GREATEST DAY OF SPORT I HAVE SEEN, SAYS cOE

When the head of the Great British athletics team Charles van Commenee set a target of eight medals in track and field from the host nation, one of them gold, there was many a concerned expression.

Such a feat was felt to be a tall order, even with a home crowd roaring their support for British athletes.

Then on day two of athletics competition, having watched the cyclists and rowers fill their boots at the velodrome and Eton Dorney, the British track team burst into life.

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Led by Sheffield’s Jessica Ennis, they won three golds in 45 spine-tingling minutes.

With six days still to come, they had tripled van Commenee’s gold target and are well on their way to beating the overall mark.

The feats of Ennis, Mo Farah in the 10,000m and Greg Rutherford in the long jump lifted the spirits of the nation.

It was a stunning evening of sporting drama which brought unparalleled success for British athletics.

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No wonder another great Olympian of the Steel City, Seb Coe, was so moved to describe it as the defining moment of the Games.

Coe said: “It was the greatest day of sport I have ever witnessed.

“I dreamed that we would have a night like that but not in my wildest dreams did I think that it would actually unfold in the way that it did.

“Up until (Saturday night) I would have never have questioned that the greatest night was ‘Magic Monday’ in Sydney (2000), the Cathy Freeman night.

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“That night in Sydney was Haile Gebrselassie going toe to toe with (Paul) Tergat, Michael Johnson, Jonathan Edwards... that was an extraordinary night, and this did edge ahead of it.

“Particularly if you put it into the context of what else was going on in the Games from the earliest moments of rowing right the way through to the velodrome.

“There was a narrative (on Saturday) of infectious success and it is a day none of us will ever forget.”

One of Saturday’s heroes Farah has another run in the 5,000m to come, Dai Greene goes for gold in the 400m hurdles tonight, Lisa Dobriskey competes in the 1,500m, Robbie Grabarz in the high jump and Holly Bleasdale in the pole vault.