Matthew Richardson did nothing wrong. Harrie Lavreysen is just better than anyone else.
The Dutch master again showed he is track cycling's match sprint king, beating the Australian in the gold medal ride-off to successfully defend his Olympic title.
Lavreysen has won the last five sprint world championships.
Richardson had beaten him at times over the last few years and used his key weapon - acceleration on the last bend - to take it to Lavreysen.
But the Dutch star was too good and won their final two heats to nil.
It was Richardson's first individual Olympic medal, after he won bronze earlier this week in the team sprint.
He and Matt Glaetzer will ride the opening keirin heats on Saturday.
"I put my best foot forward, I didn't leave anything out on the track. He's one of the greatest sprinters we've ever seen on this planet," Richardson said.
"He definitely sets the benchmark, for other riders to chase. Someone like that shows you what's possible - it's easy to use him as a target for the future.
"I'm extremely proud of the silver. I have bronze and silver - there's one more to collect and that's what we'll try to do in the keirin."
The Dutch become the first country to win more than one gold medal at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome outside Paris after seven decided events.
"I haven't been beaten a lot in the last three or four years and if I was beaten, it was by Matthew," Lavreysen said.
"I expected it to be hard - we (finished) really close.
"He performed crazy-well ... a lot of respect to him. He was the best opponent to have in the Olympic final."
Richardson was trying to become only the second Australia to win gold in the men's sprint, after Ryan Bayley in 2004.
Richardson's silver and the team sprint bronze are the first Australian Olympic medals in the men's sprint events since Bayley won the sprint and keirin in Athens.
Lavreysen broke the world record for the flying 200m in qualifying - Richardson also went under the old mark to be second-fastest.
The Dutch great was also part of the combination that went under 41 seconds for the first time as they defended their team sprint Olympic title.
Richardson, like Lavreysen, had not put a foot wrong in the sprint event until the gold medal ride-off, when he hit a Dutch brick wall.
"You've just seen the greatest sprinter, ever ... in terms of pure pace and speed," Australian assistant coach Scott Gardner said of Lavreysen.
"We knew everything had to go right tonight to get close to him, and it was close."
Earlier on Friday the Australian beat Lavreysen's compatriot Jeffrey Hoogland two heats to nil in their semi, shaking his fist in elation as he finished the second race.
British rider Jack Carlin beat Hoogland 2-1 for the bronze medal.
Australian world championship silver medallists Georgia Baker and Alex Manly finished ninth in the madison, won by Italy ahead of Great Britain and the Netherlands.
Also on Friday, Australian Kristina Clonan made an encouraging start in the women's sprint.
Clonan qualified 11th-fastest, with German Lea Friedrich becoming the latest rider to set a world record at the super-fast velodrome when she posted 10.029 seconds for the flying 200m.
Clonan won a repechage heat to reach Saturday's third round.
