:00:00. > :00:12.Christmas is a busy time for sport, so, while you may be settled on the
:00:13. > :00:15.server, we have got a festive feast for you today, looking ahead to the
:00:16. > :00:28.highlights over the holidays. This is Saturday Sportsday.
:00:29. > :00:34.Cardiff have to put their managerial drama behind them for the next
:00:35. > :00:36.couple of hours. They have just kicked off their Premier League
:00:37. > :00:41.match against Liverpool, we will update you throughout the show.
:00:42. > :00:44.Meanwhile, the Ashes are already Australia's but as we sleep of the
:00:45. > :00:49.Christmas dinner England's cricketers will hope that luck has
:00:50. > :00:52.changed when the fourth test starts in Melbourne. No funding for
:00:53. > :00:57.volleyball animal in the UK so if you want to play at a top level you
:00:58. > :01:01.have to head to Europe. We meet a player who has moved to Liverpool
:01:02. > :01:05.for her sport. And South America prepares to host the Paralympic
:01:06. > :01:11.games for the first time, find out how Rio celebrated with 1000 days to
:01:12. > :01:14.go. But before we go to Olympia for the season finale to the equestrian
:01:15. > :01:18.yet, let's have a look at some headlines.
:01:19. > :01:21.Scotland's Michael Jamieson won the 200 metre breaststroke to give
:01:22. > :01:25.Europe the lead in the Duel In The Pool. America had been favourite to
:01:26. > :01:28.win, but it is 68-54 to Europe going into today's races.
:01:29. > :01:38.Edinburgh held on to beat Pro12 champions Leinster at Murrayfield.
:01:39. > :01:41.11-60 Final Score. And Phil "The Power" Taylor is out of the World
:01:42. > :01:49.Championship, beaten by Michael Smith.
:01:50. > :01:53.The London International Horse Show at Olympia reaches its climax this
:01:54. > :01:56.weekend. We have already seen Charlotte Dujardin set a new
:01:57. > :01:58.dressage world record, a hard-fought, high-flying Puissance
:01:59. > :02:01.class, and today the world's best show-jumpers fight it out. Lizzie
:02:02. > :02:07.Greenwood Hughes is there for us. A pile of horse poo, lots of tinsel
:02:08. > :02:09.in the middle of London, it can only mean one thing, the London
:02:10. > :02:13.International Horse Show, where, for one week every year, the world 's
:02:14. > :02:18.best show-jumping and dressage rider flock to the capital for the autumn
:02:19. > :02:22.at equestrian Christmas party. You have got the Shetlands, the dogs
:02:23. > :02:26.jumping, but for me it is about the top sport and then mayor has been
:02:27. > :02:31.writing here for many years. You are part of the Renaissance of British
:02:32. > :02:35.show-jumping, one of the European champions. British show-jumping
:02:36. > :02:41.could not be healthier at the moment? No, it is a great sport and
:02:42. > :02:47.hopefully we will bring it back to where it was 20 or 30 years ago. It
:02:48. > :02:51.is back on TV a lot more now, where it belongs. Until recently I would
:02:52. > :02:57.be introducing new as the world number one but a certain Scotsman
:02:58. > :03:01.has just stolen your crown? I managed to top it three or four
:03:02. > :03:06.months ago but Scott overtook me a few weeks ago. We tour every week
:03:07. > :03:11.together and he kept fighting away and got me just before this show but
:03:12. > :03:14.it is a great rivalry and good for the sport. And that rivalry will
:03:15. > :03:19.continue with the World Cup qualifier, did a class here at
:03:20. > :03:26.Olympia. What are your chances? Hopefully good, it is a new bunch of
:03:27. > :03:34.horses, my horse has been on rest this week. Your Olympic course? Yes,
:03:35. > :03:37.he won here two years ago so hopefully we can produce a good
:03:38. > :03:42.performance. If you want to watch them taking on the world 's best
:03:43. > :03:49.show-jumpers here, it is live on BBC One. Give it a chance, it is on from
:03:50. > :03:54.1:45pm with Claire Balding. Not much cause for celebration
:03:55. > :03:57.amongst England's cricketers. The future of coach Andy flower hangs in
:03:58. > :04:01.the balance. England have to regroup if they want to avoid a white wash
:04:02. > :04:06.down under. Dan Bowman is in Melbourne head of the fourth test,
:04:07. > :04:10.which starts on business night. The build-up has begun to one of the
:04:11. > :04:16.most iconic, famous fixtures, not just in cricket but in the whole of
:04:17. > :04:21.sport. The Boxing Day test match, here in Melbourne. Before this Ashes
:04:22. > :04:25.series many predicted it would be a pivotal match between two evenly
:04:26. > :04:29.balanced teams. How wrong they were. The Ashes have already been won by
:04:30. > :04:35.Australia and all England have two play for now is pride. They will be
:04:36. > :04:39.desperate to avoid a 5-0 whitewash. Tim Bresnan, one of the bowlers who
:04:40. > :04:43.has suffered in Perth, is saying there is plenty at stake. I don't
:04:44. > :04:48.think it is a dead test match. We are looking to make it three - D.
:04:49. > :04:56.That is still on the cards for us. The Ashes have gone but we are
:04:57. > :04:59.playing for pride. Most of the guys are up for the Test match, Boxing
:05:00. > :05:04.Day in Melbourne, you do not get bigger than that. There is no doubt
:05:05. > :05:09.England face a dilemma. Do they experiment with new younger players
:05:10. > :05:13.with an eye on 2015, the next Ashes series in England, or take a more
:05:14. > :05:17.pragmatic approach and remain loyal to players who have served them well
:05:18. > :05:20.in recent years? There is no doubt there is pressure on the basis of
:05:21. > :05:26.men like Graeme Swann, even Kevin Pietersen, Anderson perhaps as well.
:05:27. > :05:31.Whatever they do, there is no doubt they desperately need a boost here.
:05:32. > :05:36.After the Olympics, funding for volleyball in the UK was stopped and
:05:37. > :05:41.the Team GB's squads were disbanded. Players have had to look elsewhere
:05:42. > :05:50.for their sport. Hero Michael has moved to Italy and is a rare British
:05:51. > :05:53.player on the European circuit. Welcome to the home of British
:05:54. > :06:01.volleyball. It does not look British, because it isn't. This is
:06:02. > :06:05.Italy, the new home of Kira Michael, one of the few British
:06:06. > :06:09.professional players left a year and a half after these historic scenes
:06:10. > :06:12.at London 2012. Within months of winning an Olympic game for the
:06:13. > :06:19.first time, the British team was shut down. Our team was disbanded.
:06:20. > :06:27.There is no longer a GB women's volleyball team, just a group of
:06:28. > :06:30.friends, really now. Most of the players have retired earlier than
:06:31. > :06:37.they would have liked to. This goes everywhere with me. At six foot
:06:38. > :06:40.five, Michael has signed up as a middle blocker for the team in this
:06:41. > :06:44.town near Milan. They play in the champions league, one of the top
:06:45. > :06:49.competitions in the world. Michael, who grew up in Somerset before
:06:50. > :06:53.learning volleyball in Miami and Australia, is the first British
:06:54. > :07:01.player ever to reach this level. There is a really passionate fan
:07:02. > :07:05.base, a really similar atmosphere to 2012 where the home crowd was
:07:06. > :07:10.excited to be there. Now there is no Team GB to aim for, failure is like
:07:11. > :07:14.Michael almost all that is left to inspire British children to try
:07:15. > :07:18.possible. There are not many outlets for playing volleyball in England.
:07:19. > :07:24.The exposure of other sport is greater that kids don't necessarily
:07:25. > :07:29.know this is an opportunity, something to strive for. I remember
:07:30. > :07:34.reading a quote before London 2012, I wrote it down in my notebook and
:07:35. > :07:37.try to read it every day of the Olympics: Every member of team GB
:07:38. > :07:42.has the responsibility to inspire a nation. I really would like to think
:07:43. > :07:45.that I can inspire kids by being here.
:07:46. > :07:48.When it comes to transatlantic competitions, Europe has been doing
:07:49. > :07:52.pretty well of late. Europe's golfers beat America in the men's
:07:53. > :07:56.Ryder Cup, and the women's Solheim Cup. Now it is the swimmers' turn to
:07:57. > :08:00.take on the USA. And, after day one, Europe are leading the Duel In The
:08:01. > :08:03.Pool. Fran Halsall swan the final leg in the relay victory last night,
:08:04. > :08:06.while Michael Jamieson won the 200 metre breaststroke in front of his
:08:07. > :08:12.home crowd in Glasgow. It was important for me to get the
:08:13. > :08:16.win, with the home crowd, so I am delighted. Overall, I am in good
:08:17. > :08:20.form in the past couple of weeks, I have been posting test times which
:08:21. > :08:25.is good, I am where I want to be head of the games. It was a surprise
:08:26. > :08:28.to win the relay because the Americans are so strong and the
:08:29. > :08:32.depth in their team is incredible, so to take them on at night and come
:08:33. > :08:40.out with a win is quite a big deal and a bit of a shock. The
:08:41. > :08:44.competition continues today. 2014 promises to be a big year for
:08:45. > :08:48.Brazil. The World Cup kicks off there in June. And already the hype
:08:49. > :08:50.is building ahead of the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Rio
:08:51. > :08:53.celebrated 1,000 days until the start of the Paralympics earlier
:08:54. > :08:58.this month, and Stuart Pollitt was there.
:08:59. > :09:02.Paralympic and is that you gave to the world fleet of speed, endurance,
:09:03. > :09:08.dexterity and skill many did not think possible. Record crowds,
:09:09. > :09:15.record coverage, record performances. How can the
:09:16. > :09:19.Paralympics follow this? I have heard that so many times, we will
:09:20. > :09:25.never repeat Beijing. We always achieve that. For me, I never look
:09:26. > :09:30.at it like that. Paralympics begin here in Rio in 1000 days. This lake
:09:31. > :09:34.will host the running and the canoe. Before then, Brazil has the
:09:35. > :09:38.small matter of putting on a World Cup and Olympic Games. The challenge
:09:39. > :09:43.for the Paralympics, though, is not to build the arenas on time, but to
:09:44. > :09:46.persuade the Brazilian people to fill them. Are you confident you
:09:47. > :09:52.will sell all of the tickets for the games? Yes, we are working a lot to
:09:53. > :09:58.prepare to have all the tickets sold. Athletes like Alan Olivero
:09:59. > :10:05.will help sell the tickets. The man who beat Oscar Pistorius in London
:10:06. > :10:10.2012 is Brazil's gift Olympic star and he was the main attraction at
:10:11. > :10:13.the country's annual Paralympic awards. I feel the responsibility of
:10:14. > :10:18.being one of the faces of the game. I am prepared for that. It will be
:10:19. > :10:29.really good idea time the games come. Raised flags and raised
:10:30. > :10:32.expectations for change at this rehab centre on the outskirts of
:10:33. > :10:37.Rio, where they are marking 1000 days until the start of the
:10:38. > :10:41.Paralympics. They have to do a lot to be a more inclusive city, for
:10:42. > :10:46.more accessibility. That is what we hoped for, to change culture. It is
:10:47. > :10:51.a change that Philip is confident will happen. People said to me
:10:52. > :10:54.before London, maybe the UK does not need the games, they have made this
:10:55. > :10:59.transition. I said, you are kidding. Whether it is a greater possibility
:11:00. > :11:10.here, I think society will be influenced. If Rio can embrace
:11:11. > :11:13.that, the achievement of London 2012 can be surpassed.
:11:14. > :11:19.That update you on the early kick-offs. Celtic against hearts,
:11:20. > :11:23.still 0-0. Liverpool against Cardiff, also 0-0. That is all for
:11:24. > :11:26.now, have a very Merry Christmas.