TEAM GB grabbed their 1,000th all-time Olympics medal by earning silver in the men’s team pursuit on Wednesday.
But the landmark medal could have been gold, but for a late disaster.
Ethan Hayter, who had been leading the GB train, slipped off of the front of his saddle with under 200m to go.
He managed to avoid falling, but his slip saw GB’s chances left in tatters.
Australia went on to achieve gold with a time of 3:42:067, with GB posting crossing the line on 3:44:394.
Hayter apologised after blowing GB’s chance of team pursuit gold.
Londoner Hayter, 25, admitted: “I had the race in my hands a bit, it was what we wanted.
“We were so close but I literally tied up.
“I went pretty deep and my arms went weak and I fell off. It’s a bit embarrassing. Sorry to the guys.”
Team GB had gone into the final hoping to earn their 13th gold medal of this summer’s Games.
A quartet of British cyclists took on Australia in the final, with gold on the line for the winner.
Ethan Vernon, Hayter, Dan Bigham and Charlie Tanfield were selected for Team GB, with Oliver Wood the unfortunate man to miss out.
In Australia, Team GB faced a formidable opponent fresh off setting a new world record during the semi-finals.
But for most of the 4000m final, the Brits found themselves going blow for blow with their opponents… until disaster struck.
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But in the end, they had to be content with their landmark thousandth Olympic medal being a silver.
After the final, Hayter told the BBC: “We were so close and I could see it.
“It was nearly five laps at the end and I just really gave too much, and my whole body went weak and I really struggled to hold myself on the bike in the end.
“Sorry to the guys but I think we gave everything and we can be proud of that silver medal.
“We were super happy to win a silver medal but it was really there for the taking for us and we kind of knew that.
“We went out to get it but just came short in the end, so it’s a shame.”
Hayter’s team-mates blamed themselves for asking him to ride out a fraction too far as they attempted to stun the new world record holders.
Dan Bigham, who revealed he feared he would have to pull out of the event after a horror training crash on the top bend of the Saint-Quentin en Yvelines Velodrome, said: “We knew we had to go out at world record pace and hope we had it in the back end of the race.
“That’s pretty much how it was. We just gave half a lap too much to Hayter. Normally we give him four and a quarter but this was four and three quarters.
“He literally found the limit and off the saddle.”
Bigham added: “We genuinely thought we could pull it back.
“It was one of those classic GB-Aussie fight outs, that’s basically been a staple of the Olympics for 20 years now.
“To be within two tenths with a lap to go was exactly where we thought we needed to be. It’s just frustrating to have it so close and fall away from you in that moment.”
Bigham also revealed how close he had been to pulling out of the Games after the crash last Friday.
He said: “I crashed at 65kmh when I pulled out and hit a sprinter I hadn’t spotted.
“I was laying there in a loot of pain thinking ‘I’ve f***** it!’
“My shoulder is in a lot of pain and it cost performance, I can’t lie. That could have been the difference between gold and silver.”
Team GB swiftly added medal 1,001 – earning a bronze in the women’s team pursuit by beating Italy.
