Australia has again failed to pick up a gold medal on Day 13 of the Beijing Olympics but a silver medal in sailing and a bronze in women's water polo kept the medal tally ticking over.
Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby were hoping to outpoint the Spanish crew in the medal race and claim a gold medal in the tornado class, but it wasn't to be.
A bungled start put them in a difficult position and while they picked their way through the field, they could only finish fifth, a spot behind Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz and settle for silver.
In contrast the Stingers had a fantastic success in the bronze medal water polo match against traditional powerhouse Hungary. In arguably the Australian moment of the day, the match ended 7-7 after regulation and 9-9 after extra time. It came down to penalties and the Australian team prevailed 3-2 when Hungary's Rita Dravucz missed her shot.
The Opals also flew the flag strongly, running away from a dogged Chinese side to win their women's basketball semi-final 90-56, setting up a much-anticipated clash with the USA in the gold-medal match on Saturday night.
Australia will also play for a medal in men's hockey but it is not the colour the Kookaburras would have wanted after losing 3-2 to Spain in their semi-final after the defending champions had led 2-0. The bronze medal playoff will be against The Netherlands.
The women's basketball team plays their semi-final against China later on Thursday.
Australia's equestrian campaign has ended without a gold medal with Edwina Alexander and Matt Williams unable to challenge for a medal in the individual jumping final.
Mellissa Wu's hopes for a medal in the 10m platform crashed when she faltered on one dive, scoring just 24.75 points which saw her finish sixth. It was the same dive, the three-and-a-half somersault with tuck which she bombed in the earlier rounds.
It was a wet day in and out of the water, with the women's 20km walk held in pouring rain early in the day, where it was disappointment for the Australians
Athens bronze medallist Jane Saville was 20th, 4:46 behind the winner, Claire Woods was 28th and Kellie Wapshott 40th. But it was better news for javelin thrower Jarrod Bannister who booked himself a spot in the final with a throw of 79.79.
In similarly wet weather at night, Sarah Jamieson and Lisa Corrigan both failed to make the final of the women's 1500m.
In the canoe/kayaking, Ken Wallace made it through to the final of the men's 500m K1 after booking a spot in the men's 1000m 24 hours earlier. However, C1 participant Torsten Lachmann bowed out as did Chantal Meek in the women's K1 and Jacob Clear and Clint Robinson in the K2.
Ky Hurst's bid for Olympic glory in the men's 10km marathon swim ended in disappointment in 11th, while wrestler Sandeep Kumar (84kg) and taekwondo's Burak Hasan (68kg) failed to make an impression. Naazmi Johnston is 22nd after two rotations in the rhythmic gymnastics.
The weather was too inclement for the BMX semis and finals to be completed.