The men’s 1500metres had been billed as a straight head-to-head between Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen after all the verbal and on-track sparring.
And in the end both were upstaged by the American Cole Hocker becoming an unexpected Olympic champion for the 1500metres in an Olympic record time of 3:27.65.
So much was the level of attention that Kerr and Ingebrigtsen had been paying to each other, they seemed almost blinkered as the American snuck up the inside to consign Kerr to silver and leave the defending champion Ingebrigtsen unthinkably outside the medals.
Kerr had the slight consolation of breaking the British record in a time of 3:27.79 but he had been aiming to emulate Seb Coe in becoming the first British man to win 1500m gold in 40 years.
This was a rivalry which sparked into life when Ingebrigtsen finally saw Kerr as a threat as he became the second Britain to upstage him in a World Championship finale in the home straight in 12 months.
Since then, the animosity has grown and grown. Ingebrigtsen had made the excuse he had been ill in Budapest while Kerr said in one interview he thought he had weaknesses both on track and in terms of his manners.
The back and forth continued right until the eve of this final, Ingebrigtsen accusing his rival of dodging racing him before Paris and insisting in the city of love that arguably the most fractious 1500m battle since Coe and Steve Ovett was “no love story”.
Kerr had simply promised it would be a vicious battle and so it proved but a four-way rather than two-way tussle with Yared Nuguse also in the medal mix.
Kerr had gone straight to the front at the gun only for Ingebrigtsen to scythe past and set a pace that was so relentless the field seemed like it was in single file for most of its duration.
"I can't walk away from the championship disappointed,” he said.
“I said what my goals were it was pretty obvious but I put a performance out there today which I was extremely proud of. I ran the fastest and best tactical 1500m race I've ever done in my life. It's obviously not the colour of medal I want but it's working towards the right colour from bronze to silver."
On the final bend, Kerr, who had looked like he was dropping back, appeared on his Norwegian rival’s shoulder and the pair kicked for the line. The Briton coasted past and into a lead only to be reeled in by Hocker at the death for a surprise gold. Nuguse took the bronze to leave Ingebrigtsen with nothing.
"My plan was to win. It didn't go according to plan,” said Ingebrigtsen.
“I felt very strong the first couple of laps. But it was 100m too long today. You can't really tell you are hitting the wall before you hit. It was just a little bit too early today."
Earlier, Matt Hudson-Smith cruised into the final of the 400m and marked himself as the favourite for gold on Wednesday night.
The world silver medallist had a blistering start and entered the home straight so far clear that he eased up halfway through it and coasted over the line and into the final.
Keely Hodgkinson returned to the stadium and the scene of her 800m triumph the previous night to be awarded her gold medal by World Athletics president Seb Coe ahead of the night’s action.
Hopes of a British medal in the 200m were denied by the narrowest of margins when Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita finished fourth and fifth just two and three hundredths of a second off bronze respectively.
