Annette Edmondson concedes Australia damningly lacked the legs as they were left lamenting their lowest Olympic track cycling medal haul in 41 years.
Edmondson probably has raced at her last Games and Matthew Glaetzer will take an extended break after the three-time Olympians fell short on the final day in Tokyo.
The only medal for the track team was bronze in the men's team pursuit and in terms of podium finishes, it is their worst performance since Australia won no cycling medals at the 1980 Moscow Games.
"I believe I earned my position, but I don't think we had the legs as a team that we thought we had," Edmondson said after finishing 12th in the omnium on Sunday at the Izu Velodrome.
"So it's a shame, but we're going to have to look back and see what we could have done differently."
Glaetzer showed guts to overcome his ill health this week and reach Sunday's keirin final, but he and the rest of the field were left gobsmacked by a stunning ride from British legend Jason Kenny.
As the derny swung off the track with three laps left, Kenny led and Glaetzer was second in the paceline, the Australian marking the riders behind him.
But there was too much of a gap between Kenny and Glaetzer and the British ace pounced, launching an improbable solo charge that rocketed him into history.
He became the first rider to win seven men's cycling Olympic gold medals and is also the first British competitor in any sport to achieve the feat.
It comes two days after his wife Laura became the first woman to win five cycling golds.
Australian-coached Malaysian Aziz Awang outsprinted Dutch rider Harrie Lavreysen for silver.
Glaetzer finished fifth and remains without a medal after three Olympics, but he showed plenty of heart through the week.
He was in the team sprint combination that finished fourth on Tuesday and said that event "completely broke me".
So Glaetzer sat out the sprint and returned for the keirin.
It is also two years since he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
"Sometimes things need to fall your way and unfortunately for me, they haven't personally in terms of medals," he said.
"I've got a bit of a larger perspective ... I'm privileged to ride my bike for Australia."
Glaetzer said he needs an extended break, while Edmondson doubts she will be back for Paris.
Matthew Richardson, a rising sprint star, was eliminated earlier on Sunday in the keirin quarter-finals.
Edmondson made a bright start in the four-event omnium when she was third in the scratch race, with a mass pileup behind her taking out nine riders, including Laura Kenny.
A trackside official was stretchered off Izu Velodrome after he was knocked over by one of the riders in the pileup.
The Australian said she made "the biggest mistake of my career" when she was caught badly out of position in the elimination and was the second rider to be taken out of the race.
American Jennifer Valente won the omnium gold medal ahead of Yumi Kajihara and Dutch rider Kirsten Wild.
Only two years after taking up cycling, Canadian Kelsey Mitchell won the women's sprint, beating Olena Starikova of Ukraine in the gold ride-off, while Hong Kong's Lee Wai Sze won bronze.
Australian Associated Press
