Olga Butkevych bowed out of London 2012 after the Briton lost to Lissette Alexandra Antes Castillo in the first round of the women's -55kg freestyle wrestling.
Butkevych was looking to deliver Britain's first ever women's wrestling gold, but she went down 1-1 2-0 1-2 to her Ecuadorian opponent at the ExCeL.
The 26-year-old was expected to make it through to the quarter-finals, but she was outclassed by the 21-year-old despite strong support from the home crowd at the arena in London's Docklands.
Butkevych flew out of the blocks, getting behind her opponent to move 1-0 ahead, but she was caught off guard at the end of the period and allowed the Ecuadorian to win a decisive second point after getting behind the Briton.
Butkevych fought back in the second period, getting behind Antes Castillo twice, but the Ecuadorian threw her to move 1-0 up in the third.
The Salford-based wrestler pulled a point back, which meant she was on course for victory, but she was thrown out with four seconds to go to seal an agonising defeat.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," a tearful Butkevych said afterwards. "It's my big competition, once every four years. I've been competing every year for the past four years.
"But this year, the big year, I lost. I didn't feel pressure from the crowd, but I was proud to be there for them.
"There were so many people here to support me and I'm proud but sorry."
Overall, Butkevych finished 11th out of 19 competitors.