Usain Bolt declared himself "the greatest" after becoming London 2012's history man with a second double gold performance.
And British fighter Nicola Adams also entered the record books, becoming the first Olympic woman boxing champion as Team GB's golden girls delivered again.
Jamaican Bolt sprinted into history on the track as the first man to win a Games 100m and 200m sprint double at two separate Olympics. The 25-year-old, who could win yet another gold in the 100m relay, said: "I'm now a living legend, I'm also the greatest athlete to live.
"Now I am going to sit back, relax and think about what's next. But I am not ready to retire. I love this sport. The rest of the season I am just going to have fun because I did what I came here to do."
Team GB's female athletes led the way again by adding three more golds and a bronze to the medal haul. Adams's victory came along with rider Charlotte Dujardin winning her second gold medal of London 2012 in the dressage which also saw a bronze for Laura Bechtolsheimer. And in a dramatic late-night triumph, 19-year-old Jade Jones won Britain's first taekwondo gold medal. The victories take Team GB's medal haul at London 2012 to 52 - 25 gold, 13 silver and 14 bronze.
Adams, a one-time extra in soaps such as EastEnders and Coronation Street, was roared to victory by chants of "Nicola, Nicola, Nicola" from 10,000 ringside fans at London's ExCeL arena. The 29-year-old sealed her win with an Ali shuffle as she comprehensively overcame China's double world champion Ren Cancan in front of a crowd including the Duchess of Cambridge.
Adams, from Leeds, said: "It's a dream come true for me. I have been dreaming about this since I was 12 years old and the moment's finally come out here and I have finally got my gold medal for Great Britain."
Tears of joy came at the same arena with a weeping Jones, who celebrated by grabbing a Union Flag and a Welsh dragon and running around the arena. She said: "It doesn't feel real, it feels crazy ... it has just been amazing."
The victory for Dujardin in the individual dressage means she joins Dame Kelly Holmes, Rebecca Adlington and Laura Trott as elite women who have won two golds in one Games. Dujardin, from Newent, Gloucestershire, would never have achieved gold but for an inheritance which bought her an £18,000 horse.
She said: "My parents don't have a lot of money and it was only through my mum's mum dying, and with her inheritance money, we managed to buy Fernandes at a sale and he became my first grand prix horse. I have to say, I owe my mum an awful lot. She's great, she's supported me all the way. I'm very lucky."
The Press Association, photo by Brunel University