Rio 2016: Day 15 wrap-up as GB sets new record tally with Mo Farah, Liam Heath and Nicola Adams all taking gold

A comprehensive look back at all the biggest stories from day 15 at the Rio Olympics

Mo Farah after his historic 'double-double' (Getty)

While the Rio Olympics are dribbling to an end, Great Britain’s gold rush continues unabated.

On the penultimate day here in Rio, Team GB added three more gold medals via Mo Farah, Nicola Adams and Liam Heath to take their tally to 66, one more than they achieved in London four years ago.

Farah won a thrilling 5,000m race to add to last Saturday’s 10,000m gold, pulling away from his battered rivals in the home straight, and completing the double double. He, of course, won both in London too.

Farah’s victory cements his status as one of the all-time great British athletes but he was made to work over every metre. On the sensational last lap he was challenged first by the Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet and then the American Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo. But he kicked for home at 200m and found a burst of pace on the home straight as Chelimo looked briefly as if he might pull off an upset.

Farah began the race at the back of the pack to avoid trouble after he fell in the 10,000m final last week and stumbled in the 5,000m heat, but he quickly moved up the field. With five laps to go he moved into second and then drove to the front. He would not be caught.

"I can't believe it,” Farah said to the BBC. "It shows I didn't just fluke it in London, to do it again is incredible. I just want to see my kids and hang this medal around their necks.

"I was surprised by the first lap, I thought it was going to be a slow race. They had a plan, they wanted to take the sting out of me but when I hit the front, I wasn't letting anyone past me. I hate to lose. Even in PE I hated losing. It has been a long journey but if you dream of something, have ambitions and are willing to work hard then you can get your dreams."

Adams also defended her gold from London, entering the history books when she beat Sarah Ourahmoune of France in the flyweight final.

In 2012 she won with ease but in the final round here she had to have the fight of her life, an old-fashioned slugfest to secure gold.

Adams is now 33 and has refused to decide on her future but Tokyo – and a triple – is not out of the question. "I wanted that bit of history and now I have it," said Adams. "I'm now the most decorated boxer in British (amateur) history and that sounds very special." She has two Olympic golds as well as one Commonwealth Games gold and European and World amateur titles.

Ourahmoune was relentless in the last round as the pair swung in a frenzy. It was Adams that staggered away first at the final bell, smiling broadly, believing she had hit gold. "I knew I had done enough, I knew the gold was mine," she said. She was spot on.

Liam Heath became Britain's greatest canoeist by powering to Olympic gold in the K1 200 metres. The 32-year-old landed his third Olympic medal, and first gold, seven years after taking his first steps back into the sport, having left it for good.

Back then Heath, whose victory followed the silver he won with Jon Schofield in the K2 200m, was making cocktails and pulling pints while completing a degree at Loughborough University.

“I'm over the moon,” Heath said. "I came out of university twiddling my thumbs a little bit, not knowing what I wanted to do. Then the 200m was announced as an Olympic discipline and I've always been pretty nifty over 200m. I left where I was working and committed full-time."

Heath overcame a slow start to motor past France's Maxime Beaumont in the closing stages to take victory. His amazing power, the result of doing chin-ups with 90 kilograms tied round his body, was in evidence as he crossed the line in 35.197 seconds, with the Frenchman 0.165 seconds behind.

Following hot on the heels of Farah were Great Britain’s women’s 4x400m relay team – and they were the ones who took the medal tally to 66, winning bronze.

The team of Christine Ohuruogu, Eilidh Doyle, Anyika Onuora and Emily Diamond followed the USA and Jamaica in third place. For Ohuruogu it was her third Olympic medal over three Games. She now has all the colours. "It has been hard but it is nice to go home with a medal. I am so proud of them, we got a good job done today."

Elsewhere, Bianca Walkden won bronze in taekwondo and Vicky Holland also won bronze in the triathlon sprinting to her gong at the expense of her compatriot, house mate and training partner, Non Stanford.

It was not all glory though. Tom Daley had a miserable day. In a catastrophic reversal of the form he showed in reaching the semi-finals, topping the qualification list with 571.85 points, Daley finished last of the 18 competitors, failing to make the medal shoot-out.

And it was not all about the Brits either. At the Maracana, Neymar scored the decisive penalty in a 5-4 shoot-out victory over Germany that gave Brazil gold and some redemption after their defeat to the same country two years here in the World Cup. Although they are very different teams – due to Olympic rules – it will help heal the wounds.

The match finished 1-1 after 90 minutes and extra time before Neymar coolly stroked home the winning penalty to send 80,000 home fans home very happy indeed.