After so much joy, it all ended in tears. Vicky Pendleton's powers failed her just when she needed them the most, as Great Britain's track sprinting queen failed to win Team GB's 10th gold in the final event of the 2008 World Track Championships.

Yet any criticism of a tearful Pendleton, already winner of two gold medals in Man-chester, is churlish. It is an indication of how high the bar has been set by this unique group of British athletes that, in a championships in which they won nine out of a possible 18 gold medals, a silver medal is seen as a letdown.

This is a group that has learned to appreciate the joy of victory through years of bitter defeat. Team GB athletes are emphatic winners, but they are winners with good grace. Even Fabio Capello would approve. Unlike his charges, none of these athletes would park in a disabled bay, least of all Chris Hoy, seen yesterday glaring at journalists who failed to stand respectfully to attention during the national anthems.

Hoy is a talismanic figure for Team GB, his imposing sprinter's physique hiding a gentle and well-mannered nature that is not often seen in elite sport. On Friday night, minutes after winning his first gold medal, he broke off from interviews to chat to a pair of star-struck schoolboys.

On Saturday, wearing a revolutionary new racing suit, he demolished his rivals in the keirin to claim his second world title in 24 hours. It was a victory that completed his transition from kilometre time trial rider to sprint king, while promising much for the Olympic Games in Beijing.

"When I focus on something, I give it the best of my abilities," he said. "In sprinting, when you go, you have to go. You have to have confidence in yourself and give it your all."

Hoy is now likely to contend for three events in Beijing: the team sprint, the individual sprint and the keirin. "I think the whole team has more to give," he said. "That's the great thing. Little tweaks here and there, new equipment we're bringing in - there are little things that make a difference and we've been deliberately holding that back."

"We didn't want to come in here with all guns blazing - well, we have done - but there's definitely more to come," Hoy said. "We've never been a team that rests on its laurels, because if you do, you're vulnerable. We're absolutely 100% focused on Beijing, because that's the big one."

Equally determined to make the most of the current optimism in the British camp are Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins, winners on Saturday of the two-man Madison race. "I set out to win three titles but never really thought it was possible," said Wiggins, also a gold medalist in the team and men's individual pursuit.

There are still issues to be dealt with. Pendleton showed a brief glimpse of the frailties that have dogged her in the past yesterday after her defeat in the women's keirin by Jennie Reed, of the United States. "I was trying to figure out the best place to be, but I had a wobble and Jennie was just too strong," she said.

Pendleton famously froze in the hothouse of the Athens Olympic velodrome in 2004. "In Athens, she hadn't any mental skills at all," said Team GB psychiatrist Steve Peters. "When she experienced stress or anxiety, she had no coping strategies. She was drawing on straws, so she had a catastrophic fall-apart."

"We worked on specific techniques and skills, so that she could control her emotions," continued Peters, who has become a key member of the coaching team. "She learned how to focus, while the coaching team worked on the physical side. She has come on in leaps and bounds."

"When you couple that with the confidence she has definitely gained, she's become virtually unstoppable. It's the same person, but what we see now is a different aspect of that person."

That momentary sighting of the Pendleton of old may secretly have reassured Team GB Performance Director, David Brailsford. The perfect 10 failed to materialise, but expectations remain high and, as Hoy pointed out, there is no room for complacency on the road to Beijing.