RIO DE JANEIRO - Aaron Cook, the former British number one now representing Moldova, was left distraught after crashing out of the Olympic taekwondo competition in the first round on Friday.
Taiwan's Liu Wei-Ting (R) competes against Moldova's Aaron Cook during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games men's taekwondo -80kg qualifying bout at the Carioca Arena 3 in Rio de Janeiro on August 19, 2016
The second seed was fighting in the Olympics for the first time since Beijing after being controversially overlooked by British selectors for London 2012.
But his ambitions for welterweight gold were left in tatters on the mat at Rio's Carioca Arena by Taiwan's Liu Wei-Ting.
With a significant height advantage the 15th seed Liu managed to avoid Cook's trademark spinning headkicks to beat the Moldovan national 14-2.
The 25-year-old Dorchester-born Cook was on the verge of tears as he tried to come to terms with his Olympic dream transformed into a nightmare in the space of a few minutes.
"I'm absolutely devastated - all that hard work and sacrifice by myself and my parents, I just feel I've let everyone down," he shrugged, staring blankly into the distance.
"It didn't go right on the biggest stage and it's heartbreaking."
Although scant consolation, Cook may still get the chance to have a tilt at a bronze medal depending on later results.