LONDON (CNN) — History was made in the boxing ring Thursday, as Great Britain's Nicola Adams became the first woman ever to win a full Olympic gold and Team USA's Claressa Shields followed with the middleweight title.

Adams' triumph in the flyweight final over China's Ren Cancan was greeted by ear-splitting screams of delight by the home crowd.

"It sounds really good, it's like a dream come true," Adams said. "I've wanted this all my life and it's finally come true. I'd really like to thank all the supporters here and elsewhere. I'm so happy and overwhelmed with joy right now."

Shortly after, Ireland's Katie Taylor came out on top in the first Olympic women's lightweight final, making a spirited comeback in the last round to beat Russia's Sofya Ochigava by 10 points to 8.

Taylor fell to her knees in joy and relief as the victory was announced, giving her country its first gold medal of the Games, before doing a lap of honor around the ring draped in the Irish flag.

Shields' 19-12 victory against Russia's Nadezda Torlopova is a remarkable achievement for the 17-year-old from Flint, Michigan -- and makes her the first American woman to take an Olympic boxing gold.

Flyweight Marlen Esparza, from Texas, took a bronze.

Women's boxing was an exhibition sport in the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis but only made its debut as a full Olympic event at the London 2012 Games. It has proved hugely popular with the crowds and seen skillful sparring in the ring, defying the critics who argued boxing was a man's game.

Later Thursday, the world will watch as Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt bids to become the first man to win the Olympic sprint double twice -- with compatriot Yohan Blake likely to be the chief obstacle in his path.

Wallace Spearmon of the United States may also give the pair a run for their money, but both Jamaican powerhouses cruised to victory in their heats and look hard to beat.

Blake, who beat Bolt at the Jamaican trials, says he is focused on his race rather than the showman out to steal the thunder.

"I'm not really focusing on beating him. I'm concentrating on running my race. My plan is just to execute," he said after the semifinals Wednesday.

Bolt, who held Blake to second place in the 100-meter final, told the BBC, the official broadcaster for the London Games, that he is confident of conquering his closest rival and making history.

"No doubt whatsoever. I'm ready, this is my favorite event, so I'm looking forward to it," he said. "I know what I can do -- I never doubt myself."

With five of the day's 22 gold medals up for grabs in the track and field Thursday evening, it will be a tense night in the 80,000-seat stadium.

As well as the 200-meter showdown, athletes will be going for gold in the men's 800-meter final, the men's triple jump and women's javelin.

The women's 100-meter relay heats also take place. Team USA, which has suffered a series of botched baton passes in the past two Olympics and several world championships, will be looking to break the pattern.

The night will culminate with the final decathlon event, the 1,500-meter race, which could well see the gold and silver go to Team USA.

After the first day of the competition Wednesday, U.S. world record holder Ashton Eaton had a nice 220-point lead over his countryman Trey Hardee but saw the latter chip away at that margin Thursday in the 110-meter hurdles and discus.

With three decathlon events still to go -- pole vault, javelin and the 1,500-meter race -- it looks like the American duo will battle it out to the end.

There was disappointment in the Olympic Stadium earlier Thursday for those hoping to see South Africa's Oscar Pistorius, the first double amputee to compete at the Games, run in the 4 x 400-meter relay.

The baton never reached the hands of the man nicknamed the Blade Runner, for the artificial blades on which he runs, after the second South African runner, Ofentse Mogawane, fell before he could pass it over.

However, in a dramatic turn of events, the South African team was reinstated on appeal and will contest the final Friday, after officials accepted that Mogawane had fallen as a result of obstruction by a Kenyan runner.

Pistorius was delighted by the turnaround in his team's fortunes, the official Olympic website reported.

"It's been absolutely phenomenal, just stepping out there again today on the track in front of a crowd like this has been awesome. This whole experience has just been mind-blowing for me," he is quoted as saying.

And the relay final won't be the last time for the crowds to see Pistorius in action, as he's set to return in the Paralympic Games later this summer to defend his 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter titles.

Trinidad and Tobago won the first 4 x 400-meter relay heat, with Great Britain and Cuba in second and third. Team USA, the defending champions, and Russia also qualified for the final, as did the tiny Caribbean nation of the Bahamas.

Venezuela also made it into the relay final on appeal, meaning nine teams will contest the final for the first time.

Over at Greenwich Park on day 13 of the Games, Great Britain's Charlotte Dujardin, took gold in the individual dressage final, only two days after helping Team GB win the team dressage gold for the first time.

Dujardin, who only started riding in top level dressage competitions last year, held the Dutch rider Adelinde Cornelissen to silver. Team GB's Laura Bechtolsheimer took bronze and compatriot Carl Hester, who trains Dujardin on her horse Valegro, took fifth.

The latest successes cap a remarkable Games for Britain's equestrian competitors, who have also taken medals in show jumping and eventing.

Meanwhile, America's female soccer dynamos are looking to take gold against Japan in the final of the women's football at Wembley Stadium, after winning through the semifinals with a thrilling extra-time victory over Canada.

A win for Team USA would be revenge for their heartbreaking defeat by Japan last year in the World Cup final.

The Americans, twice World Cup champs and three times winners of the Olympics, have several factors going for them in their revenge bid. No World Cup champion has ever won the Olympics the next year. And since 1995, each time a team has knocked the United States out of World Cup, they've met in the Olympics a year later. The United States has won every time, twice in the final.

Canada defeated France in the closing moments of their bronze-medal game to take the third spot on the podium, with the winning goal from the boot of midfielder Diana Matheson.

The U.S. women's volleyball team made it through to the final with a win over South Korea, where it will face either Japan or Brazil.

The U.S. women's basketball team also plays in semifinals Thursday.

Beach volleyball queens Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings made it three Olympic golds in a row Wednesday, as they pushed their American rivals April Ross and Jennifer Kessy into silver position.

Also Wednesday, LeBron James became the first men's basketball player to have a triple double in an Olympics game. He scored 11 points, had 14 rebounds and 11 assists to lead the U.S. into the men's semifinals against Argentina.

Hopes were high for Team GB's Keri-Anne Payne, the 10-kilometer open water world champion and Beijing silver medalist, to repeat her success in the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park.

After a hard-fought two-hour race Payne could only manage fourth, though, with gold going to Hungary's Eva Risztov and silver to America's Hayley Anderson.

Thousands of spectators gathered in the sunshine on the banks of the lake, more usually home to swans and geese, to watch the grueling swimming marathon.

Thrills and spills returned to the swooping bumps and turns of the BMX park Thursday, as the men's BMX racing quarterfinals got under way. The event is novel for many spectators as it was only added to the Olympic program in Beijing.

Earlier, Germany took two golds in a busy morning on the waters of Eton Dorney lake.

One went to Franziska Weber and Tina Dietze, who clinched top spot in the women's kayak double (K2), with Hungary in silver and Poland taking bronze.

The other was won by German duo Kurt Kuschela and Peter Kretschmer, who triumphed in the men's kayak double (K2) 1,000-meter canoe sprint final.

After a slow start, Australia is now climbing the medal table. Their latest victory came courtesy of Tate Smith, Dave Smith, Murray Stewart, and Jacob Clear, who took gold in the men's kayak four (K4) 1,000-meter canoe sprint.

Danuta Kozak took gold for Hungary in the women's kayak single (K1) 500-meter final.