The first thing that comes to mind when I saw this prompt, I can only imagine an athlete who runs very well, she was at front of the race. She ran well, finished first but it was discovered that she ran on someone else's lane, so she was discovered. She could have won the race but a simple mistake cost her the victory. She finished first but she was not the winner.
The participation link:
@mariannewest/day-1848-5-minute-freewrite-sunday-prompt-she-wasnt-a-winner