Even in the closing act as Australia’s Olympic chef de mission, Kitty Chiller couldn’t get it right and, once again, divided the nation.

The Olympic official, who courted controversy even well before she arrived in Rio for her role as the public face of our Olympic team, put her own profile — some argue — before those of the returning athletes.

Before the Australians landed, it was understood that the team’s flagbearers, Anna Meares and Kim Brennan, would lead the athletes from the plane.

Instead, Chiller stepped out first, followed by Meares and Brennan, sparking a wave of criticism on social media.

There's a shock as old mate #KittyChiller gets off the #Qantas plane first. #giveituplove #limelight pic.twitter.com/4WBnloeU3k

— Tom Heddon (@tommyheddon) August 23, 2016

Many people unloaded on Chiller for putting her own profile, career aspirations and self-promotion before the athletes.

Before the Games, a combative Chiller launched high-profile attacks on tennis stars Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic, and maintained a hardline in Rio by decreeing a 2am curfew on Aussie athletes, banning swimmer Josh Palmer from the closing ceremony after he had a massive night on the town.

Chiller also has the dubious honouring of heading a team with the worst medal haul in Rio since Barcelona in 1992, with eight golds and 29 in total.

But Chiller pointed to the youth of the team as a reason for hope, despite what she labelled a Games of missed opportunities.

“Sixty-five per cent of our team were Olympic rookies, 43 per cent under the age of 25, the depth and strength of our team and our youth is our future and Tokyo looms large.”

And now Chiller wants to do the job again at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. But performance will be reviewed by the AOC before it decides on its chef de mission for the Tokyo Olympics.