Great to be British Team GB strikes gold AGAIN after cyclists smash the world record in the team pursuit

Britain's incredible gold rush in the Beijing Olympics continued today as the sensational cyclists smashed a world record and took the overall gold medal haul to the highest total in 88 years.

The four-man team pursuit outfit of Ed Clancy, 23, Paul Manning, 33, Geriant Thomas, 22, and Bradley Wiggins, 28, destroyed their Danish rivals over 4,000 metres in the Laoshan Velodrome to claim Britain's sixth cycling gold.


They achieved a time of 3:53.314 - slashing two seconds off their previous world record.

The win makes the cycling team the single most successful in one sport in British Olympic history with hopes of another four golds to follow over the next three days.

It all took the so-called 'Great Haul of China' from Britain's team to 27 - 12 golds, seven silver and eight bronze - the most golds since the Antwerp Games in 1920.

Importantly too, it also took Britain back up to third in the overall medals table and ahead once again of Australia after three Aussie wins earlier in the day had seen them leapfrog Team GB in the bitter battle for supremecy.

The win was the second gold in Beijing for Wiggins - and his third in all - as he led the British quartet of pursuiters home in front of a Union Jack-waving crowd.

'It's phenomenal,' said Wiggins, from West London, who now has six Olympics medals and goes for gold again on Tuesday.

'We are a fantastic team and we have sacrificed a lot. We came to win and now we have achieved our goal.

'I set out to do that. I believed I could do it. But to put it into practice is another thing. It's such a relief when you do it and cross the line.'

He added: 'What the team is achieving is fantastic but we know there is still more to do.'

Manning, from Stockport, added: 'This is the pinnacle - we have been working on this for the best part of a decade, what a performance.'

Wiggins and fellow cyclist Chris Hoy could both secure a historic hat-trick of Beijing gold medals in races on Tuesday.

In doing so, they would become the first Brits to win three golds in a single Games for 100 years, with swimmer Henry Taylor having secured a treble in 1908.

Among those cheering him on today was Wiggins' wife Cathy, 28, who embraced him at the end.

She said: 'He came here to get three medals and he's not finished yet. It is amazing but it is going to get better.' Wiggins smiled and added: 'I'm greedy, I want three.'

The couple have two children Ben, 3, who already has a BMX bike, and one-year-old Isabella.

Great Britain chef de mission Simon Clegg injected a note of caution to national frenzy, however.

He warned that Britain had more chance of finishing ahead of the Australians in the medals table in London in four years' time than at this Olympics.

Asked whether Britain could 'beat the Aussies', he said: 'I'm convinced we can beat them in London in 2012, whether we can beat them here in Beijing, we've got to wait and see.'

British Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe has bet his Australian counterpart Kate Ellis Britain will finish above its old foe - and the loser has to wear the others team's colours at a sporting event in their own country.

Britain is hopeful of another sailing gold on Tuesday after Paul Goodison opened up a massive lead in the Laser class on the waters of Qingdao, 300miles from Beijing.

The 30-year-old, who just missed out on an Olympic medal in Athens four years ago, ensured that he will not suffer similar heartache in Qingdao as he placed first, fourth and sixth in his races to surge 18 points clear of his nearest rival Sweden's Rasmus Myrgren at the top of the standings.

An eighth-place finish in the medal race will give him the gold and the worst he can do now is bronze.

There was another silver today in Qingdao where Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield in the 470 men's class repeated their achievement in Athens by finishing second.

After a gold rush over the weekend, the British team is now on course to beat its target of 41 medals in Beijing, 11 more than in Athens.

Meanwhile, Michael Phelps, winner of a record eight gold medals in Beijing, said he will visit Britain on his way home to attend a party organised by Olympic sponsors in the Mall on August 24 to celebrate the handover of the Games to London.

Phelps, 23, said: 'It will be a great opportunity to celebrate the success of the Beijing Games and to kick-off the countdown to London 2012. I am honoured to be part of this celebration.'

Fellow swimmer and British double gold medallist Rebecca Adlington, 19, spoke today of her desire to replicate Phelps' success at the London games in four years.

'Seeing him win that eighth race was absolutely amazing. It was really exciting. He is an amazing swimmer and I definitely look up to him as a role model.

'I can only dream of having the same success as him.'

Her second gold came on a spectacular weekend for Britain, which saw golds in the rowing, swimming and sailing.