After the emotional rollercoaster at Paris 2024's swimming venue on Tuesday night as Daniel Wiffen won gold - which itself had been preceded by the thrill of Mona McSharry's bronze medal success - Wednesday to the north of the French capital was not a place where medals were to be handed out.
However, one was secured for Ireland but its lasting hue is still to be determined. Kellie Harrington earned herself a quarter-final win over her Colombian opponent Angie Valdes Pana, guaranteeing the Dubliner at least bronze and will head into the latter rounds of the women's 60kg competition with the possibility of winning back-to-back Olympic gold medals.
Indeed, in a 100 years of Team Ireland's official existence at the Games, she is just our fourth Olympian to medal at more than one Olympics, only the second boxer, and the first female athlete to record that feat. So she is very much in select company regardless of what transpires in Saturday night's semi-final.
She made relatively light work of her quarter-final, not drawing herself into trouble, keeping her distance and picking her moments, showcasing her experience and the confidence of a fighter who knows what it takes to make it to the top step of the podium.
Only the second round was in any way close and even at that, the 34-year-old edged that one 3-2, at least where the judges were concerned.
Harrington cut a composed figure as she headed off to her post-fight interview with RTÉ Sport's Joe Stack within walking distance of the ring just below one of the stands.
But one thing had clearly been irking her in the lead-up to the fight and it was, in her view, a pre-fight suggestion that Wednesday's opponent would not present a credible challenge, which she took a jab at.
"So here's the thing, right, because I saw a little clip in an article from a journalist, 'Kellie Harrington faces a decent opponent' - that's not the exact words," she said.
"Let me tell you something here and now, every person at these Games, in the Olympics, is a brilliant opponent. There's no easy fights here, there's no easy contests, they're all hard. Nobody gets to an Olympic Games without being at the absolute top of their game. So any fight is a hard fight."
She then headed out to the corridor behind the stand where supporters, coaches, delegates and dignitaries - Tánaiste Micheál Martin among them - were waiting, although they all had to bide their time that little bit longer as the two-time Olympian was whisked off for a routine doping control before she even had the chance to say a proper hello.
Harrington and the two other Irish fighters on the bill for Wednesday had plenty of support in the arena as is customary at these Games.
My own vantage point was in the section where each country's team members, support staff and delegates were seated.
The contingent of Irish boxers already eliminated from their respective weight categories were there to show their support in the front row of seats just ahead, with Jennifer Lehane, Aidan Walsh and Gráinne Walsh vocally spurring their team-mates on.
Dean Clancy, the first of the Irish contingent to fight in Paris on Saturday, was also in the arena. A real show of togetherness.
They were there for the first Irish fighter in action as the 'Tyrone Tornado' Jude Gallagher tried to battle his way to a quarter-final of his own in the men's 57kg category.
But although he gave a good account of himself against Filipino Carlo Palaam - the smaller fighter proving to be a tricky target to hit - it wasn't enough to progress.
However, at just 22, he also struck a composed figure and offered a reminder that there are small victories beyond the outcomes in the ring.
"I'd be more fulfilled if I came home with a medal but this is what I've always wanted to do," he said.
"We sat there watching London and said, 'would you like to box here?' Now, 12 years later, I've boxed in the Paris Olympic Games.
"It's a dream come true. I've a lot to be grateful for right now. Although the decisions didn't go my way, and I wanted a better outcome, the whole experience is surreal."
While he had opened Wednesday's chapter for the Irish, it was to be bookended by Castlerea's Aoife O'Rourke who was coming into Paris with a fair degree of expectation in the women's 75kg category as a multiple European champion.
She was facing a fighter, Poland's Elzbieta Wojcik, who she had never lost to on six previous occasions. And yet from the off, it felt like O'Rourke was snared into the scrappy and messy game plan that Wojcik employed to give herself a chance.
O'Rourke was unable to gain a real foothold to fight on her own terms as she was dragged into a war of attrition characterised by constant holding, with the referee's warnings not seemingly having an effect.
While she won the first round and her opponent got a public warning, the pattern of the fight did not change, with Wojcik keen to keep it a skirmish. From a layperson's point of view, it appeared that only one of the two wanted to box.
However, the judges began swinging towards the Pole in the second round and the tide remained out for O'Rourke in the third.
One was none the wiser as to what way the fight would be called but O'Rourke appeared stunned when her opponent's arm was raised and an upset was confirmed.
Beijing 2008 silver medalist Kenneth Egan, who had championed her as a dark horse for gold, had misgivings about the officiating given just how messy a fight it was.
Kenneth Egan felt that Aoife O'Rourke's opponent Elzbieta Wojcik was lucky to escape a second warning and point deduction on her way to winning their last-16 bout on a split decision https://t.co/UVj8G93jRo #RTESport #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/27K0QOJqdz
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 31, 2024
But as she tried to comprehend what had transpired in the ring, O'Rourke was very much focused on her own performance and when the issue of holding from her opponent came up, she did not dwell on it and instead wished Wojcik well on her Paris journey.
"It gets frustrating, yeah, but there's not a lot I can do. It is what it is," was all she had to say on the subject.
Her disappointment and the sense of shock was still palpable as she passed by in the corridor minutes after the fight.
While Irish fans processed that outcome which means six of Team Ireland's ten boxers have bowed out after their opening matches, a fight significant to Harrington followed immediately after O'Rourke's which featured a blast from her boxing past.
It pitted Brazil's Beatriz Ferreira against Dutch opponent Chelsey Heijnen. Three years ago, Ferreira tried and failed to stand between Harrington and Olympic gold and given that she was again in blue in opposition to Heijnen's red, it evoked clear memories of Tokyo when Harrington made history in scarlet and delighted the whole of Ireland in the early hours of that fateful Sunday morning.
Their reunion in the semi-final stage at the Arena Paris Nord on Saturday night promises to be a blockbuster, but regardless of the outcome, Harrington will be bringing a medal home once again.
Watch the 2024 Olympic Games with 14 hours of televised action on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player each day. Listen to extensive radio coverage on RTÉ Radio 1 and 2fm's Game On and follow each moment from Paris on RTÉ.ie, the RTÉ News app and all RTÉ digital platforms. Listen to the daily RTÉ Sport Olympics Podcast.
