Liam Jegou finished seventh in the men's canoe slalom single final after an impressive showing had the 28-year-old threatening for a medal at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Centre.
The Team Ireland athlete described Saturday's gruelling day of action as "probably the hardest day I've had on the water in my life" but was in excellent form in today's semi-final.
A time of 98.52 meant he was sixth fastest of the dozen that progressed to the final, with world number three Nicolas Gestin posting the quickest time overall.
Jegou gave another assured performance when the final got underway shortly after, but there was agony as his brilliant run was ruined by touching the 23rd and final gate on the course to drop him from first to third with five paddlers to come after him.
Those two penalty seconds meant he replicated his time earlier in the day, and while 98.52 had him temporarily in the bronze position, it was never going to be enough with the five fastest semi-finalists yet to hit the water.
A clean run, without those two second penalties, would have been good enough for silver.
Jegou said his performance in the final was what he had "been working towards for the past 15 years".
He told RTÉ Sport: "I had a blast today, we spoke two days ago and I was ready to retire, maybe not that far but today was brilliant.
"I put down a really great semi-final run to qualify for the first final in a while, and that final was superb."
"It's what I’ve been looking for for years, years, years and I got it at the right moment. I can stand here and talk about the 'what ifs' and this and that but the fact is, two days ago I almost got eliminated in heats and today I almost medalled at the Olympics and that’s what I’ve been working towards for the past 15 years," he added.
Paris 2024: Ireland's Liam Jegou finishes seventh in the final of the C1 canoe slalom final and insists he has no regrets, targetting a return to the Olympics in four years time.#RTESport #Paris2024
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Gold went to France's Gestin, who on the course where he trains, blew the field away with a 91.36 second run, finishing well clear of Great Britain's Adam Burgess in second.
Last to descend in the final after his superlative semi, Gestin flashed through the course to finish more than five seconds ahead of Burgess, who took silver, with Matej Benus of Slovakia securing the bronze.
It was an afternoon of high drama on the stadium's white water as the last 12 paddlers fought it out for the medals, with thrills and spills aplenty before Gestin stole the show.
For Jegou, his attention now turns to Friday when he will compete in the kayak cross, a new canoe slalom event making its debut at Paris 2024.
"Kayak cross is a new discipline for this Olympics and it's really fun to watch. It’s four boats going off a really big scary ramp at the start and instead of poles we have these big gates we touch and go around and it’s a fight to the end between those four boats," he explained.
