Europe won three glorious Olympic gold medals on a sensational final night of the track and field programme in Rio on Saturday.
Great Britain’s Mo Farah became only the second man to achieve the double-double in the 5000m and 10,000m, Ruth Beitia became the first Spanish woman to lift an Olympic athletics title and German Thomas Röhler completed his superb season by winning the javelin.
It was quite an evening…
Farah has enough left for glory
Finland’s Lasse Viren had been the only athlete to win the Olympic long-distance double with his success in 1972 and 1976, but now Mo Farah stands alongside him.
For the second ‘final Saturday’ of the Games in a row, Farah repeated his act from London 2012 by clinching 5000m gold to add to his 10,000m success from a week earlier.
He fell to his knees at the realisation of what he had achieved, as he won his 14th major gold medal at these distances and completed his fifth successive summer of winning this double.
'It means so much to me, I cannot believe I did it,' said Farah, having had enough speed to sprint across the line in 13:03.30, in a close race, from American Paul Chelimo (13:03.90) and Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet (13:04.35).
Talking to British Athletics, Farah, 33, said: 'I did it in London and that was incredible and now four years later to do it again – there are no words to describe it.
'Mentally I had to be on top of my game. The guys were out there to get me, so I just had to be alert. I controlled it and controlled it. I was not going to let anyone past me and then at the end I just used my speed.'
Farah took the lead at 3000m, was still in front with 1000m left before increasing the pace as the bell was in sight.
Along the back straight, Gebrhiwet was a major threat and the pair were together into the final 100m before Farah finally had enough with 40m left, to seal a glorious triumph at what is set to be his final Olympics on the track, with the possibility of the marathon in the years ahead.
One of the legacies he might have left is that of fellow Briton Andrew Butchart who was sixth in a personal best of 13:08.61 on a great night for him, too.
Beitia's one of the ages
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While Farah was being feted after his double glory in London, Spain’s Ruth Beitia was contemplating a life away from competition.
The European champion had finished fourth in the high jump final and decided to bow out while very much at the top.
But she had unfinished business.
A few months later she was back and now, at her fourth Olympics, she is the champion supreme at the age of 37 as Europe took a clean-sweep in the event.
With her national flag draped around her, Beitia’s smile emerged from inside the colours as she celebrated this magnificent achievement.
No Spanish woman had won Olympic athletics gold medal before and Beitia is also the oldest Olympic champion in a jumping event.
'I am proud to still be continuing,' said Beitia. 'I have the same enthusiasm and happiness, even at my age. Never did I think I would be competing again after the London Olympics. My dream has become a reality.'
Beitia, who won a third successive European crown last month, triumphed on countback at 1.97m with, like in Amsterdam, Bulgaria’s Mirela Demireva taking silver while in third, Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic won bronze at an Olympics which was her first event since January because of injury. American Chaunte Lowe was fourth, also with the same height, as Beitia had three first-time attempts to bring gold.
Vlasic told Reuters: 'This medal is a badge of honour. It is rewarding for being brave given the circumstances. The doctors didn’t tell me to stay out of the Olympics, but they told it me it would hurt - and it did.'
Röhler bang on the mark
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When Thomas Röhler produced the world-leading javelin throw of 91.28m in June, he established himself as the man to watch this summer.
A back injury saw him finish fifth in the European Athletics Championships but the 24-year-old now has a gold medal after a fifth round throw of 90.30m, the second longest distance of 2016.
It was a dramatic competition which had seen Kenya’s world champion Julius Yego take the lead in the first round with 88.24m. But he then suffered an injury with his next throw and did not record another mark, retiring by the fifth round.
Röhler had started impressively enough with 87.40m before throws of 85.61m, 87.07m and 84.84m ahead of his winning mark.
Yego took silver with Trinidad’s defending champion Keshorn Walcott (85.38m) in bronze as European athletes secured the next six places.
Röhler, the first German man to win this gold since West Germany’s Klaus Wolfermann in Munich in 1972, stood with arms pumped-up as he celebrated his triumph.
He told AFP: 'I woke up with the right feeling this morning. I was feeling maybe it's the right day for me. We live for challenges in javelin and that is why I love the sport.'
Relay bronze for Britain
Europe’s glut of medals did not end there as Britain’s 4x400m women's team of Eilidh Doyle, Anyika Onuora, Emily Diamond and Christina Ohuruogu won bronze in 3:25.88 from the USA (3:19.06) and Jamaica (3:20.34).
It was the Ohuruogu’s third Olympic medal and the 2008 400m champion said: 'After the heats we knew a medal was up for grabs. It’s all well and good saying that but we actually had to come out and deliver and we really needed a strong performance from all the girls.
'I was feeling a bit down in the dumps after not making the [400m] final, so I had to lift myself up. I am really proud of the team. For all of us it’s really nice to go home with something.”
Even though they did not make the top three in the 800m won by South African Caster Semenya (1:55.28), Poland’s Joanna Jozwik (fifth in 1:57.37) and Britain’s Lynsey Sharp (sixth in 1:57.69) both ran personal best times.