Sir Chris Hoy won a fifth Olympic gold after Great Britain's men's team sprint squad triumphed on a night of high drama at the London 2012 Olympic Velodrome.
After Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish were relegated from the team sprint for a takeover infringement and Britain's men's team pursuit quartet set a world record, Hoy, Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny progressed to the final of the three-man, three-lap team sprint in a world record of 42.747 seconds.
The British trio clocked another world record in a stunning finale, finishing in 42.600secs.
In a repeat of the final four years ago in Beijing, France's Gregory Bauge, Michael D'Almeida and Kevin Sireau had to settle for silver, finishing in 43.013.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry arrived after Pendleton and Varnish were eliminated from the competition, but were part of the capacity velodrome as an expectant crowd, including Prime Minister David Cameron, witnessed Hoy's historic achievement.
The 36-year-old from Edinburgh, competing in his fourth Games, won one-kilometre time-trial gold in Athens in 2004, three titles in Beijing and has now drawn level with Sir Steve Redgrave as the Briton with the most Games golds.
Kenny now has a second Olympic gold and third medal in all, while for Hindes it capped a remarkable period after a rapid rise to prominence, not least on Thursday after he fell to the track after a wobbly start to qualifying. Bronze went to Germany (43.209), with world champions Australia (43.355) fourth.
An emotional Hoy wiped a tear from his eye on the top step of the podium as the national anthem finished playing, with the partisan crowd singing along.
Hoy must now wait until Tuesday's final day of the track programme to compete in his second event, the men's keirin. He was clearly emotional when he wiped a tear from his eye on the top step of the podium as the national anthem finished playing, with the partisan crowd singing along.