The finale of the World Championships belonged to the glittering United States track team yesterday on a night spiced up by charismatic European performances in the field.
American Allyson Felix, assisted by DeeDee Trotter, Mary Wineberg and Sanya Richards, ran away with her third gold medal of the worlds in the women's 4x400m relay.
She was joined as a multiple gold medallist by compatriots Jeremy Wariner, anchor of the triumphant men's 4x400 team, and Bernard Lagat who became the first man to win the 1,500 and 5,000 titles at the same worlds.
Felix, Wariner and their team-mates embraced and draped themselves in US flags. Yesterday's victories meant the US became the first nation to sweep all four relays in World Championships history.
"I feel truly blessed," Felix smiled after becoming only the second woman to win three golds at the same worlds after East German Marita Koch in 1983.
"Tonight was extra special for me to run with these young women. I couldn't ask for a better team."
While the Star-Spangled Banner rang out over Osaka, stunning individual performances on the field earned first gold medals for both Croatia and Finland.
Blanka Vlasic captured the hearts of the Nagai stadium with a commanding victory in the high jump.
The 23-year-old clinched the title by sailing over the bar at 2.05m. Jumping to her feet, one hand on her hip, one pointing to the sky, she treated the Osaka crowd to an impromptu dance and wiggle as she celebrated gold.
She was not finished yet, though, and went after Stefka Kostadinova's world record of 2.09m. The Croatian clipped the bar on each occasion, though, before falling to the mat and sobbing as her triumph sank in.
"I wanted it so bad... now I am in a state of shock," the pale-eyed Vlasic said.
"My dance? I couldn't repeat it now. In every competition I have a different one - you need to spice it up."
In the javelin, Finn Tero Pitkamaki utilised his uniquely acrobatic style to confirm gold with his final throw. Already assured of victory, he hurled the javelin skywards and himself to the ground to propel his final effort to 90.33m, the longest of the night.
Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen took silver in 88.61m and American Breaux Greer bronze.
Felix and her team-mates won in a time of three minutes 18.55 seconds. Jamaica were again forced to play second fiddle, with Britain taking bronze.
Wariner's team-mates LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor and Darold Williamson had all but won their relay race when the individual 400m champion took over for the final leg.
He crossed the line in two minutes 55.56 seconds, the third fastest time in history as the US won the event for the eighth time in 11 World Championships. Bahamas took silver and Poland a surprise bronze.
In the 800 metres, Kenya's Alfred Kirwa Yego beat Canadian Gary Reed by just one hundredth of a second. The 20-year-old's winning time was one minute 47.09 seconds and he became the first Kenyan to win the event since Paul Ruto in 1993.
Kenyan-born Lagat's 5,000m victory in 13.45.87 capped an incredible double for the 32-year-old.
Lagat joined Hicham El Guerrouj, who achieved the feat at the 2004 Olympics, and Paavo Nurmi (1924 Olympics) in winning both titles at a single global championship.
One doping case
The biggest anti-doping programme in athletics world championship history at Osaka has so far unearthed one adverse result.
The athlete concerned would not be identified until this week under the rules of the governing body of world athletics, the IAAF said.
From the start of pre-competition testing on August 20 to the end of Saturday's competition, 1,060 doping controls, involving 926 athletes, had been carried out.