Ennis, Rutherford, Farah mine gold for Britain

LONDON — The host nation turned Super Saturday into a gold-medal fest within one glorious hour for assembled royalty and 80,000 fans, with Jessica Ennis leading the way in the heptathlon and Mo Farah closing out in the 10,000 meters.

The nation had high hopes for both Ennis and Farah, and both through brilliantly. What few had expected was another gold, in the long jump, for Greg Rutherford.

The race to be the fastest woman on the planet almost became an afterthought, but Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce made it memorable still by becoming only the third woman to repeat as Olympic 100-meter champion, beating Carmelita Jeter of the United States and fellow Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown.

Britain, meanwhile, was merrily celebrating as the sounds of David Bowie’s “Heroes” blared through the stadium speakers and a sea of Union flags fluttered in the stands after one victory run followed another.

For many, they could have played Bowie’s song earlier in the day, too, when Oscar Pistorius took a giant stride into Olympic history just by starting in his 400 heat, becoming the first double-amputee runner to compete. He advanced to the semifinals.