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As Niall Treacy skidded out of the men's 500m heats on Monday morning, British hopes at the short track speed skating were finally put out of their misery.
Put in particularly stark contrast by Team GB's Super Sunday the day before - with golds won in snowboarding and skeleton - this has been a grim Games in Milan.
Treacy, Britain's only representative in short track, suffered a crash, fall or some other mishap in the 500m, 1,000m and 1500m.
There had been hope when the 25-year-old made the final of the 1,000m on Saturday night, the man ranked 20th in the world exceeding expectations.
But Treacy was given a penalty after impeding Liu Shaoang in an incident where both hit the ice, having moved into the Chinese skater's racing line.
So the wait goes on for Team GB for a first speed skating medal. It has been 32 years since Nicky Gooch claimed bronze in the men's 500m at Lillehammer 1994.
Wilf O'Reilly earned two golds when short track was a demonstration event at Calgary 1988, but since the sport made its official debut at Albertville 1992, no Briton has won an Olympic event.
In the past three decades, the picture has never looked so bleak.
Treacy was a one-man army in Milan. Four years ago at Beijing 2022, Britain sent three short track skaters.
In 2018, GB sent a team of five to PyeongChang, with short track one of the great British hopes for a medal.
Before the 2018 Games in South Korea, UK Sport provided £4.8m to short track skating - which was withdrawn after a team which included then-world champion Elise Christie, and Farrell Treacy – Niall's brother – failed to win a medal.
Eight years later, the latest UK Sport funding allocation of just under £2m has been presented as a total for short track, figure and long track speed skating.
So short track is caught in the situation which befalls many Olympic sports in Britain - they need to perform at the Games to get more funding, but without the funding they struggle to achieve success.
Asked what work is being done to fix short track, British Olympic Association (BOA) chair Dame Katherine Grainger told BBC Sport: "As much potential as we have in that team, there is more untapped.
"It is not a sport we have a legacy in, so that opens the door - we need to learn from other countries where we can."
Add in the fact that there are few sports in the world more chaotic and unpredictable than short track.
Christie was Britain's most recognisable speed skater a decade ago when she won three gold medals at the 2017 World Championships, but a series of crashes and disqualifications ruined her Olympic dreams in 2014 and 2018.
And this year, Treacy's luck was also out. Take his 1,000m final - usually this event would have six racers, but in Milan had nine because three athletes were advanced to the medal race after being illegally hindered in their semi-finals.
Would Treacy, who was running in third when he tangled with Liu, have won a medal if there were fewer men on the track? Ultimately, hypotheticals do not put cash in the bank.
Treacy could not hide his funding frustrations when speaking to the BBC following that final.
"If we only had a bit more support going through the Olympic cycle," he said. "In the UK we don't even have an ice centre which is safe enough for competitions.
"In the UK we have to look at ourselves and see we need a facility where we can train at the top level, instead of having to go to other countries."
Treacy is correct that there is no venue in Britain that could host an international short track event, because there are no rinks with the soft boards needed around the border to protect racers when there are crashes.
As a result, Treacy must train in the Netherlands, sometimes with the Dutch national team - an experience he said can be "demoralising".
As Britain's only Olympic-level short track skater, Treacy also often trains alone. This means he experiences the crowds and chaos, which are speed skating's signature, on a less regular basis than his rivals.
While Treacy is an experienced and successful racer in his own right, this - combined with the pressures of the Olympic stage - is another hurdle for him to overcome compared to better funded nations.
So where is British short track now? Based on its world ranking, Team GB had a quota of three short track athletes at Milan-Cortina 2026 - two in the men's, one in women's - but gave up two of the places.
Treacy does provide hope for the future, though. In his mid-20s, he should still be on course for French Alps 2030 if he stays fit. That would be his third Olympics - all valuable experience.
And Treacy is top 20 in the world for a reason - he won silver in the 1,000m at the 2024 European Short Track Championships.
After the first Olympics on western European time for two decades, he is hopeful he will not be on his own in four years' time.
After his final race in Milan, Treacy said: "This sport is so crazy, so hopefully it inspires some other people to get involved because it is fun.
"I love it, and hopefully some other people will love it too."
