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Triathlon
Just as in the first Olympic triathlon in Sydney there were great crowds along the route in Vouliagmeni and the women's race saw an Aussie favourite caught at the death by an unlikely outsider.
Triathlon can look forward to a secure future as an Olympic Sport after its second appearance in the Games matched its first of four years ago in producing drama, colour, true competition and two gripping races.
Just as in the first Olympic triathlon in Sydney there were great crowds along the route in Vouliagmeni and just like in 2000, the women's race saw an Australian favourite caught at the death by an unlikely European outsider.
Favourite Loretta Harrop led out of the 1500 metre sea swim, throughout the tricky 40km bike leg and until the last 200 metres of the 10km run, only for 34-year-old Australian-turned Austrian Kate Allen to sweep through with a remarkable finishing burst to take the gold.
It was heartbreak for former world champion Harrop, who had done much of the work on the five-lap bike course where two stiff climbs did exactly what the organisers wanted by breaking up the field into a series of small groups.
Allen would not have been on her radar having come out of the swim 44th of the 50 competitors and finished the bike leg in 28th place, 2:48 minutes behind the leader.
But Allen raced through the field to take a surprise gold in two hours, 4.43 minutes, ahead of Harrop and American Susan Williams running well for the bronze.
The men's event produced a piece of Olympic history as Hamish Carter led home a New Zealand Olympic one-two when he outkicked world champion Bev Docherty over the final 800 metres.
It was the first time that two New Zealand men had won gold and silver in the same event in the history of the Games.
The men's event was a different sort of race to the women's as a large group formed early on the bike.
A group of six eventually escaped and shortly into the run it had become three.
The two Kiwis, long-time rivals but also great friends, eventually left Switzerland's Sven Riederer, who went on to take bronze.
Docherty, world-ranked number one after a fantastic year, was the favourite on paper but 33-year-old Carter gradually applied the pressure and broke clear to win in one hour 51.07.73 seconds.
"Two Kiwis on the podium, how amazing was that?" said Carter, who has been a consistent performer at the top level of the sport for a decade without ever landing a major title.