Morocco's El Guerrouj became the first man since Paavo Nurmi in 1924 to win both the 1,500 metres and 5,000 metres at one Games with his triumph over the longer distance.

The astonishing double deprived Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia of a 10,000m-5,000m double of his own, as the 22-year-old had to settle for silver ahead of world champion Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya.

It was a further vindication for El Guerrouj, the multiple world champion who had failed in two previous heartbreaking Olympic bids for the 1500m.

"After all that went on in Atlanta and Sydney this is a deserved reward, but also unbelievable that I can win two Olympic gold medals in the space of five days," El Guerrouj said.

"This has been the most remarkable week of my life."

Britain's Holmes added the women's 1,500m title to the 800 metres gold she won on Monday, repeating the feat of Russia's Svetlana Masterkova who clinched the double in 1996 in Atlanta.

After relegating Russian Tatyana Tomashova to silver, Holmes sank to the track and burst into tears as she took in the enormity of her achievement.

"Maybe it's fate," said Holmes, 34.

"Amazing things have been happening to me here."

There was more joy for Britain as they stunned the United States in the men's 4x100m relay -- only the second Olympic victory in the event for Britain and the first since 1912.

The British quartet anchored by Mark Lewis-Francis clocked 38.07 to edge a US team anchored by 2000 Olympic champion Maurice Greene by one-hundredth of a second, while Nigeria took the bronze.

The US rallied with victories in the men's and women's 4x400m relays, but Americans were having their problems in various venues around Athens where 34 gold medals were handed out on the penultimate day of the Games.

No Americans had even made it to the night's five boxing finals, from which Cuba and Russia each emerged with two titles.

Two-time world champion Odlanier Solis captured the heavyweight (91kg) crown for Cuba with a victory over Viktar Zuyev of Belarus, and Yuriorkis Gamboa triumphed over game Frenchman Jerome Thomas in the flyweight (51kg) final.

Russia's Gaydarbek Gaydar-bekov (75kg) and Alexei Tich-tchenko (57kg) also came away with gold, while Thailand's Manus Boonjumnong triumphed in the 64kg class.

American wrestlers received a bloody nose from their opponents and an ear-bashing from the crowd as two out of three finalists were beaten in gold medal match-ups.

Stephen Abas and Jamill Kelly both lost heavily before Cael Sanderson, the most experienced of the trio, restored some pride with a narrow 3-1 victory over South Korea's Moon Eui-jae in the 84kg category.

The majority of the crowd were against the American athletes as they attempted to underline their traditional superiority in Olympic freestyle wrestling.

China, America's closest rivals in the gold medal standings, were meanwhile celebrating their best performance ever at an Olympics.

They passed their previous top gold medal total of 28 when Luo Wei won the women's taekwondo under-67kg class.

Canoeists Meng Guanliang and Yang Wenjun had earlier claimed number 28 with their triumph in a thrilling men's flatwater canoe C2 500 metres final in which six of the nine boats finished within 0.58 seconds of each other.

And after Luo made it 29, diver Hu Jia gave China a record sixth Olympic diving gold with his win in the men's 10-metre platform.

Then the women's volleyball team battled back from two sets down to defeat Russia in the championship match, taking China's golden tally to 31.

The US still maintained an edge over China in the gold-medal stakes. And US fans could take solace in the reliability of the women's basketball team, veterans Lisa Leslie and Dawn Staley scoring key baskets in the final minutes to lift the United States to their third straight title with a 74-63 victory over Australia.

It was the Americans' fifth title in the past six Games, and a welcome antidote to the anti-climactic performance of the US men, who emerged with a 104-96 victory over Lithuania in the bronze medal match.

The National Basketball Association stars had been seeking a fourth consecutive gold medal and the 13th in US history but were ousted by Argentina in the semifinals who defeated Italy 84-69 in the championship game.