Great Britain gymnasts Hannah Whelan and Rebecca Tunney looked to be out of medal contention at the halfway point of the women's individual Olympic all-around final at the North Greenwich arena.
Tunney was in 21st place with Whelan 16th after both had completed on the beam and floor with the traditionally high-scoring vault still to come.
The United States' Gabrielle Douglas was leading the competition ahead of Russians Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina after two of the four rotations.
Tunney, who qualified in 15th place, and Whelan were in the same group and again started their competition on beam, just like in qualification and the team final.
Whelan was the first to compete and the European bronze medallist produced a clean and elegant performance to score 13.700.
British all-around champion Tunney, the youngest gymnast in the competition, showed poise on her way to scoring 13.133 on arguably the toughest piece of apparatus.
The British duo then moved to floor where 15-year-old Tunney scored 13.933 as Whelan weighed in with 14.133 to leave them both way down the 24-strong field.
American Douglas, who posted the highest all-around title in the team final where the United States won gold, rocketed into an early lead on vault thanks to her 15.966-scoring Amanar.
Komova, reigning world uneven bars champion, was in the same group as Douglas, Aly Raisman and Mustafina, and kept it tight at the top with a strong vault of her own and 15.966 on the bars - just below the score of her team-mate's 16.100 tally.