RIO DE JANEIRO - Usain Bolt's unprecedented third straight sweep of Olympic sprint titles were just one feat that had International Olympic President Thomas Bach declaring Rio 2016 an "iconic Games" on Saturday.
Mo Farah will be in the spotlight on Saturday at the 'iconic' Rio games
Bach said the show put on in Rio in the midst of financial crisis and political turmoil showed "that it is possible to organise the Olympic Games in countries which are not at the top of the GDP ranking".
While his praise vindicated the efforts of organisers who have been slammed for infrastructure deficiencies, poor spectator turnout and transportation troubles, Brazil sports fans had more pressing concerns on their minds on the penultimate day of the first Olympics in South America.
Star striker Neymar was poised to light up Rio's Maracana as Brazil seek to avenge their traumatic 7-1 World Cup semi-final humiliation at Germany's hands.
Football is one of 30 golds on offer on Saturday, seven of them at the Olympic Stadium where British distance great Mo Farah, his 10,000m defence completed, seeks to retain his 5,000m title and become the first man since Finland's Lasse Viren in 1976 to retain two Olympic distance titles.
Farah takes center stage after Bolt's blazing exit. The 29-year-old sprint star's blazing run gave Jamaica victory in the 4x100m relay late Friday -- completing his unprecedented "triple-triple" and prompting Bolt to pronounce himself "the greatest".
Victory was still in the balance when Bolt took the baton for the anchor leg, but he powered down the straight to cross in 37.27sec before soaking up the acclaim from an adoring crowd.
"There you go. I'm the greatest," said Bolt, whose third straight 100m, 200m and 4x100m sweep put him alongside Carl Lewis and Paavo Nurmi on nine track and field Olympic golds.
"I hope I've set the bar high enough that no one can do it again."
Bolt's departure from what he vows was his last Games sucked plenty of star power out of the stadium, but Saturday's seven finals still offered plenty of intrigue.
South Africa's Caster Semenya goes for gold in the women's 800m. The 25-year-old continues to divide opinion in the athletics world because of her condition of hyperandrogenism, which causes elevated testosterone levels that some rivals say give her an unfair advantage.
American Allyson Felix, already the first woman to claim five career athletics gold medals, will try to make it six in the women's 4x400m relay, while golds are also up for grabs in the men's 1,500m, women's high jump, men's javelin and men's 4x400.
- More heartache for Malaysia's Lee -
China's Chen Long inflicted more Olympic heartache on Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei with a straight games win for gold in the men's badminton singles final.
Lee, beaten in the past two Olympic finals by Lin Dan, disposed of his Chinese nemesis in the semis in Rio but couldn't get past Chen for a gold that would have been Malaysia's first in any sport.
South Korea's Park In-Bee was poised to strike for the first women's Olympic golf title in 116 years, and a US team seeking a sixth straight gold took on Spain in the women's basketball final.
Off field scandals continued to simmer, with Bach cautioning against a rush to judgment in the case of European Olympic chief Patrick Hickey, jailed in Brazil as authorities investigate a black market Rio Games ticket ring.
Bach could offer little information on the nine Australian Olympic competitors who appeared in court overnight after authorities said they tampered with their credentials to gain access to their team's basketball semi-final against Serbia.
They were fined and released, with a spokesman for Games organisers calling it a "minor incident".
Mercifully it couldn't hold a candle to the Ryan Lochte saga, which grabbed headlines for days and led to court appearances and fines before the US swimmer apologized for inventing a story about an armed mugging after he and three teammates were confronted by a security guard after vandalising a gas station.