PYEONGCHANG, South Korea -- The agony and the ecstasy of the 2018 Winter Olympics was laid bare in British red, white and blue on another Super Saturday for Team GB.
On a day which had potential for four British medals, three were secured, a national record for one day at a winter Games. First, Izzy Atkin took bronze in the women's skiing freestyle, then -- with the sun long set -- Lizzy Yarnold won gold and Laura Deas took bronze in the women's skeleton.
Smashed in between was further heartbreak for Elise Christie as she tumbled out of the 1,500-metre short-track speedskating semifinal. Tears again for Christie, dreams of redemption put on ice until Thursday's 1,000m.
For a country with a humble, realistic medal target of five from these Games, they don't half-cause drama.
"Super Saturday" has long been associated with that memorable day back at London 2012 when Britain took six golds, including three at the Olympic Stadium via the performances of Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis and Greg Rutherford.
Heading into this middle Saturday in Pyeongchang, there was quiet optimism here that they may hit three medals -- one apiece for Atkin, Christie and then Yarnold or Deas. In the end the total was hit, but the makeup was different.
It started so well. Atkin won Britain's first-ever skiing medal with a remarkable run in the women's slopestyle. Born in the USA, hailing from Park City, Utah, it was her father, Mike -- who was raised in Birmingham -- who spoke afterward of her love for Ribena and Marmite, mentioning how she was the screaming child on the British Airways flight heading back to the UK aged five months to visit relatives.
Winnie, Atkin's mother, said afterward her daughter "didn't say anything, she had tears in her eyes, happy tears." Atkin was simply stunned.
Then there was something of an intermission before attention turned to the evening's events. Short-track speedskating is seemingly married to unpredictability. It is the most remarkable of sports where form and reason largely come secondary to drama.
Favourites aplenty crashed out. Canada's Samuel Girard winning gold in the men's 1,000 was a surprise, South Korea's Choi Min-jeong taking top spot in the women's 1,500 was more to script, but even the most malevolent of tragic playwrights could not dream up Christie's tale of Olympic heartbreak.
Having endured a nightmare Sochi 2014 where she was disqualified from all three of her events, she came to Pyeongchang with hope. She broke two Olympic records in qualifying for the 500 final, and she was optimistic of a medal. But she crashed out in the final, finishing fourth. Tears and devastation followed. Then the rebuilding process happened and she spoke of targeting this coming Thursday's 1,000, her favoured event. Anything in the 1,500 would be a bonus.
But it turned out to be another night of events that left Christie in tears. She catapulted into the barriers in the final turn of the semifinals, being rightfully disqualified for the accident she had caused in clashing with China's Li Jinyu, and was stretchered off the track. It was tears again as she was put into an ambulance and taken to hospital for scans.
Her partner, Liu Shaolin Sandor, was taking part in the 1,000 final. His night also ended in disqualification, having caused the crash which took out two Koreans. Afterward he spoke of Christie: "I had a phone call and she told me she was fine. She's a tough woman and I think she is going to be fine."
Meanwhile, on the other side of Gangneung, Yarnold and Deas were going for their final run in the women's skeleton final at the Alpensia Sliding Centre. Both harboured hopes of medals. Deas showed the better pre-Olympics form of the two, but then Yarnold had the winning mindset having won gold in Sochi.
Heading into the last run, Deas was placed fourth, Yarnold second. Deas did enough in her run to be in with a medal shout, but then came Jacqueline Loelling of Germany who went 0.17 seconds faster. Yarnold then stormed to a track record to take first, with Austria's Janine Flock to follow. A poor start left her behind Yarnold's splits from the off, and Flock ended up not only out of the gold medal position but off the podium entirely. That meant bronze for Deas, gold for Yarnold. Hugs, tears followed. Both Brits proved to have a champion's mindset, being able to deliver when pressure told.
It also puts Yarnold in rarefied air -- no other Briton has ever won two Winter Olympic gold medals, with the ice dancing pair of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean the only other multiple winners, though they have gold and bronze in their collection.
Confirmation then came from across town from Team GB that Christie had not broken any bones in her right ankle and would be monitored ahead of Thursday's 1,000 where she hopes to compete.
There are still medals on offer in the remaining days in these Games for Great Britain. James Woods hopes to finish on the podium in freestyle skiing, while there is Christie's third chance, too. The medal target is five, Britain currently have four, following Dom Parsons' bronze on Friday.
Though it has been a Shakespearean tragedy for Christie so far, a medal on Thursday in the 1,000 would be a fitting denouement to these turbulent Games.