The 20-year-old smashed the 4km pursuit world record by five seconds and looked nailed on for gold with less than a minute of the final to go.
But Atkinson was pushing so hard with two laps and less than a minute to go that he agonisingly lost control on the top bend, collapsing into a heap at the bottom of the track.
Slovakia’s Jozef Metelka was left to coast home while Atkinson hobbled around the track, helped by medical staff, as chants of ‘Archie’ rang around the velodrome.
“I dug as deep as I’ve ever dug and it showed,” said Atkinson. “I just ran out of energy and went down.”
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