A revenge boycott led by the Soviet Union depleted the field in certain sports but a record 140 nations still took part.
American sprinter Carl Lewis won the 100m and 200m and the long jump and earned a fourth gold in the 4x100m relay to match the achievement of countryman Jesse Owens in 1936.
Britain's Sebastian Coe became the first man to retain the 1,500m title, beating Steve Cram into silver, while also taking silver in the 800m.
Daley Thompson, at his third Olympics, saw off Germany's Jurgen Hingsen in a titanic struggle to win consecutive gold medals in the decathlon while Tessa Sanderson and Fatima Whitbread claimed gold and bronze in the javelin.
Rower Steve Redgrave won his first gold medal as part of the coxed fours, while Malcolm Cooper claimed gold in the small bore rifle shooting.
Joan Benoit won the inaugural women's marathon and Connie Carpenter-Phinney the first women's cycling road race, while Nawal El Moutawakel, in the 400m hurdles, became the first woman from an Islamic nation to win an Olympic medal and the first Moroccan athlete of either sex to win a gold medal.
Archer Neroli Fairhall was the first paraplegic athlete to take part in a medal event when she competed in a wheelchair.
British gold medals: 5
