Australian cycling star Rohan Dennis is proud of his bronze medal after a nail-biting battle for the two podium places alongside Primoz Roglic in the Olympic men's time trial.
The Slovenian was untouchable in Thursday's 44.2km event at Fuji International Speedway, clocking 55 minutes 4.19 seconds to finish 1:01.39 and claim gold ahead of Dutch silver medallist Tom Dumoulin.
But only four seconds separated Dumoulin, Dennis, Switzerland's Stefan Kueng and Italian Filippo Ganna, the reigning time trial world champion.
Dennis was the fifth-last rider to start and the 2018 and '19 world champion had a nervous wait after posting 56:08.09.
None of the last four riders could better the Australian's time, but Kueng was just .4 of a second behind Dennis.
Kueng clocked 56:08.49 and Ganna was fifth with 56:09.93.
It is Australia's first cycling medal at the Tokyo Games.
"I didn't realise how close it was between Tom and I and I thought Ganna was going to take it (bronze) off me," Dennis said.
Dennis had prepared well for the time trial and bypassed last Saturday's Olympic road race to maximise his prospects.
"I'm quite proud of the bronze medal - look, I would have loved gold, but I wasn't the best guy on the day.
"I've worked hard, everything has been going well and I just got beaten by better riders.
"I've still medalled at the Olympics - not many people get (to do) that."
Bronze is some redemption for the Rio Olympics, when Dennis was on the way to a likely silver medal in the time trial when an aerobar extension snapped and he finished fifth.
Dennis also won silver on the track at the 2012 Olympics in the team pursuit.
The South Australian and BMX freestyle rider Logan Martin, who won his second world title last month, were the two most obvious medal chances for Australian cycling at the Tokyo Games.
Given the absence of pre-Olympic competition, it is a mystery how the track team will perform.
Compatriot Richie Porte had a bad day and was 27th in the time trial with 1:00:53.67, following his below-par ride in the road race.
"I picked a day to have a stinker," Porte said.
"It's possibly the worst ride I've had in a time trial, for I can't remember how long. It was terrible.
"Today the legs let me down."
Porte said he would now have some time off, with the 36-year-old Tasmanian confirming before the Olympics that next year will be his last as a professional cyclist.
Earlier on Wednesday, Australian Grace Brown finished fourth in the women's time trial behind Annemiek van Vleuten and compatriot Sarah Gigante was 11th.
