Bree Walker and Kiara Reddingius have finished 16th in the two-woman bobsleigh event at Beijing 2022.
Sitting in 12th place heading into Saturday's final two runs, the Aussie pair recorded their second-fastest time of the competition in the third round, a 1:02.04, to sit 11th overall.
However, a disappointing final run of 1:02.51, their slowest of the entire competition so far, saw them slip back in the standings, 4.68 seconds behind the leaders.
"I really don't have words for it. I'm just kind of comprehending what happened," Walker said.
"I really wanted to fix up a few mistakes that I was making all week, and I guess the last run I just wanted it too bad.
"But look, this is our first Olympics, and it's been a long campaign starting all the way back in October all the way to here, so I'm really proud of our small team.
"We're all pretty much freshies and first-timers for an Olympic Games, and we're just out here having a crack, making it happen.
"It's all going to be worthwhile in the long run, I'm sure."
Germany dominated the competition to win both gold and silver medals.
Laura Nolte, who finished fourth in the women's monobob earlier in the competition, recorded the fastest time in all but the last round to claim gold alongside Deborah Levi.
They finished 0.77 seconds ahead of Mariama Jamanka and Alexandra Burghardt in the second German pairing.
American Elana Meyers Taylor, who won the silver medal in the monobob, claimed silver with brakewoman, Sylvia Hoffman.
Walker and Reddingius had a highest finishing position of seventh in the IBSF World Cup this season, so a medal was always a long shot.
However, 30-year-old Reddingius, from the small Western Australia town of Leonora, was proud of what she had achieved at becoming a first-time Olympian.
"We can't be disappointed with that," Reddingius said.
"I'm just so proud of our season and our potential, and to just come here and lay it all on the line and to be brave enough to put it out there in front of everyone and just perform your absolute best, I think that's always good enough."
After their first run on Friday, Reddingius, who only started bobsleigh six months ago, was moved to tears at becoming an Olympian.
"I had this opportunity to come and try bobsleigh, the bobsleigh community has been something really special, I've had so much support," Reddingius said.
"To be here is something that still blows my mind, now I'm an Olympian and I'm so proud."
