Liam Jegou's Olympic bid was sunk just as he was beginning to feel he could contend in the canoe slalom.
Jegou's powerful second run when he needed it in the qualifying heats persuaded him to come out strong in today's C1 semi-final.
With a second split time of, the 25-year-old was in a great position to progress to the final later today.
But having just about stayed intact a couple of gates earlier, his focus was gone as he reached gates 21 and 22 and he missed both, incurring a 100-second penalty to finish in a time of 208.39 and outside the top 10 cut-off point.
“Everything was going to plan," he said. "I was enjoying myself, guiding my boat really well, I felt really powerful.
"Everything we talked about in our course walk was really smooth, small couple of adaptations for that slalom.
"Towards the end on one of the easier moves, I clipped the pole with my paddle and I went the wrong way in my head and it was game over.
"That’s how close and fine the margins are in sport and in Canoe Slalom especially.”
“I felt great the full run. I felt great in the starting blocks. I was doing what I intended to do and that is really hard in slalom.
"I guess maybe I lost a bit of focus towards the end, I am not sure why and I need some time to reflect on it.
"I was a little low on one of the last upstreams, lost my balance but I felt like I recovered pretty well. With the last move, I felt like I had the final in my sights and you can’t be doing that.”
Looking to the future, Jegou - who was born in France to a French father and Irish mother, lived in Clare as a young boy and now has a training base in Pau - is hungry to learn from this experience with the next Games in mind, and more.
“Paris in 2024 and there are plenty of other races I am excited for like the world championships this year," he commented.
"It really hurts because it is the Games, it is the one everyone wants. I have been working really really hard for that final run and to get a chance to fight for an Olympic medal. It just wasn’t my day.”
Canoeing Ireland Performance Director, Jon Mackey, said he was "gutted" for Jegou.
"After coming back strong yesterday the plan was to go out this afternoon and go for it, and he did," said Mackey.
"Slalom is a sport of many variables which were on show this week and on the biggest sporting stage in the world. A small mistake leads to big penalties.
"Liam’s story is only beginning - watch this space."
