Kelly Holmes tonight completed a glorious middle distance golden double, adding the 1,500 metres title to her 800 metre triumph.
Here are ten other great gold-winning runs by British athletes at past Games:
Sebastian Coe (1,500 metres - Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984)
Now Lord Coe, he was simply Seb at the Moscow and Los Angeles Games and came away with brilliant golds in the 1,500 metres. The image of Coe crossing the line at Moscow, with his arms stretched out wide and neck veins bulging as he looked to the heavens, remains one of the most famous athletics pictures ever taken. Coe’s golds were expected to come in the 800 metres, but they went to...
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Steve Ovett (800 metres - Moscow 1980)
Britain had not one, not two, but three great middle-distance runners in the 1980s, with Coe, Ovett and Steve Cram. It was Ovett who became the first to strike gold with his exceptional 800 metres victory at the Moscow Games of 1980.
Although Coe had been the favourite, it was Ovett who won the tactical battle against his younger compatriot and rival, only for revenge to be exacted in his specialist 1,500 metres. Ovett took bronze over what was his specialist distance, and that second medal was to prove his last at the Olympics. At Los Angeles four years later, a sick Ovett could not recapture his Moscow form.
Sally Gunnell (400 metres hurdles - Barcelona 1992)
As career switches go, Sally Gunnell’s decision to step up from 100 metres sprint hurdles to the full one-lap distance proved one of the most shrewd and successful in British athletics history. Her defining moment came at Barcelona in 1992 with an outstanding victory in the 400 metres hurdles, Gunnell sprinting off the final hurdle to pull away from her long-standing American rival Sandra Farmer-Patrick.
Linford Christie (100 metres - Barcelona 1992)
At the age of 32, Christie became the oldest ever winner of the 100 metres on a balmy evening in Barcelona. Bug-eyed and supremely focused, he zoomed down the track to capture gold in 9.96 seconds, finishing in front of Frankie Fredericks and Dennis Mitchell.
Allan Wells (100 metres - Moscow 1980)
With the Americans boycotting Moscow, the path was cleared for Edinburgh-born Wells to claim Britain’s first 100 metres gold for 56 years as he pipped Cuban Silvio Leonard on the line. Wells also struck silver in the 200 metres, behind world record holder Pietro Mennea, at a glorious and career-defining Games for the Scot.
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David Hemery (400 metres hurdles - Mexico City 1968)
At the Games which will forever be remembered for Bob Beamon’s amazing long jump, David Hemery obliterated the 400 metres hurdles world record on his way to gold.
Hemery, born in Britain but raised in the United States, clocked 48.12seconds, a time which, if he had run it now, would put him in the top 10 performers of 2004.
Ann Packer (800 metres - Tokyo 1964)
The most unlikely gold medallist of all, Packer had only run the 800 metres five times in competition before heading to Tokyo, where her focus had been trained on the 400 metres. But after winning only a silver in her specialist event, Packer stepped up her preparations for the longer distance. She was the slowest qualifier for the final but then sliced four seconds of her personal best with two minutes and 1.1 seconds landing her the status of Olympic champion.
Eric Liddell (400 metres - Paris 1924)
Immortalised by the Oscar-winning movie Chariots of Fire, Liddell’s profound Christian beliefs forced him to abandon his bid for 100 metres glory, as the heats were staged on a Sunday. Born in the Far East to missionaries, he preached at the local Church of Scotland while the 100 metres heats were taking place, and gambled on going for gold in the 400m instead. Despite his lack of experience over the one-lap event, Liddell triumphed in a world-record time of 47.6 seconds. He later became a missionary in China and died of a brain tumour in an internment camp in 1945, towards the end of the Second World War.
Harold Abrahams (100 metres - Paris 1924)
Abrahams was Britain’s answer to Jesse Owens in the period between the World Wars, and although he could not quite match the great American’s Olympic legacy, the Cambridge graduate’s long-jumping and sprinting feats left an indelible impression. He held the British long-jump record for 32 years, but his 100m gold at Paris in 1924 was the pinnacle of his achievement. Of course, Eric Liddell was absent from the 100 metres, deciding against competing on religious grounds because the heats were staged on a Sunday. With Liddell, the final could have been a different story.
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Chris Brasher (3,000 metres steeplechase - Melbourne 1956)
Before founding the London Marathon and taking part in Sir Roger Bannister’s sub-four-minute mile, Brasher was an Olympic champion. His gold came in the 3,000-metres steeplechase at Melbourne and ended 20 barren years for British athletes at the Games. Despite being only the third pick for Britain, Brasher rose to the occasion and a powerful finish saw him not only smash his own personal best but carry off the gold in an Olympic record.