Day 7, Part 1 - 10.00am to 12.00pm Winter Olympics

that and that makes it worth it -- but worth it. Well done, you are a

pioneer. A hugely significant moment for women's sport and the Olympic

Games and a story beautifully told by Matt Pinson there and it is

excellent to see it included. It was a great competition. Our daily diet

here of sport includes curling. It is taking place in the ice cube

arena, the smallest of these venues in the coastal cluster in so cheap.

We are in the thick of the round robin matches. There are ten teams

in each competition and they each play one another

in each competition and they each play one once and after the points

are all tallied up the great British team had won two and lost two before

the start of today and yesterday's win against China gave them

much-needed momentum against Japan this morning. Jackie Lockhart and

Steve Cram were on the beat again. You have been kept going with a

stash of strawberries and ice lollies?

Ice lollies definitely. We have breakfast today. Happy Valentine's

Day! Happy Valentine's Day. These are rather nice. We have been

looking after ourselves. It has been pretty good so far. It was important

that they won that match. You saw the table with the teams that are so

close and after this session it will start to sort itself out. It is

really important to win the next games and follow-up from yesterday.

How significant moment was it for Eve Muirhead and the team yesterday

with the win over China? Has created momentum them? Without question. We

are starting to see the team that we expected to say. They are very

confident team now and Eve Muirhead has her confidence back. She is not

so indecisive. She is taking control and that will see them through to

the end of this match. Every game is critical and it could go either way.

I have every confidence that this team are growing in strength and

hopefully they will just peek at the right time.

Tell us a bit about the Japanese team that they will face today.

Jackie will agree with me that they are an unknown quantity. They are a

mixture of the front-end and the lead that are very new. This is

their first major championships and they have not been to the world is

all the champion -- Olympics before. We are finding in this competition

that there is a bit of inconsistency with some of the teams. There are

the big ones and we are considered to be one of the medal hopes but you

can slip up against the likes of Japan and Korea if you are not at

the top of the game. Yes you have to give due respect to these teams.

They may be inconsistent on paper but on the ice anything can happen.

It is all about following the game plan and it should all follow

through. With the promise of a Valentine 's biscuit after the fifth

end, it is all yours! I am saving mine. That was a nice

little touch at breakfast this morning. Everybody was walking

around and giving each other Valentine biscuits. Jackie did not

give me one! I am really sorry. I am not the most romantic person, it has

to be said. I cannot believe that. If they win this the table will

start to look a bit different. Japan themselves, talking about the

inconsistency, having beaten Russia, that was a good win for them, they

lost last night to the USA and I think most people will not take too

much away from the American men and women that they have not been doing

too well here and I think they were pretty disappointed to lose that

match. It left them with the same record of Great Britain, two wins

and two losses. If you accept that the two losses for Britain were to

Canada and Sweden, two of the most fancied teams here, I am sure you

can accept that going forward. Japan today and they will play Korea

tomorrow. It is a real opportunity to build on the success of

yesterday. We talked about the youngsters

playing for Japan. The lead is Chinami Yoshida. She is just 22. She

has not had too much experience. They went to the Pacific Asia

championships and that is the first time these plates together. She went

over to Canada, as we see Claire Hamilton playing her first stone,

she studied in Canada and she learnt a lot about curling there. That was

three or four years ago. Import into start well. -- important to start

well. All the attention of peers to be on Eve Muirhead but the team as a

whole played really well yesterday. The girls came out this morning

looking a confident team. Eve is quite happy to take the game on.

Straightaway in the first end she has the camera -- hammer and

hopefully she will score here. To determine who has the hammer there

is a draw that both skips have to make. Either has been performing

very well with that. Yesterday was the only time she did not manage to

have the hammer in the first end. It gives you a chance to control the

match at the beginning. It does not mean you cannot win your match but

it does give you the chance to come out and put some pressure on the

opposition straightaway. Strangely enough this morning both teams drew

the one foot and scored zero centimetres away from the one foot

and ended up having to toss a coin and luckily for us it went our way.

We were able to choose the last end advantage and that stone in from

Claire Hamilton there was very nice. She has utilised the front

guard that she put on earlier to give her some cover and this is just

the start that we are looking for. Another youngster here, she is

playing second for Japan. Kay Howell on a deer in a new addition to this

quartet. -- Kaho Onodera. When they determine

the teams that are going to compete in the Olympics it is the ranking

points that they compete for in the world Championships. Japan did not

have enough to be in the top eight. The home nation if they do not get

enough ranking points are allowed to compete. The men did not have enough

but the women did so to spots were available in a qualifying

competition in Germany in December. Japan were beaten in the play-offs

by China so they secured their birth and then the way that competition

was structured Japan had a second chance if they beat Norway and they

took that second spot. The experience itself will have

helped them. They do not have a lot of experience but they came through

that Olympic qualifying competition successfully and it is pretty

cut-throat. There was not room for error because it was only the two

top teams that got the big prize to come to the Olympics so that will

have stood them in good stead. Yes, it has definitely stood them in good

stead. The top end of this team, the skip and the Vice have played

together before. The coach of this team and the national coach of very

experienced players themselves so they will have brought a lot to the

team. The young girls will have taken all of the experience from

that qualification into here. A little error there from Vicki. It

did not quite have the weight adequately guard. It gives Japan now

the chance to play and out-turn draw in behind. That will go in behind

the red cover that written has setup. -- Britain. They will have to

work hard to get that around. That is going to sit in front of the

British stone. It tapped it back a little.

That is providing Eve Muirhead with a nice set of three stones there.

She is asking Anna Sloan to try and come in around those. Eve has

actually given a bit more ice here. It is not pulling as much as she

thought it might have done. Strangely enough it can take a big

poll one sick rushes the centre line into the house there. Often if you

catch that line early enough you can get a stronger pull across the

centre line and unfortunately we overcompensated there. We had seen

two shots prior to that but it is all about learning how the lay of

the ices in these first few ends. Both teams have had a ten minute

practice and that is really what they should be looking for. Before

they start the competition they should find out how the stones are

playing at how the ices running. That was looking to move across the

other side and stay in the house. Yes, this gives us the opportunity

to pull one in. Eve is just moving that brush another five or six

inches to her right. That is the target for Anna Sloan. It is the

line she sets the stone Forum and the, of course, is crucial as it

starts to turn at the end. They come across quite quickly at the end.

Yes, there is a natural turn to the stone. It is turning ever so

slightly across to the left. It has a break point halfway down. If the

weight starts to come off the stone it will pull much more. They take

the pull off by sweeping behind and they got a very good result. The

Japanese team are looking to see if they can see any of that stone. A

tiny piece of it. I think she can probably see just a

couple of inches of it. It looks as though she is going to come down on

the out-turn and may be just enough to catch it and tap it back. They

are looking at the rays on the bone. The yellow is at the front.

These shots are always risky early on. There is a spare bit of -- a

fair bit of space between those two stones. Eve was very much back to

herself yesterday. They were all chatting a lot during the game at

communicating well with each other. The Japanese skip, Ogasawara. That

has opened it up and it has done enough but it still gives us the

opportunity to draw a second shot in there. It has given Eve Muirhead a

good opportunity to get a two. She has got a couple of choices here.

Yes, she is just contemplating the red that we can see sitting on the

blue there. It is a bit vulnerable because if we leave it at Japan

could get a hit and roll into the inside but she is hoping to try and

catch that and split it across to the left as we are looking and then

her shooter will roll across to the right and create some space between

the two Micro stones to try and prevent a double. Another option is

to sit in the centre. If it comes to far and duly the inside edge of the

red, Japan could get a hit and roll in. The first choice is the better.

Talk about a hit and flop, they watched a -- they want to catch the

stone and flapped across. The Japanese back stone might produce a

stop. The girls working this hard. That is nice. Very well done, Eve. A

tad more would have been nice. Yes. She has created some space between

them, but there is a chance that Japan could play a double on this.

What Japan have to be careful of, they could hit the Jell-o, or the

red on the left-hand side, and it might jam on the back yellow

Japanese stone. We have had a look at that. She is going to be coming

down a similar line. With a different weight. Hoping to move

both of the British stones away. And hope that the one on the right of

the blue circle does not jam against her own yellow. The last stone of

the first end for a Jimmy Anderson Warren.

-- Ayumi Ogasawara. Not quite the shop she wanted. She was looking to

move both of those. That leaves even in your head with a fairly

straightforward shot to come in for a too. She just needs to push the

Japanese stone back. It will be a successful first end for Great

Britain. This is not dissimilar to the shop she played if you minute

ago. A slightly different line. She seems pretty happy with it. It

hangs on, just. Not quite the shop she wanted, but it is enough, she

gets too, by a couple of inches. We have got the hammer in the first

end, not 100% on the last shot, but it was good enough.

We will be keeping an eye on the three other matches, it is

important, we are beyond the halfway stage. Switzerland had started with

three victories, then they have had two losses, they have taken an early

lead against Russia. The USA against Denmark and Korea against China are

the other matches, no score yet. The cheers will ring out when things are

going well for Russia. If it looks odd that we are concentrating on

this match, the killers have to put up with four matches taking place at

once. -- curlers. The flags are outnumbered by the hosts' support.

But it has been a good atmosphere in here. I am surprised the roof is

still on, it was the men against Switzerland, picked up three in the

final and, they want 7-6. Switzerland should have closed it

out. It was a mistake from the Swiss skip. You could excuse them from

going crazy. The noise in here was incredible. Japan with the hammer.

Chinami Yoshida. Trying to put up a guard here. That

is not the best shot from her. That allows Eve Muirhead to move

this stone. The first four stones, if they are in the Freegard zone,

between the red line and he has, if they sit in that area, they cannot

be moved out of the game. But because of the mistake from Chinami

Yoshida, Claire Hamilton could move it.

I am impressed, you are learning fast! I am listening to you!

Think you have got two young players playing lead and second, they have

got to learn and gather and gain experience, everybody tends to look

at the skip and the big shots at the end, but the lead and second have

such a crucial role to play. Definitely. A long time ago, people

would think only the skip had to know the game plan, but at this

level, every member of this team all have to note the importance of the

shot they are playing. The one thing they have to learn, if they do not

make the first shot, they have to think about what the second option

could be. When you are young and inexperienced, I am not sure that

you remember that. Vicki Adams has gone a couple of feet further than

she would have liked. We had a lot of that yesterday, apart from one

shop, that she got annoyed about. Even if it does not come off 100%,

encouraging each other, little comments, to say, yes, that is OK.

We are human, you have to allow yourself a break. 100% is not always

possible all the time. It is what we all strive for, but not always the

case. Be happy with some of the shots you play, take the positives

into the next end. That shop left a British stones sitting out there.

They really needed to hit and live there. I am wondering if this is

what we will see throughout the game. They are not a bad team, but

they are not finishing off the shots they need to play. It is critical

they hit and like, rather than hitting and rolling. The advantage

again rolls over to Great Britain. They want to leave this until it

catches a nice draw. They want it on the front half of the circles. That

is a nice shot. Japan will still be able to see half of it. It did not

turn as much as they were hoping for, but they are putting the

pressure on Japan, Japan have to come up with the goods. Maybe just

such it back a little. Kaho Onodera, a pretty good heptathlete, this

young lady, at national level. This one does not look so good. A

poor first stone, and she has not learned from that. If you do not

play a good first shot and combat... Just tapped the British stones

nicely. Into the perfect place. Those mistakes, if they keep making

them, they are draining. It is not just that you have played a bad

shot, it is draining our new and the rest of the team, they cannot keep

digging it out. Anna Sloan has called it really

heavy. That goes out as well. No real damage done, though. When the

opposition have the last stone advantage, try and limit them to one

if you can. The team with the hammer can decide not to score, to carry

the advantage into the next end, or you can steal one.

This Japanese team are overthrowing a lot of the stones. I am not sure

if it is how they release them, but they are catching everything on the

high side and rolling out rather than getting anything on the nose.

The women's team coach there. He will be pleased with the way things

have started here, especially if Anna Sloan can place the guard.

Anna Sloan kept saying the line is good. Just hoping it stops in time.

It looks pretty good. That is a nice shot. That is good. A foot more than

she wanted, but it has done the job that was asked of it, guarding the

centre stone. Quite a lot of the emerging nations

have been searching around for Canadian coaches, other more

experienced nations looking for experienced coaches, and that is a

good shot. Yumie Funayama producing AQ smiles. A lot of them have been

bringing in coaches from other parts of the world that have a lot more

experience, but not the case for Japan. They have stuck with him, he

has been about for a long time, very experienced, so they have decided to

keep with him. He is an extremely nice gentleman.

That was a first well executed shot from Japan. When you start the first

to ends and you are shooting 46% is 18 -- as a team, it is legitimate to

say that that was the first good shot. Well done. That is a lovely

stone. The one that they left lying there, it is so easy if you do not

concentrate, you might catch the high guard. That is when games can

turn. But that was very well executed, controlled by the

sweepers. Japan with the hammer. They are going to ignore the red

stones of Great Britain in the house. They are going to draw in

behind the cover parties -- that is the Japanese stone at the front.

That is how they can get two points, to make it difficult for Eve

Muirhead to get to it and hit it out. That is just turning nicely. A

lovely stone. Well swept as well. And it is just looking -- Anna is

just looking but I do not think there was anything here, it is

tucked behind. The object of the game is to get as many stones close

to the centre and alt counting your opponent but it is not always about

hitting the other team's stones out. She had to utilise the guard that

she had in front so she has chosen to draw one down in here but Eve is

hoping to hit this down here and knock this out.

She has done well again. If that kept going across? She needed that

to go out. It is lying shot and it gives Japan the chance to come in

and take the two. It was nearly a good shot. They are very difficult

to judge, these stones. A fraction of a difference in way you hit it

can make such a difference at the other end. She was slightly unlucky

there because it was a very close stone to catching it and taking it

out. Let us hope that even keeps her head up. We have said it once or

twice before that if she does not get the set -- perfection it can

needle at her. She has to accept that she did play a good shot but it

just did not work out. You can tell their from the look that she has

that she feels she has played the worst shot in the world but she did

not. That just needs to shot -- stop in time which it will do. Just. So

that is two to Japan and we are all tied up after two ends. Just a

little opportunity for Eve Muirhead but she should not be too hard on

yourself because it was not a bad shot and a couple of good shots

towards the end of that end got Japan back in the match because they

made a really poor start. Our girls played a good end and they were

asking the questions of Japan. It was just the Japanese skip who

played a very good draw around and behind. We have to accept that you

have to be prepared to understand that your opposition is going to

play the best job possible and that is when you have two try and force

her to play the hardest shot in the book.

She is quite happy there that her stones stayed in the house and she

got her two. It was sliding opt a little bit but it looked as though

it would stop in time. You can see from the array of flags in the ice

cube that there is a good atmosphere again. Russia are one down in their

match but it is the early stages there against Switzerland. Elsewhere

Denmark have gone two up against the USA and China took three in the

second end against Korea so good beginning of that match for them.

You can probably tell their from the cheer that the end of that end

worked out well for Russia. They had the hammer. They picked up a

couple. That one from Clare was a little mistake from her.

We spoke about that and we have done for most of the week, how critical

it is that the Leeds player in your team -- Leeds player -- lead player

does not always get the respect they are due. They get a chance to

predict how the whole end will go. That was a mistake as well from the

Japanese lead. She is shooting 33% and it is early stages yet but she

has played six shots. If you are wondering where that percentage

comes from, the skip or vice skip will call the shots, where she wants

her team-mate to play the type of shot she wants them to play and then

it gets judged. That percentage is the level of success they have had

in delivering those shots in this match under tournament as a whole.

You can have a scenario where you have three of the four players

shooting a high percentage but if you have a weak link, and, at the

moment, with the leader can just become draining on the others having

to always keep the situation. That is a nice effort. The British

stones stayed in. It is a case and we keep reiterating this point, of

helping each other through the bad patches when you are playing bad

shots and trying to resurrect situations if you can. You are going

to have a bad day and play a bad stone and you have to accept it.

Vicki Adams is playing and out-turn barrier weight which is down weight,

as heavy as a strike. She really wants to hit and live in the house

here. She does not want to lose her shooter and that is OK.

There is a lot of space between those two. You have got to get this

perfectly right if you want to take them both out.

The Japanese second is being asked by her skip to hit this front stone

perfectly to try and go across and remove the other British stone as

well. They want a double takeout. Not a bad effort. It was not far

away. Another point to make and I will let

Jackie talk about this because we were talking about it this morning

on the way here, there has been a lot of matchplay and we are halfway

through the men's competition and also the women's competition, they

play different matches on each sheet but the stones stay on the sheet and

they are not allowed to be moved. In the two days practice before they

come here they can play with each set of strings and evaluate how to

use those stones. Each player will choose a pair to play with and you

were saying this morning that the world coming back is that on this

sheet the yellow stones might be proving difficult. Yes, I have been

speaking to some of the coaches and the yellow stones here on sheet to

be, they are not happy with the fact that they are maybe not -- there are

maybe not as many good stats. We pair up the stones so that the

players have two stones that are running very similar but they reckon

there is probably only maybe one set that are good. I reckon that set

would be played by the skip and that makes it difficult for the other

players to manage the difficulty of the stones. We talk about one of the

stones may run faster than the other or it may actually curl to more feed

than the other stone and that does make it very difficult to judge

because it is a very sensitive game to play. Your release, the wait,

there are so many factors involved for this game. That was another shot

from Anna Sloan that was not that great. The initial draw is made some

months ago and there are home teams and away teams and on each sheet you

will either be the home team or the away team and the home team where

the dark-coloured strip so you get the red stones. The other team, the

away team get the yellow. That is also not coming around. That is two

shots in a row, one from Vicki Adams and one from Anna Sloan. It has

ended up in not such a bad place will stop --.

Actually, out of what was not the best chateau -- she has got a decent

result here. There is a possibility that the Japanese team could jam

this red at the back of the house. This is pulling. They managed to...

They swept it out. Well done. If that had stayed in they would have

been in a useful place. Even is wanting to use her own stone to

clear the Japanese one. No, she is actually wanting to tap that read

that we see and try and spit that in. She is trying everything

possible here to try and create more than one for herself. As we can see,

she is just going to ignore that yellow Japanese stone in the house

and try and create something so that at the end of the game she may have

a big shock to pull off. If she does a good shot she could get a few more

stones rather than just a one so split here is what we are looking

for. That is actually a nice results. We have said it quite a

lot, this is a game of strategy. It is just nice and it is not always

about being the person closest to the centre, it is about pulling in

some shots and hoping they will count for you when you have that

last stone to throw. I think that is why it makes the

game quite interesting. I know a lot of people out there are thoroughly

intrigued by this game of curling. The Japanese skip with and out-turn.

A nice comfortable weight and she wants to tap this road of Great

Britain's out of the house and remaining. She really wants to be

making sure that she is lying to macro shots, and she is. Eve could

use that want to try and hit her own name behind that front stone. Yes.

She wants to try and hit that top yellow and then get a little role

across to the right-hand side here and hiding behind the yellow high

guard that we see at the top of the house and she may well get the back

yellow as well out of it but her first concern here is to get the

hit, role and stay in the house. Good call. And there is reiterating,

make sure that we keep the shooter. The shooter is the stone that even

is about to throw. It is a lot of terminology in curling and I

apologise that there might be people out there who do not know what we

are speaking about. If you have a question for us send it into us and

we will try our best to it to you. That is a result from Eve. A great

result there. Very well executed. This is the game that Eve Muirhead

is renowned for. She got a bit of stick from... I'm sure the curling

fraternity were split on that match where she had the chance to win

against Canada and there were three stones that she tried to remove and

go for the big winning shot with her last stone in that match and it did

not come off. But that is her game. Eve Muirhead now has a big

reputation in the world of curling and it is because, more often than

not, she does manage to make the big shots. Yes, if you are playing

against Eve Muirhead you do not want to leave her the big shots because

she is very much drawn to them. More times than off and she will actually

make these big shots that she is challenged with.

Are they going to use the outside one and role in behind? Yes, if she

hits a high one, she might not like a shot, so she is going to hopefully

get an inside role and give herself some cover behind her own high guard

and Eve Muirhead's read. Ayumi Ogasawara, the Japanese skip.

A difficult shot. She has pleaded really well. That

leaves Eve Muirhead with a fairly straightforward shot to remove the

yellow. It was a difficult shot. Yes, the girls had to keep

sweeping, and it has over cold. But it has given us the opportunity for

a simple hit and live, to take the two points.

When I say it is simple, these are the bread and butter shots that will

help take your game through to win. I was just going to make that point,

sometimes the simplest shots of the ones you have to concentrate on. She

has played it well. Two points for great written. Textbook curling at

the moment, two points in the first and third ends. They have missed a

few shots, but all in all, it has been a good start. All Eve Muirhead

and her team need to do is to keep playing like this, the chances will

continue to come. This Japanese quartet, a mixture of experience and

youth, know that they will have a tough struggle. Eve Muirhead and her

team have played pretty well so far. Vicki Adams has played a few shots

that have not been of the standard that she would have liked.

You were telling me that Eve Muirhead is famous in Japan in terms

of curling. Yes, after Vancouver, she got many, many e-mails and

Facebook messages from Japanese people. She looks very much like a

Japanese cartoon character. I am not sure which character it is, but it

is a female fighting character, and they were sending lookalike pictures

of her. She is very well-known in Japan. Better to be compared to that

than the one we saw last night, somebody in the USA had a Homer

Simpson comparison. A little harsh! Somebody has asked the question,

what we do with the stopwatches. If you have been watching, some of the

girls wear normal stopwatches around their waist, they will click the

times of the stones, and others will have rock watches, attached to the

base of your curling brush. Both do the same thing. The girls will time

their stone when it crosses the tee line of the house, until it gets to

the thick red line, 12 feet outside the house. They will check that

time. They have to find out what the time of the draw weight is, and they

can hopefully calculate where the stone will finish. Part of the

sweeper's task is to let you skip know where they think the stone will

finish. The weight is very crucial in this game.

The ice is allocated depending on the weight you are going to throw.

If you are throwing a heavyweight, the skip may give you the edge of

the stone. It does not move as far, the faster you throw it. Well, it

does not swing as much. There is a line down here that stays fairly

straight, probably played with too much weight. This is a better shot.

She has struggled a bit, Chinami Yoshida. It has stayed pretty

straight. I cannot tell from here, it might be that she could have her

player with a straight stone, which is not what you are looking for. It

would be interesting to watch some of our stones, to see if they are

coming in. It might be that there is not quite the same movement in this

line. So many elements to this game that you have to think about. A lot

more than people anticipate, we have to be able to read the stones, judge

the weights, read the ice. The ice is cut in a certain way by the ice

makers. It all makes for an intriguing and interesting game.

Kaho Onodera trying to take-out both of the stones. It just clips it.

Another mistake. It is a tighter line, they could not hold it, just

the fine difference. The ice conditions might be a bit different,

it might be the stone. Maybe she just did not throw it very well.

Vicki Adams, after a better first stone and she has been playing so

far. Just looking to make sure she has got the weight right. Coming

close to the centre line, to guard the British stone. That looks pretty

good. That is not bad. Is she asking to tap the stone

back? She will be quite happy. It would be a good shot if you can tap

the stone back. Her yellow stone then flops in behind. She is waving

them on as if it does not have enough weight, the sweeping will

help it keep running. It is still sitting in the house,

but they needed to sweep that a lot more to try and hold the stone so

that it does not roll across as far. She will not be too disappointed.

She wanted to push the red behind the centre line. She would then

utilise to her advantage, if she could sit in front of the stones, it

would make it harder for Great Britain to remove them. Anna Sloan

has been asked to come around. She wants to sit on the blue of the

circle. Yes, that is very nice. Stone placement being judged very

well by this team. A very good shot from Anna Sloan. She has had success

as a skip, she played as a youngster with Eve Muirhead, in a young

British team. It garners a lot of respect. They are the world

champions. They were beaten in the final of the

European Championships in December by Sweden, after having had an

excellent round robin competition. Two of them have gone. Their

experience in Championships and their performances have been such

that, yes, Canada will be amongst the favourites, and the Swedish team

eat this Scottish team at the Europeans and -- but Sweden, Great

Britain and Canada will be the favourites. Switzerland, Russia, I

could name half a dozen of the others who could get in there.

Switzerland have had a tough last couple of matches after a good

start. That is another good shot from Anna Sloan.

A well judged stone. They have managed that all the way down.

A similar result to last time, the back stone is still sitting there.

Britain are lying to points here. When she is calling the promotion,

she is leaving her yellow stone at the front, additional cover that we

will use. The yellow stone at the top of the house, had it rolled

away, it is a much harder decision for Eve Muirhead. She cannot guard

both of them in the house. This is just putting on a bit of extra

cover. She is going to replace the stone

again. Anna Sloan played this very well. Eve Muirhead trying to come

into the same spot. A nice shot. A nice complement from Anna Sloan for

her team. It is a big team sport, I feel. People often think that the

sweepers, that is all they do, but they have got to throw their own

stones, they have got to manage and judge everybody else's stones, and

sweep as hard as they can when asked to. I was talking to somebody asking

me about skips who do not seem to do much sweeping, is it one of the

perks of the job? I think so. They only have to sweep the stones out of

the back of the house, and everybody else on the team sweeps everybody

else's stones. I will not say it is a lazy position to be in, but it is

a perk of the job! Almost coming right in. A nice

shot. You can see the shot that Eve Muirhead is looking at, to flop in

behind her own. This Japanese skip is trying her hardest, she is

throwing some nice shots, just fractions away from perfection. Eve

Muirhead will not be able to see all of this.

She just wants to come down here and hopefully catch it, flop in here,

leaving herself with three stones under four feet.

Eve Muirhead, the final stone of the end. This would put a lot of

pressure on Ayumi Ogasawara. They are trying to hold this. Just have

to hit the yellow on the left-hand side, flop in behind. That is a

really good effort. That was a fantastic shot. Well thrown. She has

made a really good start to this match. I have two laugh out loud, I

just heard either saying that if she lifts the triple here, she is going

to cry. She is not even going to attempt the triple. That is a shot

that Eve Muirhead would want to play. We were talking about this

yesterday when you are trying to imagine what the average skip would

do and inevitably the shot that you would play will come to the

forefront of your mind and everybody is different and plays the game in a

different way and Eve's first thought would be that if she was

playing she would try to get rid of all of those three. I do not think

she can see enough of it to take the triple. There is the yellow guard at

the front which would have made it really hard for her. The Japanese

skip is looking to do what we would call damage limitation. She may be

happy enough to lose our one -- a one. She will try to act count some

of our red stones. It is a really tough shot to try and get something

out of this. Has she got enough? Well done. She has managed the

damage limitation to just one. If she had not played that right she

could have lost to macro or three there but as it is, as steel for

Great Britain. -- steel for Great Britain. Everybody is playing well.

Great Britain are in a very nice position after four ends, leading

5-2 and very much in control of this match.

The other games out there are all pretty close, much closer than this

one. Russia are up against Switzerland which is pleasing the

home crowd here. Denmark are leading the USA and China are up over

career. Just before we start this end, we have had another question

and I am happy to answer them. What would happen if the sweepers touched

or it stone? Actually, if either of the opposition's sweepers touched

running stone, we consider girls sweeping the stone down here. If

they accidentally touch that stone it is classified as a burnt stone

and they would have two remove it from the field of play. We do play a

very gentlemanly sport where we judge and control the game ourselves

and we have to be open and honest enough to say if we have touched a

stone. The opposition will often question you if you have touched the

stone so a running stone affair has been touched by a brush will be

removed but sometimes accidentally a player may catch it with their foot

or the brash and they have to let the opposition know that they have

touched the stone and the opposite team then have the opportunity to

replace that stone where they thought it was. Hopefully that has

answered every question. On that, -- on that question of a burnt stone,

we did see the occasion where if there are a little green lights, you

may have noticed that on one occasion, think it was on the

Russian men where they did not release it before that line and

there is an Alec tonic sensor and the red light comes on on the stone

and that stone is burnt as well. You have to release before the red line

otherwise the red lights come on the stone. You will notice when the

player release the stone there were two green lights that flashed on

which is green for go. If you hog line violator stone the red lights

will flash -- violate a stone. I hate to say it but I think it was a

Scottish girl, Sheila Swann, who had the first ever hog line violation

with these stones. It was very unfortunate. It is a good job that

she was a friend. Someone has to be first! I am not sure it is always

the best thing to be the first in that one. She has had a lot of

ribbing and stick about it and I'm sure she will get more because I

have mentioned it on television. She is good, she was my third player

when we won the world Championships. Back to the game at hand. This might

be a little bit wide. Japan are trying to utilise cover round the

front to come in behind. It is not a good stone at all. She has really

struggled. I have two say, watching this little girl play those stones

on that side as well, they are not curling at all and I think she

probably has a straight stone there and they are not managing it well.

Would you change the stones that she was playing with if your lead is

playing so poorly? That is a good question. You do not want the stone

either. Unfortunately if there are any rogue stones they will generally

be put in the hands of the lead and the lead has to manage them. What

can happen is the second might play them. The second plays a lot of

hitting stones and it is easier to throw a straight stone or I hard

stone when you are hitting. The rogue stones are left for the poor

players at the front-end of the team and the best set are generally left

for the skip and the vice because they definitely need them when it

gets to the closing part of the game. It is critical that they have

good running stones. The two young players there have

been shooting 45 and 47%. You can see where the issue is here.

They do not have too much experience. This four have played

together only at the Asia Championships last year and in the

Olympic qualifying competition in December which admittedly was

successful for them. They did beat Russia in Denmark. They got off to a

reasonable start. They were then beaten by career and career, a lot

of people think they have a decent opportunity to do well here. One of

the emerging nations. I think the defeat against the USA last night

will have been a difficult one to accept.

Japan are desperately trying to create something out of this end.

They are trying to freeze the top of some of our red stones. They hope

that we jam. Jam is when you hit the stone wrong and it catches the back

one and it stays the house. That was a well executed shot there from Anna

Sloan. We are lying three stones in the house here. Japan are forced to

come in behind these stones. A difficult morning so far for the

Japanese skip. The team are inevitable here. -- the team are in

a bit of bother here. Anna Sloan has had a lot of success.

The fact that these players know each other so well and they are all

young players who get on with each other, little side there from Anna

Sloan. When Vicki and Anna play, they wear their heart on this leads

a little. -- their heart on their sleeves are little. This Japanese

third actually played a very nice stone there. She utilised the GB

stones at the front of the house as a guard for her stone. She came in

behind it and unfortunately Anna did not manage the promotion. They do

now lie to stones. They need an opportunity to hit-and-run across.

Japan have not had the opportunity to take control. It has partly been

the first two players not setting the end up in the way that they

would like and then they come up against Eve Muirhead who has been

playing really well. If she can play a good shot here the Japanese skip,

with the end is developing not in the way that she needs... The

front-end of the team are not playing well enough to make the life

any easier for this skip and a vice skip. Eve keeps doing this. If she

keeps playing the shots, you cannot really fault the Japanese skip

because she is having to play even more difficult shots. Eve has thrown

some really good stones here. She's keeping her cool and playing the

shots when it matters. I think her uncle there is biting his nails and

a little bit nervous. I am sure he does not have to be.

What options are there here? Japan now have two draw in and play a

freeze and a freeze is a stone with T wait up to the T-line, the centre

line and freeze on top of the red shot that is there. She also has the

pop -- she also has the Kinsey that she could tap it ever so slightly on

the inside but she will want to use does protection so she is lying hard

against it and it makes it harder for Eve to and remove it. And

out-turn draw here. The line is looking good. The girls

will definitely want to bounce -- not want to bounce off this at all.

That is a nice shot from the Japanese skip. She has been playing

very well but she has been up against every time she wants to come

and play and that is the difference of our girls playing better than

their front-end. Even has not been missing much

either. She has been playing the shots that have been required. Japan

have the hammer in this depends. If Britain could limit them to one

halfway, 5-3 up and with the hammer going into the sixth would be a job

well done. Yes, Eve will just want to guard the shot up and make it

very difficult for Japan to score the one. That is the game plan that

you want to play, take a two and wherever possible try to force only

the one from your opposition. This has got a really good line.

She does still have the possibility of coming down on the right-hand

side of the screen, and bite the one foot. She is looking to come around

the top British stone. A chance of two points here. She has

been playing well enough, it's the first chance she has had to score

well, after the second end, which ended up being reasonably

straightforward. But even then, she had to play a good shot. She does

not have much room for error. It is a difficult shot. Not much room for

error. This is what skips practice, these shots, often to win or lose a

game. It has got a lot of pace on it. It

will be just the one. Another good end by Great Britain.

Britain very much in control of this. An opportunity missed by

Japan, when they come back for the sixth end, Great Britain will have

the hammer, and a two shot lead. Curling News, jewel assessment? I

love it, one of the best things about the Winter Olympics. I love

it, excellent. We should have it instead of Match Of The Day! It is

chess on ice. Thank you! If you love curling, you

can continue to watch on the red button, Eve Muirhead and her team in

apparent control. They will leave them to it, we have other fish to

fry, it is a busy day. On this Valentine's Day, could it be that

the British public will fall in love with a 25-year-old from Maidstone?

Lizzie Yarnold leads the standings in the skeleton, going into the

decisive second day. The third run is live on BBC Two. She goes first,

Shelley Rudman in 11th place. Thereafter, we changed channels, the

coverage switches to BBC One. Complete coverage of the decisive

gold medal, we hope, winning run. Who will claim it? All will be

revealed. Lots of history being made all over the Olympics here. Elise

Christie became the first wreckage woman ever to make it into the final

of a short track event. She crossed the line in silver medal position,

only to have it taken away after a discomfort nation. But she has

several more chances, because she is stronger in the longer events, the

1500 metres is tomorrow. Will O'Reilly will be commentating. He is

one of the pioneers of the sport for Great Britain. As far back as when

it first became a demonstration sport, 26 years ago.

I grew up with my mother, alone. She was the father and mother. My mum

bought me a pair of in-line skates, the four wheels were in the front.

My mother was helping me from one side of the living room to the

other, as the carpet slowly moved to one side, she kept saying, only

skate the other way, because then it will move back! I was able to

in-line skate from my house to the ice rink in about 15, 20 minutes,

going down through the underpasses, the speed and Hobbes on the road, it

gave a terrific feeling of freedom. For me, it was a natural transition

from in-line skating to ice. I started figure skating. I remember

watching John Curry with my mother, winning his Olympic gold medal.

That was my first aspiration to take up the sport. Somewhere along the

line, I realised I wanted to be a bit more competitive. The

rough-and-tumble, if you like. Even though figure skating gave me an

incredible basic instruction of how to skate, it did not give me the

thrill. There was a good speed skating club in Birmingham. I am now

an honorary member. They have a time trial, you had to do three laps over

the track, and you had to do it under 40 seconds. I remember the

start calling me to the line, I was shaking in my skates, I made the

time, I made the grade, that was my first time of joining the Birmingham

club. Wilf O'Reilly going round the

outside. When I won the 500, I remember going

to bed and putting the medal under discussion, and waking up the next

morning and I put my hand under the pillow to make sure it was still

there! I was dreaming it was not real, but it was very real.

Wilf O'Reilly gets it! A second gold medal!

Winning the 1000 metres was amazing. The sport has given me an incredible

amount. I was a young lad living in Birmingham, and this has happened to

me, it can happen to anybody. Only Nicky Gooch has subsequent new

managed to get a medal for Great Britain thereafter. Elise Christie

has the chance to follow in the footsteps in the coming days.

Meanwhile, we are talking snow. We have been talking about the men's

super combined, it was put forward by an hour because of the warm

conditions, and we are about to go into the deciding slalom run. What

is involved? Who are the favourites? It is going to be

exciting, it is set by the Croatian coach, Ivica Kostelic's father. It

is difficult, a lot of straight-line verticals, it is called a royal

flush, straight down the hill, only one offset gate, and another

hairpin. They will be flying, then a big turn. It will be really tricky.

And very fast. Is this what the Croatian coaches are renowned for?

He has done it for his son, because he is the slalom skier, that is how

they train, really difficult courses. He is a high-class coach,

he was drawn to set this cause some months ago, so this is no suggestion

of incestuous behaviour. Graham Bell is in the mountain, there were

concerns about the temperature, what do you expect from because? The

temperatures are indeed very warm. In between the downhill leg and the

slalom leg, I caught the American team playing keepy-uppy in the car

park, both of them had their shirts off. If the camera pans down, I took

the foresight of bringing my Bermuda shorts up on the mountain with me,

it is bad form. They have been throwing salt down, ice takes a lot

longer to melt down water does to heat up. The piste is in a

reasonable condition. It is like it was for the women's, but it will rot

up, so if you go last, you will have a much rougher course. That is a

sight for sore eyes on Valentine's Day, we are all very impressed! Bodi

Miller says, I do not think anybody has a crush on, it will be full on

attack, and whoever sticks it will get into the medals. He will try.

Definitely, he will go for it, he has a lot of time to make up on some

other slalom skiers, like Ondrej Bank. Bodi Miller will be kicking

himself for the mistake he made in the downhill, he lost about a

second. But even Alexis Pinturault is not out of the equation, he will

start early in the slalom, he will have a fairly good track, and he

will let it rip, as will Ted Ligety. The two best slalom skiers in the

field have a lot of time to make up, but they will have an advantage of

starting on a slightly smoother track. It is almost impossible to

call. Ivica Kostelic is in their as well. It is difficult to know how it

will pan out. Let's remind everybody back home of how things stand. This

event is designed to identify the greatest all-round mail Alpine

skier. The Norwegian is not renowned as a

slalom skier, and for those in his wake, where is the biggest danger

going to come from? Number seven, Peter Costello, he is my favourite,

but he will have to get used to the course. It is similar to the

women's, but the men are happier, they will make you got holes. We

mentioned Alexis Panter Row, he is 2.4 seconds back. Ted Ligety, the

2009 -- 1.9 seconds back. It could be a cavalry charge. Alexis

Pinturault, you cannot write him off. Starting in eighth place out of

the start gate, he has nothing to lose.

You have competed in this event many times, you know what it is like.

When you are in the start gate, as a slalom specialist, how does that

make you feel? For me, I had the downhill out of the way, so it was a

sigh of relief, and I was excited to get into it. When I was racing, it

was a 2-run slalom, which was an advantage. It is a bit more even

now, but it is slightly favoured to the slalom skier. Your motivation

levels and game plan? Because the course is designed to be superfast.

Superfast but super tricky. Ivica Kostelic will know he has gone on a

course like this so many times. Does he have an advantage because of the

course setting that his father has completed? Yes, he has trained

courses like this so many times. We have often seen the Austrian coach

setting and then an Austrian winner, so it favours Ivica Kostelic. Let's

get up there with Graham Bell and Matt Chilton.

Good afternoon. This is the scene in Rosa Khutor for the second leg of

the super combined, 1160 metres. It is an interesting looking course.

There is a royal flush at the bottom, we expect that will flush

out some of the early starters who are less useful slalom skiers. A

beautiful afternoon. It is warm, a bit too warm for Alpine ski racing,

but the course is very firm indeed. It is rock hard. I am expecting it

to hold up pretty well for the first ten. They will include Alexis

Pinturault, and Ted Ligety will go shortly afterwards. Things will get

interesting for the later starters. It is a big advantage for the

Slovenian going first. He opens the slalom stage of the Olympic men's

super combined. His time for the downhill will have the slalom time

added to bed. He was in 30th place in downhill this morning. That is

his chance gone. He has gone back up above the control gate that he

missed. He will carry on. It gives us a chance to analyse the course.

The royal flush is right at the end, about 15 gate from the finish

line. The floodlights are on. He hits the royal flush here, for gates

vertical down the course. Then, the hairpin, and into the last five

gates, which are quite wide. He will not do any damage to anybody else's

chances here. It gives us a chance to get a good look at the course

that has been set by the Croatian coach, the father of Ivica Kostelic.

Ivica Kostelic said the seventh fastest time in downhill this

morning. The sun went in for while. The temperatures did drop but now it

is blazing down on the course again. The next man down is in 29th

position after the downhill stage this morning. He is second to ski,

Martin Vrablik from the Czech Republic. This will be useful for

Ondrej Palat to get him down. -- Ondrej Palat.

It was about here that we had a mistake earlier. Graham Bell has

gone all of the way down and all the way back up and he is now sitting

alongside me. Yes, that was a bit of a work-out. The lead here is 2.71

seconds. He is the second fastest -- they have the second fastest man

after the downhill still to come. He will be easy -- eager to get words

of advice from the man who has skied on the course. Everyone else has

skied alongside and inspected and memorised it. That is Bode Miller,

he will start 19th. Next to go. Slalom is very similar to downhill.

If you see these skis go away from the snow there is a jumping action

in between the gates and the skiers are not making the best use of their

carving abilities. Adam Zampa is a world class racer and he has had

good form in slalom this season. He should do OK here. This looks

respectable. He is coming into the Royal flush now. He looks like he

might take the gold medal position here for Slovakia. He does so by a

decent margin, 1.58 seconds. He is happy with his performance. It goes

to show how much time you can make up with a good run. The tips of the

skis have plastic on the top of them and it is angled in one direction so

if they hit the base of the pole directly on, they are designed to

bounce to the inside. He is happy with that. Deservedly so. It is a

good run from Adam Zampa. The ski out with the same speed as

him is going to have to pull out his best if he is going to get anywhere

near that time. Thomas Mermillod Blondin could find himself trailing

on this first bit. He has actually started pretty well. He is just a

little bit in front but he is skiing sideways. Thomas Mermillod Blondin

will be disappointed by his downhill run. He is capable of a better

downhill run and he could have been really challenging for a position on

the podium. Here we go, Royal Flush, outside, then a hairpin. Oh, he is

in trouble. He is down. A bit of chin music on some of those gates.

You can see how slick the courses. Be as gone right the way through the

finish line on his face. Often when you fall like that the best thing to

do is just to stay on your back, do not try and get up. There are razor

sharp edges and if you try and dig into the snow at that point and

stand up, that is when you can actually cause a knee injury

bizarrely enough. If you are not going to hit anything then the

safest thing to do is stay on your back with your legs in the air. He

is OK. He is on his feet and he has given everybody a spectacular

display of face first sliding on the eyes but he is all right, minus a

bit of equipment but that will be returned to him. This is Paul de la

Cuesta of Spain. The current leader is Adam Zampa. Paul de la Cuesta is

not a very accomplished slalom skier. He is having a pedestrian

start here. You can see how stiff his upper body is compared to a more

accomplished slalom skier. He is having to reach across and hit the

gates with his outside hand because he is not getting his feet close

enough. He is not getting the lead with his body so that the gates

coming to its outside hand. He has to reach across at it. Adam Zampa's

spit was 2.30. Paul de la Cuesta is lower than that. He is looking to

the finish. If he gets the finish he gets a position. Oh, that was not

too clever. He is still in, just. He has come through the end of the

really difficult section of the course and he will get a position

alongside his name and that is the key for some who know that they do

not really have a chance to be able to say that they finished 21st 22nd

or whatever in the Olympic Games combined slalom. He was hanging on

here though. He doesn't look as physically big

and strong as some of the other skiers either. More time is needed

in the gym I think. This is Morgan Pridy, the only Canadian involved in

this special -- second run. He is on his way. He had a reasonable

downhill run this morning. He skied into 25th position.

I cannot resist it, I have got to say it, his slalom skiing is pretty

slow. 1.33 seconds down. He had a lead of 200th over Adam

Zampa. The course just flattens out slightly and then it dropped the

way. He is going to have to face up to the Royal Flush, followed by the

hairpin. He is doing OK. That is nicely negotiated. Morgan Pridy is

in trouble and he slams on the break sideways but it is OK. No danger to

Adam Zampa. Morgan Pridy is into third position for Canada.

More accomplished in the downhill. In the back seat there. Sitting on

his heels and not being able to control the fronts of his skis. As

you push forward you cannot get the weight on the tip, on the shovel and

get them to turn. Adam Zampa will move up quite a few places here I

suspect. Next ago, prepare for a roar from the bottom of the hill

because it is Alexander Khoroshilov from Russia who is next to go. He is

the only Russian in the top 30 and he is not about slalom skier. He has

had top 30 results in slalom. He has qualified for second run in slalom.

He has an advantage over Adam Zampa at the start. It is a nice top

section. Oh, no! He is down. Just when I was about to say that he is

now starting to let it run and really attack, he just goes down

with too much weight on the inside ski. He can do this, walk back up,

push back up and make sure that he negotiates the gates so that he does

not get disqualified but the damage is done and he is 12 seconds down.

He wants to come through and at least enjoyed a warm welcome and a

roar that he will get from the crowd here. I do not think anybody who

starts after him will thank him for walking back up and putting another

set of tracks into the ice. That is true. This is where it all went

wrong for him. Yes, he just threw his legs out more in hope than

expectation and the weight was on the inside ski and it just did not

hold him up. Next to go is Alexis Pinturault from France. He is a big

hope. He is 23rd fastest after the downhill stage but he is a slalom

specialist. His lead over Adam Zampa is over half a second. He does not

tend to make -- Ricky does tend to make unsteady start at times but

five or six gates then he settles down and find his rhythm and his

confidence and he begins to attack. He is a very busy skier with a lot

of action and a lot of movement. Look how clearly the skis are

carving. He is three tenths up so still in the Green zone. Onto the

flat section now. That was good. He will look for acceleration here. Oh,

no! He is back up in front and then he is out. It is all over for him.

Thomas Mermillod Blondin first for France and now Alexis Pinturault

straddles. He knew he had to stop. We are talking about how the skis

tips go very close to the base of the gate and that one just cut

inside and immediately he knew as his inside leg started to get pulled

inside the gate that the pole flaps down in front of him but he

struggled so he had to stop. Adam Zampa knew that that was left off.

The next man in the gate is Otmar Striedinger from Austria. He is more

the speed skier than a slalom race and that is obvious in the first six

turns. It was obvious in the very first turn as he pulled out of the

start gate and he pulled out and almost skidded the first turn just

so he could stay on course. The three quarters of the second will be

gone, and more, down to a second behind now. He had a good season at

high speed but finds things a little tougher when going left and right is

required. This is what I expect from the other Austrians, Max Franz and

Materials Meyer, they do not have any out about combined specialists.

This is sluggish. It is like watching a front row forward run on

the wing. -- Matthias Mayer. Adam Zampa still has the best time. One

role of downhill -- run of downhill on one of slalom. Otmar Striedinger

has a cheer from the Austrians and he has done his level best to keep

himself in the hunt but he is 4.34 seconds behind Adam Zampa who is

leading for Slovakia. Next up we have another good

downhill super-G skier. It is Romed Baumann. He will be better than

Otmar Striedinger. Yes, he is better but he is not going to challenge

Adam Zampa. Once you start racing downhill and

you start racing speed events a lot and Romed Baumann has been on the

podium in those, it becomes very hard to keep the speed up, the speed

of movement up that you need in slalom. The skis they are using now

30% shorter than the skis on which they raced downhill this morning. It

has now gone the wrong side of some per's side for Bauman. The toughest

part of the course is coming up here. You through there and he can

sense the finish line. The last four gates was not a bad run but no

threat to Adam Zampa. Good enough for second place though. The

Austrians enjoyed that. Adam Zampa leads and Romed Baumann is now

second. Next to go is Andrew Weibrecht. Soon it will be Ted

Ligety and Bode Miller's turn is approaching. He will start 19th in

this section. The defending champion, Bode Miller. Max Franz is

watching at the top and trying to get last-minute tips. Yes, his turn

is coming up shortly. This is Andrew Weibrecht, bronze medallist in

super-G four years ago in Whistler. Those angles are not bad. He is

slightly in the back-seat. You can see how his legs are continuously

burnt. It does not give him the room to really move between the gates in

the transition. Nine tenths is his lead coming into this slalom and has

all gone. He trails by 19 hundredths, he is the intermediate

is number one. In skiing, if you watch the actual skis rather than if

you watch the body and you can look and see how clearly... Oh, he

straddled and he is down. It is because we are racing combined, all

of them are not at and that slalom skiers, they may not train that much

slalom. If they are experienced at downhill, they will chance their arm

in the combined, try to get a good run in the downhill. We saw that

happen to the Canadian in the women's combined, she dislocated her

shoulder. Her shoulder popped out. It happened so quickly. Learning to

fall is quite a skill. You will fall quite a bit. Falling safely is an

artform. Skis up in the air, you cannot hurt yourself like that.

There is Ted Ligety, expecting a great run from him. Hopefully I will

not be disappointed. The first of two Croatians, on the course that

has been set by their coach. 19th place after the downhill, he is a

good all-rounder, he was on the podium in Wengen in mid-January. He

was in third place behind Ted Ligety and Alexis Pinturault. He has a

great training partner in Ivica Kostelic. He has lost a lot of his

lead, though. It has been cut in half. Better on the flat apart. It

is not particularly flat, but it is not as steep as it is at the top and

bottom. Here comes the royal flush. Second place. They are cheering

already, they have come to see Ivica Kostelic, who is in a much better

position, the seventh fastest, his tone is coming up. Holding his

position at the top of the leaderboard. The next man to go will

be Ted Ligety. The world combined champion, he won the gold medal last

February, one of three gold medals, beating Ivica Kostelic into second

place. Lovely turns from Ted Ligety, great

angles on his body, and he is increasing his lead. Oh, no, he has

dropped! He starts to try and accelerate. He

leaves himself work to do here. This is a really disappointing run. He

looks slightly cautious. He looks tense. He will finish, but he is

only in third place, the Slovakian will see that as a big scalp. Ted

Ligety smacks himself on the home it, frustrated with how things have

worked out. He really did not relax. He started off well, but he tensed

up. It is starting to break up, but not as badly as you would expect. A

big disappointment. The Slovakian, 27th after the downhill, will finish

in the top 15, he could even finish in the top ten. Now, a downhill

specialist. He set the 18th fastest time at downhill. He is having a

crack at this, you have to give him credit. The more he attacks, the

sooner he will come unstuck. His lead is virtually all gone now. He

is not balanced, not particularly balanced on the course. He was

unsure through the gates, it did not come naturally to him.

He is hanging on. He needed massive core strength there to pull that

back. A couple of emergency manoeuvres to keep him on the Hill.

But he has finished, respectable skiing. The Slovakian still leading

the way. It is getting hot now, the

commentary box is roasting! In this February sunshine! The sun is

streaming straight in. The Italian was 16th in the

downhill. The lead will not be enough. He is a good downhill

super-g skier, but an irregular slalom race. Look at how low he

holds his hands, he could do with lifting them, to give him a bit more

purchase over the front of his skis. He has not lost too much, actually.

The Italian veteran doing well. The skis are working well. Not an

orthodox technique, but it is keeping him in touch. His lead

gradually falling away, down to half a second, and out. That was a double

struggle. He straddled that one and that one.

Now, there will be a longer course repair, because 15 have gone and

there are 15 to go. The Slovakian could climb onto the podium,

stranger things have happened. Ted Ligety will not stay in third

place. None of the failures were more

spectacular than the Frenchman. Take into account the bumps that

will develop, it is easily possible to be three seconds down in 11 of

slalom. The final preparations for the next man to go, he did well in

the downhill, 15th position. Slalom skiers like to clamp their feet

solidly onto the soles of their boots. There is the man who will be

going last, and there is the defending champion, Bode Miller.

Talking of boots, they will have a different pair. In than four

downhill. The boots are switched over, they will be much stiffer than

the downhill boots. The downhill boots need to be softer so they can

absorb the impact from the jump landing. If you were to raise

downhill in slalom boots, you would end up with bruised shins. They are

much stiffer here, the pressure is so hard, you need a tight-fitting,

stiff boot to cope. When you talk about stiffness, you refer to the

solidity of the forward flex on your chin, that is the stiff part of the

boot. I do not think the Slovakian will be

worried too much with these first few turns, it is a little scruffy

from the American. They seem to be losing more time on

the lower part of the course than they are at the top of the course.

It was inevitable that he would find himself trailing the Slovakian on

the bottom half of the course, this is where the Slovakian used his

slalom skills to good effect. The American is fighting against the

course, and he has finished respectably enough. The American

supporters are happy with that, and they still have Bode Miller to come.

Ted Ligety has been pushed down to fourth place. We get down to the

fastest men after the downhill stage. The Slovakian will not

necessarily know how well some of these guys go in the slalom. He will

be looking at the big screen as they go out of the first gates, trying to

judge how they are tackling the course. The Swiss racer, 14th after

the downhill this morning. A good slalom skier, he has had some solid

results in the combined over the years, and he has had a good start.

In fact, he has added a bit of time. This is the best slalom skiing we

have seen by a long way. Just rolling the knees, calving down the

course, and he is building up more time. He was fourth in the Wengen

super combined, seventh in Kitzbuhel. He might be able to end

the Slovakian's control, and he has done it comfortably. Wow! The Swiss

having an excellent Winter Olympics so far, and they have a new leader.

That could be good enough for a place on the podium. Look at that.

Really aggressive, really going for it, and relaxed in the body, able to

absorb the bumps and rollers, and still get the skis on edge, still

generate speed. He is the new leader, the Swiss.

You are not going to miss anything, but the inclusion of this super

combined will happen on BBC One now, because we have to change

channels. Also, let me signpost you in the direction of this Tom at on

Valentine's Day, a hot date at the Sanki Sliding Centre, can Lizzie

Yarnold slide to skeleton gold for Great Britain? She is the leader by

0.4 seconds, with two runs to go. She will be back on the ice at

3:40pm, your time. But is it here on BBC Two. The men's super combined

gold medal beckons, but for whom? It will happen now on BBC One. I shall

bid you farewell.