Maurice Greene led the United States 4x100m relay team to an expected gold medal in Saturday's final.

After Great Britain were disqualified in farcical circumstances on Friday no-one was expected to mount a serious challenge to the Americans, and so it proved as they stormed to victory in 37.61 seconds.

Brazil ran an excellent race to finish second, while Cuba took the bronze.

While Greene celebrated his second gold medal, Marion Jones failed to add another title to her collection in the women's 4x100.

Jones ran the anchor leg for the United States but had too big a gap to bridge on the final bend and had to settle for bronze behind the Bahamas and Jamaica.

However, Jones quickly put that disappointment behind her to run a blistering third leg in the 4x400m that saw USA take gold ahead of Jamaica and Russia, with Britain finishing a disappointing sixth.

In the men's event, the United States cruised to victory ahead of Nigeria and Jamaica, with Britain emulating their female counterparts.

Britain's Kelly Holmes left the Olympic Stadium empty-handed but the former Army physical training instructor had already pocketed a bronze from the 800m.

Holmes, who had not competed in a 1500m this year until the Games because of injury, found her stunning efforts earlier in the week eventually tell as she finished seventh in 4:08.02.

Team-mate Hayley Tullett came home 11th after crashing to the track following a collision with Romania's Gabriela Szabo who kept on her feet to grab the bronze with a sprint down the home straight.

"It was a more tactical race than I thought it would be," said Holmes. "I got boxed-in, there was a lot of argy-bargy out there and it was a shame that Hayley was brought down.

"I was tired and when the bumping starts you find it more difficult to find space for yourself then when you are fresh.

"They were some of the dirtiest 1500m runners I've run against out there, but I don't care. I have come here got into two finals and gone away with the bronze medal."

Algeria's Nouria Merah-Benida won in 4:05.10 from Romania's Violeta Szekely (4:05.15) who held off her fellow countrywoman Szabo, the 5,000m champion, by just 0.12sec.

Tullett picked herself up and ensured she would not finish last in her first Olympic final by overtaking American Suzy Favor-Hamilton, who fell in the home straight, right on the line to clock 4:22.29.