Australia have missed the medal rounds in the men's team sprint by the barest of margins, after being edged from the final four by one thousandth of a second on the opening day of the cycling world championships in London.
The Australian trio of Nathan Hart, Matthew Glaetzer and Patrick Constable were upbeat despite the heart-breakingly close call to deny them a shot at a bronze medal on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT).
The threesome notched a time of 43.497 seconds to triumph over Great Britain in their heat and put themselves in the mix for a medal shot with two heats to go.
But they could only watch as Germany narrowly eclipsed their time by 0.001 seconds - before both New Zealand, who posted the fastest qualifying time of 43.096 seconds, and France did likewise in the final heat.
New Zealand claimed the gold medal from the Netherlands later, while Germany beat France in the bronze medal race which so nearly featured Australia.
"It's frustrating for sure. We came here to race finals, but at the same time, that's sport," Glaetzer said.
"We won the 2012 world title by that same margin. It's sport. It happens."
Glaetzer put in a powerful showing as the second wheel as Australia began to gain ground on Great Britain after a hot start by the home team, before debutant Constable flew home as the final rider.
Australia remained upbeat despite missing the medals, with the young team exceeding expectations - a margin of 0.01 seconds separating them from the third-ranked France.
"From third to fifth was within one-hundredth of a second, so we can't be too disappointed," Glaetzer said.
"My goal was to be top four. And it's as close as you'll ever get to getting top four."
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