KEY POINTS:
The English media are getting giddy over Great Britain's medal tally with some dubbing the 2008 Beijing Olympics the "Great Haul of China".
Great Britain are a distant third in the medal tally, behind China and the US, with 12 gold medals. China and the US have 39 and 22 gold medals respectively.
The Guardian describes the last two days as "heady" with Brits on the dais by the pool, rowing lake, the velodrome and the pommel horse.
"Britain finished the weekend an almost unimaginable (and, to be realistic for a moment, probably unsustainable) third in the medal table, lying behind China and the US but ahead of such old rivals as Germany and Australia," wrote the Guardian's correspondent Richard Williams.
The paper goes on to report that at Atlanta, just 12 years ago, the Brits returned home with one gold medal between them.
News agency Reuters reports that 2008 is the best year in the last century for Britain since the "Rule Britannia days of empire".
"A look at the record books shows Britain have never enjoyed such a golden Games since Antwerp in 1920 when they won 14. They last managed to finish as high as third in 1912 in Stockholm," the agency reported.
And the medal hopes have not dried up with the British still in contention with a handful of golds up for grabs before Sunday's closing ceremony.
The BBC reported Britain's all-time record is 56 gold medals won at the 1908 Olympics in London but that is unlikely to be repeated given Britain was the only competitor in many of the events.
"The team have at least four more strong gold medal prospects on Tuesday, which if converted would see them pass the 14 golds achieved in Antwerp," reported the BBC.
Even a "victory parade" in London has been organised for "Team GB" when they get back from Beijing.
The Independent has also written on Britain's triumphs. "Since the Second World War, Great Britain have rarely won multiple gold medals on a single day.
"On Golden Saturday at Athens 2004, Britain won four golds after a slow start they had only one gold up to that point," reports the paper.
The fact that Australia is behind Great Britain on the medal table has not been lost on the Aussie media.
A column by John Huxley in the Sydney Morning Herald is titled: "The Brits are serious about stealing our medals".
"Despite hiring dozens of Australian coaches and trawling down under for Australians with English playing credentials, the British challenge has not really materialised," writes Huxley.
He also covers a row between the Poms and Aussies after a "throwaway line" by Australia's most senior Olympic official John Coates as he commented on Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington and Joanne Jackson winning gold and bronze in the pool.
"Not bad for a country that has no swimming pools and very little soap," Coates is reported as saying.
But "the British media declared themselves not amused," wrote Huxley.
He goes on to write that Great Britain had invested in sport and that was now paying off.
- NZHERALD STAFF
