Britain Finally Grabs a Gold

The egg-on-face potential has been eliminated: Olympic host Britain has finally captured its first gold medal of the London Games. Helen Glover and Heather Stanning won the final of the women's pair at the Olympic rowing regatta on today, after establishing a big lead early in the race and crossing the line in a time of 7 minutes, 27.13 seconds. Australia finished fast, closing to within a length of Britain to snatch the silver medal from world champion New Zealand, which edged the United States for bronze.

It's the first Olympic gold won by a British women's boat and could begin an unprecedented medal rush for the host nation at Dorney Lake across the four days of finals. Famous fans were in attendance to watch Glover and Stanning end the country's five-day dry spell: princes Wills and Harry. (More rowing stories.)