China have surged ahead of the United States in the Olympic medal table after a spectacular morning for the hosts in Beijing.

To the delight of thousands of spectators across the Games venues, Chinese athletes claimed golds in shooting, gymnastics and swimming.

The haul takes their overall tally to 20 Olympic titles 10 clear of America and 14 ahead of South Korea and Germany.

Liu Zige kicked off a glorious three hours for the hosts by claiming their first swimming gold medal of the Olympics.

Her victory in the women's 200 metres butterfly came in world record time, with team-mate Jiao Liuyang taking the silver to complete a memorable one-two.

Liu said: "The atmosphere was really good, I could hear the crowd cheering. I didn't expect I could swim so fast and I never imagined I could win gold."

Gymnast Yang Wei wiped away eight years of frustration to capture the Olympic all-around title.

After claiming a silver medal in 2000 and drawing a blank in Athens four years later, Yang finally lived up to his reputation as the greatest gymnast of his generation when he scooped gold with a total score of 94.575.

He edged out Japan's Kohei Uchimura by 2.6 points. France's Benoit Caranobe claimed an unexpected bronze with Britain's Daniel Keatings finishing 20th.

China head coach Huang Yubin said: "We have been waiting for this all around gold for eight years, it's been really hard.

"Yang Wei's absolute strength has no other rivals, but himself. I hope he is able to go on for another Olympics."

Compatriot Li Din was also in jubilant mood at the Beijing shooting range after her way to gold in the women's 50-metre rifle (three positions).

The defending champion said: "I wanted to get this gold. It was the same day four years ago on 14 August, I got my first gold in Athens. I think this date brings me luck.