PARIS (AFP) – Emotional sprint sensation Harrie Lavreysen became the Netherlands' most successful summer Olympian Sunday with a third Paris cycling gold in the men's keirin, boosting his career haul to five.
On a thrilling final day at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, newly-minted New Zealand star Ellesse Andrews powered to the women's sprint title to add to her keirin gold.
And American Jennifer Valente successfully defended her omnium crown to culminate a week that saw Britain's waning track dominance diminish even further.
Britain had bossed the medal table at every Games since Beijing in 2008, but there was a narrowing of the gap in Tokyo three years ago.
With the retirement of legends Laura and Jason Kenny it has closed even further.
While they topped the overall Paris medal table with eight, Britain managed just a single gold, as the Dutch won three and New Zealand and the United States earned two each.
Lavreysen, who also defended his sprint and team sprint titles, is now his country's most successful summer Olympic athlete ever, surpassing former swimmer Inge de Bruijn and three others who have four gold.
"It's incredible, this was my biggest dream to go for gold three times," he said after beating Australian pair Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer.
"I felt really strong the full week. This morning, I thought, 'It is possible', but I needed to ride the perfect final, and I was really close to perfect until the end."
"I was emotional on the podium. I felt tingling everywhere, and I had to sit down for a moment," he added.
Invented in Japan in 1948, the keirin involves riders lurking behind a motorised pacemaker before exploding in a sprint to the line over the last three laps.
Glaetzer was the first to make the move with Richardson following, but Lavreysen's stunning burst of speed in the final lap saw him home.
MASSIVE WEEK
Andrews was similarly dominant, blasting to the sprint title after her keirin exploits.
The 21-year-old outgunned German world record holder Lea Friedrich 2-0 in the best-of-three series for New Zealand's maiden sprint gold.
British world champion Emma Finucane beat the Netherlands' Hetty van de Wouw for bronze.
"I feel like I'm living in a dream," said Andrews.
"It's been a massive week, and I'm just so proud of how I've managed to carry myself to the end of the competition.
"She's an amazing rider, all the girls are," she added of Friedrich.
"So to come up against her, I had to read the race and hopefully create a plan that was going to put me across the line first."
Valente had an equally good week, taming the field in the omnium to go with her team pursuit win, finishing 13 points ahead of Poland's Daria Pikulik. New Zealand's Ally Wollaston was third.
"I don't think an omnium is ever under control, a lot of things can happen in bunch racing and happen very quickly," she said.
"So I was definitely staying really attentive, and racing all the way to the end."
The omnium is one of track cycling's most unpredictable events, featuring four separate races –- the scratch, tempo, elimination and points -- with riders collecting points in each.
Valente timed the opening 30-lap scratch race to perfection, pulling clear on the final stretch to take the maximum 40 points.
Irish rider Lara Gillespie seized the initiative in the tempo, finishing first.
But Valente kept her overall lead, eight points clear of Australia's Georgia Baker.
The 29-year-old then won an energy-sapping elimination race to take a 10-point advantage into the final 80-lap race where she made no mistakes.