Millions of Australians were left churning with a sick feeling in the pit of their stomach, and watching on in disbelief, when red-hot gold-medal favourite Jakara Anthony's bid for history took a calamitous turn on Wednesday night (AEDT).
But while the skiing champion's pursuit to become the first Australian to successfully defend Winter Olympic Games gold went horribly wrong in the women's singles moguls super final, how she carried herself in the moments that followed only enhanced the respect she commands.
"Super proud of Char [young moguls teammate Charlotte Wilson]," Anthony, gazing down at the Olympic debutant with overflowing pride, beamed in an interview with Nine's Ally Langdon.
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"She crushed it at her first Games."
Anthony could have sobbed, moaned and groaned through the interview — given the situation, no reasonable person would have criticised her if she had done so — but Australia's most successful winter-sport athlete instead ensured her young teammate's moment to treasure would not be dampened.
"This is like what I was with Britt in Pyeongchang!" Anthony added, with a smile and a nudge.
The 27-year-old was referring to the results from the 2018 Olympics, where on debut she finished fourth, one place ahead of Britt Cox, who in South Korea was competing at her third Games.
Wilson, 20, produced a terrific singles moguls campaign on her Olympic debut at Livigno Snow Park — first progressing from qualifying to final one, and then powering through to the eight-woman super final, in which she finished sixth.
"[On] my debut I beat her [Cox], and she didn't quite get the result she wanted," Anthony added.
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"[I] learned a lot from watching Britt through that experience.
"I think I'm handling myself OK so far [after her heartbreak in Livigno]."
Anthony admitted she was "pretty bummed" about what had transpired.
In another admirable response, she threw forward to her chance for redemption in the dual moguls two days later.
"[There's] another four years [until the next Games] — that's how the Olympics works — but lucky enough, this time around we've got a duals comp, too," she said.
"So [it's] actually only a couple more days' time [until she gets another shot at gold], so [it's] not so bad."
Make no mistake — Anthony would be gutted about the result.
She is, undisputedly, the best mogul skier in the world — a reality underlined by her 27 World Cup gold medals, six crystal globes, world No.1 ranking, and Beijing Olympic gold.
All signs pointed to the Barwon Heads product paving her way to more Olympic glory in Italy as she navigated qualifying, which she topped with a score of 81.65, and the first of the finals, in which she put down a peerless 83.96.
So when she stumbled in the midsection of the course, costing her a gold medal that was hers to lose and a chance to create Australian Olympic history, reality would undoubtedly have hit hard.
Really hard.
But with tremendous pride for the new kid on the Olympic slopes, an ability to accept her fate — at least with cameras in her face and Wilson by her side — and an eye on a comeback, she handled the cruel twist with utmost class.
Which, considering Anthony had been handed one of the greatest honours in Australian sport just days earlier when chef de mission Alisa Camplin unveiled her and moguls teammate Matt Graham as flag bearers, was perhaps not surprising.
The truth is, it's one hallmark of sporting greatness to be a champion, and another to be a champion who acts with dignity.
It's always refreshing to flick on the TV or open the paper after the Australian Open — a spectacular sporting event, but one with no shortage of spoilt brats, such is the tennis world — and listen to or read about likeable sportspeople.
The 83.96 registered by Anthony in the first of the finals was actually the highest score across qualifying and the finals. It eclipsed the 82.30 scored by American gold medallist Elizabeth Lemley in the super final by a fair margin.
But such is sport, and such is mogul skiing, a discipline formatted differently to many disciplines of a more forgiving nature.
Anthony, already an Olympic champion after her triumph in the singles moguls in Beijing four years ago, will go in search of a second Olympic gold medal in the dual moguls, a discipline new to the Olympics at these Games, on Saturday.
Superstar Australian snowboarder Scotty James will carry a similar weight of expectation into an Olympic final when he goes for gold in the men's halfpipe on Saturday morning (AEDT).
He is gutted for his teammate.
"I have a lot of empathy for Jakara, and I feel for her because I've been in that position," James said after topping qualifying on Thursday morning (AEDT).
"She's so surgical in the way she operates. I watch her train; she really puts the time and the effort in.
"You expect to do your best when you set up like that [as the top qualifier].
"So, yeah, [I'm] sad for her, [and] I'm sure she's feeling the same.
"But look, she's a trooper and a warrior, and I'm sure she'll come back even stronger.
"I look forward to giving her a hug when I see her."
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