東道主終於奪金 英國觀衆長舒一口氣

It had been an increasingly tense and awkward several days for the Olympic hosts, who've been packing the stands when medals have been on the line in their targeted events - hoping and praying and grimacing and waving little Union Jacks.

對於本屆奧運會的東道主英國人來說，過去幾天裏氣氛越來越緊張和尷尬。當本應萬無一失的獎牌岌岌可危時，英國人正成羣結隊地坐在觀衆席上，他們憧憬着、祈禱着，做着鬼臉，或揮舞着手中的小國旗。

The British have been a people trying desperately to hold back a booming rendition of God Save the Queen.

英國是一個竭力想讓自己的國歌《天佑女王》聽起來不那麼高亢的民族。

Finally on Wednesday afternoon here, the smiles spread across London. Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins took the cycling time trial and Team GB rowers Heather Stanning and Helen Glove won gold in women's pairs.

週三下午，英國人的臉上終於綻放出了笑容，環法自行車賽冠軍威金斯(Bradley Wiggins)贏得了男子自行車計時賽的金牌，賽艇選手海倫・戈洛沃(Helen Glove)和希德・斯坦寧(Heather Stanning)也奪得了女子雙人單槳項目的金牌。

Pints were passed and the Brits put the self-flagellation on hold at least for a few hours, especially after Andy Murray managed to eke out a three-set win at Wimbledon.

英國人開懷暢飲，他們把隱忍情緒暫時擱置到了一邊，尤其是在穆雷(Andy Murray)好不容易在溫布爾登獲得三連勝之後。

All kidding aside, these aren't small matters for a host country. Team GB spent nearly $500 million the past four years to produce a home-soil surge that is typical for the Olympics. The Wall Street Journal projected the Brits would come away with 22 golds and 66 overall, and like most prognosticators had Team GB finishing fourth behind the U.S., China and Russia in the medal standings. (Beating the Germans is still very big around here.)

玩笑歸玩笑，這些事對一個東道主國家確實非同小可。過去四年，英國隊投入了近5億美元，目的就是想在本國舉辦的奧運會上實現獎牌數的答大幅增長。以往奧運會的主辦國一般也都是如此。《華爾街日報》曾預測本屆奧運會英國會獲得22枚金牌，66塊獎牌，像許多其他預測者一樣，《華爾街日報》認爲英國將在獎牌榜上排名第四，前三位分別是美國、中國和俄羅斯。（重要的是打敗德國）

With two golds and nine medals overall, the Brits have left themselves plenty of work. Cyclist Mark Cavendish has come up empty. Swimmer Rebecca Adlington won a bronze instead of an expected gold in her first race. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go.

英國目前只獲得兩塊金牌，獎牌總數是九塊，因此英國接下來的任務很艱鉅。自行車選手卡文迪什(Mark Cavendish)已經空手而歸。游泳選手阿德林頓(Rebecca Adlington)在第一場比賽中摘金的希望也落空了，僅獲得了銅牌。這些都在意料之外。

Fortunately for Her Majesty and her subjects, the action in track cycling begins Thursday, and that is where they Brits usually clean up. Rowing should deliver seven medals before all is said and done. Still, anyone who put down 50 quid that North Korea would have twice as many gold medals as Team GB after five days should be picking up everyone's tab.

對於英國女王和她的子民們來說，幸運的是，場地自行車的比賽將於週四拉開序幕，這通常是英國奪金的熱門項目。賽艇項目應該還會誕生七塊獎牌，不管怎麼說，那些以50英鎊押注開賽五天之後朝鮮的金牌數將是英國兩倍的人該去爲大家買單了。