Great Britain swept to the head of the medal table after a magnificent day on the track and in the pool at the Paralympics in Sydney yesterday.

British athletes and swimmers produced an amazing five gold medals, with the only disappointment coming in the judo pavilion when the previously undefeated Simon Jackson lost his title.

Teesside wheelchair athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson retained her Atlanta title with an all-the-way success in the women's T53 class 800m final. It was the Redcar-based athlete's sixth Paralympic gold but one of the most memorable, according to the 29-year-old, who hails from Cardiff.

Grey-Thompson said: ''I was really nervous going into this. I love the big occasion and this is where I seem to pull it out. It was more nerve-racking because I knew what was coming.''

She admitted she was puzzled by the tactics of her opponents.

She said: ''It was a strange race as I expected the Americans to block me out. Normally I don't like leading, I like to sit back and kick in the last 200 metres. In the straight I felt really strong.''

It was on the track that Britain began their golden haul when Bob Matthews turned in an outstanding display of 10,000 metres running to land the T11 classification.

It was only the third time the 39-year-old veteran had attempted the trip, having previously landed six Paralympic golds over distances ranging from 800m to 5,000m in past Games.

But his inexperience at the distance never showed as he raced past Portugal's pre-race favourite Carlos Ferreira with around 200m of the 25-lap event remaining.

Ferreira was unable to kick back as Matthews, disqualified from the silver medal position in the Atlanta 5,000m when his guide crossed the line slightly ahead of him, stormed down the final straight before crossing the line in a time of 35 minutes 23.07 seconds, a seasonal best.

''It's my first Paralympic gold for eight years and the sweetest,'' he said after completing a lap of honour in front of around 30,000 cheering fans, including hundreds of ecstatic union jack-waving British supporters.

This victory sets up the opportunity for Matthews to become the first Olympic or Paralympic athlete to complete the 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon treble since Emil Zatopek in Helsinki in 1952.

He declined to talk about his chances of achieving the feat, content instead to enjoy the moment of success in only his third 10,000m race.

Matthews said: ''I can't believe it, it is so fantastic. I have never run in an atmosphere - a cauldron - like this. I was thinking 'this is unreal'. The crowd were so loud I couldn't hear people overtaking me.''

Late in the day, as the crowds were leaving the magnificent Olympic Stadium, Nottingham's Christopher Martin retained his F33 class discus title by breaking his own Paralympic record with a throw of 26.71m.

Somerset's Mark Smale had earlier taken bronze in the men's F56 shot.

The 37-year-old threw 10.70m, which broke the previous world record of 10.67, but both eventual winner Krzysztof Smorszczewski of Poland and Denmark's Rene Nielson threw further.

The former athlete's best putt of 11.49 added almost a metre to the previous world record to land gold.

In the pool both Bath's Sascha Kindred and Nottingham's James Crisp reigned over 200m with world and Paralympic record-breaking golds in the individual medley.

Kindred's success in a time of 2mins 57.42secs came in the SM6 classification of the event, while Crisp recorded a time of 2:25.33 in the SM9 classification.