The hosts' 32nd gold came from Xiao Qin who beat an elite field of  men's pommel horse. Earlier, fellow Chinese Zou Kai captured the men's floor exercise title, and Wang Jiao overwhelmed two-time world champion Stanka Zlateva of Bulgaris to strike gold in the women's freestyle wrestling 72kg.

China's Qin Xiao reacts while competing in the men's pommel horse final of the artistic gymnastics event of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing on August 17, 2008. China's Qin Xiao won the gold, Croatia's Filip Ude the silver and Great Britain's Louis Smith the bronze. [Agencies]

China also clinched its first ever Olympic rowing gold when the quartet of Tang Bin, Jin Ziwei, Xi Aihua, Zhang Yangyang edged world champion Britain in the women's quadruple sculls event.

China's Tang Bin, Jin Ziwei, Xi Aihua and Zhang Yangyang celebrate during the medals ceremony for the women's quadruple sculls at the Shunyi Rowing and Canoeing Park in Beijing on August 17, 2008. China won gold, Britain silver and Germany bronze. [Agencies] More photos

"Rowing is a sport which the Europeans have been good at for a long time, but we proved the Chinese can also do well in this sport," said Xi Aihua.American Matthew Emmons, who fired at the wrong target and gifted Chinese Jia Zhanbo the gold in Athens, failed his last shot again to hand Qiu Jian of China the gold in the men's 50m rifle three positions.Leading by 3.3 points and needing only a mediocre shot of 6.7 to dispel the 2004 ghosts, Emmons fired a 4.4 on his final attempt to drop to fourth.

"I did not feel my finger shaking, but I guess it was," he said.

The unexpected gold helped China top the final shooting medals table with five golds, followed by the United States, the Czech Republic and Ukraine with two each.