First Huihui Lyu earned second place in the women’s javelin - agonisingly deprived of gold by the very last throw of the competition from Germany’s Kathrina Molinar.

Guowei Zhang, a one-man storm of emotion, then settled with a little more equanimity for silver after Canada’s Derek Drouin had claimed gold as the only one to clear 2.34 metres in a jump off after he, the Chinese idol and Ukraine’s defending champion Bohdan Bondarenko had all failed 2.36m as joint leaders in company with Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim, fourth on countback.

China finished 11th with one gold, seven silvers and a bronze in a medal table headed by Kenya, who finished with seven gold, six silver and three bronze.

Jamaica were second, United States third and Britain fourth with one less medal than fifth-placed Ethiopia but one more gold.

Earlier on a steamy evening it seemed as if the field events might even deliver the host nation two final golds as Zhang shared the lead and Liu’s fifth round effort of 66.13m - rapturously received - had established her in top position with only one more throw, from Molitar, to come.

But the German, in bronze medal position, drove a spear through the collective heart of the home fans as she reached a personal best of 67.69m, the furthest thrown this year, to claim gold, producing a kind of strangled hush in response.

As the dazed Molitar posed for the photographers, Lyu sobbed on her coach’s chest.

At that moment, it clearly felt for her like a medal lost rather than won.

After securing the first global, or major international medal of her career at the age of 31, Molinar, one of four Germans in the final, commented: “I cannot really believe this.

"After my fifth throw I thought - ‘Maybe I can improve a little bit.’

"I dreamed about that.

"And now I have a personal best, a world lead and my first international medal.

"I don’t know what to say.”

Asbel Kiprop of Kenya, the fastest man in the world over 1500m this year with 3min 26.69sec - just 0.69 off the world record - cooly earned his third consecutive world gold, waiting near the back as his Kenyan team-mates contested the leading places with a field including Algeria’s Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi before gliding up on the outside and timing his final strike to perfection, crossing in 3:34.40.

Makhloufi went from first to fourth in the final 30 metres as Kiprop’s team-mate Elijah Manangoi followed him home for silver in 3:34.63, with bronze going to Abdalaati Iguider of Morocco in 3:34.67.

“I have had flu since the semi-finals and although I came here and did something yesterday, I was not confident like usual,” Kiprop said.

In the women’s 5,000m final, Genzebe Dibaba’s hopes of adding another title to the one she already had at 1500m were systematically destroyed by her Ethiopian team-mate Almaz Ayana, who took gold in a Championship record of 14:26.83 after moving inexorably away over the final kilometre after the two women had surged clear of the field.

Dibaba was even caught for silver at the last by team-mate Senbere Teferi, who clocked 14.44.07 as the world 1500m record holder, legs buckling, settled for bronze in 14:14.16.

“Today I had my fifth race in 10 days,” Dibaba said.

“I had some problem with my foot.

"My heel and my legs were painful but I had to manage it.”

Jamaica’s dominance over the United States in the previous day’s sprint relay finals spread to the women’s 4x400m as a surge over the last 30 metres from Novlene Williams-Mills took her past Francena McCorory for victory in 3:19.13,the fastest recorded this year.

But LaShawn Merritt at least brought the Championships to a victorious close for the US as he concluded their 4x400m efforts in a 2015 world-leading time of 2:57.82, with Trinidad and Tobago second in a national record of 2:58.20 and Britain sneaking bronze in 2:58.51.

Mare Dibaba claimed Ethiopia’s first-ever women’s world marathon title 2:27.35, a second clear of Kenya’s Helah Kiprop and just four seconds ahead of Bahrain’s bronze medallist Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa.

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