Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge demonstrated once again here that he is the foremost marathon runner of the moment as he remorselessly rid himself of all opposition to claim gold ahead of the two last men to have broken under his pace, Fayisa Lelisa of Ethiopia and Galen Rupp of the United States, who took silver and bronze respectively.

European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen believes that Sebastian Coe, head of the International Association of Athetics Federations (IAAF) - overlooked for International Olympic Committee (IOC) membership this year - should renew his case sooner rather than later.

Britain’s Mo Farah matched what was once the unique feat of Finland’s Lasse Viren here as he completed his second successive 5,000 and 10,000 metres double at the Olympics with victory at the shorter distance on a final night here when individual track golds also went, surprisingly, to Matt Centrowitz of the United States in the men’s 1500m and, inevitably, to South Africa’s Caster Semenya in the women’s 800m.

China's Lijiao Gong, women's Olympic shot put bronze medallist at the London 2012, is set to inherit silver following the retrospective disqualification for doping of Russia’s Evgenia Kolodko, and her team-mate Li Ling will move up to bronze.

After anchoring Jamaica home to gold in the men’s 4x100 metres, and thus completing a perfect 100m/200m/relay record in the last three Olympics, Usain Bolt diverted from his now customary lap of honour to kneel at his finishing point in lane three, bend down to the track and kiss the Games goodbye.

It is a straightforward enough template: Usain Bolt, triple Olympic 100 and 200 metres champion. 

It’s seven years since Kerron Clement won a global 400 metres hurdles title - but victory today in 47.73sec clearly came as no surprise to him as he had already made space in his medals cabinet for a first Olympic gold.

Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson bucked the trend on a huge night for United States women athletes as she became the first woman since Florence Griffith-Joyner at Seoul in 1988 to win the sprint double at the Olympics, winning the 200 metres in 21.78sec after holding off the world champion Dafne Schippers of The Netherlands, who clocked 21.88.

Conseslus Kipruto maintained Kenya’s great tradition in the Olympic 3,000 metres steeplechase here as he became his country’s ninth consecutive winner in an Olympic record of 8min 03.28sec.

Two emerging 22-year-old talents came of age here tonight as Jamaica’s effervescent Omar McLeod won the men’s 110m hurdles and Faith Kipyegon of Kenya outsprinted Ethiopia’s world champion Genzebe Dibaba to take the women’s 1500m gold.

Christian Taylor and Sandra Perkovic defended their respective men’s triple jump and women’s discus titles here in a morning session of athletics which also saw the forlorn departure of the woman who has carried Brazil’s gold medal hopes on her shoulders for four years, Fabiana Murer.

Two runners in this morning's 5000 metres heats, Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D'Agostino, reminded themselves and the wider world of what the Olympic spirit is all about.

Heavy rain delayed fourth day of evening athletics session here – but it was worth the wait as it provided the host nation, and a delirious home crowd, with one of the great Olympic shock victories as 22-year-old pole vaulter Thiago Da Silva set an Olympic Games record of 6.03 metres to defeat the defending champion and world record holder Renaud Lavillenie and secure a second gold medal for Brazil at Rio 2016. 

The Rio 2016 athletics programme had its third world record here this morning – a hammer throw of 82.29 metres with which Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk earned gold – and it might have had a second had Ruth Jebet run  a second faster in winning the 3,000 metres steeplechase title in 8min 59.75sec.