Britain's Lutalo Muhammad was handed a lifeline to fight again through the repechage of the taekwondo under-80kg after losing his quarter-final at ExCeL.
Muhammad secured a 7-1 first-round win over Tajikistan's Farkhod Negmatov, but he could not get past Nicolas Garcia Hemme.
However, because the Spaniard then went onto reach the final, the Briton heads into the repechage contest, where he will take on Iran's Yousef Karami at 2015, when victory would line up a medal contest against a beaten semi-finalist.
Muhammad, European champion earlier this summer at the under-87kg, offered "no excuses" for failing to make more of an impact.
The 21-year-old said: "The nature of sport is that it does not always go your way. I thought I had a few head shots in there which could have scored, but there are no excuses to be made. I am very disappointed.
"I came here to win gold, and that is an opportunity which won't come across again [at a home Games], but I have to live with that, and if need be refocus and gather myself for a possible repechage match."
Muhammad added: "It has always been my dream to win gold, but it was not to be today."
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