Winter Sports Special Blue Peter

The Winter Olympics have begun

and the Winter Paralympics

are just around the corner.

And to celebrate both awesome Games,

we have come here,

to the gorgeous Swiss Alps

in Switzerland.

On today's show, we've got

a lot of speed, a lot of ice,

and a whole lot of snow.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Who said they could do...?

Start the show!

Hello, and welcome to Blue Peter.

Now, first things first, when

you are in this gorgeous location,

with one of my favourite

sporting events

in the entire world happening,

there's one thing to do.

A Swiss happy dance. Hey!

Now, I'm not going to lie to you,

that was quite difficult

in the snow.

But I'm also absolutely pumped

about the Winter Games

because of the calibre

of the Team GB athletes.

The likes of Elise Christie

and Lizzy Yarnold

are unbelievable talents.

All the athletes will be looking to

get themselves onto the podium

and bring home some silverware.

But how is it even possible, you

might ask, for a British athlete

to be at the top of their sport in

a country that has hardly any snow?

Lindsey went to find out

when she tried snowboarding inside.

I'm in Manchester to find out about

one of the most popular sports at

this year's Winter Olympics -

snowboarding.

But we're missing a key ingredient.

That's more like it!

This is the UK's longest

indoor ski slope,

and the perfect place

to have a go at the basics.

My instructor, John,

begins by teaching me

to control myself

using the edges of my board.

Keep your head up, look over

my shoulder, that's it. Toes up.

I'm an experienced skier

but this is so different

to anything I've learned before.

It's just when I start going

left or right,

I get freaked out that one side's

going to turn down the mountain.

Both feet fixed together

feels really strange to me.

That's it.

I've turned,

I've done it.

Very good!

And I just have to accept that

falling over...

Aaagh!

..is part of the process.

This is terrifying. Ow!

Hello... Grrrr!

But I'm not going to be beaten.

I am determined to get down

the slope in one go.

And with a bit more practice,

I finally manage a full run.

Very good, slow it down,

slow it down.

All right, yeah, good skills!

I made it all the way down! That

felt quite good, you know.

Nice.

So, there's regular snowboarding...

Ah, cute.

And then

there's freestyle snowboarding.

Whoohoo!

And THAT is what I'm interested in.

This is Katie Ormerod,

one of the finest freestyle

snowboarders anywhere in the world.

Katie,

thank you for being on Blue Peter

and well done on earning your badge.

Thank you.

First things first,

what is freestyle snowboarding?

Freestyle snowboarding, basically,

if you just think of regular

snowboarding where

you go down the hill a bit,

you then throw in other obstacles,

so rails, or jumps in.

You can basically be

as creative as you want to be

going off these jumps, doing spins,

flips, do whatever you want to do.

This is slopestyle.

This involves snowboarding

down a course

performing a variety of tricks

over obstacles along the way.

We're sat on the mountain at the

moment and down there I can see

a jump, a lump of snow, basically,

which is, is that a kicker?

Yeah, you can call it a jump but

some people also call it a kicker

cos its main purpose is to

kick you up into the air.

Ah, OK!

Katie, that was immense!

You made that look so easy.

That's what I would call a classic

backside 420 spin off the kicker.

It's a backside 360, but...

I got some of it right! We're close.

Katie started snowboarding

when she was just five years old,

and she's not the only one.

This is it,

we've got the squad here.

Who is ready for a jam session?

ALL: Yeah!

I think there's only one thing

left to say. Go on, John.

THROUGH LOUD-HAILER: Let's do this!

Indoor slopes like this one

mean more young people

can give snow sports a go.

I'm Travis and I'm six.

Yeah, Travis, whoohoo!

I like jumping over things.

I love skiing because

it's fun and rewarding

when you land a new trick.

Yeah, a grab!

Yay!

Hi, my name's Mia, I'm 10.

I love snowboarding because

you can learn all different tricks

and you can be creative.

But I can't stand back and let

these guys do all the hard work.

It's time for me to step forward

and put my very basic skills

to the test.

OK, so, good session, guys.

All right, so, you've seen what

these guys have got,

so let's see what YOU'VE got.

Oh, no!

So, whether you like it or not,

we've built the biggest jump to ever

grace the Chill Factore.

What?!

Here we go!

Oh.

Are you ready?

Even that looks massive to me.

I know it looks rubbish to you guys.

But I'll give it a go.

Anything for the BP badge.

Don't laugh at me, please.

This is my moment.

My chance to become

the queen of the slopes

and soar through the air like Katie.

Yeah, whoo!

Here goes. Just keep it steady,

Linds, and don't fall over.

Oh, no.

You've got this.

Here we go! Come on!

OK, not the biggest jump

in the world, but look,

there's space below my board!

Which means technically, I've just

performed my very first air.

Do you know what,

I am a bit embarrassed

cos that wasn't the best jump

ever, was it, guys?

No!

But it has been so fun learning,

and I've loved it. Thank you, John.

Go give snowboarding a go.

Awesome, isn't it?

Yeah!

Yeah!

What an effort, Linds!

Linds? Linds?

Hey! Linds. How are you? Linds...?

What, you don't think this is

Lindsey Russell? Ah, my mistake.

I do apologise.

Fringe. Yeah.

THAT is Lindsey Russell.

And now we've got the old gang back,

who'd like to see some post? Linds?

I'll take that as a yes.

This has been sent in from Ava,

who's 12 years old,

and what a Spot Shelley book

that is, Ava.

I love playing Spot Shelley

and that has got you

your very own silver badge.

Next up, it's Alya

who's just six years old

and the creativity used to create

this collage

is off the charts, Alya!

Loving your style.

Hermione, who's 14, has sent us in

this work of art.

The Blue Peter ship.

The expertise in that, Hermione,

is absolutely fantastic.

Oliver and Jelena,

six and eight years old.

You've sent in, I think,

the second-best snowman

I've ever seen in my entire life.

Isn't that right, Linds?

Actually, it's the best.

Erin, who's eight years old,

has made this fantastic Shelley.

I tell you what, if I had your

artistic skills at eight years old,

I think I'd become an artist.

Well done!

Linds, hasn't it been fab?

She's really not been herself

today, has Linds,

but please do keep sending in

your post to the usual place.

We love it and it might get you

your very own Blue Peter badge.

Next up, when Linds is much more

like herself,

is when me and her go head-to-head

in speed skating.

Travelling at nearly 60mph,

speed skating is

one of the fastest sports around.

This isn't a sport

for the faint-hearted

as skaters go head-to-head

on razor-sharp blades

just over a millimetre thick.

Radz, they are unbelievably fast.

I could watch them all day -

but rather them than me.

I know.

Imagine if that was why

we were here!

It is, isn't it?

Of course it is!

In just a few weeks, we'll be

battling it out to discover

who is the fastest BP presenter

on ice.

Now, I've done a few films on ice,

Linds.

And it's fair to say

I know a thing or two.

Yeah...

Probably still worth getting

a bit of coaching, Radz!

Oh, dear!

Enter former Olympic skaters,

Mandy and John.

Hey, guys.

We look the part.

We feel like wobbly ducks.

We are a little bit nervous today,

can you help us out?

You'll be fine out there today.

As long as you enjoy yourself

and give it a good go,

you'll really enjoy the experience

of learning to speed skate.

How are you going to turn us

from novices into pretend experts?

The more time you spend on the ice,

the more confident you'll get.

The first thing we need to learn is

how to balance

on these special speed skates,

with the help of Mr Snowman.

Oh, yes!

Oooh! Gosh, I'm not even

on the ice yet!

OK, I'm going very slowly.

I don't like this. Can you just

push me along, Mandy?

No.

I don't want to move.

That's it.

This is it, that's it.

Why is it so slippy?

Using the snowman means

we can concentrate on our technique,

without falling over.

It's so slippy!

Ice, slippy? No(!)

Linds, how's it going?

Shush, Radzi.

But Mr Snowman can't hold our hands

forever, and it's time for us

to get out and do this on our own.

Bring your feet together,

bring your feet together.

That's it, remember your arm swings

as well, that's good.

Please never let go,

never let go!

That's it.

Try and get your body down in the

straight.

This is so much fun.

And John decides I'm doing

well enough to work on my start.

This arm forward, this arm back

and it's just a case of running.

There we go. And then skating!

As for me, well,

I'm not that advanced just yet.

I'm speed skating!

But by the end of the day,

we've both made some real progress.

Mandy's decided to just...

I've been upgraded to coach.

A few weeks later, it's time

for our next training session

and John and Mandy kick it off

with a surprise.

Hi, Radzi, hi, Lindsey.

I'm Elise Christie and I'm the world

champion short track speed skater.

If I was going to give some tips

to newbies on short track,

I would say the first thing is

you have to get your body

really low and into a really low,

cramped position

because that's really aerodynamic

and fast.

The next one is that you should

just really have fun,

because it's such a fun sport

and it's all about going fast

and racing

and seeing who can finish first.

So definitely, go out there, have

fun and be excited.

That's amazing.

That's incredible.

Well, if that doesn't inspire,

nothing will.

Let's do this!

We're back.

This is our last practice before

we head out onto the ice

for our challenge.

Push, together. Push....

Now we know how to stay on our feet,

it's time to try and get faster.

OK, just going to push with the

right foot, that's it.

Push, together. Push, together.

As in, like, as if you're walking,

you just get that rhythm going.

So we're not pushing, you're going,

like a duck, two, three.

All I can do is keep practising,

try and get quicker,

so I can beat Radzi.

My position has to be right,

I have to look ahead,

I have to commit,

I have to be confident.

And that's how I'm going to

beat Lindsey. Shhh!

We'll see about that, Radzi.

Next time, it's race day.

There'll be drama...

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

..there'll be a crowd, and

there'll even be a BBC commentator.

It's one-on-one, fastest over

two laps, best of three.

But will there be an ice king

or an ice queen?

Bring it on!

Bring it on.

Right, let's...

See you out there.

Yeah, I'll see you...

Good luck,

mate.

Yeah, you go first.

I know we weren't very good, but it

was so much fun and I've genuinely

got the ultimate respect for anyone

that's a speed skater because

that sport is rock-hard. But stay

tuned for part number two where

Lindsey and I go head-to-head with

some fairly average speeds.

But if it's true incredible speeds

you want, make sure you watch this

next film - it will not disappoint.

And, in fact, while that's playing,

I'm going to impress the locals here

with my snowball juggling.

I've got two snowballs,

all I need is one more. Anyone?

No, not again!

I said no! Just one, please!

OK, you're going to get that one!

And you as well!

OK, while we keep doing this, you

now get to see my favourite sport

of all time - skeleton bobsleigh.

Oh, my goodness,

my heart is absolutely pounding.

Oh!

And it's this that's

got my blood pumping.

I've just hurtled head-first

down an icy skeleton bob track.

Skeleton is one of the fastest

and most exciting sports in the

Winter Olympics,

and when I was a student I had

ambitions of becoming a top slider.

But I haven't

been near a track for three years,

so to help me realise my dream

of sliding on ice...

..Shelley Rudman is taking me

back to basics.

Let me just show you. If you're

going to lift your head up it'll be

like that, feet up, a bit higher.

Hold on really, really tight.

It's a bit wet today so it might be

a bit slippy as well.

OK.

I'm definitely a bit rusty

but I've still got some

of the noisier skeleton skills.

After my training

I asked Shelley for some top tips.

For anyone who doesn't know what

skeleton is, what exactly is it?

Skeleton bobsleigh is where you race

head-first on your front

on a sled down ice chutes.

And how fast do you go?

You can go up to about 85mph.

There aren't any brakes

so you can't stop.

You could drag your feet to slow

you down but that's not advisable

and the curves are coming at you

quite quickly

and you start to almost

navigate them instinctly.

The first time is really unusual,

though, so it's...

It's very breathtaking

and it's a unique experience.

COMMENTATOR:

4.99!

That's a tremendous

start from Shelley Rudman.

What do you think it takes to be

world-class at skeleton?

I think you have to have

a really good instinct.

You need to have really good

spatial awareness.

You need to be quite strong,

quick, powerful

and all those components can make

you...the start of a good athlete.

And if you were, say,

ten years old, at home, thinking,

"Skeleton looks brilliant..."

Perhaps you see it at the

Winter Olympics and you think,

"I want to get involved in that,"

what advice would you have?

Try lots of different sport -

speed sports, maybe balance sports -

and try and build up

their abilities that way.

So, lots of transferable skills

from other sports that

could in the future help you

with skeleton?

Exactly.

COMMENTATOR:

This is going to be

good from Shelley Rudman.

She will go into the lead, surely.

Big hit there but it doesn't matter,

she's in first place.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Thank you.

And good luck for the rest for the

season.

Thank you very much. Cheers.

But my challenge isn't to talk

about skeleton, so I'm heading to

Igls Sliding Centre

in Innsbruck, Austria,

to link up with Team GB's

development squad

and make a high-speed run

down the world-famous track.

But before I'm allowed to slide,

skeleton ice coach Mark Wood

wants me to take in each bend

and bump of the track,

and some important safety advice.

You'll feel these little waves,

nothing to worry about.

You're going to feel it want to go,

that's OK, don't worry about it,

it's fine.

Just making you aware of what could

possibly go wrong as what

could possibly go right as well.

I appreciate that.

One of Mark's coaching techniques is

to encourage sliders to

visualise the course in their minds,

helping commit every twist

and turn to memory.

Big corner two.

Down.

Almost immediately into three.

Feel the first pressure,

shoulder down.

Yeah.

Release as it comes off.

Yeah.

Squeeze this pressure

and then just let it come out.

This is the major area. The key to

get down the track is right here.

If I'm going to come off my sled

it'll probably happen here -

corner nine.

Got to try

and keep hold of the sled.

If you lose the sled,

push it away from you

and then keep tight in. The reason

we're pushing the sled away from us

so that it's accelerating

and we're slowing down.

If you don't get anything else on

this track apart from this...

That's all I'm really worried about

is this part.

OK.

All right?

He's going to be nervous.

I mean, he hasn't been on a sled

for quite a while, right?

It's all going to be brand-new

to him again and, you know,

you've got to imagine you're two

inches off the ice,

your face is really, really close,

and you're going to be doing about

60mph.

We can't guarantee anything.

Once he's gone, he's on his own.

If anything goes wrong he's got to

get out of it himself.

Not many people choose to take

up this sport.

It's fast, furious and dangerous.

And that's exactly why it

appealed to me.

But at this moment in time

I'm not so sure.

There's a huge part of me that is

actually scared.

Haven't done this for a very,

very long time

and just crossing that finish

line is going to be an exhilaration

that's going to be off the charts.

But, to be honest with you,

number one is be safe...

I can't think about that too much

cos that actually does

really make me scared.

Now it's my turn.

I'm about to go at the same

speed as a car on the motorway.

Except I'm going

face-first down the ice.

After just a couple of hundred

metres I'm really picking up pace.

Before I know it,

I'm hurtling around the longest bend

in the course.

And once I'm clear of that, I'm

approaching THE danger corner.

Corner nine.

And I'm through,

on the sled, in one piece.

And now I'm on the home straight

and loving it.

Oh, my goodness!

Yes!

Yeeeees!

Oh! On the top of that run

I was thinking to myself,

"Am I going to do this?

"Come on, Radzi, come on, Radzi,

come on, Radzi,

"let's do it,

let's do it, let's do it."

Oh! And I am

so pleased I just did that.

Oh, my goodness,

my heart is absolutely pounding.

I actually loved that.

Oh, that was so good!

If you love speed, adrenaline

and exhilaration, skeleton is

the sport of you. Let me tell you,

it's definitely the sport for me.

Now here is a BP exclusive -

on the very day

we were sliding on that track,

the GB future squad were training.

One of those guys, Jerry Rice,

has now qualified for Team GB

and will be competing at the Winter

Olympics in Pyeongchang.

I'm so behind him. Alongside him -

Dom Parsons, Lizzy Yarnold

and Laura Deas.

Guys, fingers crossed, do the

business and bring home the gold.

Did someone say

skeleton at the Olympics?

Hey!

Yes! So that is what is happening

at the Winter Olympics

and here's what's

happening on the BP website.

Spoon numero uno.

Oh!

What's happening?

I can't feel a thing.

Loads happening on the BP website.

Now, this is meant to be the BP

winter sports special

so I've combined bobsleigh and luge

to make this - the BP sledge!

OK, I did just want to go sledging.

We're off!

Whoo!

Yup, fun - but I want more speed.

Which is why me and Lindsey

are about to go

head-to-head in speed skating.

Onward!

Welcome to the Nottingham Arena

and to the National Ice centre,

the Blue Peter speed skating

challenge,

as Radzi goes head-to-head

with Lindsey

to see who'll be the fastest,

who'll be the bravest.

It's best of three races around

two laps

of the National Ice Centre surface.

Plenty of nerves down on the start

line, and we're almost ready

for the start of race number one.

Ready!

And we're underway in race one.

It's a good start from Radzi.

Looks like he's going to get to the

first corner first.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Both of them managing to

stay on their skates at the moment

and Lindsey trying to close

the gap down the back straight.

Good support from the fans on the

far side of the National Ice Centre

as Lindsey has Radzi in her sights,

and now tries to take him

on down the home straight.

But Radzi just about manages to

fight off the first

attack from Lindsey.

I touched you, Linds!

Radzi has the lead.

He had it from the start.

Got the better start,

got into the first corner first.

And Lindsey, despite her best

efforts,

has not yet been able to get

back towards him.

Now she closes the gap again.

Whoa! Whoa!

Radzi almost stumbles

but he's going to take race number

one by about a metre and a half.

It's Radzi who wins race number one.

Radzi now knows if he wins race two

he will be the champion.

I nearly fell over a few times.

You did. I was hoping you would.

You didn't!

You wouldn't get out my way!

The pressure is on Lindsey as the

two skaters get to the start line.

Whoa!

Both of these skaters have had good

luck messages from Elise Christie,

star of the Great Britain

short track speed skating team who

trains on this very ice.

And Lindsey's made a very good

start to head number two.

Radzi just opening up his strides to

try and close the gap.

He's taken that corner very wide

but now swings in behind Lindsey

and will try and overtake

on the home straight.

Lindsey, just as Radzi did in heat

number one, has taken the inside

track, got to the first corner

and has kept her lead

throughout the race so far.

Just over half a lap to go

and Radzi knows he's going to

have to attack now.

Lindsey nice and tight round

the corner and as they come into the

home straight Lindsey is managing to

hold off Radzi's challenge.

And Lindsey with a sprint finish

gets across the line

and levels things up at 1-1.

We are going to have a deciding

race to see who's going to be

the Blue Peter speed skating

champion.

So, we're even.

We're even.

It all comes down to this.

So we come to the third

and deciding heat of the Blue Peter

speed skating challenge.

One race all so far.

This is the decider. It's a good

start from both skaters and Radzi

doesn't get to the first corner

first, it is Lindsey who has

that advantage but this time they're

closer than they have been

in either of the first two heats.

Good speed down the home

straight from Lindsey

to just open the gap

a little bit further

and Radzi's got a lot of work to do.

It's Lindsey who lost the first

heat, who came back in the second

and looks as if she's got

the distance.

She looks as if she's got the gap.

She looks as if she's got

the speed to hold off Radzi.

It's Lindsey who wins!

She takes the Blue Peter speed

skating challenge

by two races to one.

Yes! Boom!

If you enjoyed watching this

even a tiny, tiny bit,

imagine how much fun you'll have

watching this at the Winter Olympics

when the best in the world are all

doing this sport

so much better than we are.

Get some skates and give it a go.

Don't forget your gloves -

it's cold.

It's very cold.

How much fun was that? And all I'll

say is give speed skating a go.

In fact, why don't you get

inspired by watching Team GB

compete at the Winter Olympics

and the Winter Paralympics?

In fact, watch the entire thing,

it will be incredible

and fingers crossed for every single

athlete - especially for Team GB.

Well, that's just about it for me

today.

All I'll say is a massive

goodbye from me

and a...massive

goodbye from the Swiss Alps.

See you next time.