There was a noticeable slackening in media angst on Day Five of the Games as Team GB delivered a total of five medals including Gold twice.  The first was awarded to Olympic Rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning in the women’s pairs.  This was the first time Britain had ever won a ladies’ rowing gold, an achievement made all the more remarkable by Helen Glover having never even sat in a rowboat until 2008.

A perfect seat for the winner of the Time Trial

On any other day, their win would have hogged the headlines, but this was no ordinary day.  This was the day that hundreds of thousands of people poured onto the streets of Surrey, many of them sporting stick-on sideburns, to celebrate the latest national craze – Wiggomania.

Hampton Court has witnessed coronations over hundreds of years, but never one quite like that accorded to Bradley Wiggins yesterday. Britain loves its heroes, especially when they are somewhat understated, so we were probably slightly in denial when Bradley’s triumphant homecoming after capturing the pride of France ten days ago was put on hold for a few days through the imminent commencement of the Olympics, and his highly-anticipated starring role.   Again, there was a typically-English further postponement due to Johnny-Foreigner’s lack of co-operation in the Road Race on Saturday.   But once the responsibility for delivering the goods was placed solely on those individual shoulders, there was no hiding place for inevitability. Continue Reading