Australian track cycling great Anna Meares usually leaves scorch marks on velodrome boards.

On Monday she just left a trail of tears as her glittering Olympic career almost certainly ended in "brutal" fashion.

Meares won her sixth Olympic medal in Saturday's keirin final, a bronze, making her the first Australian to win an individual medal at four Games.

But the dismay at finishing a lowly 10th in the sprint, having not even qualified for Tuesday's medal rounds, was all too evident as she walked around the media mixed zone.

While she has yet to officially announce that Rio will be her last Olympics, the body language of the 32-year-old daughter of a Queensland coal miner gave the game away.

Tears streamed down her face as she was consoled by her great career sprint rival, Britain's now retired Victoria Pendleton who was also choked up.

At one point a volunteer rushed over with a box of tissues.

"It's hard to go out in the 9th-12th places," a red-eyed Meares said. "I must admit, to finish 10th is pretty brutal. I knew my sprinting was going to be the hardest part for me in these Games, but I didn't expect to be that far out.

"There is no one who will criticize me more than me. The perfectionist within me makes it hard to comprehend this result.

"For the first time in 22 years, I just couldn't get anything more out."

Meares won her first Olympic gold in 2004 in Athens, the 500m time trial, and has claimed 11 world titles across the various track cycling sprint disciplines.

So it was uncomfortable watching almost certainly her last Olympic ride end in defeat by New Zealand's Natasha Hansen.

(China Daily 08/17/2016 page5)