Great Britain's men's team sprint trio Jamie Staff, Jason Kenny and Chris Hoy defeated France with a winning time of 43.128 seconds to win GB's third gold of the Games in the first track cycling final in Beijing.
They had finished second to France at the World Championships earlier this year but always looked in control to win the Olympic final by 0.523secs.
Germany defeated Australia by 0.008secs to take the bronze medal.
The team sprint medal is GB's eighth of the Games and never looked in doubt as the sprint trio dominated the competition.
They opened with a ride of 42.950secs, an unofficial record on a 750m track, with Staff riding the opening leg in 17.19secs.
There is no world record for the team sprint because the event is held over three laps regardless of the size of the track.
"We had no idea what we could do really," said Kenny, who came into the team in place of Ross Edgar.
"When I saw the time for the first ride on the board I thought I must have read it wrong."
GB then secured their place in the final with a time of 43.034.
The gold is the second of Hoy's Olympic career after he won the 1km time trial four years ago.
"To win as part of a team is a totally different feeling from the 1km time trial in Athens," said Hoy.
"Our friendship has been so dominant in the last few years. As part of a team, you can't let anyone down.
"To beat them by half a second made it that exciting. Honestly, it took every inch of effort in beating the French who have been invincible.
"The French have been so dominant. We have really put all the pieces of the jigsaw together. We really focused on the details. To stick half a second into them, it's amazing."
Scot Hoy, hoping to win three golds in Beijing, is also competing in the keirin and the men's sprint.
He told BBC Sport: "There's still plenty in the tank. At the end of the week, if I get three, I'll do a dance for you and that's a promise."
Staff was a member of the team that finished fifth in the event in Athens.
"It hasn't sunk in yet, it's weird, but mostly exciting," he said.
"We were very disappointed after Athens. I've given absolutely everything I could into it and it paid off.
"We've got a fantastically strong team, we showed everyone at the worlds how strong we are."
FYI - Behind Sports
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