2012 London Summer Olympics

[ Check Out Stunning Pictures from the Opening Ceremony ]

British athletes seem to have finally struck a perfect balance between their own aspirations and the home crowd's expectations.

Slow to start at the Games, British cyclists came into their own, with Chris Hoy leading his boys to the team sprint title against arch-rivals France in a world-record time late on Thursday night.

Chris Hoy, with five gold from the Olympics, is now tied with legendary rower Steven Redgrave for the maximum number top finishes by a British athlete at the Games. The team comprising Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny and Hoy was ahead right from the start clocking 42.600 seconds, thus shaving off a neat 0.147 seconds from the record they had set at the London Velodrome in the first round.

It was a joyous moment for the home fans as Hoy crossed his finish-line before French cyclist Michael d'Almeida. A beaming Hoy later told the media that this was the most satisfying victory of his Olympic career. "It's overwhelming. I thought my first win in

Athens (2004) was the most memorable but this is my greatest win," Hoy told a packed media room.

It was heartbreak for France, who have beaten the British team with monotonous regularity. There were many more heartbreaks at the velodrome as world champions Australia didn't know want went wrong after they were pushed to fourth place by Germany, who clinched the bronze.

A distraught D'Almeida could only mutter, "Why? How?" after his team was beaten fair and square. The French team has never been beaten by Britain since Beijing (2004) and D'Almeida failed to find a genuine reason for the loss.

Hoy now becomes the second most-decorated athlete after fellow cyclist, Bradley Wiggins, who won the 44km time trial gold a couple of days back to swell his Olympic medals to seven, including four gold. Hoy and rower Steve Redgrave are tied with six medals.

The joy of winning in front of the home fans made Hoy emotional he was left in tears during the medals ceremony.

It was a day of high drama at the velodrome as two teams were disqualified and six world records set in front of the packed audience that include British Prime Minister Cameron White.

The British emotions were at the lowest ebb when minutes before Hoy and his team took the velodrome, the home country's leading gold prospects, Victoria Pendleton and Jessica Varnish, were disqualified from the team sprint for an illegal changeover, and then China suffered the same fate after assuming they had won gold.

Germany, who had 'finished' second behind China, were promoted to gold, while China was relegated to silver. It was a nerve-racking outing for Pendleton, who was aiming for three gold at the Games --- sprint, team sprint and keirin --- before she hung up her boots.

But she and partner, Jessica Varnish, fell foul of the new rules for changeovers, which have come into force at the London Games. The pair had earlier set a world record in qualifying, which was later reset by China's Guo Shuang and Gong Jinjie.

But who would have known that on a day records fell like ninepins, the cyclists' aspirations would take an even bigger beating.

 

 

Brits Strike It Rich in Olympic Cycling After Opening-Day Blunder