Day 16, Part 1 - 9.30am to 12.30pm Winter Olympics


Day 16, Part 1 - 9.30am to 12.30pm

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We have come to the final day of this 22nd Winter Olympics here in

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Sochi. 95 title is decided, just three more up for grabs and host

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nation Russia are looking good to top the medals table, plus the

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possibility that Britain may have its most successful Winter Games

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ever. Good morning. For the final time from the Olympic Park. Where

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did the time go bust and Mark behind me, the forgotten stadium because

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there has been no action since the opening ceremony. -- where did the

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time go? We have the ice hockey final, Sweden against Canada. We

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have cross country skiing, a gentle 50, to is on a Sunday morning -- 15

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kilometres on a Sunday morning. The men's four-man obsolete is

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beautifully poised -- four-man bobsleigh is beautifully poised. It

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is very tight. If we can make ourselves heard, the

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Russians are just zero point four -- 0.4 ahead of the Latvians. They

:02:09.:02:17.

really blasted a second run, which was close to being perfect. 55.13,

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they scored. There is Zubkov, the driver.

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was close to being perfect. 55.13, they scored. There is Away we go.

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What sort of a start are they going to get? It is not a bad start. It is

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a brilliant start considering the ice is pretty soft. It is only minus

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two degrees which means the ice will chop up very quickly. Up the hill, a

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very light touch from Zubkov. We are going in order of their

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places from the overnight slot. Two runs yesterday, two runs today. You

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can see some of the shades are up to try to keep the heat of the track.

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Two corners to go. He is driving particularly welcome he has hardly

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hit anything in terms of obstacles. Across the line in 55.02. It is

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absolutely magnificent. There is the finish house.

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Conditions are not as fast as they were yesterday. But that is a

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magnificent run. Zubkov, on course to get his second gold medal, to do

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the double. In -- it would be magnificent for Russia if they did.

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I hear that Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev are coming, to add to the pressure a

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bit for the Russians. A lot of teams under pressure. The Germans have got

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a medal in every Games since 1968. 50 years since they fail to get a

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medal. This is the Latvians, the young guys who blasted off a

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brilliant start yesterday. They equalled the best start of anyone.

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Here we go, this was a team that was really on form yesterday. They are

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already behind yesterday. I think they will be disappointed. They were

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talking about bashing off a 4.73 start but instead they are slower

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than the Russians. That really is the big thing they have in their

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armoury so they are slipping away. Did not take a touch out of five and

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the Russians did. Will this track cut up? There are -- they are a

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tense down. They are much faster than the Russians were. Edge a 10th

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down. They are in second place, 0.17

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behind. Really nervous looks on the faces of the Latvians. They know

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that will be a tough margin to pull back in on the final run. The next

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few pilots will be interesting. Arndt is a brilliant pilot. Out of

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11, you can see the sun coming on the track there. This bobsleigh, 630

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kilos with all of the men in it. It is three times being put through a

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tiny patch of metal which will slice it up pretty quickly. Just below us

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is the finish area and that has not come uncovered yet. This is Arndt.

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The Germans are so desperate to get on the medal table, it could be up

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to Arndt. That is better than I thought they would do but it is

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still a long way from the Russians and the Latvians. They are giving

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away almost a 10th of a second straightaway to the Russians. Let's

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look at how far they will be behind. Over a third of a second. The loss

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of momentum makes them struggle through the first section. As they

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came through there they were hitting on the side but this is cleaner.

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Just coming through this time. And absolutely clean. A big slap out of

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11, up the hill to 15. Two corners to go. Over half a second down. It

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is pretty poor for a top crew. 55.47. Zubkov is very blessed this

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morning. He is feeling pumped. To go out first in these conditions is a

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massive advantage but he has earned that. He is number one from the

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overnight position. I hope this track is not cutting up too much.

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Let's have another look. The exit of nine, a little late, you can see the

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articulation allows you to twist off the end of the corner. If it wasn't

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articulated you would absolutely crash off a corner like that. These

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bobsleighs twist. This is the crew I think could do damage to Zubkov. If

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the nails it here, Holcomb, the Olympic champions can still pull

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something special out. They had one of the stars that was equal to

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Zubkov yesterday. -- they had a start that was equal. I think that

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shocked everyone. Let's see if they can get close to 4.75. It is quite

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close... It is as good as the Russians managed. He should not lose

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any of the time-out of the start. Let's see how the knife train does.

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He has lost a little bit. Just waiting for the split. 0.24

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down, it is too much. A remarkably low-lying through seven. Into 11, he

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wants to avoid the tap. It is only a tiny touch, can he really nothing

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back? No, he is losing time. -- real anything back. He is in third place.

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0.5 ahead. Arndt is in fourth place, my goodness. Holcomb is back in the

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medal position already. Not too much wrong with that slide. This track is

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definitely slowing up with every sled. We have to wait and we have

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Germany three, Russia two and then Great Britain. The first sled down

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will be the British. Looking at the positions right now, Zubkov is in a

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commanding lead. Holcomb is the best part of half a second behind Zubkov.

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There is a glimmer of hope for the British to push towards the bronze

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medal. Yes, there is. And this is a German sled. Here we go. Their best

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start yesterday was 4.80. That is 4.82, it is pretty good. It is

:11:13.:11:21.

better than Arndt's start and that is what they have, Kuske's crew. He

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has taken a touch and already down. Keep an eye on the difference here.

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They were going sideways after the big bang on the right-hand side.

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They have slipped out of the bronze medal position. You can't really

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trust the speed gun. A little tap into 14, up the hill to 15. They are

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losing time all the time. It is quite quick. 55.50.

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Steve Holcombe looks really happy. He is up in third. On the next two.

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-- the crews that have a chance are the next two. Great Britain can out

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start this crew, the Germans. They are relying on a fantastic slide and

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he did not quite nail it. The Brits are jet propelled, they have a

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commend a start. They sure do. -- they have a tremendous start. This

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is Russia, there is a shot-putter in their, a hurdler. And another

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ex-athlete. In they get. It is the fifth fastest we have seen. It is a

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better start than they managed yesterday. This is the one crew I

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worry about for Britain more than any other. They really put their act

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together in the two man. He can keep his cool, Kasjanov. If he holds

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this, through town and into 11, just 52 hundredths back. It is pretty

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fast. Nothing to alter the speed. Out of 15, he is not going to go

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into the bronze medal position, you might go into fourth. That is good,

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he is in fourth place. 100th of a second ahead of the Germans. He is

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going to be in the mix for sure. In the final run. Latvia might still be

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in second position, it wasn't a particularly good run. They will be

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nervous of hanging onto a run of -- a medal of any description. I can

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see Holcomb moving up to the silver. Great Britain, let's hope they nail

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this start. They have got to do something below 480. There is Great

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Britain. John Jackson, Stuart Benson. We have not mentioned him

:15:04.:15:10.

too much. He is six foot five. In the Royal Air Force as well. Bruce

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Tasker and Joel Fearon. It is the perfect crew. A very experienced

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pilot, two massive horses powering it away. Joel Fearon on the back, a

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10.01 sprinter. Exceptional leg cadence. He takes the few extra

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strides and loads it. Come on, Great Britain. It has got to be a good

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start. That was good! That is a really good start! Excellent first

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part of the course. Not touching the sides at all. He avoids that tap.

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That was good piloting from Jackson. Just behind the bronze medal

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position. That is pretty good, as well. He has to try to keep this

:16:11.:16:18.

within six tenths to stand a very good chance for the final run. Seven

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looks unlikely. And he is pulling it back! Wait for the next checkmark...

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They have moved up. They are in sixth place at the moment. That is

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not bad. He is 18 hundredths behind the bronze medal position. That can

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be caught, absolutely. We are going in the first order. They will get

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the better ice, this time. They could pull this back. Lovely

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steering from Jackson. Well done, Great Britain. They could not have

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done much better. Certainly, Great Britain or on a mission. That will

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come with the next run, to get amongst the medals. This is Beat

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Hefti. Alex Baumann, Juerg Egger and Thomas Lamparter. Beat Hefti is the

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medallist. Thomas Lamparter is back after being injured. That was ugly.

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Still, a superb start. And he manages to wrestle this back under

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control. Not the best start for Beat Hefti. They are going well but they

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are touching. That will slow things down. Just that light touch up the

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hill. And that was ugly of the wall from number seven. Big mistake. I am

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not sure how that time compares. John Jackson, 63 hundredths behind

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for Great Britain. They will drop into eighth place. 55.6. Eighth

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place. My goodness! And their medal chances might have gone.

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Beat Hefti, looking around, he cannot quite understand what went

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wrong. There were some touches, there, which did reduce the speed.

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Let us look at the loading. Beat Hefti, he gets in first. The back

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man sat down early. Actually, they just panicked a little bit. That is

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very unusual for the Swiss. They pull that off too early and the

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pressure sucked them back. Germany. Francesco Friedrich, he is a very

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good driver. They will be really unhappy with that. That puts a very

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big deficit on the Russians. The British and the Latvians and the

:19:55.:20:00.

Americans, those big starting teams. They have got around all right. 65

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hundredths back. That is a very solid speed. After that week start.

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No, he is starting to lose more time. They will go just ahead of

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Beat Hefti. They are going sideways. That was bad. 55.8. They are in

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ninth position. Not looking good for the Germans. Down in fifth place,

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seventh place and now, that's my position could be called by some of

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the crew is coming next. -- that ninth position. They won four medals

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on the bounce from 1994, gold medals. They have always been

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dominant over the last however many decades. That was quite similar to

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Canada. They got kicked away. And they came in very lately. That was

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close. He looks nervous. He should not be. The pressure is on because

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the president is here. Canada 2. He drilled very well on the second push

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yesterday evening. -- drool. -- drove. Leaving Canada down on the

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rest of the world a little bit. In Vancouver, they were right up there.

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One of the fastest in the world. Lyndon Rush is an Olympic bronze

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medallist. But if you don't have that big engine or that massive

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start, you just have gravity. It is not easy to come back from that sort

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of deficit. This is disappearing fast. Nearly one second. We will see

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this split. They will go into ninth place or 10th place. 55.6. Ninth

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place, at the moment. Just ahead of the Germans. It is

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extremely unlikely that any of the teams coming down can go ahead of

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John Jackson and Great Britain. We pretty much know that the battle for

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Great Britain is to make up less than two tenths of a second to get

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onto the medals. All these teams have got time deficits.

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Polishing his runners. Russia leading. Then Latvia, USA. And Great

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Britain and Northern Ireland are there. In sixth place. Polishing,

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there. Getting annoyed with the cameraman for getting too close.

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They treat their slaves like someone very important. -- sleds. USA. Nick

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Cunningham, London Odirlei Pessoni and Justin Olsen. Stuart Benson. If

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you follow social media, he smashed the toilet in the Olympic Village

:24:21.:24:25.

because he got locked in! Heavy-handed but powerful. Not

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absolutely world-class. But in this night train, this new prototype, he

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has the gold Olympic medal. But it is four years old. Still good top

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end speed. Coming down. That is a very good drive. Quite a distance.

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There we are. 55.97. In 11th place. They just kept ongoing down. --

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ongoing. The ice is only minus two degrees. It is going to get cut up.

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The first man down got the best of the ice. With each, you give away

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some time. Great Britain 2. Hopefully it does not get much

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worse. Because there are gold will be to get into the top 20 did it

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inside that final run. -- to get inside.

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And away we go. They got a lot of abuse in Holland in Vancouver, Edwin

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van Calker said he would not take responsibility for these men behind

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me, it was too dangerous. He got heckled by a large chunks of the

:26:35.:26:38.

Bobsleigh fraternity because it is a pretty macho crowd. He was being

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called a coward and all sorts of things and it was not until the

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Prince Regent said, actually, I think he did the responsible thing.

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Suddenly, things turned around and he got more sponsorship after being

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the laughing stock. Good to see him sliding again. This is nice. Still

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1.6 nine on the leader. -- down. They have gone ahead of USA 2. That

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is a significant amount of time and that could be sufficient. Uphill

:27:30.:27:47.

section. He nailed that. That sucks you right up to the woodwork. You

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can slam into that and lose a lot of time. He is a very good pilot.

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Probably in better shape for years ago. He would have done better in

:27:57.:28:02.

Vancouver, because his starts were better. Latvia 2. Latvia 1, still in

:28:03.:28:39.

second place. Here we go. They can really shift. That was a little bit

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off the pace. We are seeing low speeds of 51. And that was ugly.

:28:46.:28:52.

They will go backwards from that. 1.2 seconds behind. That is in

:28:53.:28:57.

comparison to the Russians, who are leading this. That is pretty

:28:58.:29:07.

straight. Since the touch last time. He has straightened it up. Into 11.

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It makes a deafening noise. It comes down this track. Pretty cool. 55.97.

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That is last place, at the moment. Just looking forward to Great

:29:42.:29:52.

Britain going. 18th position. They are close enough, they could move up

:29:53.:29:57.

to 16th place. And there are gold will be to try to attack the top 15

:29:58.:30:02.

because we have got two runs and it is the aggregate. The lowest time

:30:03.:30:07.

wins. Simple as that. You have to be consistent. He can make big mistakes

:30:08.:30:30.

at times. There are times added up to exactly the same as Latvia 2. The

:30:31.:30:47.

Olympics printer for Canada in the back, Bryan Barnett. Things are not

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going well for Canada. Especially with crash yesterday. They will be

:30:52.:30:57.

going last. That was horrible. He comes from Darwin and he is going

:30:58.:31:18.

pretty well at the moment. 1.59 seconds behind the leaders. He has

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got to do better than 1.56. It is 1.87. He has gone ahead of

:31:22.:31:29.

Latvia two. He stays exactly where he is, in

:31:30.:31:56.

13th place. Let's have a look at the load. A good load. The bagman has

:31:57.:32:03.

two pop in those handles. Great to have a 200 meter man on the back of

:32:04.:32:07.

a sled, someone who has got exceptional top end speed. The men

:32:08.:32:14.

on the side need gears to dig it out. The guys in the side load

:32:15.:32:20.

after. The man on the back has got to have exceptional speed. In the

:32:21.:32:25.

past we have the likes of Marcus Adam, John readers -- John Regis. I

:32:26.:32:37.

think he owns the 200 metres record for Britain. Zach Roth, more serve,

:32:38.:32:46.

this is Russia three. They will be anxious to make a move. Nobody has

:32:47.:32:57.

made a move in this particular bobsleigh. We are up to 15th place

:32:58.:33:07.

now. There is only one noticeable jump. That is Team GB moving up to

:33:08.:33:12.

six and Holcomb moving up to third from fourth. That is a disappointing

:33:13.:33:28.

start for a Russian crew. It looks like they may overtake Kiva --

:33:29.:33:34.

keeper Mannus. 1.94 behind. They are just ahead of

:33:35.:33:58.

Latvia two, by 0.2 of a second. Canada and Russia, leapfrogging

:33:59.:34:03.

Latvia two. It takes me back to my point, the Latvians are known for

:34:04.:34:12.

blowing hot and cold. Let's have a little look out of 11. The camera

:34:13.:34:20.

picks up how much ice is dragged off the wall. All of that is slowing

:34:21.:34:25.

them up. Not such a bad place to take a hit, the track is very steep.

:34:26.:34:35.

There is the Latvian, Melbardis. This is the Czech Republic one. They

:34:36.:34:58.

had just gone ahead of Great Britain two who like to places behind. They

:34:59.:35:10.

had an exceptional run yesterday and they moved up a number of places.

:35:11.:35:14.

They will be riding on a high, confidence is with the Czechs.

:35:15.:35:24.

That is certainly a start that Great Britain two will be hoping to beat.

:35:25.:35:31.

They are a bit slower than they were yesterday. And here we go. This

:35:32.:35:40.

gives us a very good idea of what sort of load speed they have. It is

:35:41.:35:51.

not a bad line at all. I don't think this is quite as picture perfect as

:35:52.:35:57.

Vrba had in his second run. He is high through 11th. He takes a big

:35:58.:36:05.

slab out of 11. Coming through that bit berry well indeed. 55 .95, they

:36:06.:36:16.

keep slapping out these sub 56 second runs -- very well indeed.

:36:17.:36:21.

They are in 16th place at the moment. They have gone behind

:36:22.:36:26.

Latvia. They have pulled back nothing on anyone there. They are

:36:27.:36:31.

within shouting distance of Latvia now. Vrba and his crew, 16th

:36:32.:36:37.

position, one run to go. The obvious target is 15th. Look how many

:36:38.:36:44.

strides the back man took in the end. That is too many. He needed to

:36:45.:36:52.

be in two or three strides earlier. You saw the slab out of 11. You saw

:36:53.:36:58.

the camera shake as it hit the woodwork. Not quite as good as his

:36:59.:37:01.

second run, Vrba. Cluster there is a shot-putter in there. I

:37:02.:37:24.

think he is in the faster it -- on the far side. That is quite slow.

:37:25.:37:32.

The British will be trying to beat that time. To beat the French crew

:37:33.:37:38.

will be a good scalp. France are traditionally a solid bobsleighing

:37:39.:37:44.

nation. The last four man medal was in 1998, the British shared it with

:37:45.:37:53.

the French. There is or is a good battle between the French and the

:37:54.:38:00.

Brits. -- always a good battle. Going through there, just waiting

:38:01.:38:04.

for that to come up and they have hit it perfectly. It has slowed them

:38:05.:38:12.

right down. 2.12 seconds behind. It looks like they will go behind the

:38:13.:38:13.

Czechs. 2.2 seconds behind. Great Britain go next, Lamin Deen,

:38:14.:38:29.

John Baines, Andrew Matthews and consignments. It is very catchable,

:38:30.:38:38.

it was not a tremendous light. -- and then Simon 's -- Ben Simons.

:38:39.:38:53.

Here is up the hill from 14 to 15. Costerg is a good pilot. Hopefully

:38:54.:39:04.

the Brits can put it together and overtake the French and maybe even

:39:05.:39:06.

the checks. -- Czechs. Here we go. John Baines is right

:39:07.:39:36.

behind the pilot, going in at three. Watch the time. Good news for Great

:39:37.:39:40.

Britain. Lamin Deen has been driving this

:39:41.:39:54.

sledge for many years. He is driving it better than ever, I think. Just a

:39:55.:39:59.

slight touch there, that has knocked off time. It will do. 2.20 is what

:40:00.:40:06.

the French are behind the Russians. They have to try to keep as close to

:40:07.:40:12.

that mark as possible. Around through ten and into 11. A little

:40:13.:40:18.

bit of a run out of 11, down to 14. -- a rub out of 11. Exactly the same

:40:19.:40:28.

as the Brits. Come on, a couple of extra tenths now. That is quite a

:40:29.:40:38.

slow time in the end. Let's just hope it is good enough to stay ahead

:40:39.:40:42.

of the Italians. Italy one goes next, another big heavyweight of

:40:43.:40:49.

bobsleigh, not doing so well at this Olympics. The Koreans are in 20th.

:40:50.:40:54.

Then you have the likes of the Austrians, remaining ends --

:40:55.:41:02.

Romanians, they will be desperate to get inside the top 20.

:41:03.:41:17.

The chances of the Koreans making the top 20 are pretty slim.

:41:18.:41:26.

The Italians now, Bertazzo, Fontana, Romanini and cost. -- Costa. An

:41:27.:41:39.

important run. Equal 18th, with Great Britain. 4.95, it is a bit

:41:40.:41:52.

slower. We have seen load speeds of nearly 51, to is an hour from the

:41:53.:42:02.

very best. -- 51 kilometres an hour. Everyone is being compared to the

:42:03.:42:04.

Russians, they lead after three runs. Bertazzo is a great pilot, he

:42:05.:42:11.

has this Ferrari built sled. Can he get it to a top end speed? He has

:42:12.:42:17.

but early on he was doing a lot of steering. That slowed things down.

:42:18.:42:25.

And in the left hand side there. Through 15, quite a lot line. --

:42:26.:42:29.

low-lying. 56.06. Identical. Absolutely equal

:42:30.:42:45.

with Great Britain. There is a good battle. The French, just ahead. That

:42:46.:42:53.

is GB two. Great Britain one are up in sixth position, very much close

:42:54.:42:58.

to the medals, very much in contention for battling for probably

:42:59.:43:03.

bronze. The Russians and the Latvians are a bit too far ahead.

:43:04.:43:10.

They are just inside the top 20. That they need for qualification for

:43:11.:43:17.

the final run. Yes, GB two. GB one way ahead, close to the medals. We

:43:18.:43:23.

have the Koreans to go next and then the Austrians. It is going to be

:43:24.:43:30.

hard for anyone outside the top 22 really troubled the Brits now, look

:43:31.:43:35.

pretty solid for going in the fourth and final run -- outside the top 20

:43:36.:43:43.

two really trouble the Brits. That is GB two that I am talking about.

:43:44.:43:48.

GB one will be going for a medal. Korea are well down, 1.9 seconds

:43:49.:43:58.

already. Here we go. In John one is the pilot. -- Yunjong Won is the

:43:59.:44:13.

pilot. Here we go. 4.92. That was the time to beat. The Koreans

:44:14.:44:23.

starting 4.92. We are starting to slip away from a world-class start.

:44:24.:44:30.

Just took a knock on the right-hand side. That would have slowed them as

:44:31.:44:32.

well. Nine, into ten. Five jeez almost going sideways there, that is

:44:33.:45:02.

better. It is 56.25, they are in 20th place.

:45:03.:45:11.

I was just wondering whether Great Britain were equal with Italy? They

:45:12.:45:22.

were in 19th place? Yes, they are equal. Great Britain 2. The Koreans

:45:23.:45:34.

slot into number 20. Well, they are a very long way back. Great Britain

:45:35.:45:42.

2 have certainly cemented 18th place. They could push up to the top

:45:43.:45:49.

15. As we look at the results after heat number three. Russia in the

:45:50.:46:01.

lead, then Latvia. The USA in third. Austria will have to pull something

:46:02.:46:07.

out of the bag. If they are to qualify for the final run. Benjamin

:46:08.:46:14.

Maier, Stefan Withalm, Markus Sammer and Vairis Leiboms. Here we go.

:46:15.:46:25.

Somebody has got a cowbell in the audience. That is a very slow start.

:46:26.:46:35.

Not great. Benjamin Maier on the front handle, only 19 years old. A

:46:36.:46:43.

couple of very good sprinters. 200 metres, one of them is 400 metres.

:46:44.:46:50.

And as I said, 200 metres sprinters or a very good thing to have. I was

:46:51.:47:04.

talking about John Reid. -- are a. They are picking up speed. They keep

:47:05.:47:09.

referring to the leaders. Importantly, they are down on

:47:10.:47:25.

career. -- career. -- Korea. That was very similar. And 20 First

:47:26.:47:28.

Place. -- 21st place. Well, down on Korea. 16, into 17.

:47:29.:47:59.

That is the final speed gun. You are moving at your fastest and we saw

:48:00.:48:03.

the quickest hitting 140 kilometres per hour. That is exactly 87 as per

:48:04.:48:10.

hour. Not the fastest track in the world but not far away. You will hit

:48:11.:48:16.

100 mile 's Brouwer in St Moritz, likewise in Vancouver. -- mph.

:48:17.:48:29.

Romania. Supported by three stalwarts. Here we go. 2.66. That is

:48:30.:48:57.

not bad. I was impressed with the way that they have got their act

:48:58.:49:03.

together in time for the Olympics. They are looking like a very slick

:49:04.:49:06.

operation, here. And they are improving. If they have the funding,

:49:07.:49:12.

they have the determination. 3.2 behind the Austrians. We will not

:49:13.:49:24.

see them again. Coming through the final bend. 56.62. 22nd.

:49:25.:49:40.

Well, 56.62 was in fact their slowest time. They could have done

:49:41.:49:52.

better but nevertheless, like so many others. Going through that

:49:53.:50:16.

corner, it goes sharp and hard turning around the corner and that

:50:17.:50:20.

drives you up with that centrifugal force. And you have to steer through

:50:21.:50:26.

that. If you do not steer, you will flip. The pressure will suck you up

:50:27.:50:38.

and turn you out at the end. Australia. 4.97. That is fastest so

:50:39.:50:48.

far. Heath Spence is already up on his previous times. This is looking

:50:49.:50:59.

at their best ever finish at the Olympic Games. Through seven and he

:51:00.:51:07.

hits the woodwork. He has to get this back together. He seems to have

:51:08.:51:15.

done that already. That is good. Coming down here, just that little

:51:16.:51:21.

touch but nothing much. The dangerous corner, 14, we saw the

:51:22.:51:27.

Canadians crashing here yesterday. They will be going last. Over the

:51:28.:51:40.

finish line. 56.23. 20 Second Place. -- 22nd place. They have gone ahead

:51:41.:51:50.

of the Romanians. Man for man, they are better athletes. They just do

:51:51.:51:54.

not have the slicker operation and the amount of time that the

:51:55.:51:59.

Romanians have had. Slapping of that woodwork. That is what you see, you

:52:00.:52:04.

want to take that steering on the last second, just before hitting the

:52:05.:52:13.

woodwork. And he did not. That bobsleigh is something they have to

:52:14.:52:18.

rent. It does not belong to them. We will say goodbye to Austria. --

:52:19.:52:25.

Australia. Believing your dreams. That is lovely! France 2. And this

:52:26.:52:44.

is a very long way behind 20th place. Believe me. They will have to

:52:45.:52:52.

have the run of their life. To even contemplate the top 20. That is a

:52:53.:53:01.

very weak start by the French. They just do not have the athletes coming

:53:02.:53:04.

into the programme they used to have, they used to have rugby

:53:05.:53:12.

players. It is more available sport. Those around the Olympic track. It

:53:13.:53:17.

just does not attract national stars, like the British, the Germans

:53:18.:53:27.

and the Russians. That is not bad. He went around that one cleanly.

:53:28.:53:33.

Just hitting that on the right and left. That is losing time. Towards

:53:34.:53:48.

the finish. 56.35. 23rd. That is the last we will save the French. It

:53:49.:54:03.

would be a miracle to get into the top 20. That is extremely unlikely.

:54:04.:54:07.

It is just trying to get down safely. And place as highly as

:54:08.:54:13.

possible at the Olympic Games. As we have seen, this track can bite back.

:54:14.:54:19.

It has done this a few times in training. We have seen some crashes.

:54:20.:54:29.

So, the Japanese bobsleigh on the track. Hiroshi Suzuki. Toshiki

:54:30.:54:36.

Kuroiwa, Shintaro Sato and Hisashi Miyazaki. We saw the Japanese flag

:54:37.:54:43.

as well. It was littered with autographs.

:54:44.:54:52.

The Japanese always at the Olympics, not necessarily every World Cup.

:54:53.:55:02.

Since neither know in 1988, when they held the other pics. -- Nagano.

:55:03.:55:18.

They want to be under five seconds. Just not going off the top of the

:55:19.:55:22.

hill like some of the Egger teams. Well, they started off with five

:55:23.:55:36.

seconds. That was quite decent. They took a hefty dog, there. -- dump.

:55:37.:56:01.

Brilliant sunshine, here. Going sideways, knocking off time. 56.63.

:56:02.:56:14.

All of these accolades will be running around 56.5 seconds. --

:56:15.:56:22.

athletes. They are in last place, for the time being. Just five left

:56:23.:56:28.

to go in this third, penultimate, run. Then 30 minutes of a break.

:56:29.:56:36.

Alexander Zubkov will have to wait until the last sled to try to get

:56:37.:56:43.

that historic double gold medal for Russia. I am looking forward to

:56:44.:56:51.

seeing the Canadian crew that crashed yesterday. They have a new

:56:52.:57:01.

crew. We wish them well. They should be going for a good time. Meanwhile,

:57:02.:57:17.

this is Slovakia. Milan Jagnesak. They have not broken five seconds,

:57:18.:57:23.

yet. And they still have not. Over 40 years old, on the handle.

:57:24.:57:34.

Alexander Zubkov is almost 40. Milan Jagnesak is not in the same shape as

:57:35.:57:39.

Alexander Zubkov, but he still world-class on the handle. They took

:57:40.:57:49.

a hefty knock higher up the course. That is better. This looks much

:57:50.:58:02.

better. Tapping with the back of the sled. Another problem. Sideways,

:58:03.:58:08.

into 16. Almost four seconds back. Pretty pedestrian. But they were

:58:09.:58:16.

down safely. And that is their campaign over. 56.51. That was

:58:17.:58:24.

faster than their first, yesterday. Which I think was pretty good. Yes,

:58:25.:58:30.

pedestrian but in comparison to Alexander Zubkov. 87 as Brouwer in

:58:31.:58:50.

comparison to 130 mph. -- 87 mph. They don't have a budget and oddly

:58:51.:58:55.

close to the Russians and this is like Formula One on ice. You need

:58:56.:59:00.

the fancy kit. And the ice is just cracking up. It'll be hard to put

:59:01.:59:18.

down a very big run. Poland. He we go. Beth Tweddle here we go. -- here

:59:19.:59:35.

we go. They were right up there one decade ago. In Holland and David

:59:36.:59:42.

Bissett has been going too long. They were one of the first cruise to

:59:43.:59:47.

have all three men behind him below 3.10 seconds. They are exceptionally

:59:48.:59:51.

quick but they don't handle it any more, not even close. But stunning

:59:52.:59:57.

speed is crucial. They want to get down that hill quickly. Oh! Just

:59:58.:00:11.

hitting the left-hand side. 4.13 seconds behind. Shifting a little

:00:12.:00:25.

bit quicker than Slovakia. 22nd. And the next one is Brazil. But a winter

:00:26.:00:35.

power. But they can push. If they can just load slicker, they could

:00:36.:00:41.

get down to a world-class push. 4.9, their fastest so far and that is not

:00:42.:00:47.

bad. This is very much a story like cool running. -- Cool Runnings. They

:00:48.:00:58.

have been learning their trade. They will be going next. Unfortunately,

:00:59.:01:18.

the gap is 0.6. Respect from the other athletes. Clapping their

:01:19.:01:30.

hands, cheering them. They are always riding close to the edge.

:01:31.:01:34.

Forcing it. Exceptionally high speed. Oh, my goodness! The pilot

:01:35.:01:41.

has struggled to get in. There we go. I do not even see that start

:01:42.:01:53.

time. It was actually really good. 4.88. They have to keep cool. I was

:01:54.:02:03.

a very nice line. I like his style. He has pulled that back. Stay away

:02:04.:02:08.

from the walls! That is the important thing. And he has done so

:02:09.:02:14.

far. I am surprised that is not faster. A Just because of the

:02:15.:02:24.

resulting big slide. Lucky to get through corner once safely. A

:02:25.:02:28.

Rudiger drive down the bottom and I am sure they will get a massive

:02:29.:02:34.

cheer from the Russian crowd. It is not a bad time. They are in 20

:02:35.:02:49.

Eighth Place, but who cares? -- 20 Eighth Place.

:02:50.:02:56.

It is not an easy skill. These guys are all big men. Maybe not as chunky

:02:57.:03:04.

as some of them because they are more track stars than shot-putter 's

:03:05.:03:08.

and weightlifters. You can see how difficult it is. He is knowing about

:03:09.:03:15.

27 mph, over speed compared to our 100 metre runner because you are

:03:16.:03:20.

going down a hill. You have spikes on the end of your toe and if you

:03:21.:03:23.

slip and make a mistake, it is easy to get it wrong. My heart has been

:03:24.:03:30.

in my mouth for the last five minutes watching that. Yes,

:03:31.:03:37.

everybody is waiting for the Koreans to come next. Canada three, who

:03:38.:03:48.

crashed just today -- yesterday, two of the break meant damaged

:03:49.:03:51.

collarbones and bones so they are having to sit out. -- the break

:03:52.:03:55.

meant -- break men brake men. Off we go. Let's make sure we get

:03:56.:04:22.

everybody in. What they do have is a start house in Korea. They really

:04:23.:04:23.

slick they might not have the power. They

:04:24.:04:33.

have to run up to the maximum weight... Well, you don't have to

:04:34.:04:37.

but you would be mad not to. You need the weight and the Mass for the

:04:38.:04:42.

momentum. A big slap on an uphill section to keep the pace and it

:04:43.:04:47.

makes it more difficult for the smaller guys to push of a sled. It

:04:48.:04:54.

is way heavier. The Russian crew, one gram five kilos per man on

:04:55.:04:59.

average. Goodness, that was some stunt driving out of 11. It was,

:05:00.:05:08.

they were almost up on two rails. A little bit hi there. And coming off

:05:09.:05:15.

in 56.89. Just one crew to go now, the

:05:16.:05:32.

Canadians. The pilot, Kripps, took a big hit to the head yesterday. He

:05:33.:05:37.

claims he was not concussed but people were worried. Hopefully

:05:38.:05:43.

everything is together. Coming around through into 11, there. Took

:05:44.:05:54.

a slap of 11, that is lent -- that sent him low and got sucked up by

:05:55.:05:58.

the centrifugal force. It was a hairy moment for the Koreans. Canada

:05:59.:06:04.

are to the forefront now. They are in last place for the time being.

:06:05.:06:08.

They could make up the time if they have the speed. It was the second

:06:09.:06:15.

run yesterday that made all the difference. They managed to finish,

:06:16.:06:19.

that is why they are here today with Justin Kripps. Two new men in the

:06:20.:06:26.

crew. Down to a world-class start for the final sled. They are down in

:06:27.:06:32.

30th because of the crash yesterday. It was into corner 14. Everyone will

:06:33.:06:39.

be holding their breath as they come down towards that. There is another

:06:40.:06:45.

few hundred metres of eyes before we get to the crash corner. That is

:06:46.:06:54.

superb. -- metres of ice. He has avoided the corners every time he

:06:55.:06:59.

has been down there. The exit of 11, going down the chicane, gets three

:07:00.:07:04.

safely, kicks up some ice but no crash this time. -- gets through

:07:05.:07:10.

safely. They are not going to be in the top 20, we will not see them

:07:11.:07:13.

again but they have finished the MPEG. That is very good. -- finished

:07:14.:07:25.

the Olympics. That is a very good effort indeed.

:07:26.:07:43.

As Colin said, they won't be in the top 20. That is a shame, but

:07:44.:07:51.

nevertheless, they have done well. These men were in eighth position

:07:52.:07:55.

when they crashed. Just like the Brits they were pushing towards the

:07:56.:07:58.

medals. It could have been so different for the Canadian crew. A

:07:59.:08:08.

little bit of a rub out of 11. 55.72, we haven't seen anything that

:08:09.:08:16.

good since the other Canadian, who sits in ninth position. That shows

:08:17.:08:22.

you their quality. When you crash, you still crossed the finish line

:08:23.:08:26.

and get a downtime. It is the aggregate of all four runs.

:08:27.:08:34.

Preparation goes on for the fourth and final run. Between Zubkov,

:08:35.:08:43.

Melbardis, Holcomb and the rest. Great Britain are in sixth position,

:08:44.:08:58.

they are close enough to a medal. You won't want to miss the final

:08:59.:09:13.

run. It starts at 11am, it will go in reverse order, the Russians will

:09:14.:09:14.

be last. It was all a bit of a mad dash at

:09:15.:09:29.

the top of the programme to get to the bobsleigh. Let's take a pause

:09:30.:09:33.

and look at what is coming up for the rest of the afternoon. The first

:09:34.:09:42.

medal we will see decided today is in the cross country skiing, it is

:09:43.:09:48.

the men's 50 kilometres. The bobsleigh will be at 11am, in

:09:49.:09:53.

reverse order. Then it is the gold medal match in the eye socket,

:09:54.:09:59.

Canada against Sweden. -- in the ice hockey.

:10:00.:10:26.

the men's ice hockey final is coming up in just over an hour. There is no

:10:27.:11:04.

rush and for that, we have to thank the Finns who beat them in the

:11:05.:11:08.

quarterfinals. The Finns lost to Sweden in the semifinals which meant

:11:09.:11:11.

they were in the bronze medal match, against the USA.

:11:12.:11:21.

He scores, what a moment! A magical moment for the most famous Finn. It

:11:22.:11:38.

is over to the flying Finn and the flying Finn does it again. In doing

:11:39.:11:43.

so, becomes the oldest player in Olympic history to score a goal.

:11:44.:11:48.

That will go a long way to him being the oldest player in Olympic history

:11:49.:11:54.

to maybe winning a medal. He has been one of those guys who has

:11:55.:12:01.

always delivered. Now they double it up! In the space of just a few

:12:02.:12:12.

seconds, this game has gone to 2-0. This is something else.

:12:13.:12:24.

Heitanen scores! That should do it! 34 years ago it was the miracle on

:12:25.:12:34.

ice. Right now for the Americans, it is misery on ice. They come across

:12:35.:12:40.

the line, they support each other, they pick up the loose change and

:12:41.:12:51.

they bank it. The Americans 's work was so sharp for so long in this

:12:52.:12:54.

tournament, it is amazing to see them 3-0 down. 4-dearer down! -- 4-0

:12:55.:13:06.

down! And Olympic legend has come to the table again. At 43. Watch the

:13:07.:13:17.

dynamic duo do it again. What a goal! It is five! The Americans are

:13:18.:13:25.

being hammered here. They are being embarrassed at the Bolshoy. A great

:13:26.:13:32.

finish. It is insatiable. -- sensational. Finland have won the

:13:33.:13:39.

bronze medal. Salminen leads them all the way.

:13:40.:13:47.

It is Salminen, -- it is Selanne, the oldest player in men's Olympic

:13:48.:14:01.

history, he scores twice to lead his team. To another medal.

:14:02.:14:07.

I have been joined by our hockey expert. We will took about the final

:14:08.:14:13.

in a second, but for America, it has been a horror tournament -- we will

:14:14.:14:19.

talk about. They could not have predicted it. They were the best

:14:20.:14:21.

team in the women's tournament coming up to the gold-medal game.

:14:22.:14:25.

They were 2-0 up with three minutes to go and to lose in the middle they

:14:26.:14:29.

-- the manner they did was devastating for the women's

:14:30.:14:35.

programme. They won the first one in Nagano and then it has been Canada

:14:36.:14:39.

all the way. When I was watching it in the hotel, I turned off with

:14:40.:14:42.

seven minutes to go because the Canadians were dead and buried. They

:14:43.:14:49.

were they were dead and buried and they came back. They broken play

:14:50.:14:52.

goes off and American defender and then they have life. There is a

:14:53.:14:57.

clearance down the ice that goes off the post. And then the Canadians

:14:58.:15:01.

find a way to score and take extra time. There was a genetic breakaway

:15:02.:15:05.

that was called for a penalty and in the power play, they made it count.

:15:06.:15:09.

The way they celebrated suggested they were just relieved to have the

:15:10.:15:25.

game over. They were beaten by the Canadians in the semifinals and

:15:26.:15:27.

could not recover well enough to bring the emotion they needed for

:15:28.:15:32.

the bronze medal. This men's final, Canada and Sweden. You have cut

:15:33.:15:37.

jewel citizenship, British and Canadian, and they have such

:15:38.:15:45.

history. Title number 13? They have won the most gold medals of any

:15:46.:15:49.

nation. I am surprised in the manner they have got here, with defence.

:15:50.:15:56.

The Swedes are deep and they have great quality and they deserve to be

:15:57.:16:01.

here right from the beginning. There are some talk about the difference

:16:02.:16:04.

in the size of the ice rink compared to the NHL, which might suit Sweden

:16:05.:16:09.

better. They might sit back and try to contain Canada? They are very

:16:10.:16:15.

smart and do not make stakes, they draw you out and tempt you to play

:16:16.:16:18.

them strongly towards the board and they make nice plays. They are great

:16:19.:16:27.

with power play. Russia, we hope to see them here. They did not fire?

:16:28.:16:32.

They have the superstars but that does not make the team. It it is

:16:33.:16:37.

appointing they had such a very dramatic finish. In the

:16:38.:16:43.

quarterfinals. Just getting thumped. -- disappointing. They will need to

:16:44.:16:54.

look at their style of play. From the doghouse to the penthouse, and

:16:55.:16:59.

they are all in the doghouse! We have not heard from the President!

:17:00.:17:04.

Lots more later but we shall head back to the cross country skiing for

:17:05.:17:10.

the final men's event. This is a battle like the top of the medal

:17:11.:17:14.

table, Russian -- Russia against Norway.

:17:15.:17:20.

Welcome to the mountains above Sochi. This is it, after 15 fabulous

:17:21.:17:29.

days and 22 gold medal races, there was just one event left. Huge

:17:30.:17:34.

edition and pride associated with this. It has been here since the

:17:35.:17:40.

very beginning in 1924. Sweden and Norway are tied on seven titles

:17:41.:17:54.

each. Five or six standout names. There was a lot of criticism and

:17:55.:17:59.

resistance to introducing the mass start. But after the race in

:18:00.:18:09.

Vancouver and Karina, the fans are realising it was top-class

:18:10.:18:14.

entertainment. This is a very large field. 65 men. Some late news this

:18:15.:18:24.

morning. The Austrian has been withdrawn. There is no place for him

:18:25.:18:44.

and he is very good. The longest, hardest race at these Winter Games.

:18:45.:18:50.

The very last event in what has been a very atmospheric centre. The

:18:51.:19:00.

defending champion. He has been out of sorts. Can one of the talented

:19:01.:19:12.

Russians, Alexander Legkov, finish in style? That is what they did last

:19:13.:19:22.

night. The packed crowd went into ecstasy last night. But that was

:19:23.:19:30.

last night and this is today. 50 kilometres separating one of these

:19:31.:19:35.

men from a very rich slice of Winter Olympic history. It has been

:19:36.:19:39.

contested since 1924. And some of the great names in cross-country

:19:40.:19:50.

have come here to conquer this. Through the tunnel, the assault has

:19:51.:20:03.

been laid down. They have excelled and produced some really good

:20:04.:20:06.

results. The Americans have been below par. It has not been good for

:20:07.:20:11.

them here. That is why they are not topping the medal table. The

:20:12.:20:19.

Russians are happy to take things steady initially. If you start at

:20:20.:20:23.

the back, just bide your time and wait for the downhill opportunities

:20:24.:20:29.

and the wider track. This is a beautiful track but there are some

:20:30.:20:34.

narrow areas when ladies send behind the back of the stadium. That is

:20:35.:20:39.

only four metres across. And one of the fastest parts. Just that quick

:20:40.:20:44.

shot of Andrew Musgrave, one of three competitors who has entered

:20:45.:20:51.

this, who wanted to enter, but you could not keep him out if you tried.

:20:52.:20:57.

this, who wanted to enter, but you I hope he runs a very sensible race.

:20:58.:20:57.

I hope that he gets top 25 and improves the best ever British

:20:58.:21:03.

performance. It is possible if he gets it right and is feeling good,

:21:04.:21:11.

top 20 is on. That would be superb for Andrew and there will be great

:21:12.:21:18.

excitement. They have done so much great work to secure the next

:21:19.:21:22.

generation, they will be watching avidly and hoping their man can

:21:23.:21:39.

produce top 25. Very early stages. Literally, 42 kilometres. Still

:21:40.:22:00.

blogs together. Watson of Australia, of the pace of the next slowest.

:22:01.:22:06.

Actually, not skiing badly. The track is much harder. Who is that?

:22:07.:22:25.

In red? Swiss collars. Curdin Perl. -- collars. -- colours. Noah Hoffman

:22:26.:22:55.

still going well. Look at Andrew Musgrave. I just saw him coming

:22:56.:23:02.

across the checkpoint. Not totally detached from this leading group.

:23:03.:23:07.

Just biding his time. There is still a very long way to go. Is this a

:23:08.:23:16.

definitive move? Is a very long way to go. But the Russians are

:23:17.:23:21.

responding. And he is definitely dangerous. And that was definite

:23:22.:23:27.

acceleration. Very clever. 20 metres before the top. You cannot go early

:23:28.:23:35.

on that. He just picked up his pace. For about 15 metres. And he has

:23:36.:23:40.

stolen the lead. He is indicating he is coming in for new skis. That is

:23:41.:23:45.

why he made that break because he does not want to lose much ground.

:23:46.:23:50.

That was not a bid for glory, it was a sensible move to make sure he gets

:23:51.:23:55.

a clean entry into the exchange. He will have to go to his right and

:23:56.:24:00.

along that long line of skis, he will be going into lien number

:24:01.:24:04.

three. And off he goes. That is tactically reddened. Just giving

:24:05.:24:09.

himself an opportunity to minimise the amount of time he will lose when

:24:10.:24:19.

he comes in for that headstock. This is where it gets interesting. Most

:24:20.:24:27.

of the bigger names are going in. Bernhard Tritscher, from Austria.

:24:28.:24:34.

And Alexander Legkov. See how much time he has lost. Not bad at all. He

:24:35.:24:43.

will be in the top 11. He could gain that on the first long downhill.

:24:44.:24:50.

They look after this five kilometre. Alexander Legkov time that urgently.

:24:51.:24:56.

Damage limitation and he is on fresh skis. -- times that brilliantly.

:24:57.:25:10.

What a race, we have seen domination by Norway with the woman yesterday

:25:11.:25:14.

but when you look at the top ten or 15, we have got fenland, in a race,

:25:15.:25:22.

Spain, Kazakhstan, Norway, France, the USA, Italy, Switzerland. --

:25:23.:25:30.

Finland. This is a very healthy situation for the sport. Into the

:25:31.:25:43.

last six and a quarter miles. There was a slight dejected look in the

:25:44.:25:51.

shoulders of Matti Heikkinen. He has been caught. What will unfold? Who

:25:52.:26:02.

will come away with the last gold-medal?

:26:03.:26:16.

There are a lot of classy men at their and or only six miles to make

:26:17.:26:24.

an impact. That lead was cut from 22.7. That could be his chance gone.

:26:25.:26:31.

You only get one opportunity to break away. Too much energy

:26:32.:26:35.

consumed. Surely he will find the pace over the last five coulomb at

:26:36.:26:40.

is too much. There is a problem here? He has broken his skis. He is

:26:41.:26:49.

out. What a tragedy. He was looking very good. He was poised to strike.

:26:50.:26:55.

And this is destined not to be his title. Remember, he fell in

:26:56.:27:00.

Vancouver when he looked like he was poised to strike for a years ago. He

:27:01.:27:06.

will go home with two gold medals but he was looking brilliant and he

:27:07.:27:10.

was putting himself in a position to mount a challenge. All credit to him

:27:11.:27:16.

for carrying on. Hopefully he will get to the finish line. So there is

:27:17.:27:20.

no Swiss representation in the leading group. Alexander Legkov is

:27:21.:27:31.

leading. And when news reaches the stadium that Alexander Legkov is in

:27:32.:27:37.

the hunt for a medal, they will do what the Norwegians did. It is

:27:38.:27:46.

possible but they will have to eat... Martin Johnsrud Sundby.

:27:47.:27:55.

Martin Johnsrud Sundby, from Norway, he is the only non-Russian in the

:27:56.:27:59.

top four at the moment. And the World Cup leader is trying to come

:28:00.:28:03.

through on the inside. Martin Johnsrud Sundby wanted to go later.

:28:04.:28:08.

He had to make his move. Looking very light. But Alexander Legkov has

:28:09.:28:13.

the power, you must accelerate past the rings. And you could be in with

:28:14.:28:19.

a chance of the gold medal. If it were together, it will come down to

:28:20.:28:25.

tactics on the final corner. Alexander Legkov has produced what

:28:26.:28:30.

could be the most important 100 metres of his career. He has the

:28:31.:28:37.

advantage. There is one remaining corner. He just needs to keep

:28:38.:28:42.

composed. We have seen so many people run into problems. Is it

:28:43.:28:48.

destined to be Alexander Legkov? That gap has opened up to third

:28:49.:28:52.

place and Martin Johnsrud Sundby. Still under pressure. Martin

:28:53.:29:03.

Johnsrud Sundby is there. The perfect finish for the Russians! But

:29:04.:29:09.

which one will come out on top? Alexander Legkov, driving, pushing.

:29:10.:29:20.

Alexander Legkov is letting the stadium. And it goes to the host.

:29:21.:29:25.

Alexander Legkov was absolutely supreme. He collapses to the snow.

:29:26.:29:31.

His legendary status has been secured. Look at the reaction from

:29:32.:29:44.

the crowd. Can you believe it? In the very last event, appear in the

:29:45.:29:49.

mountains, it is going to be one, two, three for the Russians. An

:29:50.:29:55.

extraordinary finish and Alexander Legkov had the power. Come the

:29:56.:30:01.

moment, nobody had the answer. The Russians could not have written the

:30:02.:30:06.

script better. Gold, silver and bronze. All being awarded in the

:30:07.:30:12.

stadium tonight and that'll be a moment to savour and to remember

:30:13.:30:18.

forever. These young men have produced the perfect climax to an

:30:19.:30:20.

absorbing 16 days. Here we have the Russian quartet,

:30:21.:30:46.

0.4 ahead of the Latvians. Across the line in 55.02. That is

:30:47.:30:55.

magnificent. Slower than the Russians, they are slipping away

:30:56.:31:02.

here. 55.15, in second place. The Germans are desperate to get on the

:31:03.:31:06.

medal table. Things are looking bad for the Germans. This track is

:31:07.:31:11.

slowing up with every sled. This crew can do damage. Come on, Great

:31:12.:31:21.

Britain. Can we do it? Seven tenths is looking unlikely. He is pulling

:31:22.:31:26.

it back in. 18 hundredths behind the bronze medal position, that is

:31:27.:31:28.

catchable. Team GB's final moment of these

:31:29.:31:41.

Games are upon us, it might yield history. Are you feeling lucky? We

:31:42.:31:51.

do hope so. In the background over their, that is GB two, about to do

:31:52.:31:58.

their final run. Before we go there, you have had lots of questions so I

:31:59.:32:03.

am going to test you on your knowledge. Is this the same track

:32:04.:32:12.

that we have seen? Skeleton, bobsleigh and luge slide on the same

:32:13.:32:21.

track. Variant start positions. Often the pilot comes out and he has

:32:22.:32:25.

a woolly bag on top of his crash helmet, what is that? All of the

:32:26.:32:30.

crew have their helmets already on. The driver wants to keep it warm on

:32:31.:32:34.

the inside. As soon as the breath comes on, it can fold it up. -- fog

:32:35.:32:43.

it up. It is preserving the heat within it, they do the having and

:32:44.:32:48.

puffing, it is making sure it does not steam up. -- huffing and

:32:49.:32:55.

puffing. They seem to wear shorter bottoms... A lot of the Bob boys

:32:56.:33:01.

make them shorter. I think they find it more comfortable and like to

:33:02.:33:05.

flash their calf muscles! Each to their own. In the skeleton, the

:33:06.:33:14.

aerodynamics are different. Spikes on the shoes, they are not normal

:33:15.:33:22.

athletics bikes. -- athletic spikes. Back in the day it was literally

:33:23.:33:27.

athletics bikes but it used to match up the ice -- mash up. We now have

:33:28.:33:34.

brush spikes which gives you better grip. It make sure they do not clog

:33:35.:33:40.

up and they can sprint with the extra grip. GB two, just about to

:33:41.:33:48.

go, in 19th, are we expecting them to move up? I am opening they can

:33:49.:33:53.

move at least one spot. They have just at the ice freshly ripped, a

:33:54.:33:59.

thin layer of water on the top. -- freshly gripped. The slowest teams

:34:00.:34:06.

actually have the best ice. Lamin Deen will be looking to maintain

:34:07.:34:14.

18th, if not move up one. And GB one, less than two tenths behind the

:34:15.:34:21.

medal position. John Jackson, his team are in sixth. Less than two

:34:22.:34:26.

tenths to a bronze medal. Robbie impossible to get to the top --

:34:27.:34:31.

probably impossible. But a really good push on the last one, let's see

:34:32.:34:36.

what they can do. We will be looking for them to keep the sixth spot. If

:34:37.:34:42.

not, it is so close. Here we go, GB two.

:34:43.:34:46.

COMMENTATORS: There is a lot of tension up there. Lamin Deen, John

:34:47.:34:58.

Baines, Ben Simons and Andrew Matthews have got to have the drive

:34:59.:34:59.

of their life. Their best start time at the moment

:35:00.:35:08.

came right at the beginning of yesterday. That is better. It is

:35:09.:35:15.

100th of a second better than they managed in their first push. They

:35:16.:35:20.

have really gelled as a group. Pickering would have been in this

:35:21.:35:23.

sled, they have not pushed as much together as they would have liked

:35:24.:35:28.

to. There is no surprise they have improved throughout the four runs. A

:35:29.:35:34.

bit of a tap there. They are ahead of the Koreans. They are 18th equal

:35:35.:35:40.

with the Italians. Carrying an advantage of around eight tenths of

:35:41.:35:44.

a second. They are extending it. Down to 14... This is good. Just

:35:45.:35:53.

what we hoped would happen for Lamin Deen and the rest. .75 of a second

:35:54.:36:04.

ahead, they are a bit off the pace. 0.7 of a second in the lead. That is

:36:05.:36:11.

exactly what the Italians will be aiming for. It was a good run. I

:36:12.:36:22.

fear for this track. It is so warm. That was not a bad slide. It was a

:36:23.:36:28.

really good start. Right up at world-class level. Only a handful of

:36:29.:36:37.

crews have hit 4.8 or below. You can see the handles are kicking around,

:36:38.:36:42.

that sent them late into ten. He dealt with it well, Lamin Deen. Now

:36:43.:36:48.

they have to sit and wait and see if the Italians, who were equal with

:36:49.:36:51.

them, they don't have as good conditions, if they will go behind.

:36:52.:36:59.

Bertazzo and the rest, can they get a fast start? 4.91 is their record

:37:00.:37:08.

and they are well outside it. Another thrown together crew at the

:37:09.:37:11.

last minute. One of their team members was pulled for doping last

:37:12.:37:15.

week and they had to drop the new man in. Romanini at three, a

:37:16.:37:21.

multiple Olympian, a good guy to have as your extra man but still,

:37:22.:37:26.

not a great thing to happen, a terrible thing to happen, I am sure

:37:27.:37:31.

it is Anna Baris meant for Italy. Down into nine -- I am sure it is an

:37:32.:37:37.

embarrassing and -- and embarrassment.

:37:38.:37:44.

They are .15 of a second down but they are increasing speed. They are

:37:45.:37:52.

exactly on target. Will they go ahead? They will.

:37:53.:38:04.

Just held it together a bit better through the final couple of corners.

:38:05.:38:11.

In one way it is good to see that the track held up, not getting cut

:38:12.:38:17.

up too quickly. What we saw yesterday in slightly colder

:38:18.:38:20.

conditions was that after about seven or eight sleds, it started to

:38:21.:38:27.

degrade. That is similar to what happened to the Canadians yesterday.

:38:28.:38:32.

They did not crash like the Canadians, they did not go quite as

:38:33.:38:44.

late. Bertazzo handled it well. France number one. Lowick

:38:45.:39:01.

the French are full of tension. Desperate to do well.

:39:02.:39:08.

Here we go. The best start time, 4.94. Exactly the same there, that

:39:09.:39:25.

is good. They are carrying an advantage over the Italians and the

:39:26.:39:28.

British of 16 hundredths of a second. The start is similar to what

:39:29.:39:36.

the Italians manage. A big slap out of five up the hill, it is not good

:39:37.:39:42.

for the French. There was a bit of over driving. They are maintaining

:39:43.:39:48.

their lead. A little late out of nine, he controls it well, Costerg.

:39:49.:39:56.

A horrible rub out of 11 but somehow he is still in the lead. A bit of a

:39:57.:40:06.

sideways slide, a loss of speed. 1:30 6.7 and it is 5577.

:40:07.:40:18.

Is it worse to take a steer and go into a slide or take the tap, they

:40:19.:40:28.

very much took the tap. It did not slow them down too much. This was a

:40:29.:40:36.

team, Great Britain one and France one, who tied for a medal in 1998. A

:40:37.:40:44.

good bit of piloting, a tap out of 15, down to 16. They didn't lose any

:40:45.:40:50.

top end speed. Once you start slowing those runners sideways to

:40:51.:40:54.

the ice, that is when you slow down. You are digging up loss of ice --

:40:55.:41:04.

lots of ice. Vrba, Sochi, Devorah and

:41:05.:41:12.

very consistent times, the team from the Czech Republic. That was well

:41:13.:41:27.

orchestrated. The best start time at the moment, 4.87. These guys can

:41:28.:41:36.

start well. They are a slick outfit. A couple of power strides at the end

:41:37.:41:45.

from the man on the back. Vass -- Vacek. Great Britain are going

:41:46.:41:53.

the Czechs are ahead of the French. They just hit on the right hand

:41:54.:42:04.

side. Looking for the next checkmark. They are going well. 11

:42:05.:42:11.

hundredths up through corner ten, into 11. They just lost a hundredth

:42:12.:42:22.

of a second. Straight as a die down the middle. 0.2 of a second behind.

:42:23.:42:32.

My goodness, 55.8. And the Czech Republic have gone into the lead

:42:33.:42:35.

ahead of France, and that means Great Britain and Lamin Deen stay

:42:36.:42:45.

fourth place. It means that Lamin Deen will not improve his position.

:42:46.:42:54.

The only chance is if someone has a shocking run, potentially a crash

:42:55.:42:57.

but no one would wish that on anybody, and then they would drop

:42:58.:43:02.

down to 20th, that is as low as anyone can drop now. We are going

:43:03.:43:07.

from 20 down to one, in reverse order. That means the very best are

:43:08.:43:15.

waiting to go last. Zubkov has the lead after three runs, he will be

:43:16.:43:19.

going down last. We have just seen Prime Minister Medvedev arrived with

:43:20.:43:25.

a huge entourage in a helicopter. He will be hoping for another big

:43:26.:43:31.

Russian gold. Who knows? Maybe GB one can still put a damper on things

:43:32.:43:40.

and get up into the medals. Kibermanis goes now. As is the

:43:41.:43:52.

smaller of the Oskars. Here's not the biggest -- he is not the biggest

:43:53.:43:57.

of pilots. It is a world-class start.

:43:58.:44:03.

A little bit of a sideways slide but a fancy bit of steering got them

:44:04.:44:10.

back on track. They are well ahead of the Czech team. Coming through

:44:11.:44:21.

here, just in the lead. Just taking a slight tap there. On the left-hand

:44:22.:44:28.

side. They had two tenths on the Czechs going into this run and they

:44:29.:44:32.

are not going to lose that the lead in the final hundred metres. This is

:44:33.:44:36.

quick. .19 of a second ahead. That guarantees Latvia two 15th

:44:37.:44:55.

position at worst. Just 14 crews to go.

:44:56.:45:09.

That was a great piece of steering. Just a little correction. We could

:45:10.:45:25.

see those runners at the beginning of that, just rocking backwards and

:45:26.:45:38.

forwards. The first of three Russian sleds. And they are good at

:45:39.:45:47.

starting. The fastest so far. For quite 22. A little bit slower but

:45:48.:45:54.

not bad. A little bit disappointing. You want to keep your starting up

:45:55.:46:01.

their very best. It is not surprising that the athletes are

:46:02.:46:06.

getting tired and dehydrated. They have had intense competition. They

:46:07.:46:11.

have gone behind, they have lost that to Latvia. If they can drive

:46:12.:46:24.

this perfectly, they could get back. Very slight tap through 13, back

:46:25.:46:32.

down the hill. That gap is shrinking. It will be close. Very

:46:33.:46:41.

close indeed. Just in second place. Latvia 2 have done well. Lots of

:46:42.:46:54.

really young athletes with Russia and Latvia. In four years time, they

:46:55.:47:06.

will be much more experienced. Oskars Kibermanis has only been

:47:07.:47:10.

driving for three years. Just a little bit sideways. Taking the tap.

:47:11.:47:19.

You can see the very best avoiding that. Not many can do that. Canada.

:47:20.:47:37.

Chris Spring in the driving seat. Very strong and quick. Also not big.

:47:38.:47:46.

He has the body weight all right. But not as strong as some of the

:47:47.:47:50.

Brickman. You have your biggest on the side. -- brakemen He has two

:47:51.:48:03.

pool that handle and sit down first. And then you fit in, like sardines

:48:04.:48:10.

crushed into a tin can. It is about as large as a regular bathtub. Low

:48:11.:48:21.

speed, behind the Latvians. What is this time? They are in the lead. And

:48:22.:48:35.

going well. 12 hundredths up, the Canadians are pulling away. That was

:48:36.:48:43.

great piloting. Yes, they are very good. They have missed out on all

:48:44.:48:53.

the holes. 55.76. They have gone into the lead. Latvia 2 looking

:48:54.:49:00.

disappointed, but they stay in second place. Canada 1 have taken

:49:01.:49:10.

the lead. 12 teams left. They are guaranteed 14th position. Starting

:49:11.:49:15.

to get close to the top ten. Who is in the run? From John Jackson

:49:16.:49:20.

onwards. The top six looking most likely. It is pretty tight down to

:49:21.:49:30.

the bronze medal. And the top two are out on their own. Oskars

:49:31.:49:33.

Kibermanis and Alexander Zubkov. But there is big pressure. Well done.

:49:34.:49:51.

The former Australian, he made the move to Canada, Chris Spring. Very

:49:52.:49:57.

much one of the boys. They have done well. USA 2. Nick Cunningham, 100

:49:58.:50:08.

and Paul Muntean, 100 and Andreas Neagu and Dallas Robinson. Nick

:50:09.:50:21.

Cunningham has been considering a career in Rodeo after the games.

:50:22.:50:27.

Nothing will be as dangerous as this. 4.87, the third fastest we

:50:28.:50:37.

have had so far. That is not bad. They are carrying an advantage over

:50:38.:50:42.

the Canadians. That start was similar to Canada. Slightly better.

:50:43.:50:48.

Still that small margin. No room for error. Well, they are going sideways

:50:49.:50:58.

on the previous men and losing that advantage at the top of the track.

:50:59.:51:04.

The Olympic gold-medal winning sled. Still in the lead, here. That

:51:05.:51:16.

was ugly. Only one tenth up, they will lose time. In fact, they have

:51:17.:51:29.

gained time. Ahead of Canada. USA 2 or in the lead. That was good

:51:30.:51:33.

driving from Nick Cunningham. We're coming up to Number 10. And

:51:34.:51:55.

Great Britain goal in 15th position. -- go. That was one of the absolute

:51:56.:52:07.

top speeds. 137.3. Quicker than Canada. So, the Dutch are next. And

:52:08.:52:17.

their advantage over the Americans is 12 hundredths of a second.

:52:18.:52:27.

Starting is so important. 4.81. That was their best. And that was just

:52:28.:52:42.

outside. He overcooked that. They are still in the lead. They had 12

:52:43.:52:55.

hundredths of a second. Still pretty quick. Still in the lead. Yes, they

:52:56.:53:09.

have got the lead. But that is reducing. Into corner number 11.

:53:10.:53:15.

Nice, flat line. It is hard to see from that camera angle, see what the

:53:16.:53:27.

split is. 100. They are ahead. Look at that! The Netherlands or in the

:53:28.:53:37.

lead. The USA have lost it. That is magnificent. 55.75. Very close to

:53:38.:53:48.

the top slide so far. The Dutch are 1.7 seconds behind Alexander Zubkov,

:53:49.:53:56.

who will be coming down last. Each time as a time advantage, it is the

:53:57.:54:03.

aggregate, the lowest wins. John Jackson is behind for the bronze,

:54:04.:54:10.

there was just over 15 hundredths between the bronze and where Jackson

:54:11.:54:16.

is sitting. We're getting close to the money. Into the top ten. Yes.

:54:17.:54:43.

And on to Germany 2. In the lead. The younger is Trevor world

:54:44.:54:53.

champion. He has tremendous. Francesco Friedrich. This will be

:54:54.:54:59.

disappointing for him. This is a massive margin ahead of the Dutch.

:55:00.:55:04.

He has to have a huge run, has to take the lead. He should do that,

:55:05.:55:12.

unless he crashes. He is certainly going well at the moment. Just that

:55:13.:55:23.

slight hit, there. Coming uphill. My goodness! That is good. Very, very

:55:24.:55:30.

good. 55.41. They have gone into the lead. And Germany 2 set the

:55:31.:55:40.

standard. That is the fastest we have seen down this track in this

:55:41.:55:45.

final run. That is good news for everyone still to come. You can see

:55:46.:55:53.

those marks made by these heavy bobsleighs. Sometimes you can see

:55:54.:55:59.

the ice cracking. That does not make for good running. Germany in the

:56:00.:56:05.

lead and we have got two more German crews in the top ten. They have won

:56:06.:56:12.

a medal in every Olympic Games right back to 1964, that was very poor for

:56:13.:56:17.

them. No medal at all, then. Since then, they have been the most

:56:18.:56:24.

dominant nation. I just called a glimpse of Thomas Florschuetz, who

:56:25.:56:28.

will be warming up. Or, finishing his warm up. Heading to his

:56:29.:56:38.

position. Canada. Lyndon Rush, Lascelles Brown, David Bissett and

:56:39.:56:46.

Neville Wright. Lascelles Brown is prominent. Yes, the former Jamaican.

:56:47.:56:57.

He is on the back. Exceptionally muscular. Big weightlifters, these

:56:58.:57:08.

guys. All even with Germany. They just lost that lead at the start.

:57:09.:57:14.

That was very close to catching up on the right-hand side. Still behind

:57:15.:57:25.

Germany 2 at the moment, but they had a very good run. Still 100th of

:57:26.:57:38.

a second. Really high-pressure! Well, they have gone into the lead.

:57:39.:57:45.

Germany 2 must be sweating. They are going well. Pulling away. Things

:57:46.:57:57.

looking good for Canada. Oh! They are ahead of Germany 2. That was

:57:58.:58:10.

very, very good. 55.38. Well, there are a couple of aid leaps forward in

:58:11.:58:24.

times. -- egg. -- big. The next coming down, Switzerland. And then

:58:25.:58:28.

the Germans and it jumps forward again. The Germans are in seventh

:58:29.:58:34.

place again and then sixth place, Great Britain. And then it is very

:58:35.:58:42.

tight all the way up to third place. I wish you would stop saying that!

:58:43.:58:48.

But that was a very good run by Canada 2. Lyndon Rush, the man in

:58:49.:58:56.

charge. Beat Hefti. Alex Baumann, Juerg Egger and Thomas Lamparter

:58:57.:58:59.

getting their chance. Do not think that he is cool and

:59:00.:59:15.

collected. He is not! He is absolute dynamite on the front handle. He can

:59:16.:59:19.

be ham-fisted driving, though. This is a very different beast. With the

:59:20.:59:29.

four-man bobsleigh, he just does not have those skills. Having a very

:59:30.:59:37.

good look. That was a brilliant start. 4.81. That was untidy. That

:59:38.:59:49.

was terrible. He has lost a tiny bit of that lead but not much. Corner

:59:50.:59:55.

Number 10. It has not brilliant so far, they are losing more time. Up

:59:56.:00:02.

the hill and down again. Another split... Five hundredths. That is

:00:03.:00:12.

all. Coming through, look at that. 55.6. And they have lost the lead.

:00:13.:00:17.

Sorry, they have gone into the lead. Just two runs before Great Britain

:00:18.:00:38.

one. We watched the Swiss come out of five. Hefti took a slap and a bit

:00:39.:00:46.

of a sideways slide. But he is still in the lead by 100th of a second

:00:47.:00:59.

ahead of next rush. -- Rush. Germany will be anxious for the fastest

:01:00.:01:03.

possible start and run. They are one ahead of Great Britain.

:01:04.:01:13.

They much prefer starting on that front handle. Instead of running

:01:14.:01:27.

onto it. That is the equal, that is not bad.

:01:28.:01:42.

-- that is the equal. Not a bad start at all. They came into this

:01:43.:01:52.

with 17 hundredths, they have slightly extended the lead on Hefti

:01:53.:01:59.

and his crew. They are going well here. Next is Great Britain. And

:02:00.:02:03.

that is the sort of target they will be setting. Almost a quarter of a

:02:04.:02:09.

second up, holding firm at that lead. Just a few hundred metres of

:02:10.:02:14.

ice to go, it looks good for Germany three to take the lead. It looks

:02:15.:02:21.

very good indeed. Coming through the finish in 55.53.

:02:22.:02:29.

That was a good run, and that is Germany three. We have got Germany

:02:30.:02:40.

one, yet to come. Germany two have already slid.

:02:41.:02:48.

Let's have a little look out of 11. There was a tap, it didn't kick up

:02:49.:02:58.

too much ice, didn't bother steering with the front runners. In the end

:02:59.:03:02.

the back end kicked up a little bit. Florscheutz leads head of the Swiss.

:03:03.:03:09.

Up next will be Great Britain. Great Britain one, in a great position at

:03:10.:03:14.

the moment. They are going to need the run of their lives if they are

:03:15.:03:17.

going to push forward to the medals from six position. John James

:03:18.:03:24.

Jackson is the pilot. Stuart Benson and Bruce Tasker will be on the

:03:25.:03:25.

flanks. Joel Fearon, the brakeman. There is the British support. What

:03:26.:03:40.

can we do? They have got to nail the start.

:03:41.:03:45.

They have to hoof off. Everything is good, they still have 20 seconds.

:03:46.:03:56.

Come on, Great Britain. A big start is what you need... This looks good

:03:57.:04:04.

for Great Britain. It has equalled their fastest start, it is the

:04:05.:04:08.

fastest we have seen so far. It is brilliant. Magnificent start from

:04:09.:04:13.

Great Britain, truly world-class. You need the big engine to hoof it

:04:14.:04:19.

off the hill if you are going to have a chance of winning medals.

:04:20.:04:24.

That was a big tap but at least they didn't go into a slide.

:04:25.:04:33.

Nearly two tenths of a second, we will get a good idea on the next

:04:34.:04:39.

blitz. Nearly a quarter of a second up, it is a brilliant slide. This

:04:40.:04:45.

could be remarkable. Absolutely direct. Watch the speed! Just about

:04:46.:04:54.

the best we have seen so far. They are 0.41 in the lead! That is

:04:55.:05:04.

remarkable. Absolutely early on. We have Germany one next, in fifth

:05:05.:05:08.

position. They are carrying just two hundredths of an advantage over the

:05:09.:05:12.

Brits. I can't remember the last time Britain beat Germany in a four

:05:13.:05:17.

man contest in the Olympics. It has to go back to the 40s or 50s. The

:05:18.:05:21.

best we have ever done is a silver medal in 1924. We got a bronze in

:05:22.:05:30.

36. And a bronze in 98. We have just put ourselves in a good position

:05:31.:05:36.

there. A good chance of a medal now. But it will take a couple of

:05:37.:05:39.

mistakes, probably, from those in third and fourth. There is the man

:05:40.:05:44.

in third, Steve Holcomb, the Olympic champion. There is Arndt, as well.

:05:45.:05:51.

Top of the World Championship table this year.

:05:52.:05:56.

Can Great Britain beat this good quartet? They have to hundredths of

:05:57.:06:09.

a second on Great Britain into this final run, they are already eight

:06:10.:06:14.

hundredths behind. The Germans are massively out powered by the

:06:15.:06:19.

British. A great start by Britain, a very direct drive. What is the

:06:20.:06:29.

checkmark? They are behind by 0.18. The load speed was poor, they are

:06:30.:06:33.

going to be behind. They didn't take a slap out of five, Jackson did. Can

:06:34.:06:42.

the Germans real in the Brits? Great Britain and Northern Ireland, they

:06:43.:06:48.

must have been going quickly. Things are looking bad for the Germans. I

:06:49.:06:51.

think Britain will hang onto first-tier. Three tenths behind!

:06:52.:06:59.

Britain will be in the lead! -- hang onto first year. While! That is

:07:00.:07:07.

fantastic. They have moved up a place. Can they move up two more. In

:07:08.:07:17.

the last three or four decades, if you'd have said, would you like a

:07:18.:07:21.

medal all eat the Germans, beating the Germans would have basically

:07:22.:07:25.

meant you have got the gold -- would you like a medal or beat the

:07:26.:07:36.

Germans? We have four crews to go. Germany are not going to win a

:07:37.:07:41.

medal. Not unless there are big mistakes. Things can happen. They

:07:42.:07:42.

are in second and third. Melbardis prowling around in the

:07:43.:07:54.

background, the Latvian in the silver medal position. This is

:07:55.:08:04.

Russia two. Kasjanov, he is definitely one of the danger men and

:08:05.:08:10.

one of the men in form. Can Kasjanov get in amongst the medals?

:08:11.:08:20.

Prime Minister Medvedev is watching on, hoping the Russians will be

:08:21.:08:27.

pushing forwards to the medals. They are 100th behind the Brits, the

:08:28.:08:30.

Russians have been out started by the Brits, as well. That is

:08:31.:08:35.

phenomenal. Great Britain are still in the lead. But Russia are coming

:08:36.:08:40.

on strong now. In fact, they are not. They are plus 0.04 seconds

:08:41.:08:48.

behind. The next split will tell us an awful lot. They have overcome the

:08:49.:08:53.

start deficit. They are ahead of the Brits. It will need them to take a

:08:54.:08:58.

big tap for the Brits to go back in front.

:08:59.:09:07.

It is looking really good for the Russians. I think they will go ahead

:09:08.:09:13.

of the Brits. And our chances of a medal are slipping away. .08 the

:09:14.:09:18.

second into the lead head of Great Britain. That is fantastic.

:09:19.:09:28.

It is their fastest light to date. Kasjanov is a super race. --

:09:29.:09:41.

we have three teams to go. The Olympic champions are next. They are

:09:42.:09:47.

going to have to hunt down this Russian crew who have just laid down

:09:48.:09:49.

a massive run. This Russian kit, while, is it good?

:09:50.:10:01.

Britain has been backed by McLaren and helped greatly by them, and

:10:02.:10:04.

thank you for all of that help from the British team, but the Russians,

:10:05.:10:13.

they also have a big budget, probably dwarfing the rest of the

:10:14.:10:20.

bobsleigh world. What can Steve Holcomb do now? They are 0.45 away

:10:21.:10:32.

from a gold medal. A little bit less for the silver. This could be an

:10:33.:10:42.

even bigger performance. It is a brilliant performance there, the

:10:43.:10:45.

second fastest time they have achieved. They had 15 hundredths on

:10:46.:10:55.

the Russia two crew. They are into corner five. They are on fire here.

:10:56.:11:01.

The Olympic champions, trying to hang on. He doesn't just want

:11:02.:11:07.

bronze, he wants gold. He will be hoping the Latvians and the Russians

:11:08.:11:13.

falter. He took a bit of a sideways slide earlier but it is faultless so

:11:14.:11:19.

far. Time is slipping away. It is ebbing away. The next split, this is

:11:20.:11:25.

going to be right down to the wire... Has he done enough? He has!

:11:26.:11:38.

He is livid... He is throwing his helmet down, he knows the next two

:11:39.:11:44.

crews have massive leads. Kasjanov and his crew will finish fourth

:11:45.:11:48.

again, the same as in the two man. A horrible place to finish. Two crews

:11:49.:12:02.

to go. Kasjanov may yet get a medal. The screaming and shouting and

:12:03.:12:05.

anguish may turn to delight in a minute. USA are guaranteed a bronze

:12:06.:12:14.

medal, that is for sure. It is looking likely now. That John James

:12:15.:12:19.

Jackson and his crew will slip to fifth. They are still in the bronze

:12:20.:12:25.

medal position, two crews to go. The Latvians are up first. Steve Holcomb

:12:26.:12:31.

has guaranteed his crew a bronze. Latvia were one of the shocks of

:12:32.:12:37.

this tournament. They are 0.17 behind Zubkov who is in first place.

:12:38.:12:46.

Melbardis and his crew, can they do it? These men are dynamite at

:12:47.:12:56.

pushing. Melbardis is in early. It is a tremendous start. Up on USA

:12:57.:13:04.

one, it is a big margin to throw away. It will need some sloppy

:13:05.:13:11.

driving to lose that. The nominal load speed. They all entered so

:13:12.:13:20.

gracefully. -- for nominal -- phenomenal load speed.

:13:21.:13:28.

We are going to have a new first place, of that I am sure. This is

:13:29.:13:37.

the crash corner, that was fine! A bit late in but no problems. They

:13:38.:13:45.

are going to go into the lead. They have got the lead.

:13:46.:13:52.

Now all they can do is wait to see if Zubkov can drive to a second gold

:13:53.:14:02.

medal. That was a brilliant performance by Latvia. John James

:14:03.:14:10.

Jackson and his crew, down to fourth position. One crew to go. They are

:14:11.:14:16.

outside the medals. They will be bitterly disappointed that they have

:14:17.:14:20.

missed a medal. I put up such a good fight from a horrible start. -- they

:14:21.:14:26.

put up such a good fight. That is just off the back of their World Cup

:14:27.:14:30.

draw, that is where they finished in the World Cup despite some flashes

:14:31.:14:34.

of brilliance. John James Jackson has come back from a ruptured

:14:35.:14:39.

Achilles to be here, it is a night on miracle. They are going to

:14:40.:14:44.

guarantee fifth place. Here is the crew about to push for gold.

:14:45.:14:53.

This team will go down in Russian history, that is for sure. Zubkov

:14:54.:15:09.

and Voevoda have already won the two man. Not their fastest start. But

:15:10.:15:19.

this is enough. Lovely correction. The front runners twitching. 14

:15:20.:15:27.

hundredths up. Alexander Zubkov, does he avoid the tab? Just about.

:15:28.:15:38.

This will be an important checkmark. This could be the gold medal winning

:15:39.:15:45.

performance. They are extending the lead. No problems, there. This could

:15:46.:15:53.

cost them. It looks like Russia is on for it. Here they go. And it is

:15:54.:16:01.

Russia who have won the gold medal in the four-man bobsleigh. Latvia

:16:02.:16:07.

are second and America, the defending champions, were third.

:16:08.:16:17.

With Steven Holcomb. But Alexander Zubkov is absolutely fantastic. He

:16:18.:16:24.

nearly retired in 2011, so, I do not want anything to do with the

:16:25.:16:29.

Federation any more. He described as being like slaves. He wanted his

:16:30.:16:34.

share of the money and glory and I believe that Vladimir Putin said,

:16:35.:16:40.

stay on. He carried the flag and he has got them to gold medals. That

:16:41.:16:45.

should put Russia back to the top of the medal table. It might give them

:16:46.:16:51.

the overall lead at the end. Well, the oldest man ever to win the

:16:52.:17:01.

four-man bobsleigh. And well done, John Jackson, Bruce Tasker, Joel

:17:02.:17:07.

Fearon and Stewart Henson, ending up in fifth position in the end. Not

:17:08.:17:16.

far away at all. One tenth of a second, that was all it was, over

:17:17.:17:24.

six kilometres of ice. So well done to Great Britain. Well, scenes of

:17:25.:17:36.

jubilation. Alexander Zubkov. And the Germans without any medal. First

:17:37.:17:48.

time since 1964. The former Olympic champion, the German head. He looked

:17:49.:17:52.

absolutely distraught with that performance. The Germans are

:17:53.:17:56.

normally so brilliant at Olympic Games, they have been so dominant.

:17:57.:18:01.

Today, the Russians get the double gold medal. And Alexey Voevoda is

:18:02.:18:10.

also a double winner. Alexey Negodaylo and Dmitry Trunenkov, they

:18:11.:18:15.

held their nerve. The Prime Minister is flying in on his helicopter, that

:18:16.:18:22.

must have added to the pressure. They will present the medals here.

:18:23.:18:42.

What sort of time? 0.11 The second. That is how close we were. They

:18:43.:18:49.

don't like each other, but Alexey Voevoda has to come together with

:18:50.:18:54.

this man, Alexander Zubkov, to push the back of the sled. Just in

:18:55.:18:59.

monster of a pressure. This is the result. -- a monster of a pusher.

:19:00.:19:11.

That is a brilliant performance by Britain. But Russia undoubtedly be

:19:12.:19:22.

champions. -- the champions. Great Britain finish in 19th place, Great

:19:23.:19:29.

Britain 2. That was a very good performance by them, well done.

:19:30.:19:38.

Russia might not have made the final of the ice hockey but what a final

:19:39.:19:42.

day without qui -- clean sweep and then the bobsleigh. John Jackson

:19:43.:19:55.

just missing out. Matt Pinsent is with Great Britain 2.

:19:56.:20:00.

Every time we see you, you are smiling more. It has been going

:20:01.:20:07.

well? If you were to tell me that four years ago I would be at the

:20:08.:20:11.

Winter Olympics, finishing in the top 20, in the four-man bobsleigh

:20:12.:20:17.

and the two-man bobsleigh, I would not have believed you. That has been

:20:18.:20:24.

a great result. Talk about what it has been like between you? We have

:20:25.:20:29.

come together and it has been fantastic. We are good friends, and

:20:30.:20:35.

it is never ideal losing your team-mate in the holding camp but we

:20:36.:20:39.

have got the depth in the squad to get another athlete and start. You

:20:40.:20:47.

said after the third event, the four-man bobsleigh? That is true? We

:20:48.:20:54.

really showed that today, we are a force to be reckoned with. And

:20:55.:20:58.

finally, the atmosphere before you went off, what was going through

:20:59.:21:04.

your mind? Just to get it right this time! We had a few issues with the

:21:05.:21:09.

first round and then we saw to that I'd and we're with the top boys in

:21:10.:21:14.

the world, so really happy. What is the plan going forward? We will see

:21:15.:21:19.

what happens in the summer, we have more training and we will see if

:21:20.:21:24.

there is a funding situation and hopefully we can go onto the next

:21:25.:21:28.

Olympic Games. It has been great seeing you out here. Great result

:21:29.:21:36.

for all of you. Thank you. And it was an agonising fraction of a

:21:37.:21:39.

second away from a medal. They gave their reaction.

:21:40.:21:46.

We can see smiling. Try to put into words what that last run was like.

:21:47.:21:53.

Overall, it has been great. 11 hundredths of the medals. Sometimes,

:21:54.:21:57.

just being involved in such a very close race, it makes it worthwhile

:21:58.:22:05.

and enjoyable. You had four of those fantastic starts and fantastic

:22:06.:22:09.

driving? It has been a combination of three years of hard work and the

:22:10.:22:15.

training camp. We gave everything. That is all I can ask for. That is

:22:16.:22:21.

an awesome result, fifth place, and when you have all of these guys

:22:22.:22:25.

behind us, and they are very happy. You started in 12 place on the first

:22:26.:22:32.

run and the Russians are winning, that is a massive advantage on their

:22:33.:22:37.

home track? Definitely, they have had a much more practice than we

:22:38.:22:42.

have. Starting in 12 but is in a worse place. After day one, we're

:22:43.:22:47.

just very happy to have brought that time. Every run, moving up the

:22:48.:22:57.

order. Yes, just chipping away. What was that feeling like, looking at

:22:58.:23:01.

those times? We did look a little bit, and not supposed to! We have to

:23:02.:23:06.

say thank you to everyone who believed in us, before we even

:23:07.:23:10.

believe in ourselves and people were there. Two years ago, we could not

:23:11.:23:16.

dream of this. What about the qualities of this team? What is it

:23:17.:23:22.

like? We are just so in love, we do this for everybody. Without them, I

:23:23.:23:29.

would not be here. It is amazing for me. What about the future? I would

:23:30.:23:37.

like to stay for another couple of years, depending on what the Royal

:23:38.:23:44.

Navy and the Royal Marines have me doing but I am happy to keep working

:23:45.:23:47.

and I think we are still developing as a team and hopefully Bruce will

:23:48.:23:52.

take over for the next Olympics. But we will see what happens. It has

:23:53.:23:58.

been brilliant. Lots of people have been saying it was great watching

:23:59.:24:03.

you. Well done. Thank you for all of the support back in the UK. So, that

:24:04.:24:10.

includes all of the sliding events. We will head back to Matthew and Amy

:24:11.:24:15.

Williams to review what has been the golden venue 14 gigabytes. -- for

:24:16.:24:28.

Great Britain. Are we feeling elated or disappointment? No, I am just so

:24:29.:24:37.

proud of the boys. I am buzzing, but at the same time, they were so

:24:38.:24:45.

close. 11 hundredths. That is our sport, you can be so close and you

:24:46.:24:48.

watch that little clock going from green to red and they know they are

:24:49.:24:53.

so close. Top six. Unbelievable from them. They have got so much ahead of

:24:54.:24:59.

them in the future. We can be nothing but pride of them today. I

:25:00.:25:05.

mentioned it to them but it was such a disadvantage going from 12

:25:06.:25:10.

position. You go off the world ranking, we were 12 in the world.

:25:11.:25:15.

And it is in middle of the day and the quality of the ice dollars

:25:16.:25:21.

decrease. Those first few, they have the best ice. No doubt about that,

:25:22.:25:26.

potentially if they were in that top three going, you would have had a

:25:27.:25:31.

score -- you would have had a quicker run. You must keep fighting.

:25:32.:25:38.

And starting was one of their strengths? Joel Fearon, he is an

:25:39.:25:44.

amazing crew man? They have worked so hard, they have got together and

:25:45.:25:49.

have been pushing and training very hard. They are a very tight unit.

:25:50.:25:56.

And you can see, for men jumping in perfect harmony and timing. That

:25:57.:26:01.

takes a lot of practice and it shows their strength. On that first track

:26:02.:26:07.

at university, the time they have put in Hazel. And John's driving was

:26:08.:26:15.

impeccable? Back-to-back, consistent. That is what wins races.

:26:16.:26:21.

When you have got four of those runs and every single one counts. He did

:26:22.:26:26.

not quite slide as well on the first and that could be nerves but

:26:27.:26:30.

otherwise, he has been consistent with every single one. Better than

:26:31.:26:35.

anyone else out there. In that sense, we have a lot more left to

:26:36.:26:39.

come from these boys in the future and we wish them well to keep

:26:40.:26:45.

performing and keep the funding they are and that is the biggest thing

:26:46.:26:49.

with winter sport, keep that funding to be able to perform and use those

:26:50.:26:53.

resources and continuously improve and move up those world rankings to

:26:54.:27:01.

be fighting for a medal next time. We have spent a lot of time here

:27:02.:27:07.

watching the bobsleigh team. The skeleton did us proud?

:27:08.:27:12.

Unbelievable, that race seems like months ago. It was only days ago. We

:27:13.:27:19.

have had some highs and lows, emotional, butterflies in my

:27:20.:27:23.

stomach, waking up with the nerves. It is the environment, the love for

:27:24.:27:29.

these sports. And Lizzy Yarnold bringing home that medal. What more

:27:30.:27:34.

could be asked for? It proves that the setup back at home with that

:27:35.:27:42.

performance pathway, those strong, rigid plans that the athletes have,

:27:43.:27:47.

that works. Having everyone together, that adduces medals. Lizzy

:27:48.:27:54.

Yarnold was dominant. She did not give her opposition any looking? No,

:27:55.:27:59.

she was out there from the start to begin with. Like she has done for

:28:00.:28:06.

this entire season. Not just the Olympics, she stood on the podium on

:28:07.:28:09.

nearly every one of her World Cup races. She kept consistent, she did

:28:10.:28:13.

not change anything for the Olympics, the team worked really

:28:14.:28:19.

well and they knew what to do, they just had to do the same thing and

:28:20.:28:23.

perform and she stood on that start line and did us proud. She stayed so

:28:24.:28:30.

confident and I was really amazed at her ability to control herself

:28:31.:28:34.

Andrew Motion and she enjoyed that race. And she brought home a medal

:28:35.:28:40.

for Great Britain. We didn't do a very good jump of controlling

:28:41.:28:44.

ourselves! I could not with my tears. It has been quite strange not

:28:45.:28:51.

competing. Seeing everyone and I have really loved that. Just the

:28:52.:28:55.

spirit of the Olympics and that is why we are here. That is why these

:28:56.:29:00.

guys and girls free in every single day. It is all for this moment. You

:29:01.:29:07.

can see the joy that it brings and everyone here is a friend, we are a

:29:08.:29:12.

community together and we want everyone to do well but we want also

:29:13.:29:17.

to be standing on the podium. That has been at. Some brilliant sessions

:29:18.:29:24.

appear. Back to Jonathan. Thank you. When an organising

:29:25.:29:31.

committee sits down to get this sorted out, they want everything

:29:32.:29:34.

looking fantastic and the volunteers and the infrastructure, but the big

:29:35.:29:39.

unknown is just how well does the host nation perform? Here in Sochi,

:29:40.:29:44.

the Russians have done it. Look at that medal table. Four years ago,

:29:45.:29:50.

11th place. Here, home territory, the top. The team gold medals. 33 in

:29:51.:29:58.

total. The last time they topped the table was in 1984. -- 33 of the

:29:59.:30:05.

group 13 gold medals. And there is just one more left to be decided.

:30:06.:30:19.

How do you like that? Sensational. And he scores! Canada win. He cannot

:30:20.:30:52.

stop scoring. America take victory! They look so amazing, scoring again.

:30:53.:31:00.

This is a very day on the Black Sea. The defending champions will defend

:31:01.:31:04.

their title against Sweden. Wonderful stuff.

:31:05.:31:12.

The men's ice hockey final, the final event and the atmosphere will

:31:13.:31:18.

be amazing. Before it got busy, Jason and Brent got inside to talk

:31:19.:31:24.

about this final. Not the finally Russians were hoping

:31:25.:31:28.

for, the home side not died in the quarterfinals but we have an

:31:29.:31:31.

intriguing game ahead. Brent Pope will be commentating. Great to see

:31:32.:31:32.

you. What do you expect? The Canadians have been more

:31:33.:31:47.

defensive, the Swedes had been defensive from the start. We will

:31:48.:31:56.

see a tactical battle. You have to play defence first and take your

:31:57.:32:00.

torturers when they come. I spoke to Mike Babcock, what has struck me is

:32:01.:32:06.

they have this air of confidence. Is that something you have noticed with

:32:07.:32:09.

the Canadians? Some of the comments I think this is

:32:10.:32:15.

probably the best Canadian side ever assembled at an Olympic Games.

:32:16.:32:20.

Strong words. You can see their confidence. Babcock knows how to

:32:21.:32:26.

win. He has his team prepared. They may be peaking at the right time.

:32:27.:32:33.

When you watch the Canadians, there is a remarkable team spirit, how

:32:34.:32:38.

important is that? With the Canadian women after they won a gold medal,

:32:39.:32:45.

the men's team came over to congratulate them.

:32:46.:32:53.

Will they be worried that Crosby hasn't scored yet? He didn't have a

:32:54.:32:58.

great tournament in Vancouver either. He has played better as the

:32:59.:33:03.

tournament has gone on. He may be the start today. What will it take

:33:04.:33:08.

for Sweden to win? They need to score first, be effective in the

:33:09.:33:14.

power play. The other intriguing thing is this crowd, predominantly

:33:15.:33:19.

Russian, who will they be cheering for? I bet it is Sweden! It will be

:33:20.:33:30.

rocking at the Bolshoy Ice Dome, no Russia here, can Sweden take the

:33:31.:33:34.

Olympic crown? A great final in prospect. No

:33:35.:33:41.

holiday for Jason in Sochi, here is his preview.

:33:42.:33:54.

This has been an ice hockey competition to remember.

:33:55.:34:07.

East West rivalry as dramatic as it promised to be.

:34:08.:34:10.

COMMENTATOR: What a finish, the American lead, the Russians are back

:34:11.:34:14.

on level terms. America take victory. A shock exit for the home

:34:15.:34:19.

team. It is Finland on their way to the

:34:20.:34:23.

semifinals. Russia crash out.

:34:24.:34:29.

A showdown between neighbouring countries and a fierce rivalry done

:34:30.:34:33.

and dusted. Canada are through to the final!

:34:34.:34:38.

Sweden are going through to the final again.

:34:39.:34:41.

Now it comes down to one last faceoff, Sweden versus Canada.

:34:42.:34:45.

They will be fighting it out for the final gold medal of this Winter

:34:46.:34:51.

Olympics. COMMENTATOR: It is gold for Canada.

:34:52.:34:56.

Canadians will think back to Vancouver and will be eager to bring

:34:57.:34:59.

home the gold medal again. It is about winning, about Canada,

:35:00.:35:04.

hockey supremacy. We like to brag it is our game.

:35:05.:35:10.

We always have a lot of pressure on ourselves. Any time Canada puts on

:35:11.:35:15.

the skates, gold is the only middle we want.

:35:16.:35:20.

Pressure means we have a chance. I will take pressure all day long. We

:35:21.:35:25.

have an opportunity to do something real special. It should be fun.

:35:26.:35:30.

Sweden didn't start as one of the favourites but this is their third

:35:31.:35:34.

final in the past six Winter Games. On two previous occasions they have

:35:35.:35:42.

won it. COMMENTATOR: It is Sweden, they celebrate their gold-medal!

:35:43.:35:48.

Lundqvist was crucial eight years ago and he has been just as

:35:49.:35:54.

invaluable this time around. In the first Games, we didn't play

:35:55.:36:01.

as we wanted -- the first matches. Growing up, my first dreams were to

:36:02.:36:06.

play for my country, in an Olympics. Just to be here is a great feeling,

:36:07.:36:12.

a proud feeling. Canada is favourite. They have a lot

:36:13.:36:15.

of skilled players in their line-up. It will be a great challenge.

:36:16.:36:20.

The semifinals showed that Sweden can make a comeback after going down

:36:21.:36:29.

1-0. COMMENTATOR: A bullet! They are not giving up easy chances

:36:30.:36:35.

to the other team. We can achieve great things.

:36:36.:36:40.

They have a lot of highly skilled guys but we need to play our game.

:36:41.:36:46.

We have to put everything we have onto the ice.

:36:47.:36:52.

Every Canadian player is on the NHL roster. Crosby, Benn, Price.

:36:53.:37:03.

They have done a lot of winning in their careers, it should be a lot of

:37:04.:37:08.

fun. You came here to compete as hard as you can. Sweden played

:37:09.:37:15.

methodical hockey. We will try to speed it up.

:37:16.:37:20.

They play with no ego, it is all about team, they will be hard.

:37:21.:37:26.

So, the putts stops here with both sides ready to do battle at the

:37:27.:37:30.

Bolshoy, it will be a final to remember.

:37:31.:38:18.

So, here we go, the last medal of the Sochi Games. No quarter asked,

:38:19.:38:29.

no quarter given, live from the magnificent Bolshoy Ice Dome. The

:38:30.:38:34.

men's ice hockey gold medal, let us go over to our commentators, Seth

:38:35.:38:36.

Bennett and Brent Pope. Welcome to the Bolshoy, Canada

:38:37.:38:45.

against Sweden, there will be support for both sides. Which way

:38:46.:38:50.

will the neutrals go, that is the question. We have seen a few Russian

:38:51.:38:55.

shirts. If few interesting hats. The officials make their way onto the

:38:56.:39:00.

ice, they will have a big roll to play, and have plenty of experience.

:39:01.:39:08.

And all North American line-up officiating this match. It has been

:39:09.:39:13.

interesting for the officials. This is their gold-medal selection, to do

:39:14.:39:18.

this game. This is an honour, the best they can achieve. To be in

:39:19.:39:23.

charge of this game, they will have nerves as well. They have got better

:39:24.:39:28.

as the tournament has gone on. As we turned, it will be a good night,

:39:29.:39:39.

this place is picking up. Price leaves the way for the

:39:40.:39:44.

Canadians. The defending champions against the current world champions.

:39:45.:39:51.

The 2010 gold-medal winners against the 2006 gold-medal winners. These

:39:52.:39:54.

are two of the best teams in world ice hockey over the past decade.

:39:55.:40:00.

They come into this tournament, both undefeated in their five Games until

:40:01.:40:05.

this point. They have played some terrific hockey. Not spellbinding by

:40:06.:40:09.

any stretch of the imagination but, defensively, they have been mean.

:40:10.:40:14.

Just nine goals conceded between the two sides. It is outstanding

:40:15.:40:19.

defence. Lundqvist leading. Price. Here is

:40:20.:40:33.

the starting line-up. In a game like this, where a shot can come from

:40:34.:40:39.

anywhere on the goal line, we have seen Lundqvist let in a couple of

:40:40.:40:43.

goals from positions he would prefer to have been able to save. Price has

:40:44.:40:51.

been stellar and strong. As we have moved through the Games, Price was

:40:52.:41:00.

the right guy to put in position for Canada. The fence has come from

:41:01.:41:08.

their defence in this tournament which is unusual.

:41:09.:41:14.

The captain, Sidney Crosby, he was here four years ago. He picked over

:41:15.:41:21.

time as his moment to announce himself as Canada took gold,

:41:22.:41:26.

courtesy of that young man. Kronwall has been here before, gold-medal

:41:27.:41:32.

winner back in 2006. They exchange pendants. The coach, Par Marts, he

:41:33.:41:39.

was very calm. Never going to get excited about anything, I don't

:41:40.:41:44.

think! Mike Babcock, again, somebody who is absolutely on it. He knows

:41:45.:41:48.

what he wants from this team, very much in control.

:41:49.:41:54.

The other day, I said Mike Babcock was like an eagle on the bench, he

:41:55.:41:57.

doesn't let anything go under the carpet. He will tell you positive or

:41:58.:42:01.

negative, and is always feeding back to his players.

:42:02.:42:11.

Let us wait and see what happens. Here we go, the final event of Sochi

:42:12.:42:20.

2014 is under way, the men's ice hockey final, the gold-medal game.

:42:21.:42:28.

Terrific teams packed full of NHL Starts, Canada are in red. Sweden

:42:29.:42:31.

will try immediately. Sweden coming forward. A big

:42:32.:42:46.

deflection. Carey Price hanging onto that one. Still plenty of fans

:42:47.:42:52.

filing into this stadium. We may see some empty seats. Heightened

:42:53.:42:57.

security. Probably only in the second period when we will see seats

:42:58.:43:03.

being filled. When the ceremonies are on, this place is on lockdown.

:43:04.:43:15.

Sweden won the faceoff but Crosby brought it away. Sent into the zone.

:43:16.:43:27.

Carlson has had a superb tournament.

:43:28.:43:37.

Crosby, feeding one in... That was an opportunity. Bergeron was not

:43:38.:43:48.

able to convert it. And that the other way with Sweden. The first

:43:49.:43:52.

chance of the game went Canada's way.

:43:53.:44:11.

Sweden, unable to get it out, this is what this line does so well.

:44:12.:44:19.

Trying to stab it home. Held on to stab it home. Held onto by

:44:20.:44:23.

Lundqvist. An outstanding start by Canada, as Crosby created an angle

:44:24.:44:30.

for himself. He passed to Bergeron which was outstanding.

:44:31.:44:38.

Bergeron almost went back. Jabbing away at Lundqvist, a good start by

:44:39.:44:49.

the Canadians. A tiny gap between the post and Lundqvist's foot.

:44:50.:44:54.

Let us see whether Canada can squeeze the puck in there. Sweden,

:44:55.:45:02.

how can they contain that big, strong line?

:45:03.:45:19.

A good answer from Sweden, good transition. Into the body! All the

:45:20.:45:38.

time in the world but he had no support, the shot was his only

:45:39.:45:42.

option. The Canadians were getting tired working against the Swedish

:45:43.:45:46.

fence. They took the opportunity of a line change.

:45:47.:45:55.

Carey Price was so far away from his net.

:45:56.:46:04.

That was great defensive play from Jimmie Ericsson.

:46:05.:46:25.

Sweden have the chance. A half chance really for Bergeron but he

:46:26.:47:04.

got himself tangled up. It is happening so quickly. Bergeron

:47:05.:47:10.

again. Sidney Crosby is on it right now. Sweden had better look out.

:47:11.:47:20.

Sidney Crosby has not scored in five games which means he is due. Yes, it

:47:21.:47:28.

means the pressure is on for him in Canada.

:47:29.:47:37.

This could be a chance at goal. Or not! Did that come straight back off

:47:38.:47:49.

the post? The referee on the spot. We will get the replay here. You

:47:50.:47:55.

will see it as it comes around. Can you believe that has come across and

:47:56.:48:00.

another great omen for Canadian hopes today. Something similar came

:48:01.:48:07.

-- something similar to this happen to the women. This is harder for it

:48:08.:48:14.

to stay out Barnett is for it to go in. Normally would have bounced off

:48:15.:48:18.

the lake and gone into the open goal but it stays out. Wow! The hoppy --

:48:19.:48:23.

the hockey gods are smiling on Canada right now.

:48:24.:48:28.

A great chance but it remains goalless. Canada will be thanking

:48:29.:48:36.

their small mercies there. We will see a lot of these playing out here

:48:37.:48:41.

today. If anybody thought this was going to

:48:42.:48:53.

be a Canadian walkover, these first five minutes have shown that will

:48:54.:48:57.

not be the case. It will not be against the Swedish players, they

:48:58.:49:00.

are too good and too careful about how they manage the park and they

:49:01.:49:02.

skate well and they are critical. A hard hit on a sharp and here is a

:49:03.:49:26.

chance for Erik Karlsson. He knew that it was coming and he may be

:49:27.:49:30.

rushed the play about. Erik Karlsson is the leading scorer in this

:49:31.:49:31.

tournament. The Canadians are hemmed in here for

:49:32.:49:42.

now. Erik Karlsson has had four goals and

:49:43.:50:00.

four assists. For a defence man to be leading the scoring at this level

:50:01.:50:04.

is just incredible. He has been lights out from the blue line and

:50:05.:50:08.

the powerplay if the Swedes get an opportunity, they are scoring in

:50:09.:50:14.

almost a third. They will make the Canadians play -- pay.

:50:15.:50:35.

Alexander Steen was born in Canada. A Winnipeg boy but he always chose

:50:36.:50:43.

to play for Sweden at international level. He has dual citizenship. A

:50:44.:50:53.

similar story for one of the American team. The Canadians have a

:50:54.:50:57.

whole extra roster in North America that could also be playing in this

:50:58.:50:59.

tournament. Drew Doughty has been magnificent

:51:00.:51:09.

for the Canadians offensively. Alexander Edler goes right up the

:51:10.:51:26.

middle. They all go chasing after it. We get a whistle here. It has

:51:27.:51:31.

been a breathless first seven minutes. Drew Doughty has been a

:51:32.:51:36.

leading scorer for the Canadians in this tournament. He has been doing

:51:37.:51:40.

his job for the blue line as well. He has four goals and four assists.

:51:41.:51:45.

These two are sharing the limelight as the young man's -- Young guns,

:51:46.:51:52.

from the defenceman position. Erik Karlsson has shot in the powerplay

:51:53.:51:56.

and once every three times they score. The interesting things is

:51:57.:52:03.

that the Swedish players take more penalties than any other team. The

:52:04.:52:11.

Canadians, if they can work into the powerplay they have a chance but if

:52:12.:52:14.

they open the door to the Swedes that will go a long way to measuring

:52:15.:52:20.

the outcome of the 60 minutes. Erik Karlsson is outstanding. We are in

:52:21.:52:24.

the middle of a TV time out here which allows them to repair the ice.

:52:25.:52:31.

That is Daniel Alfredsson, one of the veterans on this team. He is now

:52:32.:52:38.

in his 40s. Back in 1994 he was playing his first year of pro hockey

:52:39.:52:45.

back in Sweden. He said he was watching on the television and he

:52:46.:52:48.

loved the way that Sweden won on penalty shots at Lily hammer.

:52:49.:53:18.

Jay Bouwmeester Moines man -- wines one up. He has a beautiful shot. He

:53:19.:53:42.

is such a big man that when he leans on one it zips off the stake. He has

:53:43.:53:48.

got better as the tournament goes on and Mike Babcock has gone the door

:53:49.:53:53.

to him. He played for that all decisive goal against the Americans

:53:54.:53:57.

in the final -- semifinal. He skates well and shoots well and made a

:53:58.:54:02.

great play. Everybody expected a shot. Here is Patrice Bergeron. He

:54:03.:54:10.

gets help from Chris Kunitz. Patrice Bergeron sends it to the

:54:11.:54:20.

corner and is now Sidney Crosby will come alive with help from Shea

:54:21.:54:23.

Weber. Sweden dealt with that pretty well

:54:24.:54:32.

and got themselves some time and space to choose how to outlet. It is

:54:33.:54:37.

a great play to go behind your own gold. It is about having your puck

:54:38.:54:41.

on your stick longer than the opposition which allows you to

:54:42.:54:42.

control the game. Canada find themselves pushed back

:54:43.:54:56.

here. Marcus Kruger is getting no help. He will send this one around.

:54:57.:55:07.

Offside has been called. In ice hockey side is a simple one. The

:55:08.:55:13.

podcast to be the first thing across the blue line, followed by any

:55:14.:55:20.

attacking players. You look at the Canadian roots to get here and one

:55:21.:55:24.

of the interesting stats is that any team that has gone undefeated in the

:55:25.:55:28.

group stages has not won the gold medal. Canada were pushed by the

:55:29.:55:35.

Finns to win one in extra time. The Swedish team have been flawless.

:55:36.:55:46.

Sweden are doing enough to neutralise that.

:55:47.:56:06.

Sweden come in and that was tipped in front by Carlson and the two

:56:07.:56:11.

defensemen are leaving the rush -- leading the rush. A good save by

:56:12.:56:16.

Carey Price. Jakob Silfverberg turned himself

:56:17.:56:58.

into trouble there and he gets a second chance.

:56:59.:57:06.

They have been impressive in the offensive zone. The Swedish

:57:07.:57:13.

players, haven't they? They have really forced Canada around. They

:57:14.:57:17.

are all about control, the Swedes. They are great in the offensive zone

:57:18.:57:21.

because they do not allow the defenceman to get the puck cheaply.

:57:22.:57:25.

If you want you are going to have to work. You see some good interchange

:57:26.:57:29.

between them here with a shot coming in and the great touch and there is

:57:30.:57:33.

Erik Karlsson coming off the blue line and right in front of goal

:57:34.:57:37.

against Carey Price it almost opens up the scoring. They do that better

:57:38.:57:46.

than anybody even the Canadians, the Swedes are available to protect the

:57:47.:57:49.

puck. They are patient and they do not try to make a play before it is

:57:50.:57:52.

ready. It is a well timed and well-drained -- well drilled team up

:57:53.:57:54.

front. They know what temperature they want to cook it and how long it

:57:55.:57:58.

should stay in the oven before they serve it. That is like a Who's Who

:57:59.:58:03.

of Canadian coaching. That is Mike Babcock. He spends his time in the

:58:04.:58:11.

north-east. His mum told him to get a proper job and forget ice hockey.

:58:12.:58:20.

A different story for the Swedish coach. He has done pretty much

:58:21.:58:25.

everything with the Swedish national team. Some might say the time for

:58:26.:58:28.

Mike Babcock in the north-east was the making of him! Some! He might

:58:29.:58:36.

agree. He does speak very fondly of his time in the UK. Possibly not

:58:37.:58:43.

about the ice hockey. At that time it was a very different era.

:58:44.:58:53.

Patrice Bergeron snaps at the post but it runs and it is going to be

:58:54.:59:01.

cleared. Posts for both sides then. Patrice Bergeron is sharp today.

:59:02.:59:03.

They are playing great on that line. That one looked up and into the

:59:04.:59:30.

meshing of the plexiglass. This line working hard for Canada. Patrice

:59:31.:59:35.

Bergeron can do a little bit of everything. That provide -- that

:59:36.:59:46.

surprised Henrik Lundqvist. He was beat. It was just not inside the

:59:47.:59:47.

goal. Canada are looking for their ninth

:59:48.:59:58.

Olympic gold. It would be a third for Sweden. This is not a game where

:59:59.:00:06.

we expect to see an awful lot of goals. But you will see some

:00:07.:00:10.

chances. Once you get the chance you have too been some very good

:00:11.:00:12.

netminders. Here is Corey Perry. This is really good work from

:00:13.:00:26.

Canada. The Canadians win it back and Drew Doughty will walk it in.

:00:27.:00:38.

They are swinging nicely and a shot comes in but it takes a big defence

:00:39.:00:47.

-- deflection. Shea Weber has the ability to shoot at over 100 miles

:00:48.:00:49.

an hour. Possession time in the offensive

:00:50.:01:02.

zone for Sweden might given away. Here is Patrick Marleau but it's

:01:03.:01:06.

snaps into the side netting. A few Canadian fans thought that had gone

:01:07.:01:07.

in. Carter sends it all the way through

:01:08.:01:20.

and its scores, maybe a touch from someone else but Canada have the

:01:21.:01:26.

first goal in the Olympic final. Henrik Lundqvist was beat. It's huge

:01:27.:01:31.

goal! It is the champions who strike first. Jonathan Toews has been doing

:01:32.:01:37.

this all of his career. He was right in front of the net and he went for

:01:38.:01:42.

the goal and this could be the golden goal. He opens up scoring for

:01:43.:01:46.

Canada. He is a triple gold member and he has done it at the world and

:01:47.:01:50.

he has done it for the Stirling cup and here it could have helped Canada

:01:51.:01:54.

towards a gold medal at the Olympics. A great time to score your

:01:55.:01:58.

first of the tournament. It has been a bad time for the Chicago boys. We

:01:59.:02:07.

saw the Americans missed to penalty shots

:02:08.:02:08.

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