Rugby sevens has proven once again it can be a cruel, cruel game.
Three years ago, Australia's women's sevens team was bundled out of the Tokyo Olympics in the quarterfinal by Fiji in shocking scenes. It was the lowest point the team had ever reached as they fell well short of defending their Rio 2016 gold.
It lit a long burning fire within the squad, especially for star players Charlotte Caslick, Sharni Smale and Maddi Levi. For years they spoke of redemption, of righting the wrongs and taking to the podium once again, and for two and a half days at the Paris Olympics it looked like they would do just that.
But in a game of such fine margins, even the smallest of errors can prove the difference between a gold medal and coming home empty handed.
Australia flew out of the blocks once again in the semifinal against Canada, speedster Levi finding the tryline for the 12th time over the three-day tournament. Minutes later it would be Sariah Paki adding to her try scoring tally.
Dominance. It had been a theme for the Aussies throughout the tournament, hardly taking a misstep on their journey to the semis, and after six-and-a-half minutes they looked certain to put Canada to bed. But in one split second it all came undone.
Giving away a soft penalty in attack seconds before the halftime hooter, the Aussies looked to have switched off mentally as Canada's Charity Williams took a quick a tap and raced away to score under the posts. It was the first time the Aussies showed any signs of wobbles as they left the door wide open on the way to the second half.
Those wobbles soon got worse. Under growing pressure, the team started to succumb to Canada, who'd already secured one major upset from the tournament. Down by two, with over three-and-a-half minutes to go, Teagan Levi produced an absolute howler that she knew had all but sealed her side's fate as she dropped the ball metres from the tryline.
Her scream as she turned away and threw the ball on the ground said it all. The big-time team was struggling in the big-time moment.
Despite their best efforts in defence, and a huge tackle from the younger Levi sister to almost hold Piper Logan up, Canada would take the lead and relegate Australia to the bronze medal match.
The tears flowed freely as the fulltime whistle sounded. Dreams of a Paris Olympic gold had been dashed. And somehow, somehow, they needed to right themselves and go again just hours later to at least secure a bronze.
Yet again, the Aussies were on the board within the opening minutes through Maddi Levi, but they needed to do a lot more to put a physical American pack away. Caught in their own in-goal, a yellow card to Teagan Levi gave USA the perfect opportunity to level the scores before the break as the pressure built up once more and the errors crept right back in.
Given so many opportunities the Aussies appeared overawed by the situation. With a wide open tryline, Paki dropped the ball cold over the line, others held the pass too long and missed attacking opportunities, while the big bodies of the Americans battered them around at the breakdown. It would take the connection of the Levi sisters to put Australia ahead and, almost certainly a bronze medal.
But once again a small error would cost Australia dearly. Perhaps going long at the kick-off instead of attempting to contest the restart was the wrong choice, but long and deep they went as they attempted to bully their opposition back. Up hard in defence, they pushed the USA deep into their red zone, but two missed tackles from Smale and Teagan Levi saw their bronze medal ripped away through the hands of Alex Sedrick.
Disbelief can be the only way to describe the moment as three years of dominance on the World Sevens stage - including a triple crown in 2021-22 -- was wiped away in less than 30 minutes of rugby.
And while there will be bitter disappointment as dreams are dashed, there can be comfort in knowing this team can only get better.
One must not forget this side has been hit hard by injuries this year. The list is long and features several big names Maddi Ashby, Demi Hayes and Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea, who all missed out on Olympics through knee injuries, while Katilin Shave was cruelly injured just minutes into the first match of the tournament.
For five players it was their Olympic debut including Teagan Levi and Isabella Nasser who both had strong tournaments, while the average age of the squad -- excluding the retiring Smale and Dom du Toit -- is just 22 years old. The rising talent left at home will only add another dimension over the next four years.
Maddi Levi, meanwhile, has cemented herself as one of the most outstanding sevens players of all time and Charlotte Caslick's heir apparent. For so long Caslick has taken on the burden of being the face of the game in Australia, but with Levi's extraordinary efforts of scoring 14 tries in just six games she's risen to superstar status herself.
The future remains overwhelmingly bright.
But for these girls in gold, the weight of the nation again proved a heavy burden. The heartbreak is excruciating right now, and will likely take some time to subside.