东道主终于夺金 英国观众长舒一口气

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.

对于本届奥运会的东道主英国人来说，过去几天里气氛越来越紧张和尴尬。当本应万无一失的奖牌岌岌可危时，英国人正成群结队地坐在观众席上，他们憧憬着、祈祷着，做着鬼脸，或挥舞着手中的小国旗。

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

英国是一个竭力想让自己的国歌《天佑女王》听起来不那么高亢的民族。

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.

周三下午，英国人的脸上终于绽放出了笑容，环法自行车赛冠军威金斯(Bradley Wiggins)赢得了男子自行车计时赛的金牌，赛艇选手海伦?戈洛沃(Helen Glove)和希德?斯坦宁(Heather Stanning)也夺得了女子双人单桨项目的金牌。

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.

英国人开怀畅饮，他们把隐忍情绪暂时搁置到了一边，尤其是在穆雷(Andy Murray)好不容易在温布尔登获得三连胜之后。

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.)

玩笑归玩笑，这些事对一个东道主国家确实非同小可。过去四年，英国队投入了近5亿美元，目的就是想在本国举办的奥运会上实现奖牌数的答大幅增长。以往奥运会的主办国一般也都是如此。《华尔街日报》曾预测本届奥运会英国会获得22枚金牌，66块奖牌，像许多其他预测者一样，《华尔街日报》认为英国将在奖牌榜上排名第四，前三位分别是美国、中国和俄罗斯。（重要的是打败德国）

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.

英国目前只获得两块金牌，奖牌总数是九块，因此英国接下来的任务很艰巨。自行车选手卡文迪什(Mark Cavendish)已经空手而归。游泳选手阿德林顿(Rebecca Adlington)在第一场比赛中摘金的希望也落空了，仅获得了铜牌。这些都在意料之外。

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.

对于英国女王和她的子民们来说，幸运的是，场地自行车的比赛将于周四拉开序幕，这通常是英国夺金的热门项目。赛艇项目应该还会诞生七块奖牌，不管怎么说，那些以50英镑押注开赛五天之后朝鲜的金牌数将是英国两倍的人该去为大家买单了。