Kiwi speed queen Zoe Hobbs and pole vaulter Eliza McCartney have crashed out of their respective world championship events in contrasting - but ultimately heartbreaking - styles at Budapest.
After becoming the first NZ woman to break 11 seconds for the 100 metres, Hobbs has fallen mere thousandths of a second short of making the final of her specialist event in a blockbuster field.
Meanwhile, hoping to cap a comeback from years of frustrating injuries and illness, McCartney has failed to clear the bar in vault qualifying, with three misses at her opening height of 4.50m.
Hobbs lined up in a semi-final featuring the three fastest women in the world this year - Jamaican Shericka Jackson, American Sha'Carri Richardson and Ivory Coaster Marie-Jose Ta Lou - with only two guaranteed of progressing, along with the next fastest two.
The Kiwi started strongly, but eventually finished fourth in 11.02s, just 0.01s outside the required qualifying time.
When Briton Dina Asher-Smith and Pole Eva Svoboda both clocked 11.01s, a countback to the next decimal point was needed to separate them - and it couldn't. Both were credited with 11.010s and advanced to an extended nine-athlete medal race.
While Hobbs' exact time was not posted, she could concievably have clocked 11.011s - one-thousandth slower - but rounded up to 11.02s.
After a sluggish third in her semi, Richardson stormed home from the outside lane in the final to stun Jamaicans Jackson and five-time champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in 10.65s.
"While it's obviously bittersweet to miss the final by only 0.01s, I can't not be both happy and proud of how I went and the result," said Hobbs. "I don't have any regrets with how I executed the race.
"I was drawn a very stacked semi, so I knew, if I wanted to make the final, I had to stay composed in my own lane and just execute my race. As it turned out, it was the fastest semi we've had in history."
McCartney - the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist - had been in good form during her championships build-up, achieving an early qualifying performance for the Paris Olympics and clearing 4.85m - the second-highest in the world this year and her third-best ever.
"I’m so happy with how my jump is coming along and I know the next level is just around the corner," she posted on Instagram last month.
McCartney, 26, managed an opening height of 4.53m at Jockgrim, Germany, in her final hitout before the meet, so 4.50m should have been a comfortable start to her qualifying effort at Budapest.
Teammates Olivia McTagggart (4.35m) and Imogen Ayris (4.50m) also failed to advance, with 4.65m the final cutoff.
"Obviously, it is not a good night," said McCartney. "A couple of weeks ago, I had a flare up with my Achilles.
"It has been on and off during the year, and unfortunately, it happened right before world champs. I gave it my best shot.
"I could have retired, I thought I would give it a go and see what happened, but after that second attempt, which was me putting everything I could into it, I pulled up short. It was just too much tonight and that can, unfortunately, happen in sport."
Adding to a frustrating day at the Hungarian capital, 400m hurdler Portia Bing tripped on a barrier and fell in the home straight of her heat, finishing 10 seconds outside her best and well behind the qualifiers.
