The Russian pole vaulter broke her own world record in winning a second consecutive Olympic gold medal. Already assured of victory over rival Jenn Stuczynski of the United States, Isinbayeva set a mark of 5.05 metres on her third and final attempt at that height.
After eclipsing her old world record by 1 centimeter, Isinbayeva did a somersault on the mat before jogging around the stadium with a Russian flag as the crowd wildly applauded.
It was anything but a celebration about 10 hours earlier when defending 110-metre hurdles champion Liu Xiang, one of the most recognisable faces in China and even more popular than basketball player Yao Ming, walked away from the blocks after pulling up during a false start in qualifying, his Olympics over.
"We worked hard every day, but the result was as you see and it's really hard to take," said Liu's coach, Sun Haiping.
While Liu clutched his right leg in pain, an elderly woman in the stands wiped tears from her eyes, providing the most poignant example of what the 25-year-old hurdler, who had been affected by the injury for several months, means to many in his home country as it hosts the games for the first time.
Usain Bolt, the 100-metre gold winner and world record-holder, easily qualified for the 200 semifinals. Bolt never pushed himself to win his quarterfinal heat ahead of Olympic gold medalist Shawn Crawford, with the Jamaican mock-wiping sweat off his brow after the race.
The semifinals are set for Tuesday, with Crawford among the few believed to have a chance at stopping Bolt's quest for a 100-200 double, a feat last achieved by Carl Lewis at the 1988 Seoul Games.
Angelo Taylor won the men's 400 hurdles, finishing in 47.25 seconds to lead a U.S. sweep in the event. Kerron Clement finished second and Bershawn Jackson finished third, the first sweep since the United States did it in 1960.
Taylor, the 2000 Olympic champion, won his second gold by running a personal-best time of 47.25 seconds. He won the U.S. team's second gold medal of the meet, joining Stephanie Brown Trafton, who won the discus throw in an upset earlier Monday.
Pamela Jelimo led world champion Janeth Jepkosgei in a Kenyan 1-2 finish in the women's 800 meters.
The 18-year-old Jelimo, a heavy favorite despite only switching to the 800 in April, won in 1:54.87.
Three-time world champion and Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medalist Maria Mutola finished fifth in 1:57.68 in her fourth and last Olympics.
Irving Saladino won the men's long jump, giving Panama its first Olympic gold medal. The 2007 world champion won with a best jump of 8.34 meters. Brimin Kipruto of Kenya won the gold medal in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Emma Snowsill, a three-time world champion from Australia, took the triathlon gold in the 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-kilometer bicycle ride and 10-kilometer run in 1:58:27. Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal was second, a minute behind, and another Australian, Emma Moffatt, took the bronze.
"Coming down on the last lap I had to throw whatever I had left," Snowsill said. "There's nothing like running scared."
Chen Yibing extended China's unbeaten run of gold - five in five events - in men's gymnastics by winning the rings. The two-time world champion was perfectly still on nearly every move in registering 16.600 points that blew away the field of eight.
He Kexin of China won a tiebreaker over all-around champion Nastia Liukin of the United States for the uneven bars gold medal.
Britain won the men's team pursuit at the Laoshan velodrome, knocking nearly two seconds off the world record it set a day earlier. The team of Ed Clancy, Paul Manning, Geraint Thomas and individual pursuit gold medalist Bradley Wiggins finished the 4,000 meters in 3:53.314, almost overtaking the silver medal-winning Denmark in the final.
World champion Marianne Vos of the Netherlands won the women's points race.
Andrei Aramnau of Belarus broke three heavyweight world records to win his country's first Olympic gold in weightlifting. Aramnau lifted a total of 436 kilograms in the 105-kg category and also set world marks in the snatch and clean and jerk.
"I came here to win and break records," Aramnau said. "It's not just empty talk. I did it."
He Wenna of China won gold in women's trampolining, China took the men's team title in table tennis and the United States won the team show jumping event in equestrian in a jumpoff over Canada.
The United States beat Germany 106-57 in men's basketball, advancing to the medal round against Australia. Dwight Howard scored 22 points and LeBron James had 18, 16 in the first half, as the United States completed an undefeated 5-0 march through pool play.
