The inability of shot putter Valerie Adams to defend her Olympic title came as a shock to some.
It shouldn't have.
She was battling history.
Since its introduction to the Olympics in 1948 only one woman has gone back-to-back - Russian Tamara Press.
Then there was a not so small matter of her rival Nadzeya Ostapchuk from Belarus.
The 31-year-old had played second fiddle to the dominant Kiwi for the best part of five years but in the month preceding the Olympic final had regularly thrown over 21 metres.
She brought her A game to the final on day 10 of the London Games - and Adams could not live with her.
While Adams battled to defy what had gone before, the Black Sticks women wrote their own chapter in the annals of New Zealand hockey history by making the semi-finals of the Olympics for the first time.
They enjoyed some good fortune in their 0-0 draw with Germany and had keeper Bianca Russell to thank after a string of quality saves and a chance of a medal awaits.
In Weymouth two Kiwi sailors already have a medal in the bag with 49er pair Peter Burling and Blair Tuke assured of silver once they navigate their medal race on Wednesday. No one can catch them and they can't win gold so the leading boats can enjoy a nice day out on the bay.
Laser sailor Andrew Murdoch finished his regatta fifth and other sailing crews remain in contention heading towards the medal races.
While a volcano was stirring after a century of slumber back home, half a world away Ben Fouhy also erupted, slamming his treatment through his career by New Zealand's sports funding agency.
Fouhy failed to make the K1 1000m final but the K2 pair are there, as sixth fastest qualifiers.
Elsewhere, boxer Alexis Pritchard was outclassed by the second seed, cyclist Joanne Kieslowski finds herself with ground to make up at the halfway stage of the omnium and US-based Lucy van Dahlen achieves her goal of making the semi-finals of the 1500m.
