THREE medals, some near misses, historic performances, disappointing losses and heartwarming moments.
Tokyo had it all for the Hunter region's 19 athletes, who competed across 14 different sports over the last fortnight.
And with much of the country in coronavirus lockdown, the 2021 Olympic Games had quite the captive audience some 12 months after they were originally scheduled.
CHAMPIONS
Dungog rower Spencer Turrin and Coal Point sailor Will Ryan are now Olympic champions.
Both stood on top of the podium in their respective events, were presented with gold medals and proudly sang the national anthem.
With his family cheering on from home and classes stopped at Dungog Public School, Turrin and the Aussie men's fours led from start to finish and won the event for the first time since 1996.
Individually there was also a sense of "redemption" for Turrin, who missed out in Rio five years ago with a sixth in the men's pairs.
"Done this, done that, Dungog," he said in one post-race interview.
Still on the water but at Enoshima Harbour last week, Ryan and teammate Mat Belcher dominated the outgoing men's 470.
They were top five in all-but one of 10 preliminary rounds and sealed the deal by taking out the final, even though they couldn't be caught on points and only had to complete the course.
Already with a silver from the same class in 2016, Ryan added to his collection. He had support on the shore from sister Jaime and from afar by loved ones at Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club.
"It's unbelievable to be here, to have done this. I remember thinking as a kid that Olympic gold just seemed unreachable, and yet here we are," the 32-year-old said.
SILVER LINING
"I'm sure once it sinks in I think we'll realise what we did was pretty special, but at the moment it's difficult," the 27-year-old said on Friday following the dramatic clash with Belgium at Oi Hockey Stadium.
It was Australia's 10th medal in that event, featuring seven of the last eight Games.
OH, SO CLOSE
Emily van Egmond and the Matildas may have narrowly missed a maiden soccer medal, but the Aussie women's squad recorded a best-ever result.
Finishing fourth following a 4-3 loss to four-time champions US on Thursday night, van Egmond posted "this one hurts" on social media.
The 28-year-old Novocastrian, who now has over 100 Test caps to her name, was a solid performer in midfield across the tournament.
CENTRE STAGE
Poppy Starr Olsen take a bow.
However, Olsen's efforts after competition were equally as impressive and highlighted the camaraderie in the ranks, helping console a younger opponent and carrying her off the arena.
It well end up one of the enduring images from Tokyo.
HEARTBREAK
The Hockeyroos had been perfect in the group stage and looked set to put a difficult 18-month period behind them.
However, the campaign of Australia's women's hockey squad was brought to a halt in the quarter-finals with an upset 1-0 loss to India.
Souths striker Mariah Williams, 26, described the "heartbreak" she felt having experienced the same result in Rio five years earlier.
BOUNCE OF THE BALL
The Opals have appeared on the Olympic podium five times previously, but in Tokyo it was the Boomers who broke through for a maiden medal after beating Slovenia in the play-off for bronze on Saturday night.
The national women's squad, who lost star Liz Cambage on the eve of the tournament, went down in their opening two matches before qualifying for the top eight with a dramatic, and necessary, 25-plus point win to round out the group stage.
The were eventually knocked out by the US in the quarters.
Charlestown's Katie Ebzery and Hamilton's Leilani Mitchell, who were also part of the Rio campaign, finished top 10 for assists (17) and three pointers (8) respectively.
FIRST SPLASH
Games debutants Tristan Hollard and Abbey Harkin, who both trained at the same Warners Bay pool, were part of Australia's most successful Olympic swimming team.
Hollard placed 10th in the men's 200m backstroke while Harkin missed the women's 200m breaststroke semis by 0.14s.
AROUND THE GROUNDS
Merewether's Richie Campbell, New Lambton's Nathan Power (9th men's water polo), adopted Novocastrian Julian Wilson (round of 16 men's surfing), Coal Point sailor Jaime Ryan (13th women's 49er FX), Belmont North trampolinist Jessica Pickering (16th), Maryland triathlete Aaron Royle (26th), Merewether diver Sam Fricker (28thmen's 10m platform), Cessnock shooter Dan Repacholi (30th men's 10m air pistol, equal 6th mixed teams) and Merewether athlete Rose Davies (34th, women's 5000m) also represented Australia in Tokyo.
