Allyson Felix, Aries Merritt and Brittany Reese led the U.S. medal haul at Olympic Stadium on Wednesday night, winning their events in scintillating style.

And the day wrapped up with the U.S. men's basketball team taking another step toward another gold.

Felix won the women's 200 meters with a dominant stretch effort, holding off Shelly-Ann Fraser Price of Jamaica and clocking a rousing 21.88. Carmelita Jeter of the United States was third.

"I thought back to the disappointment in Beijing," Felix, the silver medalist in Beijing and Athens, said. "It's been a long road, I never wanted to give up. It's been a journey -- never easy, but you can't lose sight of your dream. ... I've wanted it for so long."

In all, the U.S. won seven athletics medals, including Merritt's gold and Jason Richardson's silver in the men's 110-meter hurdles.

Merritt's time of 12.92 was just .01 off the Olympic record.

"I trained for this intensity. I thought if I treat it like a practice then I could do ridiculous things," Merritt said. "I execute so well and when I practice there's no pressure, so if I (could) treat it like a practice, then there's no pressure."

Team GB's Lawrence Clarke -- heir to an English baronetcy and also a distant relative of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt -- acquitted himself well, finishing just behind bronze medalist Hansle Parchment of Jamaica.

"I can't believe I came fourth in the Olympic Games," Clarke said. "I didn't even expect to make the final. I ran the semifinal treating it as a final, and I ran a personal best there, so that was a dream come true."

The race was without China's Liu Xiang, who failed to make it past the first-round heat for a second consecutive Olympics. Liu, who took gold in 2004, faced an outpouring of criticism when he was forced to withdraw in Beijing with an Achilles tendon injury, but he received a more sympathetic response this time around.

Reese and Janay Deloach went 1-3 in the long jump, with Reese leaping 7.12 meters (23-feet-4) to beat Elena Sokolova of Russia.

"This is exactly what I had in my mind. I've trained four years for this," Reese said.

American Lashinda Demus nearly caught Natalya Antyukh at the line in the 400-meter hurdles, but settled for second.

Jamaica's Yohan Blake strolled through the line in his 200-meter semifinal, with Team USA's Wallace Spearmon also through to Thursday's final.

Blake's compatriot Usain Bolt also cruised through his semifinal, as he targets a repeat of his double triumph in the 100-meter and 200-meter races in Beijing.

Bolt told the BBC, the official broadcaster for the London Games, he is confident of beating Blake in the 200-meters final.

"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."

The medals kept coming for the United States, which now tops the table with 81 medals overall to China's 77.

Sand swan song

Americans Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings made it three Olympic golds in a row, beating countrywomen April Ross and Jennifer Kessy two sets to none.

"This means a lot. It is my last match, but I'm OK with slipping away because this has been a special finale," May-Treanor said. "Whether we had finished on top or not, the thing that I'm proud of is us sticking together."

May-Treanor says she looks forward to raising a family.

"It's time for me to be a wife, I want to be a mom," she said. "I want to share this time with my family. All of us athletes sacrifice more of the family than people maybe realize."

Family life is a little more difficult for the Treanors. Misty's husband, Matt, is a catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Walsh, who took time off from the sport to have two children, said May-Treanor was like a sister to her.