Britain basks in golden medal glory

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By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain basked in the glow of its haul of gold medals at the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday with commentators hailing its "glorious" sporting heroes and declaring Team GB as the one with the Midas touch.

"Team GB go gold, gold, gold," sang the front page of the Guardian newspaper, while the Telegraph said Britain had conquered a "golden milestone" with its tally of Olympic gold medals reaching its highest for a century.

Many newspapers described Tuesday as a "golden day" for Britain, with gold medals in cycling, sailing and on the athletics track boosting what the Times described as the "ever-bulging Olympic Games swag bag".

"Team GB’s excellence has left the rest of the world shaking their heads," the Times said, adding that even the Australians -- who mock Britons for being successful only at the "sitting-down sports" of sailing, rowing and cycling -- were now impressed.

For a nation that sometimes seems secretly to enjoy the label of "not so great Britain", the excitement of a rare greater-than-expected performance quickly spilled over into fresh ambitions for this Games, and the Olympics in London in 2012.

"These Olympics have offered more than mere diversion from a dismal summer of grey skies and economic gloom," said .....continued below

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"They have stirred in British breasts a pride and confidence which can be transformative."

The Sun tabloid -- the biggest selling daily newspaper -- said the "great haul of China" of 16 golds so far for Team GB had prompted Olympic team managers to set their sights on a total of 20 gold medals from the Beijing Games.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "It bodes so well for 2012 and I think the whole nation is totally delighted and really proud at everything that’s been achieved."

Commentators were agreed on the way to ensure continued and yet greater sporting achievement -- financial commitment.

"Britain are rampant as these Olympics because we threw money at them," said Paul Hayward, commentator for the Daily Mail.

"One thing’s certain. It’s money well spent."

(Reporting by Kate Kelland. Editing by Peter Griffiths)