British newspapers were positively giddy Wednesday morning after "Team GB" won four gold medals, celebrating the country's unexpected levels of success in Beijing.

　　Britain strengthened its hold on third place in the medals table with its haul Tuesday, giving it 16 in total, behind China and the United States, but five ahead of Australia and Germany, which were tied for fourth place.

　　Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton continued Britain's domination of events at the Laoshan Velodrome, winning the men's and women's sprints respectively, with Hoy leading Jason Kenny in a British one-two, while Christine Ohuruogu capped the golden day with victory in the final of the women's 400 metres.

　　"The performance of 'Team GB' in the Olympics is moving beyond the sublime and towards the ridiculous," the Daily Telegraph gushed in its editorial.

　　"We are British, for heaven's sake -- how are we supposed to cope with such a relentless diet of good news, such an unprecedented glut of world-beating performances?

　　"The only difficulty, as the Games bring yet more medal chances, will be in squeezing so many names into the next (edition of the Queen's) Honours List."

　　The Independent, meanwhile, admitted that it had not expected anything like the numbers of medals won by British athletes, writing in its editorial: "On Monday, we proclaimed that it couldn't get any better for Britain. But it did."

　　"These Olympics have offered more than mere diversion from a dismal summer of grey skies and economic gloom.

　　"They have stirred in British breasts a pride and confidence which can be transformative."

　　The Daily Mirror echoed those sentiments in its own editorial on the subject: "We're running out of superlatives as the Olympic Games just get better and better."

　　"Four more golds on yet another triumphant day for Great Britain sealed these games as our greatest for a century.

　　"But what an Olympics it is turning out to be -- a heroes' welcome home awaits the most successful set of sportsmen and sportswomen we've ever sent abroad."

　　The Sun tabloid continued along the same theme, noting that until recently, "few would have put money on Britain achieving Olympic glory."

　　"We were always the also-rans, struggling behind the Aussies' sporting prowess. Now our brilliant athletes have shown what can be achieved with dedication, good coaching and sensible funding."

　　The Times, meanwhile, took the opportunity to submit one more dig at perennial sporting rivals Australia, writing: "Even at a moment of sporting triumph such as this, it is important to maintain perspective and grace."

　　"It would be wrong, for instance, to gloat over the relative failure of Australia at these Games.

　　"Australia, we feel your pain."