Reigning world champion Nina Kennedy made sure to respect the qualifying round and was rewarded with am armchair ride into the Olympic pole vault final as several other big names crashed out.
Kennedy - who shared top spot on the podium at last year's world titles with American Katie Moon - only needed to vault twice for first-up clearances at 4.40m and 4.55m to book her spot in Wednesday night's gold medal decider.
Moon was among six other vaulters who tied for top spot in qualifying with Kennedy.
"I did what I had to do," said the 27-year-old Australian.
"You know, the qualifying is always a tricky one.
"You want to give it the respect it deserves, and you want to jump well, while trying to maintain some physical energy and emotional energy for the final.
"So it's a tricky one."
The final on Wednesday night will be a marathon affair involving 20 athletes.
But the notable absentees include reigning world indoor champ Molly Caudery - who crashed out in qualifying without clearing a single height - and fellow Brit Holly Bradshaw.
Australian big gun Matt Denny also looked every inch an Olympic medallist-in-waiting as he powered into the men's discus final with a minimum of fuss.
Denny's second throw of 66.83m on Monday morning was the second best of the qualifying round behind only world record holder Mykolas Alekna from Lithuania (67.47m), even though the flight was far from perfect.
The 28-year-old Queenslander has been inching ever closer to a first global medal in recent years, finishing fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and sixth, sixth and fourth at the most recent three world championships.
"I'm in really good shape," he said.
"It wasn't the cleanest throw but qualifying is a bit of a different beast for everyone right now.
"There are a lot more expectations in that part of the process than there is in the final.
"Three throws and it could be all over so there are a lot of things that come into play there.
"Good to get it done and do it quickly and quite easily."
Teenager Torrie Lewis - who famously beat Sha'Carri Rcihardson on her Diamond League debut in China earlier this year - held her nerve to book a spot in the 200m semi-finals by winning her repechage race in 23.08 seconds.
But teammate Mia Gross (23.34) was eliminated.
Another Olympic debutante, Alanah Yukich, squeezed into the 400m hurdles semi-finals by one thousandth of a second after tying for second spot in her repechage race in a personal best of 55.11.
Fellow Australian Sarah Carli (55.12) was run out, despite clocking a time just one hundredth of a second slower than Yukich.
Ellie Beer will contest the women's 400m repechage on Tuesday after finishing fifth in her heat in a PB of 51.47.
