:00:11. > :00:21.Deep in the heart of the Austrian forest it's midwinter. It's normally
:00:22. > :00:28.cold, dark and quiet. But tucked away behind these trees are some of
:00:29. > :00:46.the bravest and fastest athletes that you ever see.
:00:47. > :00:56.Welcome to the Olympia ice Canal high above Innsbruck for the
:00:57. > :00:59.Bobsleigh Skeleton World Championships. This area has held
:01:00. > :01:03.this event many times before but bobsleigh medals in particular have
:01:04. > :01:11.been in short supply for Great Britain. But in skeleton we have a
:01:12. > :01:14.proud history to look back on. COMMENTATOR: Alex Coomber for Great
:01:15. > :01:21.Britain. What a marvellous moment for Shelley Rudman and in her first
:01:22. > :01:28.competition. Amy Williams going for gold for Great Britain. It was a
:01:29. > :01:32.beautiful run by Lizzy Yarnold, she is down, and in control. She's in
:01:33. > :01:38.first place and getting faster. Keep it together, Shelley! Hold it
:01:39. > :01:46.together. Over 120 kilometres per hour. Amy Williams really is going
:01:47. > :01:55.for gold here. 0.94 seconds, still in the lead by a comfortable margin.
:01:56. > :02:05.Le Monde, Lizzie, keep it together. Alex Coomber gets a bronze medal.
:02:06. > :02:09.Wow! That was superb. You couldn't have asked for anything more.
:02:10. > :02:17.Shelley Rudman is now the Olympic silver-medallist. Last term, surely
:02:18. > :02:24.it is gold for Great Britain. Yes! Amy Williams is the queen of speed.
:02:25. > :02:30.Lizzy Yarnold is the Olympic champion. Oh my goodness!
:02:31. > :02:36.The biggest are of British skeleton in the last two years since Sochi
:02:37. > :02:40.has of course been Lizzy Yarnold and we've all been looking forward to
:02:41. > :02:44.watching her slide at the World Championships, but here you are on
:02:45. > :02:49.the sidelines, why is this? I fancy supporting the other athletes in the
:02:50. > :02:53.warm and I really needed a break. After the Olympics I did the year
:02:54. > :02:58.following that and I was world champion. And two more years before
:02:59. > :03:02.the next Olympics in Pyongyang, it was tough getting my head around it
:03:03. > :03:05.and I needed a mental break. It is not a physical one, you're not
:03:06. > :03:10.injured or ill, or recovering from anything? No but I think the
:03:11. > :03:14.four-year cycles are quite short, it's not a huge amount of time to
:03:15. > :03:19.test equipment, test training programmes, and have a break as
:03:20. > :03:22.well, so I almost had to force that upon myself and have this
:03:23. > :03:24.competition year off. We are going to have you in the
:03:25. > :03:28.commentary box for this Championships. What else are you
:03:29. > :03:33.filling your time with in the Euro way? It has been fantastic, normal
:03:34. > :03:37.life is fantastic, I'm part of a book club with friends and doing an
:03:38. > :03:41.open University course is trying to obscure myself as well as being an
:03:42. > :03:46.athlete. It is very healthy to have a balance in life. Very good. In
:03:47. > :03:51.Lizzie's absence the British torch is being carried in the winning's
:03:52. > :03:54.skeleton by Laura Davies. Congratulations on being selected
:03:55. > :03:59.for the World Championship squad, what are your hopes for when you
:04:00. > :04:03.arrive? I want to come away with a medal, it is fairly simple, every
:04:04. > :04:07.time I take part in a race I want to win a medal and to be on the podium
:04:08. > :04:11.would be a brilliant way to cap what has been a good season. You have
:04:12. > :04:15.already won a bronze medal recently. What was it like when you broke into
:04:16. > :04:18.the top three? It does your confidence lots of good because it
:04:19. > :04:22.is the mission of the things you have worked on for such a long time
:04:23. > :04:27.and to win a gold medal in the first half and a bronze in the second half
:04:28. > :04:30.is building nice momentum. And reminding people of my presence, and
:04:31. > :04:34.hopefully that means other people see me as a bit of a threat as well.
:04:35. > :04:38.I'd like people to be concentrating more on what I'm doing rather than
:04:39. > :04:42.what they are doing. You are currently fourth in the world, is
:04:43. > :04:46.that a frustrating place to be? It is and it isn't. Obviously it's
:04:47. > :04:50.really close to third and I'd love to come away with a crystal globe at
:04:51. > :04:53.the end of the year but I was third last year and if I stay in fourth
:04:54. > :04:59.I'm building in the right direction and I can at least get on the
:05:00. > :05:03.overall podium next year. Falling off the back of Amy and Lizzie, do
:05:04. > :05:08.you feel more pressure as a woman in the world of skeleton? There is a
:05:09. > :05:12.level of expectation being a woman in British skeleton because we have
:05:13. > :05:14.a great legacy. More than anything it brings confidence because they
:05:15. > :05:18.have come through the same process that I've come through, the same
:05:19. > :05:22.programme with the same support staff and the same way of doing
:05:23. > :05:26.things. So I know that I'm in a system that is capable of producing
:05:27. > :05:28.medals. It is a really nice place to be actually.
:05:29. > :05:32.We wish Laura the best for her upcoming competition. The first
:05:33. > :05:36.thing to talk about is the weather now, this can change so quickly.
:05:37. > :05:41.What happens if it buckets down like this during a run? It is tough if
:05:42. > :05:44.you are racing and it is snowing because it slows you down. Being a
:05:45. > :05:49.winter sport you expect good snow one minute and be clear the next,
:05:50. > :05:55.you just don't know. Your most recent chapter of success of women's
:05:56. > :06:01.skeleton in written, but it's going back 15-20 years now. -- in Britain.
:06:02. > :06:05.What are the core ingredients? British skeleton is great at picking
:06:06. > :06:08.out athletes, we pick great athletes, bring them in and they
:06:09. > :06:12.have excellent coaching and excellent equipment. We have been
:06:13. > :06:15.really lucky at bringing athletes through really quickly. I think the
:06:16. > :06:22.men we want them to pull it out of the bag. Who should Laura be looking
:06:23. > :06:26.out for of the foreign competitors? There is a strong German athlete
:06:27. > :06:32.Tina Hermann, who has won four races in the World Cup this season. And
:06:33. > :06:35.Janine Flock, the local girl. She has been preparing for this World
:06:36. > :06:41.Championships for the last ten years of her life. It is her home track?
:06:42. > :06:45.It is her home track. We are going to run for cover and Lizzie is going
:06:46. > :06:50.to the commentary box but a few hours ago she walked the track to
:06:51. > :06:56.pick out the critical moments that could affect the result. It is a
:06:57. > :07:01.thing of beauty, created for the 1976 Winter of the big games commit
:07:02. > :07:05.was the first combined bobsleigh, skeleton and Lewis Delhi luge track
:07:06. > :07:11.in the world, dropping 124 metres in less than a minute. I my first race
:07:12. > :07:14.when here and I love it. At just 1200 metres it's one of the shortest
:07:15. > :07:21.tracks in the world which means the push is vital. Get that right and
:07:22. > :07:26.you will carry loads of pace far down the track. The first six
:07:27. > :07:34.corners are essentially flat. So you need to let the sled run to maintain
:07:35. > :07:36.speed. If you do too much you will oversteer and lose time entering the
:07:37. > :07:47.more demanding corners down the track. This is the longest, largest
:07:48. > :07:49.and most spectacular corner on the track. It's the start of the
:07:50. > :07:54.technical section designed to slow down bobsleigh is an skeleton sled
:07:55. > :07:59.is. You have to nail all 270 degrees without error to have a chance of
:08:00. > :08:02.victory. Soon you will reach corner nine, a two oscillation turned
:08:03. > :08:07.meaning you go up and down twice. The second feeling of pressure often
:08:08. > :08:11.catches sliders out. If you get that steer wrong you could be in big
:08:12. > :08:17.trouble, because after this it gets fast. Very fast. Ukipper last five
:08:18. > :08:21.turns at 120 kilometres per hour. They call the final section and the
:08:22. > :08:29.labyrinth because is where athletes can get lost. But if you find your
:08:30. > :08:44.way out the prize could be victory. World Cup leader Tina Hermann set
:08:45. > :08:49.the pace on the first run. She was the only woman to break the 54
:08:50. > :08:55.seconds barrier with her time of 53.96. Hometown girl Janine Flock
:08:56. > :09:00.has been waiting for this moment for two years. Her face has been on all
:09:01. > :09:05.of the posters for this World Championships. She finished her
:09:06. > :09:10.first run just 0.15 seconds behind the German. America's Anne O'Shea
:09:11. > :09:13.and Germany's Jacqueline Loelling rounded out the quickest of the
:09:14. > :09:18.chasing pack. Laura Deas produced a trademark powerful start but she
:09:19. > :09:21.could not hold onto the initial speed, finishing down eighth place.
:09:22. > :09:32.Team-mate Donna Crichton was 17th. The sliders ran in reverse order for
:09:33. > :09:38.the second run and it was all change at the start. Germany's Sophia
:09:39. > :09:44.Griebel moved up from 12 to third position after a near flawless
:09:45. > :09:48.second run and Russia's Olympic bronze-medallist Elena Nikitina and
:09:49. > :09:55.Switzerland's manager Tony finally had the drives for the festering
:09:56. > :09:59.starts. Elena Nikitina moving up to fifth from 10th and Jill Dhoni
:10:00. > :10:03.moving up from 14th to sixth place. Tina Hermann get the lead,
:10:04. > :10:08.increasing by just 100th of a second from Janine Flock. Laura Deas lost
:10:09. > :10:12.time on the final section of the track and slipped down three places
:10:13. > :10:17.to 11. Donna Crichton stayed in 17th. Joining Lizzie in the
:10:18. > :10:24.commentary box to talk through the last two runs is Martin Heymann.
:10:25. > :10:31.Tina Hermann, the leader overnight, first on the ice and. Martin Heymann
:10:32. > :10:40.and world champion Lizzy Yarnold watching the action. About the same
:10:41. > :10:43.as yesterday. With a night's rest she has reviewed her notes from
:10:44. > :10:46.yesterday and will be wondering how she can improve her sliding from the
:10:47. > :10:54.day before. This is the top flat section of the track, leading with
:10:55. > :10:59.her head side to side. You cannot see her toes moving, which is great,
:11:00. > :11:04.and this is the big corner, so see how she is. Looking for the exit.
:11:05. > :11:09.Pretty much in the middle of the track, which is ideal. And now this
:11:10. > :11:14.is the fast section of the track, you don't want any errors at all.
:11:15. > :11:20.120 kilometres per hour. She was sideways a little bit there and that
:11:21. > :11:30.will slow her down. Taking off a bit of speed, across the line with a
:11:31. > :11:34.54.04, the fastest yesterday was 53.96, three tenths of a second off
:11:35. > :11:41.the track record. Set last Sunday in the team race by her.
:11:42. > :11:49.Janine Flock, overnight, just 16 hours away from her lifetime goal.
:11:50. > :11:54.That is her coach, who is a local hero in Austria. The Austrians find
:11:55. > :12:01.the speed on this track that no one else can.
:12:02. > :12:08.A huge amount of support for Jenin. She is desperately going to try and
:12:09. > :12:15.get a fast approach time because that's what she can have over the
:12:16. > :12:19.race leader Tina Hermann. 5.50, a couple of hundreds slower than Tina
:12:20. > :12:23.Hermann. It was so evenly matched in their starts. She's got to find it
:12:24. > :12:28.in her starts. We saw the replay from yesterday. She was very skiddy
:12:29. > :12:36.in both heats and she could find some pace now. You can see how Jenin
:12:37. > :12:40.is has her feet almost stuck together like glue, head moves but
:12:41. > :12:47.her body doesn't, that is how comfortable she is -- Jenin. That
:12:48. > :12:51.looked quite good. On the fast section of the track you don't want
:12:52. > :13:00.any skidding. She was 18 hundredths of a second behind. One point 19.6.
:13:01. > :13:07.The German has opened up the margin from 16 to 27 hundredths of a
:13:08. > :13:11.second. That is a shame for Janine Flock, I'm sure she did not expect
:13:12. > :13:15.the lead to increase also she will be wondering how to get that down.
:13:16. > :13:21.Three tenths on a short track like Igls could be a challenge. Maybe
:13:22. > :13:28.that opens up an opportunity for our overnight bronze sitter, Sophia
:13:29. > :13:37.Griebel she put in a stunning second run. The 17th fastest start, the
:13:38. > :13:43.eighth fastest start in the second heat. It was a great conversation of
:13:44. > :13:47.a good drive and the ice at its best. Absolutely. The ice has
:13:48. > :13:50.recently been sprayed before the race and it will have water over the
:13:51. > :13:56.top which will make it slicker and faster. Sofia being team-mates with
:13:57. > :14:01.race leader Tina Hermann they will have shared notes and worked out how
:14:02. > :14:05.to make their run even faster will stop she looks totally relaxed at
:14:06. > :14:12.the moment. We will want to see how high she is. Looks like a perfect
:14:13. > :14:18.line. Very close to the wall, lucky not to hit it. This is a crucial
:14:19. > :14:22.section, the long straightaway. Her runners were pretty straight the
:14:23. > :14:33.whole way down, that is fast. Speed at the bottom 119.1. Tina Hermann
:14:34. > :14:37.119.8, losing a fraction. She was 15 hundredths down as she lay down. She
:14:38. > :14:41.has lost quite a lot of speed. Sometimes when they look good you
:14:42. > :14:44.wonder why was that slow? Possibly because they are over steering and
:14:45. > :14:54.doing too much to get the perfect line. Elena Nikitina in fifth
:14:55. > :14:57.overnight, two hundredths out of the medals, massive opportunities for
:14:58. > :15:02.all of these athletes. Elena Nikitina is the fastest starter in
:15:03. > :15:09.the field. Elena Nikitina's push record from the weekend in the team
:15:10. > :15:13.race was 5.11, 5.16 is two hundredths of a second faster than
:15:14. > :15:18.yesterday so she is on form and here to win today. Watching Elena
:15:19. > :15:23.Nikitina's head, her pink helmet moves from side to side while
:15:24. > :15:26.directing the sled. She started 21 hundredths of a second faster than
:15:27. > :15:32.Anne O'Shea so she has already hundredths of a second faster than
:15:33. > :15:34.overhauled that. It is down to seven hundredths of a second. This is the
:15:35. > :15:39.crucial technical part of the track. Eight and nine. How she comes out of
:15:40. > :15:43.Cornet nine is crucial down the straightaway. Those runners went
:15:44. > :15:47.into a bit of a skid so that will lose a bit of time. She looks in
:15:48. > :15:54.control and looks comfortable. Speed at the bottom 118. She was in second
:15:55. > :15:57.place on the splits ahead of Janine Flock but comes in in third place
:15:58. > :16:04.ahead of Anne O'Shea. That is a really big move up for Elena
:16:05. > :16:08.Nikitina. Elena Nikitina just 23 years old, the Moscow slider, start
:16:09. > :16:14.record holder on this sort she track from the Olympic Games and took
:16:15. > :16:18.bronze medal. Ten of our 26 sleds down, next up one of the fastest
:16:19. > :16:21.starters and lots of support for Great Britain's Laura Diaz here. Her
:16:22. > :16:27.team-mate Lizzy Yarnold alongside me in the booth watching the action.
:16:28. > :16:36.The perfect distance for the push. Her eyes are immediately looking
:16:37. > :16:41.into the first corner. She will want this so badly. She wants to move
:16:42. > :16:45.from 10th position well into the top ten. Every race has been consistent
:16:46. > :16:49.and progressing. This is a very flatter section. What Laura is
:16:50. > :16:57.avoiding is using her toes too much to oversteer. A really nice entrance
:16:58. > :17:03.into that corner. You want it in the middle of the track. Quite close to
:17:04. > :17:09.the wall, there? A lot of people fringing the wall. If you don't
:17:10. > :17:14.touch it, that's OK. OK for us! She is up to ninth on the split times.
:17:15. > :17:22.You have to hold onto the bottom of the track, don't let anything go
:17:23. > :17:30.away. She overhauls... No, she doesn't, she comes in tide, with
:17:31. > :17:37.Lelde Priedulena, in 10th position. Whatever they have decided to work
:17:38. > :17:42.on, she must have done correctly. Donna Creighton, from Great Britain.
:17:43. > :17:52.Perfect technique from the British athlete. The eyes set on corner one.
:17:53. > :17:57.A big thank you to Paul and Wendy for letting Donna stay with you when
:17:58. > :18:02.she is in Bath training. Hello to Nigel and Olivia as well. Elaine and
:18:03. > :18:07.Barry, you have always supported her over the years. Thank you so much
:18:08. > :18:09.from Donna. And her coach, this is why she is such a good push athlete,
:18:10. > :18:20.thanks for all of your work. She also said, Andy, would you mind
:18:21. > :18:29.calling her back? This is the bottom section of the track. Her shoulders
:18:30. > :18:36.are down on the sled. Nice line in 11. This looks quite fast down the
:18:37. > :18:44.bottom. At this stage, the field is going away a little bit. That's not
:18:45. > :18:47.bad. 55.10. She had a 55.11 yesterday, that was when the speed
:18:48. > :18:53.was already gone from the track. The fastest was 54.90 six.
:18:54. > :19:04.Tina Hermann extends her lead over the hometown Queen, Janine Flock.
:19:05. > :19:16.Elena Nikitina slips into third. Anne O'Shea and marina could still
:19:17. > :19:21.tackle her. A dead heat for 11. After the first two runs, Laura
:19:22. > :19:26.tweeted that it was not really the Runge was looking for. Run three,
:19:27. > :19:34.more of the same? Positive outcome? Every year you have to improve. It
:19:35. > :19:39.is about consistency. I don't think she's got the result she wants, she
:19:40. > :19:45.will go all-out for four. What about the top? Where will the middle end
:19:46. > :19:48.up? Janine Flock is still in second, Tina Hermann is likely to win.
:19:49. > :19:50.Lizzie will run back to the commentary box for the last run, run
:19:51. > :19:57.four. Getting everything exactly where you
:19:58. > :20:04.need it, that is what Tina Hermann has done this season. Four wins, two
:20:05. > :20:08.silver medals. Janine Flock, no Austrian woman has ever won a
:20:09. > :20:14.skeleton World Championship medal. Unless there is a cataclysm going on
:20:15. > :20:20.later, she will, the least, do that. There is the start list. When we get
:20:21. > :20:25.down to the serious business, Annie O'Shea,, tracing it spot on the
:20:26. > :20:35.podium. -- chasing a spot on the podium.
:20:36. > :20:46.Donna Creighton, 17th in the women's skeleton World Championships.
:20:47. > :20:50.Preparing herself for a strong and fast posh. She is a great push
:20:51. > :20:55.athlete. She knows how to compete. She won on the world circuit last
:20:56. > :21:03.year. Everything going into this posh. Her eyes set on corner one.
:21:04. > :21:08.Five hundredths of a second quicker than her first start, equalling her
:21:09. > :21:11.quickness of the competition. You can see her blue crash helmet,
:21:12. > :21:17.leaning from one side to the other, looking with her eyes, to the left
:21:18. > :21:23.and right, and the sled will follow. That is how fine the steering is.
:21:24. > :21:31.The current leader was two tents behind Donna after the first heat.
:21:32. > :21:37.19 hundredths advantage for Donna Creighton. Into the technical
:21:38. > :21:42.section. The important thing is not to panic and get back online. Coming
:21:43. > :21:50.down to single digits. Five hundredths in front. Donna has a
:21:51. > :21:56.spot at the line. By 100th of a second! That is how tight skeleton
:21:57. > :22:00.racing is. It comes down to 100th of a second after four minutes of
:22:01. > :22:09.sliding. She will be disappointed to lose the slot. That is ridiculously
:22:10. > :22:16.tight. Tied for 11th after the third of four heats here in Innsbruck,
:22:17. > :22:21.Austria. The top British slider, Laura Diaz, former Equestrian
:22:22. > :22:31.athlete. Has never been into a gym before she was recruited. She
:22:32. > :22:37.trained so hard for this, the eyes are looking directly into corner
:22:38. > :22:46.one. Her fastest start of the day. Her walk on music is Elena Nikitina
:22:47. > :22:56.the grid. I thought it might be the theme from The Horse Of The Year
:22:57. > :23:06.Competition. Just trying to keep the line. Laura, the winner of the first
:23:07. > :23:13.race of the year. Good technique, keeping the head low. Excellent,
:23:14. > :23:18.this is the labyrinth. This is where you can win, the positions gets you
:23:19. > :23:29.up the ranks. Still 17 hundredths ahead. At the line, three hundredths
:23:30. > :23:38.is the gap. That is the support team, she could not do it without
:23:39. > :23:43.them. Mum, dad, her boyfriend, Rich. The top three, after three of the
:23:44. > :23:50.four heats. A Russian, Austrian and German. Elena Nikitina, the fastest
:23:51. > :23:53.starter in women's skeleton this season. Three fastest starts.
:23:54. > :24:02.Comfortable quicker than anybody else. The Olympic bronze medallist,
:24:03. > :24:05.shooting for the medals. She is on the offensive, desperately trying to
:24:06. > :24:09.claw back after her first run, slower than it should have been.
:24:10. > :24:17.Another huge start. It is all about getting that push speed as far down
:24:18. > :24:20.the track as possible. Her pink crash helmet, you can see she leans
:24:21. > :24:30.one way and another, that is the way of steering. She also uses her toes.
:24:31. > :24:38.17 hundredths in front from the first heat, now doubled that. A bit
:24:39. > :24:42.of a skid on the exit of seven. She had a great first trip today to add
:24:43. > :24:47.to her overnight fourth place. Moved into the medals. Can she challenge
:24:48. > :24:56.for the silver? I can't believe how tense this is. A massive lead, three
:24:57. > :25:04.tenths of a second. She is in the medals again. She will take at least
:25:05. > :25:15.a bronze medal. She will be so happy with that bronze in Sochi, and then
:25:16. > :25:21.one here. Next, let's hope for something huge from Janine Flock.
:25:22. > :25:32.The Austrian, second place in each of our three runs.
:25:33. > :25:37.An excellent push start, her whole life for the past ten years has been
:25:38. > :25:42.about this World Championships. She knows the track so well. She knows
:25:43. > :25:49.where to find speed. It might be one of the biggest runs of her career.
:25:50. > :25:52.She took bronze last week with the Austrians in the team competition.
:25:53. > :25:58.Trying to shoot for gold or at least stay in front of Elena Nikitina. She
:25:59. > :26:03.needs everything now. She has been around this about 200 times in the
:26:04. > :26:07.last year. Let's check this exit. Perfect. This is the most technical
:26:08. > :26:16.section of the track. The exit of nine is crucial. 14 hundredths back.
:26:17. > :26:22.The gap is shrinking. The Austrians find speed here like nobody else
:26:23. > :26:26.can. Two corners to go. She will take at least a silver medal. She is
:26:27. > :26:34.in front of Elena Nikitina. A great run from Janine Flock. She leads,
:26:35. > :26:38.with one to go. Is it enough to get in there? Only one minute will tell.
:26:39. > :26:43.The last minute of your reign as world champion. Whoever wins this,
:26:44. > :26:54.it will have been a great race. So, for Tina Hermann, a chance to
:26:55. > :27:04.take her first World Championship title. A midfield push athlete. But
:27:05. > :27:09.the way she slides, on her Home Track, she lets the sled run. When
:27:10. > :27:13.she steers, it is precise and perfect. As in almost every run, she
:27:14. > :27:21.and Janine Flock have been equal at the start. But Tina has fans are
:27:22. > :27:28.more speed. A little wobble. Two tents could disappear in the next
:27:29. > :27:41.couple of corners. She has stopped losing time as she gets to the
:27:42. > :27:48.corner. Very tense, do not skid. This is the first section. A view
:27:49. > :27:51.corners to go. Top speed, it will be the fastest run of the competition,
:27:52. > :27:57.as it has been two times already. Tina Hermann is the new world
:27:58. > :28:01.champion, with 54.12. A shattering final run. Janine Flock takes
:28:02. > :28:08.silver. Elena Nikitina gets the bronze. You could not have asked for
:28:09. > :28:10.a better competition from Tina Hermann. Her fifth win of the year,
:28:11. > :28:22.but by far the most important. Tina Hermann, the world champion.
:28:23. > :28:27.Janine Flock, silver medallist. Elena Nikitina the bronze. Six
:28:28. > :28:31.different nations in the top half dozen.
:28:32. > :28:39.Congratulations, what were you thinking about overnight? It was
:28:40. > :28:44.very hard. I cannot sleep very well. But then I sleep, and it was OK. We
:28:45. > :28:48.have a very special place in our hearts for Lizzy Yarnold, what will
:28:49. > :28:53.it be like when she comes back? I think we will battle and fight
:28:54. > :28:59.again, against each other, and we will see. Laura, how do you assess
:29:00. > :29:02.your runs? It will probably take a bit of time to properly absorb
:29:03. > :29:07.everything that has happened. But I've got to be happy with what I
:29:08. > :29:10.did. I did two consistent runs. I did not have the speed, but that
:29:11. > :29:15.does not mean that I didn't do what I wanted to do. It's just a shame I
:29:16. > :29:22.could not jump up the order. She is in the commentary box this year,
:29:23. > :29:25.next year she is coming back. Is that a good thing, or quite tricky?
:29:26. > :29:29.It is an amazing thing, we will have such a strong team leading into the
:29:30. > :29:33.Olympics. All other nations will be watching us. Laura, she is top three
:29:34. > :29:37.at the moment. Lizzie coming back, we will have a really strong team.
:29:38. > :29:43.We are going to push each other to the very last point, going into the
:29:44. > :29:48.Olympics, hopefully. So, the women's skeleton medals about to be handed
:29:49. > :29:52.out. The moment you lost your world title? I am very proud to give my
:29:53. > :29:58.world title over to Tina Hermann, she so deserves it. She was very
:29:59. > :30:02.consistent, dominant almost? Absolutely dominant, she has been a
:30:03. > :30:05.whole season. It's by far the most important win of her five this year.
:30:06. > :30:11.She is still a young athlete, I think she will improve over the next
:30:12. > :30:16.few years. A word on the Austrians, they have enjoyed their silver
:30:17. > :30:21.medal? Yes, the home athlete, Janine Flock, she has been waiting for this
:30:22. > :30:24.competition for years. She has huge amounts of local support and I'm
:30:25. > :30:28.very proud of her silver medal. There must be part of you thinking
:30:29. > :30:32.you are going to race them again, were you watching and thinking, I
:30:33. > :30:37.could beat that bit, I could do that bit better? I was so into watching
:30:38. > :30:44.them that I didn't think about me. Lior! I hope I can still beat them
:30:45. > :30:47.next year. The champion chips gone for two weekends, so there were
:30:48. > :30:50.events last weekend. That's Championships.
:30:51. > :31:00.In the women's bobsleigh Germany upgraded silver to gold and finished
:31:01. > :31:07.three tenths of a second dead of Canadian Olympic champion Kaillie
:31:08. > :31:17.Humphries. Laurence Gibson of the USA took bronze. Great Britain
:31:18. > :31:20.finished a promising 12. The men's two-man competition was won by
:31:21. > :31:22.another German pairing, Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis
:31:23. > :31:28.finishing ahead of compatriots Yannis Lochner and Joshua Bluhm,
:31:29. > :31:34.with Alex Bauman taking bronze for Switzerland. But the biggest story
:31:35. > :31:38.from the British perspective was the performance of Bruce Tasker and Joel
:31:39. > :31:44.Fearon who finished an incredible fourth-place, the best performance
:31:45. > :31:48.by a British duo in 50 years. It's not one of the hardest tracks in the
:31:49. > :31:52.world, but the difficulty is that everyone has been here and knows the
:31:53. > :31:56.track inside and out. Have spent lots of time here. You are competing
:31:57. > :32:00.against drivers who have been here for many years. It's not hard to get
:32:01. > :32:04.down but it is hard to be fast. What kind of challenge is it for
:32:05. > :32:09.you, Joel, the difference between a two man and a four-man? I spent lots
:32:10. > :32:13.of my career doing the four-man, so it was a bit different. Pushing with
:32:14. > :32:22.someone like Bruce makes it a lot easier. I really enjoyed it, me and
:32:23. > :32:25.Bruce have been a -- through a lot and it was nice to have a good
:32:26. > :32:30.reunion and have a good result. An amazing result in the men's
:32:31. > :32:35.two-man bobsleigh. Put that into perspective. How important was that?
:32:36. > :32:39.Bruce is part of the accelerated driver programme, he's one of the
:32:40. > :32:45.three athletes on that, only two years into the eight year programme,
:32:46. > :32:48.so it is a huge achievement to get fourth-place in the two-man
:32:49. > :32:53.bobsleigh. They were 10th in the first run and absolutely smashed it
:32:54. > :32:57.the last three runs. In the two-man particularly you've got to go back
:32:58. > :33:00.to black-and-white pictures to find a British two-man bobsleigh team do
:33:01. > :33:04.anything like that performance. Historically we have not been so is
:33:05. > :33:07.stressful in the two-man bobsleigh in the men's and there is huge
:33:08. > :33:10.talent in the depth of their programme. Is there something about
:33:11. > :33:14.bobsleigh and skeleton coming together because that has been an
:33:15. > :33:19.amalgamation in the last year, what difference does it make? The BBS say
:33:20. > :33:21.is now one federation and we encourage each other and
:33:22. > :33:26.professionalism is there in the skeleton and bobsleigh and we are
:33:27. > :33:28.there to support each other as one team. Let's turn our attention to
:33:29. > :33:33.the men's skeleton, we have two Brits. On it Parsons will be going
:33:34. > :33:37.for a very good top ten performers, only two years 2p on Chang and he
:33:38. > :33:42.was to be fighting. Swift had his first international, edition Igls
:33:43. > :33:46.and he loves the track and he will aim for the top 20. What difference
:33:47. > :33:51.does the layer of finishing, what kind of funding is in place for the
:33:52. > :33:55.finishing positions? Yemenite British ports have a simple funding
:33:56. > :33:59.structure, top eight, top 12 and top three. We could not do it without
:34:00. > :34:06.the lottery funding. Hi you finished the better funding you get?
:34:07. > :34:11.Absolutely. -- the higher you finish. Let's see how the first two
:34:12. > :34:13.runs panned out. In the World Championships the competitors get to
:34:14. > :34:17.choose their start position for the first run on the basis of their
:34:18. > :34:22.World Cup standings. Reigning world champions Martins Dukurs has only
:34:23. > :34:26.lost one race this season so as leader he chose to slide second and
:34:27. > :34:33.completed an almost flawless run that broke the track record, posting
:34:34. > :34:40.a time of 52.14 seconds. But next was the rising Korean star Symbian
:34:41. > :34:43.UN, now coached by Richard Brumley, brother of former GB slider
:34:44. > :34:48.Christian. The first man from Asia to win a World Cup event just over
:34:49. > :34:51.three tenths slower than Martins Dukurs. If ever there was an athlete
:34:52. > :34:57.perfectly suited to this pusher's track it was the Russian rocket Alex
:34:58. > :35:01.and a tragic of, 4.57 start time should have seen the Olympic
:35:02. > :35:05.champion challenging but a scruffy run saw him clipped the exit of
:35:06. > :35:13.Kreisel and meant he finished eight 100th of a second a head of Yun.
:35:14. > :35:17.Dominic Parsons finished in eighth place and an early error from David
:35:18. > :35:23.Swift after the fourth fastest start and he ended his first run a
:35:24. > :35:28.disappointing 23rd. The top 20 sliders took to the track in reverse
:35:29. > :35:33.order for the second run. Dominic Parsons slips down to 10th place
:35:34. > :35:39.whilst the ever improving something you is improving with every run on
:35:40. > :35:49.this track. This time the second quickest on the second outing. The
:35:50. > :35:53.lead was down to just two 100th of a second. David Swift obviously
:35:54. > :35:58.learned from his first run, moving up five places to 18th at the end of
:35:59. > :36:05.the first day, case of what could have been for him. For the third run
:36:06. > :36:09.they go fastest to slowest mean that Martins Dukurs is first on the ice.
:36:10. > :36:17.Time to join your commentators John Morgan and Martin Heymann. The first
:36:18. > :36:21.day's heats saw Martins Dukurs in dominant form in the men's skeleton
:36:22. > :36:26.is more Championships and now he's got to consolidate and extend his
:36:27. > :36:33.lead. 4.87 in the first run, 4.86 in the second, 4.87 in the third run,
:36:34. > :36:39.that typifies what this guy does. How about the music coming out of
:36:40. > :36:43.the box? Superman! John Williams, and why not! A bit of snow falling
:36:44. > :36:47.but no snow has built up on the track, it has only started to snow
:36:48. > :36:50.likely five or ten minutes ago and track workers will sweep the track
:36:51. > :36:55.as much as they can between the heats. Out of the Kreisel, fringing
:36:56. > :37:00.on the left-hand wall, the snow is blowing up already. Nine to ten.
:37:01. > :37:06.Straight down the middle. He's like a video game! He is. If there was a
:37:07. > :37:11.tramline he's following it. He's just on another planet. The guy is
:37:12. > :37:19.not like anyone else. Did he make a mistake? 52.11, a new track record
:37:20. > :37:24.in the snow, are you kidding me? It is just unbelievable to watch him.
:37:25. > :37:31.And yet he will get up and go back and think he needs to tidy it up.
:37:32. > :37:40.His father gives him a look. We just saw a track record at the finish.
:37:41. > :37:44.Chance to see the track record. Tretiakov needs to get below the
:37:45. > :37:47.record. I said he did a record yesterday but he was 100th of a
:37:48. > :38:02.second off. The first of the two runs. He is not the young Tretiakov
:38:03. > :38:09.we are used to. That brings back 11 hundredths of Martins Dukurs's lead.
:38:10. > :38:17.That starting velocity carries him through. He's got to stay at 41.
:38:18. > :38:23.This is where he was sloppy yesterday. Did he touch the wall?
:38:24. > :38:28.Not quite! 45 hundredths, the first round lead of 53, we are getting
:38:29. > :38:32.back to that. He needs to break the track record to stand any hope. He's
:38:33. > :38:42.about equal but that's not good enough. He is on record pace, he's
:38:43. > :38:46.really starting to blow. 52.32. That is better than anything he did
:38:47. > :38:55.yesterday. That was the old track record before. By some margin. It
:38:56. > :39:02.has been snowing now for ten minutes. It had been snowing for a
:39:03. > :39:12.few minutes after Martins Dukurs went. Richard Brumley builds the
:39:13. > :39:20.sled and coaches this young Korean athlete. We can call him Mr Quad,
:39:21. > :39:26.his legs are enormous. Look at the snow on the track, just wafting it
:39:27. > :39:33.aside but it is slowing him down. Good form through the first three
:39:34. > :39:39.curves. A lot of the track is covered but not all of it. He was
:39:40. > :39:43.only two hundredths behind Alexander Tretiakov in the battle for silver
:39:44. > :39:50.medal. Any snow will rob him of the chance. He still has a chance to
:39:51. > :39:57.catch Tretiakov. Still only third on the split times. He had a wayward
:39:58. > :40:01.run in the first heat, still in third on the split times, losing
:40:02. > :40:07.ground to Tretiakov, only 74 hundredths behind at the bottom of
:40:08. > :40:08.the track and Yun comes in. Seven hundredths away. Still faster than
:40:09. > :40:23.anything he did yesterday, right? Now they are starting to sweep and
:40:24. > :40:27.there is a delay. We are in trouble. The job is to make this an equal
:40:28. > :40:35.race and this is not how it was for Martins Dukurs. They are never going
:40:36. > :40:40.to chase down Martins Dukurs. They have to have a fair chance. If they
:40:41. > :40:48.are going faster than they went yesterday it is fair. The ice is
:40:49. > :40:52.faster but the snow makes it unfair. It is OK to disagree but I think
:40:53. > :40:56.right now it doesn't make that much of an effect. The guys trying to get
:40:57. > :41:04.into the top 20 when it has been snowing for an hour. That is half an
:41:05. > :41:14.hour from now. That is the judgment now, let's let it sit. The first
:41:15. > :41:20.three slides. 1.10. That tap will not help. Three tenths away from the
:41:21. > :41:28.medals and he is already 35 hundredths away from the medals
:41:29. > :41:31.halfway down the track. You can see the snow flurries blowing out
:41:32. > :41:36.underneath the sled on every corner. It is light snow, it is not setting.
:41:37. > :41:41.It is wet. Three tenths of a second slower than Sungbin Yun on that run
:41:42. > :41:52.alone. Still faster than he went yesterday.
:41:53. > :42:01.Dominic Parsons of Great Britain. Top ten after the first heat. One
:42:02. > :42:05.hundredths of a second behind. He has an opportunity to move up. He
:42:06. > :42:15.has Matt three hundredths behind him. Talking to him before the
:42:16. > :42:19.event, I said you have a chance to move up a couple of spots today.
:42:20. > :42:24.Yes, especially if I make the start I used to have, used to be a good
:42:25. > :42:29.starter but he had the ankle surgery and he is not what he used to be in
:42:30. > :42:33.the first 15 metres. Two years ago we saw him in the first World Cup in
:42:34. > :42:37.Calgary medal in the World Cup and we thought Great Britain had a good
:42:38. > :42:42.slider. But he hasn't matched it. The injury to the ankle has a lot to
:42:43. > :42:46.do with the way you sprint. After the first two heats he has pulled in
:42:47. > :42:50.front of the German and he has to hold the slide and not lose the
:42:51. > :42:57.ground again. Moving up into ninth place. One spot at a time. This is a
:42:58. > :43:05.good run down at the bottom, snow flying everywhere. But at the line.
:43:06. > :43:13.53.07 moving him ahead. Only five hundredths faster than his first run
:43:14. > :43:18.yesterday. Dave Swift of Great Britain, the fourth fastest starter
:43:19. > :43:24.in both heats, 4.91 and 4.90. I expect him to go a little bit
:43:25. > :43:27.quicker. David Smith, the development coach, ICC coach for
:43:28. > :43:33.Great Britain. If he could get in the 80s ear the way he runs. The
:43:34. > :43:39.youth coach in Lillehammer has just seen a British girl, 15 years old,
:43:40. > :43:47.take the youth Olympic gold in women's skeleton, 4.90 is the start
:43:48. > :43:55.for Dave Swift. 4.9 one, zero, he has the start down. He has that
:43:56. > :44:02.down. He's got to find more consistency down the track. --
:44:03. > :44:08.talking about who will make it into the final run, he needs a good run
:44:09. > :44:14.to book his place. This looks pretty good. Come on, Swifty, nice and
:44:15. > :44:22.straight out of nine, tiny little skid, setting him up nicely for No
:44:23. > :44:26.10. Hold it together. Don't overreact in the labyrinth. He's
:44:27. > :44:31.going to move up a couple of places. He was up to 16th, 17th on the split
:44:32. > :44:36.time, moving ahead of Alexander Auer and he is two hundredths behind
:44:37. > :44:43.Florian Mayer. Alexander Lucas like he could be on the bubble for the
:44:44. > :44:50.top 20. Yesterday is Swifty's run 53.7 four, today, 53.03. The 10th
:44:51. > :44:54.best time of the run. If his day yesterday was like that run he'd be
:44:55. > :45:02.in the top half dozen. Is his start suggests he could be. Martins Dukurs
:45:03. > :45:11.leads by zero point 75 seconds. The battle is on for the medal
:45:12. > :45:15.positions. So, run the three of the men's
:45:16. > :45:19.skeleton has come to an end. Is the competition forming as you thought
:45:20. > :45:23.it would? It pretty much is. Martins Dukurs is way ahead going into the
:45:24. > :45:28.forefront leading the World Cup, so he's the master of skeleton at the
:45:29. > :45:31.moment. In second place it is Tretiakov, the current and the
:45:32. > :45:34.champion. Really close behind Tretiakov is the new and
:45:35. > :45:39.up-and-coming Korean athlete Sungbin Yun, only been on the World Cup
:45:40. > :45:43.circuit for two years so second and third place are still to play full.
:45:44. > :45:49.Career putting a big push behind sliding sports, big-time for the P
:45:50. > :45:53.Chan Olympics. There are two strong male sliders competed but Sungbin
:45:54. > :45:57.Yun seems to be learning every single week. He is a phenomenal
:45:58. > :46:02.slider. I don't think anyone can hold him back. What about the Brits?
:46:03. > :46:05.How did they get on? Dominik would be pleased if he was further into
:46:06. > :46:10.the top ten. Swifty should be very happy with his third run he had a
:46:11. > :46:14.fantastic start. I hope both of them really go for it and enjoy the final
:46:15. > :46:19.round. OK, the build-up is over, it's down to the last and final run
:46:20. > :46:20.in the men's skeleton. Over to the commentators John Morgan and Martin
:46:21. > :46:29.Haven. Martins Dukurs still practising
:46:30. > :46:36.those moves that could carry him to glory. Sungbin Yun of Korea on the
:46:37. > :46:42.fringe of winning his first World Championship medal.
:46:43. > :46:49.All four runs count, any deficit after the first three, you have to
:46:50. > :46:55.make-up to overhaul the guy that follows you down on the ice. That is
:46:56. > :47:02.as true for everybody, all the way down to Martins Dukurs. Every
:47:03. > :47:06.athlete's favourite sponsors, their mum and dad. They will help out.
:47:07. > :47:10.Without parents, none of these athletes would have ended up in this
:47:11. > :47:14.Championship. David Swift is no different.
:47:15. > :47:28.He's got the 50 metre thing, look at that. Good start again. 4.90 three.
:47:29. > :47:37.He's definitely one of the better athletes in the first 50 metres.
:47:38. > :47:45.Then it is about getting relaxed on your sled, finding a way to get
:47:46. > :47:51.down. His slides, 21st fax test, 16th fastest and then 10th fastest.
:47:52. > :48:01.That is a real improvement. The consistency, this sport is about
:48:02. > :48:06.consistency, great lines. He is holding on well. Day two, definitely
:48:07. > :48:15.not overthinking it. A really nice run from Swifty. 53.10. That is a
:48:16. > :48:20.great run. If he had a couple of those instead of a 74 and 33, he
:48:21. > :48:28.would be in the top half dozen. Day one, not great. Day two, must be
:48:29. > :48:37.better for Swifty. The top British slider in this
:48:38. > :48:43.competition, 10th after three out of four heats. Hoping to move up the
:48:44. > :48:47.leaderboard, like he did in his third run. He's not the starter that
:48:48. > :48:53.he used to be a couple of years ago before he had a bad ankle surgery.
:48:54. > :48:59.Tall, thin, square shoulders. A lot like Matthew Antoine, coming up
:49:00. > :49:04.soon. I said before the race, he said I wish I just had a 10th more
:49:05. > :49:08.better at the start. Found a faster start than so far in the
:49:09. > :49:19.competition. He is currently in front of the current leader, Michael
:49:20. > :49:25.Zachrau. This could be very close. He needs a big run to stay in the
:49:26. > :49:29.top ten. This is where he's got the experience to get the speed down
:49:30. > :49:35.here. Still great numbers. The fastest speed we have seen. He will
:49:36. > :49:41.have a lead and a top ten finish up the line. 52.88, best we have seen.
:49:42. > :49:54.He seals a top ten finish. Watch this track and field instinct.
:49:55. > :49:57.Look out high his arms come up from behind. This is like a track and
:49:58. > :49:59.field sprinter, polling through the air. Look at his hands, that this
:50:00. > :50:12.technique. Sungbin Yun of Korea, he cut his
:50:13. > :50:21.first-ever deliberate -- took his country's first-ever World Cup when.
:50:22. > :50:26.A little slide? 4.87. I am guessing that Asia has won a World
:50:27. > :50:29.Championship medal before. Japan, the 2003 World Championships. But
:50:30. > :50:33.this will be his country's first ever if he gets to the bottom. A
:50:34. > :50:41.World Championship medal. The Koreans are well positioned for
:50:42. > :50:51.2018, not just men's skeleton, men's bobsled. The track opens in two
:50:52. > :50:55.weeks. I like the Korean chances of winning that a couple of years from
:50:56. > :51:04.now. Another couple of years on ice, and who will be right in the face of
:51:05. > :51:16.Martins Dukurs and Alexander Tettey -- Tretiakov. Takes the first medal
:51:17. > :51:25.for Korea. His coach is delighted, so should he be. Here is the Olympic
:51:26. > :51:31.champion, Alexander Tretiakov. The world champion two seasons ago as
:51:32. > :51:37.well. The Russian rocket. He holds the record at 73. 73! Ties the
:51:38. > :51:48.record. He holds a track record on almost
:51:49. > :51:51.every track he has been on. He has been very inconsistent coming down
:51:52. > :51:57.the track. Still in second place, but when you look at the title in
:51:58. > :52:01.Sochi, he was very consistent down the track. The year before that, he
:52:02. > :52:07.won the World Championship with the same kind of consistent sliding. On
:52:08. > :52:11.this little, simple track, he has been inconsistent. Too much
:52:12. > :52:15.skidding, sideways slides. They hardly look anything to the naked
:52:16. > :52:21.eye, but to the stopwatch it makes a huge difference. He could fall
:52:22. > :52:31.behind! Sungbin Yun might lead with one to go! Tied for silver at least!
:52:32. > :52:35.They are tied to the 100th of a second. If you told me before the
:52:36. > :52:47.season but the Koreans would tie the Russians for a silver medal... Now,
:52:48. > :52:52.going for his fourth world title since 2011, when he won his first,
:52:53. > :52:57.Martins Dukurs, reigning world champion.
:52:58. > :53:06.This is not a victory lap, but it is if he gets on the sled cleanly. 50
:53:07. > :53:13.seconds of ultimate focus. Third-best time in the heats,
:53:14. > :53:21.besides being the best slider, he is probably the most were athlete in
:53:22. > :53:25.the field. He has won 47 out of 56 races in the past seven or eight
:53:26. > :53:31.years. Who else have a title like that?
:53:32. > :53:36.Someone said earlier they have a race on shovels at the end of the
:53:37. > :53:41.season, somebody said he could be handed a shovel and probably still
:53:42. > :53:48.win. He may win by over a second, on the shortest track on the planet!
:53:49. > :53:54.Look at him, he is making everybody look slow. 76 mph, a track record!
:53:55. > :54:03.His first track record in four heats! Victory for the fourth World
:54:04. > :54:11.Championship, for the Superman, Latvia's Martins Dukurs. Finally, a
:54:12. > :54:15.week of emotion explodes. Every time he comes out, he wins by a second in
:54:16. > :54:24.a sport that is measured in hundredths of a second. From joint
:54:25. > :54:29.silver medallist Tretiakov and Sungbin Yun of Korea.
:54:30. > :54:41.David Swift, what a recovery after a horrible first day. And the Auer
:54:42. > :54:46.brothers both in the top 20 in their first World Championships.
:54:47. > :54:52.David, is that the best performance of your career? Not quite. I had a
:54:53. > :54:56.seventh place finish in the World Cup last year. So, I had higher
:54:57. > :55:00.expectations than that. The first run put me in a bad place and I
:55:01. > :55:04.started picking spots up, but not enough. How do you put into
:55:05. > :55:08.perspective your progress over the run? For a moment, you are standing
:55:09. > :55:17.on the leaders step for a second or two. Added feel? Good, it makes a
:55:18. > :55:22.change. 23rd after the first run. It shows what we are capable of, it is
:55:23. > :55:25.a case of what could have been, unfortunately. Dominic, I was
:55:26. > :55:28.looking at your body language after you stepped away from the podium,
:55:29. > :55:33.you did not look altogether enamoured with your performance, is
:55:34. > :55:36.that fair? That is how I felt after each of the runs today and
:55:37. > :55:42.yesterday. I worked really hard for this and I thought, I honestly
:55:43. > :55:46.thought, I was possibly going to be able to get a medal. But my push was
:55:47. > :55:52.not anywhere near what it should have been. What do you put that down
:55:53. > :55:56.to? At the moment, I don't know. It seems to be going the right way this
:55:57. > :56:01.season. I have ankle surgery over the summer and it was quite a long
:56:02. > :56:07.path back to being able to push out again. But it seemed to be coming
:56:08. > :56:11.together. It was not there today. In other World Championships you made
:56:12. > :56:17.that look very easy, was it easy? It look easy, but absolutely not. If
:56:18. > :56:20.you asked the question one week before, how big a gap that would be
:56:21. > :56:26.between first and second, I would say two tenths, maybe three. I
:56:27. > :56:31.thought it would be the tightest race in my career. I know the track
:56:32. > :56:37.was easy, short, every mistake counts. The Russians are really
:56:38. > :56:43.strong in the posh, they did not win two American World Cups, they
:56:44. > :56:48.trained hard. I did really hard runs, pushing, good level and also
:56:49. > :56:53.the equipment was running good. Thanks to everybody that helped me,
:56:54. > :57:01.the team, the crazy spectators, it is unbelievable. So, the end of the
:57:02. > :57:05.men's skeleton, you are quite good at skeleton but also very good at
:57:06. > :57:11.analysis. You absolutely called that? I can't believe Martins
:57:12. > :57:17.Dukurs, he smashed the race. Two athletes, Tretiakov and Sungbin Yun,
:57:18. > :57:25.they were tired after four races. Joint silver medals, no bronze. What
:57:26. > :57:33.did you make of the Brits? Mixed results, Dominick was not happy. He
:57:34. > :57:39.has a lot to improve on. But Swifty, two years ahead of them, that is the
:57:40. > :57:43.big goal. There is one other British skeleton result we need to bring you
:57:44. > :57:48.up-to-date with. That is from the youth Olympic Games. Lillehammer is
:57:49. > :58:01.playing host to the next generation of athletes and 15-year-old Ashley
:58:02. > :58:06.put -- Pittaway won. This is what she had to say afterwards. You have
:58:07. > :58:12.just won goal for Great Britain, how does it feel? Amazing, so may people
:58:13. > :58:18.came to watch, and it is just amazing. I'm blown away. You won by
:58:19. > :58:27.a mile, over a second. How does it feel? It was good, it was great. I
:58:28. > :58:32.was quite calm after the first run, because I had a big gap. It was very
:58:33. > :58:42.good, because the training didn't go very well yesterday. I was very down
:58:43. > :58:53.and so that was just amazing. Further success, Kelsey Birchall has
:58:54. > :58:57.won a bronze medal. I don't think I could have done better, especially
:58:58. > :59:02.with the weather conditions. We haven't actually sled in snow, it is
:59:03. > :59:05.the first time on the track, which was obviously challenging from the
:59:06. > :59:11.start. I have done my fastest start time today, which is really good and
:59:12. > :59:15.I am really happy about. I can't imagine there are many 15-year-olds
:59:16. > :59:23.who are sliding skeleton at the moment? Ashley being based in Munich
:59:24. > :59:31.means that the trucks are closer to her, but she slides for the British
:59:32. > :59:38.team. She was fantastic and I am not surprised she won, particularly with
:59:39. > :59:42.head coach. Two years, about too soon? I would say so, she is ten
:59:43. > :59:47.years younger than me, but she is already a threat. She has the right
:59:48. > :59:56.mindset and she's hugely skilled. Let's turn the attention to the
:59:57. > :00:02.final event four man Bob. It has been all change in the British come.
:00:03. > :00:07.The last time Britain won in this competition was 1939. The world has
:00:08. > :00:11.changed a fair bit since then. And it has been all change in the
:00:12. > :00:16.British camp of late. John Jackson, a Royal Marines commando and a
:00:17. > :00:21.familiar presence in top British bobsleigh since his World Cup debut
:00:22. > :00:26.in 2007 is out of favour. At these championships, he pilots GB 2.
:00:27. > :00:37.Being in the number two seed is something I'm not used to. The two
:00:38. > :00:43.teams we had weren't compatible. Every time I had a team that was
:00:44. > :00:47.equal I beat him. But when I couldn't it was difficult to know
:00:48. > :00:52.why I'm here, I have a young family at home and a wife who is pregnant.
:00:53. > :00:56.What am I doing this for? But the athlete inside you wants to continue
:00:57. > :01:00.because I know I can win medals. In his place is Lamin Deen, a Mancunian
:01:01. > :01:05.and Grenadier Guards man, who threw his absence with injury, has slowly
:01:06. > :01:09.and surely established his driving credentials, showing the patience of
:01:10. > :01:14.a man used to serving in silence outside Buckingham Palace. That
:01:15. > :01:19.discipline has been rewarded and his fast times mean he get the nod for
:01:20. > :01:29.pilot MGB one Changing of the Guard indeed. From last year we finished
:01:30. > :01:33.fifth in Winterberg. -- GB one. Myself on the team have learned how
:01:34. > :01:39.to deal with being in certain positions. Through the seasons we've
:01:40. > :01:43.had some close results, close to the medals, four hundredths off a metal
:01:44. > :01:49.in Lake Placid. It has taught us a big lesson, enjoy the sport and have
:01:50. > :01:54.fun and what will be will be with the result. What's it going to take
:01:55. > :01:58.in this track in these four runs you have ahead of us to make the jump
:01:59. > :02:03.from where you have been in the past up onto the podium? Consistency.
:02:04. > :02:11.Consistency on the Bush especially, as it is a very short track. Usually
:02:12. > :02:15.the fastest starting crews win or are in the middle -- consistency on
:02:16. > :02:20.the push. What is the realistic expectation for the four-man bob? We
:02:21. > :02:23.set the target of a top six finish, training has gone well and we always
:02:24. > :02:27.try and do the best we can and if we get top six I will be delighted. At
:02:28. > :02:32.the moment you have Lamin Deen driving that. What has he shown to
:02:33. > :02:35.you to deserve the number one seed? Lamin Deen has done well this year,
:02:36. > :02:39.fourth place in a couple of World Cups so he has done extremely well
:02:40. > :02:46.and Jack is in the number two sled. Both of the crews are capable of
:02:47. > :02:50.starting in the top six. We have two sleds that could push us forward.
:02:51. > :02:57.How difficult will it be to hang on the number one seat? First of all it
:02:58. > :03:03.is fantastic when I started as a brake man, a push man, there were
:03:04. > :03:07.lots of pilots and into team competition and we haven't had that
:03:08. > :03:12.for a while but now we have. It is fantastic for the team and it boosts
:03:13. > :03:17.everyone. We had good team results last week, both of those guys are in
:03:18. > :03:23.my crew this week. They are expecting a bit more of the same, as
:03:24. > :03:32.we all are. As current World Cup leader Max Hart of Germany chose to
:03:33. > :03:38.start second -- Art. But they lost time on the short track and ended
:03:39. > :03:42.the first run down in fifth place. -- Arndt. That mistake left the door
:03:43. > :03:47.open for Maximilian Arndt's team-mate Friedrich, the three-time
:03:48. > :03:50.champion in the two men can petition to lead the way after all 34 sleds
:03:51. > :03:56.had completed the track. Friedrich broke the track record by 15
:03:57. > :04:02.hundredths of a second going to run two. And a third German sled, driven
:04:03. > :04:09.by Nico Walther, silver-medallist last year, lying in third with
:04:10. > :04:13.Russia's Alexander Kasjanov in second. Lamin Deen, Bruce Tasker,
:04:14. > :04:18.Joel Fearon and Ben Simons had been terrifying the competition with
:04:19. > :04:21.their start time in training but were slightly disappointing in
:04:22. > :04:26.competition recording a time of five seconds dead. They remain in touch
:04:27. > :04:31.with the leaders, just 0.25 seconds away from Friedrich's time in sixth
:04:32. > :04:35.place. John Jackson, Bradley Hall, John Baines and Andrew Matthews
:04:36. > :04:42.completed a good run on a deteriorating track to finish in
:04:43. > :04:48.15th. You know this by now, run two sees the top 20 go in reverse order.
:04:49. > :04:52.So, John Jackson took advantage of a fresher track and moved up two
:04:53. > :04:57.places to 15th place and then it started to get interesting. Another
:04:58. > :05:01.good start but a great drive from Lamin Deen set a challenging target
:05:02. > :05:05.for the five sleds to follow. It was a time that Maximillian Art and Rico
:05:06. > :05:13.Peter could not match and it was a time that brought out the best in
:05:14. > :05:16.Kasyanov. Neither could match the second run time of Deen and stayed
:05:17. > :05:20.ahead of the British crew by the thickness of their micro suits.
:05:21. > :05:24.Lagisquet Friedrich is the overnight leader, an erratic but fast drive
:05:25. > :05:31.from the German meaning he has a 0.27 lead. But only six 100th of a
:05:32. > :05:37.second separating second to sixth. Today could be very, very
:05:38. > :05:41.interesting. Friedrich was wild in his second run
:05:42. > :05:46.but almost doubled his first heat advantage. 27 hundredths might be
:05:47. > :05:51.insurmountable, look at the gaps from second down to nine. Those
:05:52. > :05:56.eight sleds, any one of those could easily take a medal. There are 22
:05:57. > :06:02.hundredths of a second, second to ninth, less than there is to win
:06:03. > :06:13.first and second. Francesco Friedrich. Watch the start. They had
:06:14. > :06:25.issues here last night. Clean, Conservative, 5.04. Teddy Bauer was
:06:26. > :06:28.told to lose 30 lb and he did just that and now they say he might be
:06:29. > :06:34.one of the best athletes in the field. Wedding or season for him to
:06:35. > :06:39.be fully fit again and he's back doing such a great boost at the
:06:40. > :06:45.start. Looking skittish at the Kreisel. Look at the ice, in some
:06:46. > :06:48.places there is water on the ice. It is very slick, different from last
:06:49. > :06:53.night. Don't forget how loose he was last night and how fast that made
:06:54. > :07:02.him. He's throwing everything at this. I don't know if it is the
:07:03. > :07:03.track. 51.39. It's almost like coming through a water splash at the
:07:04. > :07:20.bottom. Francesco Friedrich is the leader.
:07:21. > :07:31.Nico Walther 27 hundredths behind, the first of a close group. We will
:07:32. > :07:39.see if they have a Conservative run. 5.03, 5.06 knowing that Friedrich
:07:40. > :07:42.has 5.10. 5.07 so that tells me that Francesco Friedrich and his team
:07:43. > :07:47.were conservative at the start because they have a lot of time in
:07:48. > :07:53.the bank, which this guy here, as the Russians 100th behind him and
:07:54. > :07:58.five other sleds 0.1 behind him. It gives you the option to be careful
:07:59. > :08:07.with things rather than having to push everything 101% to chase.
:08:08. > :08:11.Pulling out at the straightaway. Friedrich was skittish. That is not
:08:12. > :08:17.skittish, that is as straight as you can be. He is on the money here.
:08:18. > :08:26.Still losing a little bit of time. 30 300s back, 37 behind. -- 33
:08:27. > :08:34.hundredths of a second. That's the best he's been on either run.
:08:35. > :08:41.Alexander Kasjanov of Russia. Kasyanov definitely the best of the
:08:42. > :08:52.Russian drivers. He has a chance to take a medal, maybe even silver. --
:08:53. > :09:01.Alexander Kasjanov. Start, 5.05 in both runs yesterday. This guy had
:09:02. > :09:05.unbelievable speed at the bottom of the track. He's the hard luck
:09:06. > :09:10.athlete in the field, finishing fourth in both of the two-man
:09:11. > :09:16.competitions in Sochi but he won his first Salt Lake City a few weeks
:09:17. > :09:22.ago. He has a chance if he has the lines at the bottom of the track he
:09:23. > :09:30.had last night. 100th behind Nico Walther still bleeding time. He's
:09:31. > :09:35.one tenth behind where Nico Walther was at that spot so the gap is
:09:36. > :09:42.opening up in the top spot. Still third on the split times. Nico
:09:43. > :09:55.Walther 32 hundredths behind will stop from the hundredth to 11
:09:56. > :09:59.hundredths. He has two more teams coming up, three more teams, four
:10:00. > :10:06.more teams that could challenge for the bronze medal position. Next up
:10:07. > :10:10.Great Britain's Lamin Deen with them Symons and driver Bruce Tasker who
:10:11. > :10:13.took fourth place in the two-man competition and Joel Fearon on the
:10:14. > :10:19.back of the sled. This could be a massive step up for the British
:10:20. > :10:26.team. Great Britain has not won a four-man medal in 77 years. It is
:10:27. > :10:32.hard to believe we are talking about over three quarters of a century.
:10:33. > :10:37.They could get in the fours here. 5.01, awesome. This sled had more
:10:38. > :10:40.speed than anybody on the top part of the track and I think that is
:10:41. > :10:46.related to the sprinters Great Britain have in their eating great
:10:47. > :10:55.power onto the sled. Last bronze medal in 1904 Great Britain's
:10:56. > :11:05.four-man effort last century -- Nagano. Behind only Francesco
:11:06. > :11:09.Friedrich. He is narrowing the gap. The Grenadier Guards from Manchester
:11:10. > :11:13.hangs it out just a fraction too much and rolls it out of Corner
:11:14. > :11:19.nine, horrible run down the labyrinth, they will make it down to
:11:20. > :11:23.the finish line. But for the chance of a medal you have to push with
:11:24. > :11:28.every iota and Lamin Deen was trying to let it fly, he was in second spot
:11:29. > :11:38.on the splits. He comes down with a time of FT 3.2 to -- 50 3.2 to. This
:11:39. > :11:42.is the exit. This is nine where he made the mistake, he came down to
:11:43. > :11:47.early and then the sled goes back up. We have not seen anybody up
:11:48. > :11:54.there like that in the whole two weeks, even in the two man. Joel
:11:55. > :12:04.Fearon has his helmet off, Bruce Tasker, you can see Lamin Deen. This
:12:05. > :12:12.is the high wire walk that every team does, that fraction between
:12:13. > :12:25.success and disaster. The 32-year-old landscape gardener. A
:12:26. > :12:34.lot of Swiss fans down here and we are not too far from the centre it's
:12:35. > :12:40.track. 5.05 is awesome. -- St Moritz. Rico Peter likes to hit a
:12:41. > :12:46.lot of walls but finds a way to be fast. He likes it fast and loose,
:12:47. > :12:49.his sled. He doesn't mind if he makes a couple of skids as long as
:12:50. > :12:55.he has top speed. The track is so short that speed is hard to find. He
:12:56. > :13:02.has gone from 35 down to 33. He's eating into that. He is fourth on
:13:03. > :13:10.the time she'd. He is flying. Up to third place. -- time sheet. That is
:13:11. > :13:14.not good. That was very high. Still flying, he hits everything in sight
:13:15. > :13:26.and he's still fast. Moving into second place. On the split times.
:13:27. > :13:32.Wow! Oskars Melbardis. Until yesterday his team was the start and
:13:33. > :13:37.track record holder. They are going to go for it, this could be in the
:13:38. > :13:49.4.98 area. Look at the size of the guys on the right. 4.99. He had to
:13:50. > :13:55.start late. He had to start in the first heat in 19th because he missed
:13:56. > :14:00.three races with a back injury. They fought back in the second run with
:14:01. > :14:04.the third best time. This is the movie heat in the World
:14:05. > :14:09.Championships. Look at the surface of the ice, the sheen has gone. You
:14:10. > :14:14.can see it is Matt ice in some places. Watch out if this gets into
:14:15. > :14:17.the teens. Already up to third place on the split times, challenging for
:14:18. > :14:22.the gold-medal. This track is getting faster. This is sensational,
:14:23. > :14:26.when you start the fastest first they should spread the field out. He
:14:27. > :14:38.is closing, he's ahead of Rico Peter, 18 hundredths away from the
:14:39. > :14:46.lead. 17 hundredths back. Wow! John Jackson of Great Britain, whole,
:14:47. > :14:49.Baines, who competed in the two-man competition and Matthews on the
:14:50. > :14:52.back, and his former trainer Linford Christie was here at the track
:14:53. > :14:57.yesterday to catch up with what Andy has been up to -- Hall. The Royal
:14:58. > :15:04.Marines Commander coming back from a year away from the sport through
:15:05. > :15:07.injury last season. I think he finished in fifth place at the other
:15:08. > :15:14.big games in Sochi just two years ago. 5.12 start. That is pretty much
:15:15. > :15:21.what they did last night, the 17th best time. He drove down in 13th
:15:22. > :15:30.best place. Any time you improve your start time you are doing the
:15:31. > :15:33.driving well. 13 spot overnight, moving up to the top ten would
:15:34. > :15:39.require a couple of tenths of a second. 18 hundredths of a second
:15:40. > :15:45.back to the top time. Still bleeding. This is where he knows how
:15:46. > :15:54.to go fast. He's a very accomplished pilot. His team-mate Lamin Deen
:15:55. > :16:01.towards the bottom of the run came off. Canny move up to 11th? He grabs
:16:02. > :16:05.11th place. He had the worst start time of the run and the ninth best
:16:06. > :16:13.time. That's what John Jackson can do. He can drive.
:16:14. > :16:23.From a British point of view, that was absolutely horrendous to watch
:16:24. > :16:29.GB 1 turnover. We know they are OK, but what went wrong? Corner nine is
:16:30. > :16:35.particularly difficult. Lamin had too much height going into the
:16:36. > :16:38.corner. The centre of gravity is high, so it's easy to tip them over.
:16:39. > :16:45.The shame was that they were in silver medal position at the point
:16:46. > :16:49.of the track. Now they are sitting in the changing room, how can they
:16:50. > :16:54.react, as an athlete, to what might have been? Huge disappointment, but
:16:55. > :16:58.it is a huge reminder how difficult sport and bobsleigh is. It is two
:16:59. > :17:03.years until Pyeongchang and that still has to be their goal. Let's
:17:04. > :17:07.hope that disaster fuels their trading between now and the
:17:08. > :17:16.Olympics. GB 2 are still very much running. Huge drama, Lamin Deen
:17:17. > :17:23.crashed out and does not make the final run. John Jackson does, with
:17:24. > :17:29.Brad Hall and John Baines. They are joined by Andy Matthews on the back.
:17:30. > :17:35.They had some problems in the posh part. He doesn't set his feet, like
:17:36. > :17:37.most of the drivers, but he missed the posh part. At the bottom, he had
:17:38. > :17:52.some blood on his hands. He had the 10th best downtime. He
:17:53. > :17:59.needs another blinding run, like that. With the changing ice, who
:18:00. > :18:06.knows what might be coming? No more bleeding of the time allowed. Six
:18:07. > :18:10.hundredths ahead from the first heat. This is where I trust him, at
:18:11. > :18:18.the bottom part of the track. Get into a little scared. The mistake
:18:19. > :18:24.before ten might cost him. It's going to be close. -- a little
:18:25. > :18:29.scared. Just came down three miles in just six kilometres.
:18:30. > :18:41.They are separated by five hundredths of a second.
:18:42. > :18:55.Next up, Benny Meir of Austria. Third fastest on his last trip.
:18:56. > :19:00.There he is on the right, checking himself out in the TV monitors. Will
:19:01. > :19:02.they lead after this run, all will the Austrians see the top six finish
:19:03. > :19:11.or maybe more? This young 21-year-old phenom has
:19:12. > :19:16.come out of nowhere in the last two weeks. Two weeks ago he won a World
:19:17. > :19:23.Championship and silver medal. Everybody was shocked, the
:19:24. > :19:25.Austrian's first medal for 17 years, the first World Cup medal in over a
:19:26. > :19:32.decade. There was only 100th of a second in
:19:33. > :19:45.it. This kid has some talent on his Home
:19:46. > :19:49.Track. She is only 21, only been driving three years.
:19:50. > :19:57.This could be a massive moment for Austrian bobsledding. If he puts
:19:58. > :20:05.himself in the lead now, who knows what might come? 51.16, what a run!
:20:06. > :20:17.That is as quick as anybody who has been down this track today.
:20:18. > :20:28.What about 25-year-old Valter? He hasn't had all of his starts in the
:20:29. > :20:33.top ten fastest. Known in the half dozen top. They have had a suspect
:20:34. > :20:42.Star Times as well. -- start times. His team went better
:20:43. > :20:58.than they did in the third run. A disastrous two-man competition.
:20:59. > :21:07.Eight hundredths up after the first three heats. Down to five. Maier is
:21:08. > :21:11.quick at the bottom. My goodness, here we go. Down to three. The
:21:12. > :21:19.Austrians at the bottom are going to go even more mental. Walther is not
:21:20. > :21:26.going to hold the lead. It's going to be perilously close. Final
:21:27. > :21:36.corner, beats the Austrians. Just enough. There is a chance to win a
:21:37. > :21:40.medal. I tell you, Walther has been in a slump. That was a great drive
:21:41. > :21:42.on the bottom part of the track, when he was losing time all the way
:21:43. > :21:58.to the corner. Switzerland are third, Latvia
:21:59. > :22:07.second. This Swiss team has been very consistent at the start. The
:22:08. > :22:10.32-year-old driver, he unleashed his pinball Wizard technique that has
:22:11. > :22:19.won him so many fast runs this season. Will he do it again?
:22:20. > :22:27.The Swiss precision start. Fastest of their competition. He hits
:22:28. > :22:37.everything in sight and comes down as fast as anybody. He was a little
:22:38. > :22:45.off the pace in the last heat. Second fastest. The Swiss always do
:22:46. > :22:50.well on this track. Never won a World Championship medal. Usually
:22:51. > :22:57.drivers are up on their slides and mistakes, we pick them up with Rico
:22:58. > :23:00.Peter because it seems to make him quicker! The lines are not fast, but
:23:01. > :23:05.this is going to be at least a bronze medal for Rico Peter. He will
:23:06. > :23:08.put himself onto the podium with a great run. They 10th of a second
:23:09. > :23:22.quicker than his last trip. His coaches exuberant. There will be
:23:23. > :23:30.pleased with that. 17 hundredths separate the fastest two after three
:23:31. > :23:37.of four heats. Chasing from behind, the ninth fastest in the third heat,
:23:38. > :23:39.third quickest in the second, and then he blew the field away with
:23:40. > :23:45.this third trip. These guys are going for the gold,
:23:46. > :23:59.they could get 497. 28 on Wednesday, what a birthday
:24:00. > :24:06.present this could be. He was a rocket ship on the third run. 19th
:24:07. > :24:09.position, he has only done half the World Cup season. That happened in
:24:10. > :24:16.his first run. When he got into contention, nothing held him back.
:24:17. > :24:23.He won the World Cup title last year. He got injured earlier in the
:24:24. > :24:32.season. This would be quite a way to finish the season. Only three
:24:33. > :24:40.hundredths in front of Peter from the first heat. This is about gold.
:24:41. > :24:42.Is this a shot for gold? The fastest heat of the competition. The only
:24:43. > :24:59.man below 51 seconds. One to go. Last year's overall team
:25:00. > :25:10.and World Cup Championships winner, against a double two man champion. I
:25:11. > :25:15.will correct that, a triple world champion in Friedrich. Can he add
:25:16. > :25:31.his first-ever four man crown? 98 again. He was tied to 100th of a
:25:32. > :25:35.second with his team-mate. The best start of the four heats and drove
:25:36. > :25:39.himself into his fourth World Championship. He is the youngest
:25:40. > :25:40.World Championship medallist ever. Nobody at this stage has ever had
:25:41. > :25:45.three. 18 hundredths up after halfway
:25:46. > :26:02.through the fourth. He lost a bit, there. It could come
:26:03. > :26:14.down to a single digit margin. For hundredths of a second. Friedrich...
:26:15. > :26:23.37 hundredths in front. The track goes away from the German. And
:26:24. > :26:27.Oskars Melbardis, he has spent half the season on the bench, and he is a
:26:28. > :26:35.world champion in four-man bobsleigh. Peter is in the medals.
:26:36. > :26:43.Another double junior world champion. Oskars Melbardis, perhaps
:26:44. > :26:45.the greatest day of his life as he takes the four-man World
:26:46. > :26:58.Championship gold. How do you sum up the competition
:26:59. > :27:01.for GB 2? We have had four consistent runs. At a new team,
:27:02. > :27:05.we're still trying to work a couple of things out at the top of the
:27:06. > :27:09.track. From the drives down, the way that the team has performed, we
:27:10. > :27:14.could not ask for much more. In light of what happened to GB 1, does
:27:15. > :27:19.that reignite your passion for the next year and onwards? Definitely.
:27:20. > :27:26.It is all about finishing the race. It is just one of those things. Even
:27:27. > :27:29.an easy track, you can not stop respecting the track. We just hope
:27:30. > :27:35.it does not have funding implications. We are still in a bit
:27:36. > :27:39.of shock after GB 1, have the guys worked out what has gone wrong? They
:27:40. > :27:43.are still talking about it, I don't think it is the right time to go
:27:44. > :27:48.through it. We will sit down after dinner and find out what went wrong.
:27:49. > :27:51.We have just seen the most extraordinary end to the
:27:52. > :27:56.competition, what could have been for GB 1? What could have been, but
:27:57. > :28:02.it is what it is. We cannot change that. We will move forward, and be
:28:03. > :28:08.stronger. We are a silver medal position, closing the gap, but there
:28:09. > :28:19.are so many positives to take. This is it from us in Bad -- from us
:28:20. > :28:31.here. But you don't have to wait long for your next fix.
:28:32. > :28:38.So, can you sum up the weekend for British bobsleigh and skeleton?
:28:39. > :28:40.Overall, it was a disappointing Championships. But good results in
:28:41. > :28:48.training, athletes always progressing. Hopefully we can have
:28:49. > :28:51.some success at the next Championships. We are looking
:28:52. > :28:58.forward to seeing you out on the ice. Me to! There was disappointment
:28:59. > :29:01.for British bobsleigh in Sochi, and we had to put up with more in
:29:02. > :29:03.Austria. I tell you what, when British bobsleigh get this right,
:29:04. > :29:07.they are so going to deserve it.