Great Britain endured a poor second day in the Games as a host of medal chances slipped away.
Nicole Cooke, favourite for victory in the women's road race, could only finish fifth.
And there was worse to follow when Tim Henman was knocked out of the first round of the men's tennis singles by Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic.
Judo medal hope Georgina Singleton missed out on a bronze, while British swimmers struggled in the pool.
But the biggest shock of the day was saved for the USA whose men's basketball team were stunned 92-73 by Puerto Rico - their first Olympic basketball defeat since 1988.
Cooke's bid for Britain's first gold had looked on course before Australia's Sara Carrigan and German cyclist Judith Arndt broke clear in the latter stages to win gold and silver respectively.
And Henman, a silver medallist in the doubles in Atlanta eight years ago, compounded British misery, looking well off the pace in his 6-3 6-3 defeat to Novak.
Phelps' bid to win a record eight golds was quashed
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There was an electric night of action in the pool as South Africa broke the world record in a thrilling 4x100m freestyle relay to halt Michael Phelps' chances of winning eight gold medals.
Phelps and the USA team had to make do with bronze as the South Africans obliterated their rivals.
Earlier Simon Burnett broke the British record to book his place in the final of the 200m freestyle, joining Phelps, Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband in the climax to arguably the pool's top event.
But Burnett's effort was the one bright spot in a poor night for Britain's swimmers.
There were hopes of a British medal in the men's 100m breaststroke but James Gibson and Darren Mew finished a disappointing sixth and seventh respectively.
Rebecca Cooke then finished last in the 400m freestyle final, while Katy Sexton and Sarah Price missed out on a place in the 100m backstroke final.
Price's bid was not helped when she cut both her shins on an underwater camera in her warm-up and she finished last in her heat.
There was brighter news for Ben Ainslie, who put the troubles of the first day behind him with a double victory in sailing's Finn class.
Ainslie's wins moved him up to eighth in the overall standings, while Joe Glanfield and Nick Rogers in the 470s and Shirley Robertson in the Yngling hold first place.
Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms opened their campaign in the badminton mixed doubles with a two-set win over Germany's Bjoern Siegemund and Nicol Pitro, the number four seeds winning 15-11 15-4.
In the singles, Tracey Hallam reached the quarter-finals after beating Denmark's Camilla Martin, the Sydney silver medallist, 11-2 5-11 13-10.
Britain's three-day eventers got their gold-medal ambitions off to a bright start when two of the five-man team finished day one of the dressage in the top 10
Mary King and King Solomon III scored 48 to take seventh place while Jeanette Brakewell riding Over to You recorded 49.8 to move into 10th.
But Ian Peel's hopes of adding to his Sydney shooting silver medal in the men's trap were shot after his poor form continued in the qualifying rounds.
On the water, Britain's women's quadruple scull caught the eye in the heats at the rowing lake.
Alison Mowbray, Debbie Flood, Francis Houghton and Rebecca Romero qualified in the fastest time, ahead of world champions Germany.
GB's men's eight, lightweight double sculls and lightweight men's four moved into the repechage.
And there was a bright finish to day two when Britain defeated Egypt 3-1 in their opening game of the men's hockey.
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