Armand Duplantis fulfilled a childhood dream as he broke his own pole vault world record in retaining his Olympic crown on Monday but Simone Biles showed she is human after all.
The day after US sprinter Noah Lyles blasted his way into the record books with the narrowest of wins in the men's 100m, a pulsating Stade de France witnessed another historic evening of track and field action.
Not for the first time, the night belonged to the invincible Duplantis.
The US-born Swedish great was the sole vaulter to go beyond the six-metre mark, leaving American Sam Kendricks trailing in a distant silver, with Greece's Emmanouil Karalis in bronze.
After securing gold again, it was then a case of how high the 24-year-old Duplantis could go.
He set a record of 6.24m in April but with the Stade de France holding its breath, he bettered that on his third and final attempt at 6.25m before milking the deafening applause of the crowd.
"What can I say? I just broke a world record at the Olympics, biggest possible stage for a pole vaulter," Duplantis said.
Kenya's Beatrice Chebet produced a masterful display of tactical running to win the women's 5,000m and end defending champion Sifan Hassan's dream of a long-distance treble.
Britain's Keely Hodgkinson produced a thrilling gun-to-tape run to win the women's 800m while America's Valarie Allman defended her discus title.
In early action at the track, the "big three" advanced comfortably in the heats of the men's 400m hurdles, seen as one of the most competitive races of the Games.
Defending champion Karsten Warholm and his challengers, American Rai Benjamin and Brazilian Alison Dos Santos, all cruised through and eased up well before the line.
Fresh from his breathtaking triumph, Lyles breezed to victory in his 200m heat with a time of 20.19sec to reach the semi-finals.
Biles settles for silver
Earlier in the day, all eyes were on Biles to see if she could write some more history of her own.
Widely considered the greatest gymnast in history, the American was bidding to add to her Paris haul of three golds in balance beam and floor finals at the Bercy Arena, in her final day of competition.
But the 27-year-old slipped off the beam while walking backwards in her routine, the unusual error gifting gold to Italy's Alice D'Amato.
A furious Biles exited the arena to prepare for her floor exercise final, which also ended in heartbreak as two landing hiccups sent her into silver behind Brazil's Rebeca Andrade.
She famously fell victim to the debilitating mental block gymnasts call the "twisties" at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago but has bounced back emphatically to silence critics who slammed her as a quitter.
Biles ended her campaign in Paris with three golds and a silver, bringing her total Olympic haul to 11, seven of which are gold.
Chebet wins 5,000m gold
Kenya's Beatrice Chebet produced a masterful display of tactical running to win gold in the Olympic women's 5,000m on Monday, ending defending champion Sifan Hassan's dream of a long-distance treble.
Chebet -- nicknamed "the smiling assassin" -- bided her time before accelerating past compatriot Faith Kipyegon down the home straight to take gold in 14min 28.56sec at the Stade de France.
Kipyegon, the reigning 5,000m world champion, was initially disqualified from the silver medal position for an alleged shove on Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay with two laps to go.
However, she was later reinstated after an appeal from Kenyan officials. Following that appeal, Dutchwoman Hassan was bumped back down from silver into bronze after finishing in a time of 14:30.61.
Hassan, 31, had been aiming to become the first woman in history to win 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon gold at the same Olympics, emulating the feat achieved by men's distance-running great Emile Zatopek at the 1952 Helsinki Games.
Chebet's victory was the latest milestone in a dazzling season for the 24-year-old Kenyan, who set a world record in the 10,000m in Eugene, Oregon in May.
Chebet will now look to seize Hassan's Olympic 10,000m crown when the race takes place on Friday.
