Jason Kenny celebrates as he beats Gregory Bauge
Stressful business, this winning.
After the British euphoria of the weekend, the realisation - we have to keep this up.
We're defending third place in the medal table. We're a major Olympic force now. We have raised the stakes.
The British team's slogan, 'Better Never Stops', is a crime against grammar. It is also exactly right.
We're better. We can't stop.
This afternoon I went to the velodrome, scene of so much British track cycling success.
Just one gold medal was on offer, and we had to have it.
The problem - standing in sprinter Jason Kenny's way was Gregory Bauge.
With Britain winning everything in sight on the track (now 13 of the last 18 available), one can view our rivals as identikit stooges. Random chumps to play the Washington Generals to our Harlem Globetrotters.
However tempting that view, we must reject it. Not only does it disrespect other athletes, it diminishes the achievements of British ones.
When the gold medals flow fast, you risk forgetting the hard work and achievement that goes into each one.
France's Bauge is a phenomenal athlete. Kenny knows this better than anyone, because he finished behind Bauge in the last two World Championship sprint finals.
If Britain's track cycling team seems like a giant steamroller flattening anyone who dares resist us, remember Kenny came into his final as the underdog.
The same goes for Britain's wider performance. We love to look at the bigger picture, assuming that success brings more success.
But just because Andy Murray, Ben Ainslie or the show jumping team won gold, why should that make Kenny's success any more likely?
The sprint is a unique war of nerves. A three-lap race in which the first half is spent jockeying for position at less than walking pace. At times the riders almost stop.
The reason for this is the inherent disadvantage in leading a cycling race, as your opponent can slipstream you.
However, it seems to the untrained eye as though you would be unbeatable if you suddenly bolted as your opponent struggled to stay upright.
Equally, you suspect, given the British team's forensic attention to detail, they have considered that tactic and dismissed it as rubbish.
Instead, we see a slow winding up from about two laps out, with the riders only truly gunning it for the last 250m.
In the best-of-three format, Kenny won the first heat by passing Bauge on the final straight; the second by leading from the front and holding the Frenchman off.
The velodrome erupted. The venue houses just 6,000 but the roar was as loud as any I have heard at the Olympics - a torrent of sound cascading onto the track.
Kenny does not do poster boy duties, but he might have to start. Having been selected in this event over Sir Chris Hoy, he delivered spectacularly.
Aged 24, he has three Olympic golds to his name - two in London. If he goes on as long as the 36-year-old Hoy, who knows what he could achieve?
Not that success has gone to his head. In a lovely exchange after he took gold, somebody threw Kenny a Union Jack. After holding it aloft for a few seconds, he studiously sought out its owner and insisted the man take it back.
We were also treated to appearances from baubled cycling royalty in the form of Victoria Pendleton in the sprint quarter-finals, and Laura Trott in the omnium.
The omnium is a multi-discipline event that stretches over two days. We saw the first half today, with the unquestionable highlight the elimination race.
It is basically cycling's equivalent of the royal rumble. Every two laps the rider at the back is knocked out.
Gradually the field got whittled down - and each time Trott survived the cheers got louder.
When it was down to two, chants of 'Laura! Laura! Laura!' echoed around the arena and the 20-year-old duly crossed the line first to be last woman standing.
It capped yet another glory day in the velodrome for Britain.
Tomorrow? More of the same - or else.
Constant pressure, constant raising of the bar and a total refusal to ease off are what have got Britain's cyclists to this point.
High expectations? They wouldn't have it any other way.
VELODROME - VENUE SCOREBOARD
ACCESSIBILITY/FACILITIES: 8/10 - Tucked away in the top corner of the Olympic Park, the velodrome is easy to get into, and has a pleasant concourse allowing you to walk a full circle around the place.
VIEW: 8/10 - No bad seats in this compact, 6,000-seat coliseum. And those lucky enough to have trackside tickets sit literally centimetres from the action. You can also pop down to the concourse and watch standing up without too much hassle from the stewards. Given the sport's popularity, might it have been a little bigger?
FANS: 9/10 - The velodrome goes appropriately bonkers whenever a British cyclist takes to the track. Joyous pandemonium broke out during Kenny and Trott's best bits.
SPECTACLE: 9/10 - The sweeping, undulating track is an aesthetic marvel, and the closeness to the track conveys speed brilliantly. Throw in a cacophonous soundtrack and you have a winning formula.
X-FACTOR: 9/10 - The Velodrome's curved, boat-like, wooden exterior makes it by far the most beautiful Olympic venue, and it is striking inside, too. Definitely a 'wow' arena, befitting a signature London 2012 sport.
TOTAL SCORE: 43/50 - happy and glorious
This morning I saw China thump South Korea in their women's team table tennis semi-final at ExCel.
EXCEL (TABLE TENNIS) - VENUE SCOREBOARD
ACCESSIBILITY/FACILTITIES: 7/10 - ExCel is a bit of a hike, even from the Olympic Park. But as the only morning action at the venue, the table tennis had a joyously empty venue to itself. And as it was my second visit, I knew to ignore signs directing me to Pontoon Dock for the DLR back to Stratford.
VIEW: 5/10 - It should come as no surprise to anyone that a table tennis table is small. From 40-odd yards, it is not always easy to see what is going on. One spectator got very upset because the table-side TV cameras were in his way.
FANS: 6/10 - The crowd certainly enjoyed it, but so one-sided was the encounter we saw that opportunities to raise the roof proved rare. A pocket of Chinese fans made a proper row throughout - one of their chants, for Li Xiaoxia, sounded strangely like 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!'
SPECTACLE: 6/10 - China won. They always do. They have not dropped a match in the competition, and no doubt they will hand out a similar beating to Japan in the final. While we saw the best players in the world (including both singles finalists - Li Xiaoxia and Ding Ning) the match itself was almost totally devoid of tension.
X-FACTOR: 7/10 - Table tennis is an almost impossibly skilful game. The top players' reaction speed, anticipation and agility dazzles. Chinese dominance has taken the sport to new heights. Now they just need some competition.
TOTAL SCORE: 31/50 - lopsided
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Alex Chick will be writing from London 2012 throughout the Olympic Games.