British Olympians have claimed eight gold medals in one weekend as Sunday's performances matched "Super Saturday" in Beijing.  | OLYMPICS BLOG BBC Sport's Matt Slater in Beijing |
Team GB even tasted the giddy heights of third place in the medal table with their 17-medal haul, adding four silver and five bronzes to their tally for the two days. After what is being described as the greatest weekend in British Olympic history, here's a full rundown of all the brilliant Brits who won medals, and a few of those who missed out. SATURDAY GOLD MEDALS Rebecca Adlington set a new world record as she clinched her second swimming gold medal in Beijing with victory in the 800m freestyle. The 19-year-old, who won gold in the 400m freestyle on Monday, destroyed the rest of the field as she finished 2.12 seconds inside the previous world best - and started Britain's predicted bumper weekend in style. Britain's coxless four - Tom James, Steve Williams, Peter Reed and Andy Hodge - were gold medal favourites going into their final, but a nervy start left the Australians with a considerable lead. However, the gritty Brits fought back expertly to claim gold in a time of 6:06.57 ahead of the Australian and French crews. Bradley Wiggins retained his Olympic 4000m individual pursuit title with a magnificent ride as Britain dominated Saturday's track cycling. Wiggins gradually upped his pace to beat Hayden Roulston by more than two seconds, then Chris Hoy blew away his opposition to earn gold in the keirin. SILVER MEDALS Britain produced in a surprise silver in the keirin, Ross Edgar producing a stunning final-lap performance to steal in behind Hoy. BRONZE MEDALS Steve Rowbotham and Matthew Wells finished third behind Australia and Estonia in their double sculls final, mere fractions of a second away from claiming a silver medal but out of contention for gold. Earlier, Britain's first rowing medal of the Games came thanks to a late surge from Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington in the women's double sculls - they only just missed a higher prize in a tight finish. Chris Newton - one of the unsung heroes of Britain's world-beating cycling team - earned bronze with an impressive performance in the points race. Steven Burke, who almost won through to face Bradley Wiggins in the men's individual pursuit final, instead settle for the comfortable dispatch of Russia's Alexei Markov in the bronze medal race. AND THE MEDAL HOPE WHO MISSED OUT.. Kelly Sotherton failed to set the Bird's Nest alight in her opening heptathlon events, but produced a good performance in the javelin to keep her slim medal hopes alive going into her final event, the 800m. Alas, Sotherton's second place finish was not enough to haul her up into the medal places, and she had to settle for fifth place overall. SUNDAY GOLD MEDALS Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson, Britain's Yngling crew, worked incredibly hard in rough conditions to stay ahead of their Dutch rivals and take gold in Qingdao. The Dutch started Sunday's medal race just a point behind the GB boat, but the British sailed a perfect race in weather far different from Saturday's windless doldrums. Ben Ainslie, next up in the Finn class, brilliantly dispatched US rival Zach Railey, racing over the line in first place to win the medal race and the gold. Britain's men's lightweight double sculls, otherwise known as Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter, lived up to their reputation as the golden boys of the GB rowing squad. The duo produced a scintillating scull to beat the Greek boat and earn Britain's first ever lightweight rowing gold. Former Olympic rowing silver medallist Rebecca Romero completed her remarkable conversion to track cycling with a comfortable victory over team-mate Wendy Houvenaghel in the women's individual pursuit final. Romero won silver in the women's quadruple sculls in Athens, but the pursuit world champion stamped her mark on cycling with a victory that left her in tears. SILVER MEDALS Team GB has never previously won gold in women's rowing - something Katherine Grainger and her quad scull crew set out to change. For a while it appeared as though they were on course, but China surged through to claim their first ever rowing gold, leaving Grainger and her crew looking distraught on the podium. The men's eight earned a silver in a closely-fought race. They produced a storming second half of the race and almost hauled in the winning Canadian crew, only to run out of space. With Britain guaranteed the top two places in the women's individual pursuit final, Wendy Houvenaghel automatically picked up silver when she lost out to team-mate Rebecca Romero. BRONZE MEDALS GB men's gymnast Louis Smith rounded off a brilliant weekend with a surprise medal. The 19-year-old produced a fine performance to become the first British man to win an individual gymnastics medal. AND THE MEDAL HOPES WHO MISSED OUT... Paula Radcliffe failed to realise her dream of adding Olympic gold to an illustrious marathon career, despite a gutsy performance. Radcliffe suffered a leg fracture in May and her lack of preparation showed as she limped across the line in 23rd. David Davies had high hopes of taking a medal in the men's 1500m, but was always off the pace in a gruelling race. The 23-year-old said the pace had been too much for him after a gruelling heat on Friday, but the Welshman has another medal chance to come in the men's 10km open water swim.
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