Russia may have topped the medal table, but it was Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele who stole the show on the final day of the World Indoor Championships.
The hosts snared five golds on the last day to finish with eight in all, while Bekele became the first person to win global titles on three surfaces.
World and Olympic 10,000 metres champion Bekele pulled away from 3,000m medal rivals Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar and Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge with one and a half laps to go to win in seven minutes 39.32 seconds. He now holds world titles indoors, outdoors and over cross-country.
His victory somewhat over-shadowed Maria Mutola's unprecedented seventh world indoor title in the 800m.
The 33-year-old from Mozambique gave a powerful display of front-running and threw her arms aloft as she crossed the line in one minute 58.90 seconds.
Meanwhile Yuliya Chizhenko made up for her disqualification from the world 1500m outdoor final last year by winning the indoor title ahead of compatriot Yelena Soboleva.
Chizhenko had finished second in Helsinki only to be disqualified for obstructing Bahrain's Maryam Yusuf Jamal.
Grenada's Alleyne Fran-cique retained his 400m crown, taking the lead as the athletes broke from their lanes on the final lap to win in 45.54 seconds from Botswana's California Molefe.
Olesya Krasnomovets held on to win the women's 400m in a championship record of 50.04 - the fifth fastest time indoor time in history.
The U.S. won the men's relay in a race that did not contain 2004 champions Jamaica after they crashed out of the heats when Lance-ford Spence collided with a French athlete on the final changeover.
Britain's Nathan Douglas, meanwhile, insisted he made the right decision to compete despite failing to pick up a medal.
Douglas, ranked third in last year's world triple jump rankings, had considered pulling out of the trip to Russia after an indifferent season and surgery on an ankle injury.
Having pulled out of the Commonwealth Games, the Oxford City athlete honoured his commitment to the Norwich Union GB side.
"It was a gamble coming here and the gamble paid off for me," said the 23-year-old, who was seventh as Walter Davis won the title for the US with a massive leap of 17.73m. "I was quite satisfied with
it," he said after raising his best mark by four centimetres. "Me and my coach discussed it and we thought fifth was the best we could hope for after missing so much training.
"I knew 17.20m was my limit but I've got to be pleased with 17.05m and an indoor PB off half a winter's training. It's given me confidence before the summer."
Welshman Jimmy Watkins finally ran out of steam after surprisingly making the 800m final. After getting snubbed by the Welsh Commonwealth Games selectors, Watkins ran two lifetime bests in his qualifying heats before finishing last in the final.
"It was one race too many," said the 23-year-old . "I've never run three races in three days before. I learned a hell of lot from being here. Hopefully it's opened the door for me to get into some big meetings."
The women's 4x400m relay squad, after lowering the UK record in the morning session, were only 0.41secs shy of it in the final.
But despite their impressive run, the quartet of Melanie Purkiss, Jennifer Meadows, Emma Duck and Helen Karagounis finished last in a time of 3:29.70, with Russia finishing first.
They were the Norwich Union GB team's last hope of
picking up a medal, but they ended empty-handed for the first time in the 21-year history of the championships, with the absence of athletes competing at the Commonwealth Games felt.
