In Day 11 sports, Germany's Jan Frodeno, a man who only took up triathlon to impress a girl, won the swim-bike-run endurance test on a hot day in Beijing.
The United States and Britain, second and third in the medal table, grabbed another gold apiece in sailing.
Chinese leaders and people alike showered injured Olympics 100m hurdles champion Liu with get-well messages a day after he limped forlornly off the track, depriving the hosts of what they hoped might be their greatest single moment of glory.
Liu, who along with basketball player Yao Ming is China's most idolized sportsman, put a brave face on.
"When I was warming up, I felt my foot was no good," he said, promising not to quit. "There'll be opportunities next year ... I'm still in peak condition. I need to be optimistic."
Liu took gold in Athens in 2004, becoming the first man to win a track-and-field event for China and transforming himself into a national symbol and multi-millionaire.
His -- and China's -- great dream was to repeat the feat at home. But local fans who openly wept at Liu's exit were cheered by a glance at the medal table.
Finally reaping the benefits of their 1.3 billion population and a Soviet-style training system, China have 39 golds, seven more than their total haul in Athens, when they came second.
"There is basically no worry about top spot," state news agency Xinhua said.
Chinese fans are loving it -- one man even cycled more than 1,300km (800 miles) to tow his 98-year-old grandmother to the Games in a pedicab.
Traditional Olympics table-toppers the United States, whose only serious rival in the past was the Soviet Union, have a less-than-expected 24 golds. Britain follow with 13.
Further cheering the Chinese national mood, environmental authorities said on Tuesday Beijing had enjoyed its cleanest air in 10 years this month. Officials pledged not to let air quality slide again once the Games were over.
CHAMPAGNE MOMENTS
China took drastic efforts, including shutting factories and taking several million cars off the road, to improve air quality before the Games. And despite fears ahead of competing, no athletes have yet raised serious concerns during events.
China's post-Olympics challenge is to keep pro-environment policies while maintaining the near double-digit growth rates that have made it an emerging global economic superpower.
"We will take some new measures to ensure that air quality will reach a new level after the Olympic Games," environmental official Du Shaozhong said on another sunny day in Beijing.
One man whose lungs definitely were not affected by Beijing's summer heat, or any lingering smog, was Germany's Frodeno.
"It was a moment I had dreamed of so many times in my head," said the former swimmer and lifeguard after his triathlon win. "During the race I told myself: 'Boy, be greedy -- it's champagne or fizzy water'."
Britain's latest gold came from Paul Goodison who made up for disappointment in Athens, where he nearly quit, by winning the sailing Laser title in Qingdao, on China's east coast.
Britain's 13 golds is already its best performance since 1920 and could not be better-timed with the 2012 Olympics taking place in London.
Experts attribute British success, which has come chiefly in cycling, rowing, sailing and swimming, to a decade of heavy investment in facilities, much of it from a national lottery.
"We can rule the waves again," Britain's top-selling Sun said, catching the wave of patriotism.
Though the "beautiful game" has long played second fiddle to other sports at the Olympics, a mouth-watering semi-final on Tuesday night between soccer superpowers Argentina and Brazil has excited fans around the world.
Brazil have won five World Cups but never an Olympic gold.
China is looking for more golds in diving and gymnastics on Tuesday, and Jamaica's Usain "Lightning" Bolt is back in action in the Bird's Nest venue for a 200 meters semi-final.
After his showboating win in the blue riband 100m, Bolt wants the first sprint double gold since Carl Lewis in 1984.
Gymnastics fans still had calculators out to decipher how American Nastia Liukin came second to China's He Kexin on Monday.
The pair had an identical score of 16.725 but a convoluted tiebreak system -- involving an A jury of two judges, a B jury of six judges, elimination of highest and lowest marks, then averaging and various deductions -- gave it to He.
"That makes no sense," commented Bela Karolyi, who once coached Romanian champion Nadia Comaneci.
Chinese authorities are delighted the pre-Olympics focus on human rights and pollution has died down. They have set aside "protest parks" for would-be demonstrators but have not yet approved any of the 77 applications lodged to use them.
The only noise there to trouble official ears is the birds.
(Reporting by Beijing Olympics bureau; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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