Kiwi track cyclists Aaron Gate and Campbell Stewart have come up just short of the podium despite a mighty effort in the men's madison.
The pair were consistent in the sprints during the 200-lap but ultimately finished fourth at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome on Saturday (Sunday NZ Time) after being unable to gain points from lapping the field.
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Gate, New Zealand's opening ceremony flagbearer, and Stewart amassed the second-most points from the 20 sprints, with 33 points, just two behind the gold medallists Portugal, but were not one of the five tandems to pick up 20 points by taking a lap.
The Kiwis were riding with Portugal in the latter stages of the race, attempting to reach the back of the peleton, however, they dipped out and the Portuguese went on to pick up 20 points and winning the last three sprints for gold.
Gate and Stewart took points in 13 of the 20 sprints, including winning the seventh and finishing second in the 10th, 11th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th.
They became the fourth New Zealand athlete or team to finish fourth in Paris, joining swimmer Erika Fairweather, rowers Shannon Cox and Jackie Kiddle, and canoe sprinter Aimee Fisher earlier on Day 15.
There was good and bad news for New Zealand's other track cyclists on the penultimate day of the Paris Olympics.
Ellesse Andrews, a gold and silver medallist already in Paris, advanced to the semifinals in the women's sprint, while silver medallist teammate Shaane Fulton was knocked out in the 1/8 finals repechage.
Andrews defeated former world record holding Canadian Kelsey Mitchell in her 1/8 finals race, then controlling both races to take out Germany's Emma Hinze in the best-of-three quarterfinals.
The 24-year-old will face Great Britain's Emma Finucane in the best-of-three semifinals on the last day in Paris from 9.22pm NZT.
Like in the 1/16 finals, Fulton was pipped by a split-second, by Great Britain's Sophie Capewell in the head-to-head 1/8 finals, forcing her to take the repechage route. She finished third of three riders, missing out on a spot in the last-eight.
In the men's keirin, Sam Dakin has moved into the quarterfinals but had to go through the repechage to reach the last-18.
In the fifth and final first round race, Dakin finished fourth, sending him into the last-chance contest, where it looked like he might get boxed in on the inside line before storming to the finish line in second.
He will race in the last of three six-rider quarterfinals on Sunday from 9.29pm NZT, needing a top-four finish to move into the semifinals.
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