It was almost a rare triple dead heat.
But, by the finest of measurable margins, Rohan Browning came out on top of a stacked men's 100m field in Canberra.
Browning beat fellow young guns Jack Hale and Trae Williams by three thousandths of a second on Friday night to win a thrilling ACT championships final.
So tight was the contest on the back straight that all three were given official times of 10.23 seconds.
In-depth photo-finish analysis eventually revealed Browning as the victor in 10.225.
Yet even then Hale and Williams could not be separated, the pair placing equal second in 10.228.
Kiwi Joseph Millar came fourth in 10.38.
Despite the near-identical times, the remarkable result was a mixed bag for the individuals involved.
Hale, who has been in sensational form, had been gunning for the the Commonwealth Games A-qualifying mark of 10.15 after clocking an illegal 10.10 a fortnight earlier.
For Williams, on the other hand, it was a PB and a sought-after B qualifier.
While Browning's time was not quite as impressive as his 10.19 last month, it gave the 20-year-old renewed confidence he had an A-qualifier in him.
"I'm not far off it," Browning said.
"My opening run for the season was 10.19 with a 0.1 wind.
"If I get a tailwind this season I can get it, so I'm just hoping for good conditions."
Riley Day took out the women's 100m final in 11.52 and smashed her previous PB of 11.59 in the process.
The 17-year-old star of Nitro Athletics made light work of Maddie Coates (11.59) and Larissa Pasternatsky (11.78).
"I wasn't expecting that PB tonight, but to get that is a double bonus," Day said.
"My goal is to get into the Commonwealth Games, and then the world under-20. championships."
Linden Hall continued her excellent summer form with another B qualifier in the women's 1500m, biding her time in a tactical race before overtaking Rio Olympics semi-finalist Jenny Blundell (4:15.03) to finish well first in 4:09.32.
The 26-year-old, who smashed her 5000m PB last weekend, already has multiple A qualifiers in the 1500m and will target her shorter, preferred event at next month's national championships and Commonwealth Games trials.
In the men's, Jordan Gusman's mid-race retirement gave James Hansen a free path to victory and a personal-best 3:39.39.
Morgan Mitchell improved on last week's Hunter Classic performance with 52.48 to win the women's 400m, in which second place-getter Anneliese Rubie also clocked a B-qualifying time of 52.57.
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