really proud to have been able to do that, and it does take a bit of sting out of the last two days.

“It’s a beautiful thing to be able to be out here and be representing the country and get so far into an event.

“Fourth place is — it’s just short of the medals, but it’s fourth place.

“It’s still very good.”