Day 6 Winter Olympics: Today at the Games

Today was a big day for the red white and blue on snow and ice. We

had British skaters and skiers in action all over the place. Between

now and eight o'clock we will bring you bang up-to-date with everything

that has happened, with the help of our trusty shopping trolley. So

let's start in the Iceberg Skating Palace with short track and

Britain's Elise Christie was in action in the 500 m. It is the first

of the three events and it proved to be a dramatic day for her. Three

Chinese skaters against Elise Christie of Great Britain in

semifinal number two. Christie has rallied. And they have

gone down already. One of the big favourites has gone down. Now it is

Elise Christie on the front, who is looking very good indeed here.

Tapping out the rhythm, and this is going to be hard for the Chinese

skaters to get round. 1.5 laps to go, Elise Christie,

within a lap of getting through to the final, this is history in the

making. And running through to the line. She may well have finished

second, actually. That is good enough to see Elise Christie into

the final. There will be no charitable hand-outs here, take it

from me. Fontana has been overhauled by Elise

Christie. They've all gone down. There was only one skater left

handing, they got back up and they are skating for the medals, and

Elise Christie is in second place. She comes storming through. She's

going to try and claim this silver medal. She is being chased down by

Fontana a vaguely. She comes up to get the bell lap, and Fontana has

almost bridged this to Christie. They are in the final lap, and the

final medal -- the gold medal goes to the Chinese competitor, Elise

Christie takes the silver medal, history has been made. We wait to

see whether the result will stand, but that was a great skate by

Christie. What is bring to happen to Elise Christie? She charged down the

inside. I fear the worst. The sad news is that Elise Christie has been

penalised and placed fourth in the contest. How sad is that? Arianna

Fontana elevate herself up one place, and the bronze goes to South

Korea. I did not want to be the one to do the attacking. Unfortunately

the girl hit me off my feet and that meant that I then hit everyone else.

That is the way that short track goes. The referee has made their

decision. Everyone is going to have a different opinion. I am regretting

that. I wanted to get the first British medal, but I went for the

win, and that is the way it went. A heartbroken Elise Christie.

I'm joined by Wilf O'Reilly. Since then, Lees has regained some

composure. She has said thank you to everyone for your support. I'm so

grateful. I totally respect the referee's decision. Sorry to the

other finalists. Very professional attitude. After a disappointing

race, to come back with a statement like that is fantastic. That is the

way that she needs to look forward. How do you read the incident? What

happened and why did it happen she drew number three on the start line.

She wanted to come past Fontana. She knew that if she didn't, the skater

in fourth place was going to attack from the rear. She came up the

inside of Fontana. When I initially saw it, I thought that Elise

Christie was at Fort, but having seen it from seven different

angles, it seems that Fontana came across and made it more difficult

for her to go through, so it was a 50-50 call. It looked a lot worse,

because she was seen to be the offending skater, but we have to

respect the decision of the referees. But we can still feel

aggrieved, even if she respected. She has got two more events to come,

her favourite distance among them, the 1000 metres. How do she recover

from this and what does she learn from it? The British team are in

great form, we have had two short track finals, with Elise Christie

being in one of them pull some she had a magnificent semifinal, to draw

three Chinese skaters qualify for the final was absolutely fantastic.

I think that must have given her a lot of confidence to go through into

the 1500 metres, and ultimately the 1000 metres on the last day. Thank

you for joining us this evening. Elise Christie was the first ever

British woman to make a short track speed skating final. The last of the

new slopestyle events was the men's skiing, and Britain's representative

was James Woods of Sheffield. He is known as Woodsy, and last year he

became Britain's first freestyle skiing world Championship medallist

in 20 years, with a silver in Norway. How would he fare at his

first Winter Olympics? Graham Bell was there. The brand-new Olympic

event, slopestyle, has gone down fantastically well at the games in

Sochi. This is the last one, the men's ski slopestyle. Our big hope,

James Woods from Sheffield. He had a crash in training and damaged his

hip. How much would that affect him? The qualifying rounds now, only 12

go through. My goodness. Double ten. Double injection. Now it

is the turn of James Woods. Super technical. Beautiful run. Fantastic

first round for James Woods. Very strong run from him. Ski slopestyle,

round two, who we go. James Woods, currently in third place, RGB one of

the best rail riders in the field. Style there, on the 1080. I thought

after that first one, he looked so smooth and solid, and that has given

him a big jolt. You run a great spot going into the finals, it means that

you will ski third last, so what is the plan? All I can do is give it my

100% best. That is what I try to do every single day. I know that there

are lots of people watching so I want to do those guys proud and do

my thing. Everyone was happy for him. He's struggling with his hip

pain. But he is dealing with it and has put down an amazing first run.

Back to the top of the free skiing slopestyle finals. The top section

done and dusted. What has he got on the jumps? He tweeted yesterday that

this was the best day ever, and his words. He opened up early on that.

Very early. The triple. Yes. My goodness. He never looked out of

control. He was not forcing that triple. You could see that as he

came into the last three. He was well on top of it. 92.4. James Woods

of Great Britain. Qualified in third place. Has had the luxury of letting

nine of the finalists go before him. Woody is one of the more technical

riders, the only one we have seen to hit that kink rail, a flat down and

a 450 out. Absolutely perfect rail section. And nicely through the

canning. The first of these jumps. -- cannon. Sat down slightly on the

pen, but not too bad. On the right side 12. Will get that grab. He

didn't even land it, the death came out to meet him.

-- the earth. It looked amazing to me. The first plays qualifier, Joss

Christensen. He finished that rotation beautifully with a metre or

two to spare. A long way from the landing there. The stretch triple.

My goodness. Where was he going? Can cross just and soon make it up? Yes

he can. As Mac can Joss Christensen. 16, 20, immaculate, absolutely

ridiculous. He just needs to hold back together. Switch to switch.

Coming backwards for the triple 14. My goodness! That was difficult.

That was absolutely insane! 93.6, going into second behind Joss

Christensen. Any last-minute advice you were given at the start? Woody

knows what he's doing, we will see. Can he get on the podium? He totally

can, but it is any man's game right now. Let's see. He needs 92.4 or

better for a place on the podium. 450, the King flat arc. Solid

through this rail section. He's going to be feeling good through

this one, lovely. Confidence will be brimming at this point. The rail

section done, and tidily. Sat down again there, going to be difficult

to improve on this score. Unless we see a triple, here. No, no. You have

got to give him a round of applause. 78.4. 86.6 would be the first round

score, that is good enough for fifth. Would see, you must be happy

with that fifth place, with the injury going in. For sure. Happy to

be here. A little disappointing when you do not perform at your best, but

I have got to be honest, to be here in such an immense final, the

Olympics, and Joss, he's the nicest guy on the face of the, so I could

not the more happy for anyone else. We see is here with us now,

reflecting on that run. Is it a case of what might have been? Yes,

absolutely. -- Woodsy is here. It was not an incredible day for me,

but it was an incredible day for slopestyle scheme. -- skiing. Put

this into context, because you almost pulled him out of this event.

Yes, I questioned whether we did the right thing allowing him to compete,

but it is the Olympics, it is once every four years, he has worked so

hard to be here, and he needed to ski today, no matter what. Are you

glad that you had the experience? Yes, it is not everyday you get the

chance to drop at the Olympics. So yes, I am happy. Having a look at

some of the slow motion of your run. What could you not do that you

would normally be able to do because of a hip injury? The rails were

painful, I think I did get through them pretty well. The take-offs for

the job is other than that was the main thing, because certain areas

with the hit set it off, and I think that really got it especially, so I

was definitely on the back burner, relaxing on the take-off and trying

to do it in a way that wouldn't hurt, and obviously that doesn't

just have an impact on the trick, it is the whole trick that is

affected. But I did it. And you did the best you could do in the

condition you are in. You have more competitions to come this year?

Absolutely. I am going to have to take a few weeks off, I'm thinking,

the doctors are saying that, unfortunately. I have been taking

painkillers quite frequently today to keep me up on the slopes. But you

don't get the opportunity to go to the Olympics very often. I do this

all the time, so I will make the most of today. We're glad you

dropped in on this show tonight, so thank you very much and

congratulations on fifth place. Woodsy emphasising that the

importance of fitness. You have to be in the shape of your life to do

well at the Olympics. Lizzy Yarnold has only been in the sport for three

years, it is her first Olympics. Matthew Pinsent went to find out how

she would do. This is the Sankey sliding centre.

This is the moment that Lizzy Yarnold and Shelley Rudman have

waited four years for. The World Cup winner versus the world champion.

Team-mate and rivals. The weight of the nation's expectations are on

their shoulders. We don't know what short of -- what

sort of shape Pikus-Pace is in. Lizzy Yarnold has already won a

world championship, and now she's going for Olympic old. Over of a

quarter of a second up on her number one rival. Unbelievable from Lizzy

here. Another track record. So, Shelley Rudman, the best-known of

the sliders at the moment, starts her Olympic campaign here. So far,

her run is looking solid. Oh, she clipped the wall there. Here we go

now with Elena nicotine. -- Nikotina. And she finishes very

close to Lizzy Yarnold. So that is the first run completed.

Lizzy Yarnold has gone top, just in front of Nikotina.

Shelley Rudman of Great Britain is usually a good starter. And this

time she has started well. Absolutely superb. And that means

she stays in exactly the same place for the time being. This is the

first of the athletes who will really be pressuring yarn old for

the gold medal. So far, a really good run. She is accelerating down

the last part of the track. And this is Nikotina. She has pulled it out

at these Olympics. And she has lost it, my goodness. Pikus-Pace is in

the lead with one athlete to go, Lizzy Yarnold of Great Britain. She

gets down in the perfect driving position, and she goes, and is she

going to break the track record? Not quite. You can see the advantage she

has got over Pikus-Pace already. She had a quarter of a second, and this

is a big margin to be leading the Olympics in. Over half a second, 50

600s. Absolutely perfect line, she is keeping so still on the sled.

They do a lot of work in wind tunnels perfecting that position. So

far it is an unbelievable run. Can she keep it up?

That is brilliant. As long as she doesn't take a big hit here, she

will hold most of that. A little tap there, she might lose a few

fractions, but no more than a 10th of a second. Coming to the line,

wow. 58.46. That is just outside of the track record. 0.44 of a second

ahead, and that is brilliant. How was your morning's work? It was

great, thank you. I was twisting and turning in my bed, I was so excited.

Now I have started the competition, I'm in the swing of it and I'm

really pleased with how it is going so far. How'd you spend the time

between now and tomorrow afternoon? I like the evening part, this is

where races are won and lost, and I can sleep click a baby now I have

started the competition. All the normal athlete things. So that is

the end of the first day of competition, and at 0.44 ahead,

Lizzy Yarnold does have a comfortable lead over her rivals.

Two more good runs tomorrow, and she can write her own chapter into

British Olympic history. And the impressive thing is not just

her aerodynamic ability or all the effort she has put in, but her

attitude. She is embracing this and just loving it. You can see that

smile on her face. She has this aura about her. She is here at her first

Olympics, and she wants to enjoy it. When I enjoyed the racing at what I

was doing, that was when the results came, and you can see the same thing

happening for Lizzie. -- Lizzy. She is just cracking on as if it is any

other race. And she has got a massive lead, in skeleton terms. She

has. You can win and lose a race in hundredths of a second, so to be 44

hundredths of a second ahead, that is a big lead. But it takes one

hit, once light-skinned, to ruin it, to lose all of that. You can lose

that quite quickly -- one light skied. I was texting her last night

towards the race, just checking. I know she is probably not on her

phone all the time, but she got around to texting me back. I said,

you know you are in the lead, be calm, go and rest, chill out, watch

a DVD. You have a whole day tomorrow. She has to wake up and

wait the whole day to compete, just stick to your routine. Do what you

have always done, have a good lunch, sit back down, try to take your mind

off. If she is nervous all day, she will waste so much energy. I'm not

sure she will be, I get the sense she isn't that type of person.

Shelley Rudman, 11th place after her second run. Here are the timings for

tomorrow. Lizzy goes at 3.30, and then we switched to BBC One for the

final run at 5.15. Let's take a deep breath and go curling. Britain's men

and women in action. The women of Team GB entered the ice

cube early this morning with the hope of climbing up the table. They

pitted their wits against arguably the best curler to come out of the

Asian continent. Wang displayed her skill early on, but Eve Eve Muirhead

responded. By the interval, they are deadlocked at four. Ends nine, and

Wang prolonged stalemate, both sides tied at seven. Eve Muirhead focused.

Experience over nervous. The game now set in the balance of GB's last

throw. GB have just five games left as they

aim to finish in the top four to qualify for the semis.

David Murdoch in Team GB's campaign continued today in the men's round

robin against team USA. The bronze medallist in the 2006 Turin games,

John Schuster was to lead his team to their second victory. It would be

a slow uphill struggle from the get go for the US. GB took commanding-0

lead. He is from the birthplace of Bob

Dylan. The points they are changing, and the USA pull-back one. Murdoch

forced to take a single. Penultimate end, tables turned.

There would be no doubting Murdoch being in full control with the last

stone. A dominant victory for Great

Britain, four wins from five matches.

Good stuff from both of our teams, and that is just about it. But

before we leave, let's catch up with some of the other headline makers on

day six. Germany completed a golden luge

clean sweep with victory in the first ever team event. In the men's

20 K individual biathlon, Frenchman Martin for card -- for

Fourcard took gold. Evgeni Plushenko pulled out of the figure skating and

announced his retirement. And that competition is led by the

19-year-old Yuzuru Hanyu, the only skater to break 100 points.

So after day six, Germany's clean sweep of the luge medals mean they

top the pile in terms of medals. USA's 1-2-3 in the slopestyle helped

their tally. Skeleton leader Lizzy Yarnold will

be going for gold tomorrow, and we will switch to BBC One on 5.15 for

her final run. Tonight, the red button from eight o'clock well have

extended highlights of speed skating, figure skating, ice

hockey, freestyle skiing and luge. But now it is time for our Winter

wonders. I can't help thinking that the

simple addition of a belt would have presented all of this. Nothing warms

the heart like good teamwork. And finally, they have said that he is

not as good under pressure, though. Those are the funnies. Tomorrow, it

gets serious. Lizzy Yarnold going for gold tomorrow, 30 years to the

day since Torvill and Dean won their gold medal. Let's hope that is an

omen. Will keep our fingers crossed and wish her well. See you tomorrow.

This is a big margin to be leading the Olympics in. Absolutely perfect

line, no skid. Strong and aerodynamic. Unbelievable. She is

half a second upcoming to the line. That is brilliant. I could not be

more happy.