Canterbury's Tom Walsh has gone from the edge of elimination to the Olympic podium once again.
The Kiwi this afternoon claimed a second straight bronze medal in the shot put as the top three from Rio 2016 all repeated their efforts in Tokyo.
Third place completed a dramatic reversal of fortunes for Walsh, whose Olympic dream looked to have ended in heartbreak during Tuesday night's qualification.
But having eventually had his third and pivotal qualifying effort counted - after an initial foul was successfully reviewed, a process that Walsh joked took a few years off his life - the 29-year-old enjoyed a much less stressful final at Olympic Stadium.
Neither Walsh nor anyone else in the 12-strong showpiece looked likely to catch American world record holder and defending champion Ryan Crouser, with compatriot Joe Kovacs the only one coming close to again earn silver.
Five of Crouser's six throws would have been good enough to take gold, with the official winning mark of 23.30m coming from a triumphant sixth and final effort.
After Walsh and Kovacs looked set to duel for silver, the American soon separated himself with a fourth attempt of 22.65m, leaving the Kiwi to be content with 22.47m and bronze.
And Walsh's satisfaction will be in no doubt, not after the tumult of qualification.
The 2019 World Championship bronze medallist must have been especially pleased to just see the white flag after his first throw. He unleashed it with a big roar and greeted it with a small clap of frustration, the 21.09m distance putting it squarely in the warm-up category.
But after Crouser's opening effort, which with some ease he sent out to an Olympic-record 22.83m, Walsh and the rest of the field looked to be playing for silver.
The Kiwi began his quest for that prize with a strong second throw, triumphantly raising his arms after recording 22.17m, his best mark to that point in Tokyo.
Walsh yelled "Tommy's coming!" as he left the circle and indeed, after the completion of the second round, he had climbed the leaderboard to within two centimetres of Kovacs in silver.
Another Olympic record of 22.93m from Crouser soon reaffirmed the gap between the favourite and his peers, one that Walsh could not reduce when he saw the dreaded red flag after his third throw.
His fourth was 21.37m and, with Walsh giving the impression his personal best of 22.90m might have been beyond him, Kovacs increased his lead in silver with a massive 22.65m.
Walsh's fifth throw of 22.18m solidified his hold on bronze and his sixth of 22.47m made him more than worthy of winning another Olympic medal.
That achievement was cheered on in the stands by Valerie Adams and Maddison-Lee Wesche, and like the women's final New Zealand again had duel representation in one of athletics' premier events.
But while Walsh matched Adams' bronze, Jacko Gill couldn't quite replicate Wesche's sixth-place performance as he finished ninth.
Gill's first effort was poor and he stepped out of the circle to render it null; his second was a much-improved 20.71m but still left him in danger of dropping out.
Needing a third throw of 20.74m to remain in the top eight, Gill could only repeat his second attempt, unable to reach his qualifying distance of 20.96m.
