There is never a good time to fall off your bike but 23 laps from the end of an Olympic omnium points race decider with a gold medal on the line looked like curtains for Frenchman Benjamin Thomas at the National Velodrome on Thursday.
Instead, the 28-year-old picked himself up, checked that he and his machine were still intact, and then rode a wave of noise to the finishing line for a sensational victory.
Thomas, twice world champion in the multi-event discipline which offers the ultimate test of stamina and strategy, edged out Portugal's Iuri Leitao to deliver France's first track cycling medal of the Games.
"That was crazy race today. I don't believe the medal is around my neck," Thomas, who finished an agonizing fourth in Tokyo three years ago said after shedding tears on the podium.
Shortly before Thomas's victory ride almost took the roof off the velodrome, Ellesse Andrews earned New Zealand's first track cycling gold for 20 years and only second ever as she beat a high-quality field to win the women's keirin.
Andrews, the world champion in the event initially paced by an electric motorcycle before a three-lap thrash to the line, dominated the final, holding off Britain's Emma Finucane around the last lap to win comfortably.
Finucane, who had been tipped for a second gold after winning the team sprint, ended up in third place behind Dutch rider Hetty van de Wouw.
Netherlands' powerhouse Harrie Lavreysen continued his march towards what looks like a certain gold in the men's sprints as he cruised into Friday's semifinals.
There was some good fortune for Britain's Jack Carlin as he was spared elimination in the quarter-inals when Japan's Kaiya Ota appeared to have taken a 2-0 lead in the best-of-three heat but was relegated after the judged deemed he had made dangerous move. Carlin, a bronze medalist in Tokyo, then won the decider.
The Briton will have to find a way of beating reigning champion Lavreysen though on Friday if he is to keep alive his hopes of a first Olympic gold medal.