Jonathan Edwards won his fifth European Cup title in Bremen this afternoon - unaware that before his event had finished British hopes of defending their crown were lying in tatters.
Although fourth at the end of the first day, the British men felt they could retain the Bruno Zauli Trophy they won by a mere half point in Gateshead last summer.
However, the winning efforts of Mark Lewis-Francis in the 100m on the opening day and Edwards were rendered worthless when pole vaulter Nick Buckfield failed to make even one successful vault.
"It can't be true, I saw Nick clear the bar with my own eyes. It's bizarre," said Olympic champion Edwards, who won his event in the Weser Stadion with a first-round jump of 17.26 metres.
But the judges were right, and the British team management acknowledged Buckfield - competing with a hamstring injury which tightened when he was warming-up - had gone underneath the vault bar.
If Buckfield had scored some valuable points at a crucial stage it might have been a different story.
It was a costly and elementary mistake and Britain did not recover, despite a valuable contribution from 200m runner-up Marlon Devonish and other top-three performers Simon Lees (800m), John Mayock (3,000m) and Tony Jarrett (110m hurdles).
Britain finished with 91 points for fifth place overall - their lowest position since 1979 - as newly promoted Poland, with a score of 107 points, triumphed by 10 points from France, with Russia third on 95.
Buckfield chose not to enter his competition at the start height of 4.85m, instead waited until the bar reached 5.40m. He then failed all three attempts. The British record holder had make the same mistake at his last major championships - the 1999 world indoors.
Edwards, making his eighth cup appearance, was given a fright in the last round when Christos Meletoglou of Greece broke his four-year-old personal best with a 17.19m clearance.
"I nearly lost that competition, but I came here for the victory and I go away with a win," said Edwards.
"I am still getting some problems with the side of my back, the same injury that I got when competing in the cold and wet conditions in Helsinki recently.
"I thought that was cramp at the time but now I know that one of my ribs is slightly out of place.
"I was reasonably happy jumping 17.26. I always thought it had a good chance of being the winning jump. The wind was swirling down there and giving everyone problems. It made the competition a bit of a lottery.
"The Greek got the wind directly behind him and jumped out of his skin. I'm pleased to live up to expectations.
"We (the British team) had a circular under our door last night saying we were performing as well as expected and could pull it off, but you cannot forecast Nick bombing out. These things can and do happen."
Devonish, preferred to current British number one Christian Malcolm, was second in 20.59 seconds in the 200m as victory went to Olympic champion Kostas Kenderis, who clocked 20.31secs. -PA