fall at the last hurdle

Verb

fall at the last hurdle (third-person singular simple present falls at the last hurdle, present participle falling at the last hurdle, simple past fell at the last hurdle, past participle fallen at the last hurdle)

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To fail near the end of an activity, a project, etc.
   • [W]hen she [Psyche] falls at her last hurdle, it is through her own act, motivated by the identical combination of curiositas and simplicitas that has been her undoing from the start.[1990, E[dward] J[ohn] Kenney, “Introduction”, in Apuleius, edited by E. J. Kenney, Cupid & Psyche (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics; Imperial Library), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire; New York, N.Y....
   • Now, at the point of action, it's easy to appear to fall at the last hurdle. In fact, you are unlikely to fail here. If it goes wrong now, it will [be] because you slipped at a previous waterjump and didn't notice the splash you made.1995, Warren Redman, “A Structure for Listening”, in Achieving Personal Success: An Introduction to Inner Balancing, Calgary, Alta.: Merlin Star Press, →ISBN, page 62

   Synonyms:

   fall at the final hurdle, fall at the last

   Antonyms:

   cross the line, go all the way