Great Britain ended their rugby sevens journey at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a 17-12 defeat to Argentina on Wednesday to just miss out on the bronze medal in Japan.
Tony Roques' side were disappointed not to make the gold medal match after falling 29-7 against New Zealand in the semi-finals earlier on Wednesday morning.
Injured Tom Mitchell failed to feature in that fixture following injury in the 26-21 quarter-final comeback against the United States, and the captain was missing for the Argentina clash as well.
They started with more initiative against the Pumas and went ahead early after 21-year-old Ben Harris scarpered down the right flank inside a minute.
Their South American counterparts responded (and then some) before the half-time interval, however.
Scrum-half Lautaro Bazan Velez escaped down the same wing to level at five points apiece before Marcos Moneta squeezed through to go under the posts for a converted score.
Argentina kept the British at bay as they sought another comeback result, but Ollie Lindsay-Hague couldn't be held back following a quick-tap penalty.
Harris opened up the slight overlap on the right before offloading to Lindsay-Hague, and Dan Bibby added the extras to temporarily pull Roques' men level.
Team GB were level for less than a minute, however, after Ignacio Mendy showed Alex Davis a clean pair of heels down the touchline.
The relentless Dan Norton chase back in enough time to ensure the conversion was too narrow on this occasion, but the five points were sufficient to seal victory for Argentina.
Opposite to the aforementioned revival against the U.S., Team GB fell victim to a comeback effort themselves in the medal matchup.
Following on from the runner-up finish to Fiji in Brazil five years ago, Roques' side struggled to match Argentina on the day, when leader Mitchell was also missed.
The near medal miss is particularly heartbreaking for Britain considering many of their players now face an uncertain future after numerous unions pulled funding for the sport.
Tokyo 2020 may therefore be the last time some among the squad play sevens at the elite level despite another run deep into the late stages of a Summer Games.
Much like their union counterparts, meanwhile, Argentina continue to show growth as a sevens representative and were suitably celebratory following their maiden medal win.
Fiji later retained their gold medal with a 27-12 victory in the final against New Zealand, who also sealed their first Olympic medal in the men's sevens with a runner-up finish.
