Team GB speed skating star Kathryn Thomson was left wondering what might have been after crashing out of her first event of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
She was on her skates for less than 15 seconds in total, as she took to the ice for her 500m heat in Beijing.
Thomson began right on the heels of the three other competitors on the race, but disaster struck as she exited the first corner.
Instead of continuing to tear after her rivals, she was left pounding the ice in frustration after slopping onto her knees and slamming into the crash barrier on the edge of the rink.
It was the worst possible start to her Games, as the Scot targets a first appearance at a Winter Olympics final after failing to progress beyond all her heats four years ago in PyeongChang.
"I don't think I made 15 seconds before I hit the ice, that's really frustrating as I was looking forward to that race," a frustrated Thomson said after the action.
She went on to admit she felt the race should have been restarted, as is often the case if a competitor hits the deck in the first few seconds.
"I got a really good start but then I felt hands on my legs and the next thing I was on the ground. I'm a bit annoyed that the officials didn't call us back but I need to review that," she added.
"I was hoping to build on my events through the Games but I've still got two really good opportunities to see what I can do."
Those opportunities will be in the 1000m and 1500m events, where she will hope to at least stay on her skates throughout the races.
The heartbreaking crash evoked memories of former team-mate Elise Christie 's rotten luck at past Games.
In 2014 she was disqualified from three separate events for various reasons, including being 1cm off the permitted leeway of crossing the finish line and twice more for collisions with other racers.
Christie went to PyeongChang four years later with the hope of setting the record straight, but only more heartbreak was in store for the Scot.
She set two Olympic records in the earlier rounds of the 500m but crashed in the final, and suffered two more disqualifications in the 1000m and 1500m.
This year, Thomson has those two distances still to look forward to in the hope of putting her 500m disappointment behind her and ending the Team GB speed skating curse.
