02/02/2014 Ski Sunday

They say only children are afraid of the dark. As it closes in and

surrounds you. Your brow sweat in, your heartbeat racing, the sound of

nothing pounding your senses. The silence, then the screams. Darkness

as you burst into the bright lights. Push against the wall of ice, slice

through the fear. Only commitment will see you through this. Fortune

favours the brave. There can only be one winner here. This is Schladming,

where the night is dark and full of terrace. -- full of terror.

It is close to midnight, something evil is lurking in the dark. You

might have guessed that we are at the fearsome Schladming night slalom

. Stay tuned. It is going to be a thriller. She has four X Games

medals and she is the reigning Olympic halfpipe champion, and she

is going for an ambassador did three medals in Sochi. The future is

bright for the Antipodean queen of snowboarding, Torah Bright. And in

our last show before the games, it is the British speed demons in the

sliding events that our our tsars in the making arguably our best chance

of medals in Russian mountains. But before all that, this is the last

slalom event ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, and there is one

man with fond memories of the snow here in Schladming who is keen to

reassert his dominance. Last season, the American Ted Ligety had a world

championship dreams are made of, winning three gold medals. This

season, the dream has turned into a bit of a nightmare. Has dared to

shred being knocked off his perch? Odds are now lengthening on the

American gaining gold in Sochi. The best giant slalom skier of the

last few seasons. Ligety is in trouble! I have been extremely

unlucky in a couple of races. Repeating what I did in Schladming

last year, winning three Goldman 's, will be very difficult to repeat.

That is the dream. I have good chances of medals in the super G. It

is not ideal for me. It is not like Schladming, where it was a technical

skier's hill, but there are technical aspects to it. I have a

good chance. On paper, I am one of the best combined skiers out there.

And on the giant slalom, one of the favourites. There is a theory with

the course setting that coaches are setting courses to deliberately slow

you down. Yeah, when a certain nation or a coach sets a course,

they set it for or against their own athletes. When that happens, I guess

they don't like it when somebody wins races by two seconds. That does

not make their guys look good. We train on every single sort of course

out there. I am training on a regular basis, so it is not like I

have never seen it before. I am used to it. Everybody has their skill

sets and their strengths and weaknesses. I am not worried about

that. If that line about no one setting courses for him an excuse,

or is there truth to it? I think there is truth to it. The distance

between the Gates has shortened and the offset is less, meaning he can't

benefit from using those big hip movements he used last season. A lot

of people are catching up with him. There is more pressure on him with

every mistake he makes. When he went down in Valdez, it was the first

time he had crashed in about four seasons. But then the crash he had

later, those two mistakes are starting to play on his mind. He did

not win a medal in Vancouver and is desperate to take one in Sochi. Do

you think he can do it? Well, the piste will suit him, because it is a

steep flat, and Ligety is ideal at generating speed across the flat

sections of the course. The only thing that could trip him up is the

snow conditions. If it is soft, someone like Felix Neureuther could

sneak in for the win. Who else is that? There are more challengers as

the weeks go by. Marcel Hirscher is going brilliantly in giant slalom as

well as slalom. Then there is the whole French team. Most of those men

are in action tonight. It is now time for the first run of the 2014

Schladming night slalom. Matt Chilton has the commentary.

Welcome to the classic Austrian night slalom from Schladming. There

are in the region of 55,000 crammed in to every vantage point. What a

season this young man has had, 19-year-old. He came second last

weekend. Shows no fear. Like Marcel Hirscher, doesn't let the pressure

get to him. Still looking for his first World Cup win. You can bet on

him getting it some this season. As he battles against the crowds on

either side of the course, he needs to focus on the snow and the Gates

in front of him, rather than the distractions. Nothing wrong with

this run. No mistakes so far. Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway. He has set

an excellent pace. Marcel Hirscher sit second in the

overall standings from Aksel Lund Svindal. A win here would put him

only two points behind the Norwegian. He would love to do it on

the slope where he was crowned world slalom champion last year. Hirscher

on his way. An aggressive start, nice and easy. Beautiful work so

far. Looks like he might be quicker than Kristoffersen at the split. The

gate forces skiers from right to left across the face of the hill. No

mistakes so far. Is he still in front of Kristoffersen? No, he is

behind now. That can go. The noise levels are deafening now as the

World Cup slalom leader, having won gold here at the World Championships

last February, finishes his run with a couple of late terms, but safe and

sound. Kristoffersen holds the lead. This is the second best slalom skier

of the season. Still without a World Cup win. Let's see if he can produce

a bit of magic. That gate is tricky.

Myhrer had a skid there, and as a result, he is a quarter of a second

behind. I don't think he will be challenging the leaders. He is the

slowest of the three starters so far.

Mario Matt wants his third win on the Schladming hill, as well as a

chance to take any right's title as the most successful Austrian slalom

skier. He has already had a win this season. Could this be slalom victory

number 15? A very different style to the taller, dynamic Marcel Hirscher.

He is old school, but that works just as well at times. Nothing wrong

with this from Mario Matt. They are getting right behind him. Second

best Austrian this season, the most successful Austrian slalom race of

all time in terms of the number of World Cup wins. Rewrote the record

books with that win earlier in the season. He is skiing for the lead in

Schladming, and he has got the lead. A first run of the highest quality.

Felix Neureuther is the most successful slalom skier on the World

Cup tour this year, with three wins. First place here tonight would give

him back-to-back victories, the first for a German since 1990.

The Germanys second in the World Cup standings behind Marcel Hirscher --

the Germanys second. He has had two World Cup wins. The Austrian crowd

are quite quiet. They don't want to see him succeed here this evening.

They would rather enjoy success, of course, for Mario Matt and Marcel

Hirscher. Neureuther looks a little clumsy. Leaves himself with a bit of

work to do heading into the second run.

Hargin is not orthodox, but he is fast. He has been unable to

translate those first-run performances into solid World Cup

wins. The closest he came was second behind Mario Matt. He has gone from

green to red after a noticeable mistake. He hopes to give himself a

decent chance. Nice and smooth at the top for Fritz

Dopfer. Good acceleration through the turns. Just a little mistake at

the end, with that big right-footed turn sending him almost uphill

again. How much has it affected his time? Badly, in slalom terms. He has

gone to four tenths behind. Fritz Dopfer, hoping to give the Germans

two chances, with Felix Neureuther currently in seventh place. Fritz

Dopfer has just pushed him down a place. He moves into seventh place.

This is the second French racer on the Hill, Alexis Pinturault. A long

wait for him to race, especially for a man who has had a World Cup win

this season. He is the best of the French racer is by far so far this

season. Great top section. He comes from a have French, have Norwegian

heritage. Within a quarter of a second off the lead. This could be

good for a provisional top five position. A healthy chance of a

medal. How close will he be? He gives themselves a real opportunity

heading into the second run. Ted Ligety is number 16. The best giant

slalom skier in the world. His slalom form is less impressive.

Second last weekend. He was the Olympic combined champion in 2006.

Ligety holds his head in his hands. He never even got to have way. --

halfway. It is all over for Ligety. It is Mario Matt still leading.

Henrik Kristoffersen in second, followed by Hagen and Hirscher. --

Hargin. What a fantastic first run. The top

three separated by a 10th of a second. I am joined by Dave riding

from Great Britain. You just missed out on the second run. What is it

like racing before that kind of crowd? It is all some. It gets you

fired up. If you were sleeping before, if you are not in the

starting gate. You want to put on a show. It is really good to race. Who

is your money on? I am going Henrik Kristoffersen. He is the new iceman.

I would not count Hirscher added. It will be a cauldron of noise for the

second round. Here is Matt Chilton. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an Austrian

by birth, is here watching. He loves his skiing. Felix Neureuther, the

second-best slalom skier of the season. Neither writer has two wins

this season. -- Neureuther. What a start. The course has been set by

his coat. And clearly it has been said to favour new roster. -- new

writer. He is charging through this second

leg. No mistakes so far. Near perfection here from Felix Nye

writer. So relaxed. Does not seem to feel the pressure at all. First

mistake. Momentarily pitched over the front of his skis. No matter. He

leads by a massive margin! What a performance. One and a half seconds!

That is how to ski the slalom in Schladming. Neureuther needs a

tissue but he is the leader. He knows exactly how good that second

run was. He just relaxed and let it go. He looked tense on the first

run. The second one was an absolute blinder. He has thrown down the

gauntlet to everybody laughed. Brilliant skiing. -- to everybody

left. A bit of home advantage with this

course, having been set by one of the German cultures. -- cultures.

Plenty to appreciate here. His compatriot was error-free until

about eight gates from home but still managed to charge himself

across the line. Felix Neureuther leading the way for

Germany. This may be good enough for second. He is home and dry. He is

second. Germans first and second at Schladming.

This second run was set by the German coach. He said big distances

because both of his athletes are tall and they can use those long

limbs to put their feet out and around the gates. He has

deliberately set to make Hirscher's life as difficult as possible.

Tall Swede. On his way. 13 hundredths faster than Felix

Neureuther after the first run. If this quick enough? It is. He has

gone in front. Then he skis out. Lost his way on the course, made a

mistake and had to call it a day. It is hard to see from the replay

what happened. He just got wide on that dogleg left hand and was late

going into the next turn. The ski rent over the pole. You can see the

inside ski popping up slightly. He knew it, he stopped.

And as we're getting into the last few days before the Winter Olympics,

here's the news. Pinturault from France.

Made a mess of his exit from the start hot. He will have to settle

and even have been five speed. -- he will have to find speed. The

mistakes appear to be stacking up for him. The winner of the super

combined on Sunday. He won a slalom ten days ago. 0.37 behind at the

intermediate. Pinturault does not look to have settled into the

groove. He can only manage third. Barely mistakes and he pays the

price. The course setting did not do

Pinturault any favours. Because he is shorter than the Germans, he

could not get the power on the skis. He works better when the gates are

flying at him and he can move his knees quickly. Let's hope the same

thing doesn't to Marcel Hirscher. The world number one is on his way.

The best slalom skier of the season so far. The leader in the World Cup

standings. Nice change of rhythm. Nothing wrong with this. Noise level

astonishing now. He is mild in front. Three quarters

of a second faster than his German rival. They have got two wins each

this season. It looks like Hirscher may get the better of his great

rival. A little mistake on the final few turns and he holds on to lead!

He holds on to lead by 100th of a second. Incredible scenes here at

Schladming. Hirscher just about dozing off.

My word! Marcel Hirscher was brilliant at the top. Absolutely

nailing it. Throwing his body from side to side, generating huge

angles. About ten gates from home he had a real problem. God late in the

line. Almost straddled. -- he got late in the line. Well, that was

close. Hargin, third after the first run.

His advantage over Hirscher is just six hundredths of a second. Good

upper body movement. Arms going everywhere. Sometimes the ski poles

point sideboards and shoulders get front back over the tale of the ski.

-- skywards. His lead has been wiped out. He is a

long way back. Too many mistakes. Too much upper body movement.

Throwing himself of course. He cannot afford the extra muscle

movement from left to right, especially with these massive rhythm

changes on the Hill set by the German coach. He has lost his chance

again. Hagen is happy to have finished. 19-year-old Henrik

Kristoffersen, second fastest after the first run. His advantage over

Marcel Hirscher and not very much at all. An early mistake. The sign of

real pressure being felt here by a young Henrik Kristoffersen, the

runner-up at the weekend. Still looking for his first World Cup win.

Will it come macro tonight in the night race? -- will it come macro.

He is getting the silent treatment from the Austrian fans. They will be

delighted with the way it is going for him.

It looks as if Hirscher will hold onto first position with just Mario

Matt to come. Kristoffersen has skied well. He takes it away from

Hirscher! Al, yes! He has done it! 18 hundredths of a second. He moves

into top spot. The mistakes that Marcel Hirscher made through the

final few turns have caught up with him.

Kristoffersen really has updated slalom skiing, doing techniques that

you would not normally teach kids. Swinging his hands, generating speed

all the way down. He has done it, he has taken the lead here at

Schladming. Only one man left. Mario Matt stands between Henrik

Kristoffersen and his first World Cup slalom win. 34 years of age. The

winner of the second round. He skis the second run of round seven here

in Schladming. And he loses it in the first few turns. And

Kristoffersen of Norway takes his first World Cup win! Just 19 years

of age. Mario Matt never got going in his second run at all. And

Kristoffersen makes the breakthrough.

That is how fast it can go in slalom skiing. Out of the start gates and a

few gates into the course, a straddle and he is out.

Kristoffersen cannot believe it. He is dancing around behind me. What an

incredible victory for somebody so young.

So Henrik Kristoffersen takes his first ever World Cup win in

Schladming, with Marcel Hirscher second.

I was in ninth after the first run. I wasn't too far behind the top

guys. I tried to push really hard. It worked really good for me.

I thought, OK, it will be tough to beat Felix but it wasn't. With this

big gap between me and Felix, 100th of a second...! Yes, I am really

proud of it. The speed level is pretty OK.

At 19 years old can you believe you have won the biggest slalom race in

the World Cup? I can believe it, I can believe it. It is a dream come

true, for sure. It is amazing. Does this suddenly make you a

favourite for Sochi? I don't know. Other people have to say I am a

favourite. I think there will be a little bit more pressure now but

that is normal. I have to get used to it.

You said it was going to be Hirscher. Who said it was

Kristoffersen? That would be Dave Riding! Is Kristoffersen the new

star? At 19, he has taken Hirscher's technique and routed up

another level. It would be really exciting to watch another race in

the future. It is shaping up to be an exciting

Olympics. Here is the latest news in the world of winter sports.

British athletes have been arriving in Sochi ahead of the 22nd Winter

Olympic Games. Members of the freestyle ski and snowboard team and

the short track speed skaters were among the first to arrive in Russia.

Qualifying events get underway on Thursday ahead of the opening

ceremony on Friday. One of the most hotly anticipated British arrivals

will be Lizzie Yarnold. The 25-year-old goes into the games as a

hot favourite for a medal after claiming the overall skeleton World

Cup title last weekend . The experience Shelley Rudman is also in

with a chance after finishing third overall. Torah Bright is one of the

most iconic women in snowboarding. For more than ten years, she has

dominated the sport. Gold medallist in the halfpipe in Vancouver, this

time around, she's hoping to write her name in the record books in

Sochi she is targeting three medals, which may seem like a tall order,

but as I found out when I met her, she's used to the odds.

-- used to defying the odds. The last two months before the Vancouver

games, I spent more time off snow than on. I had two concussions. In

hindsight, knowing what we do now about concussion, I should not have

been cleared. I probably should not have been at the games. Having left

the Winter Olympics in 2006 is appointed, she committed herself to

making 2010 her year. She pushed herself to progress and learn new

tricks to develop a world beating one. One of those tricks was a

switch backside 720, and incredibly difficult trick that very few men

can pull off. It was while training for this move that one of those

accidents occurred. I was all guns blazing to make this happen. And the

concussions brought me down a few levels. With the injury, I took away

all the expectations of my own on myself and my country. That is the

biggest thing, you don't want to disappoint your country. Everybody

wants you to get the gold, and it is really heavy. And she lands the

switch backside 720! She knows is good. Looking back with what I now

know about concussions, it was science that I should have taken a

break and I should have just rested. And I did, after the games.

I took time off competing and took a low impact year. Tour began using

her way back into the competition in 2011. But in January 2012, her world

turned upside down when her friend, four Times X Games gold medallist

Sarah Burke, died following a training accident in Utah. I was

there on the hill when it happened. And in the hospital for ten days,

just wishing and hoping with all her friends and loved ones. It rocked

the community to its core. I definitely had some thoughts going

through my mind. Do I want my life to be this? I want more out of life.

I was planning that year to come back to the contest, but I took a

step back and just chilled a little longer. Moving forward from that,

you have to decide to get back into competition? I remember hearing that

you got back on your board, not realising that you had not been on

it. I thought, wow, this is really close to an Olympic cycle and you

have not been on a pipe for a while. I did not go in the pipe for a

while, but I was always riding on my board. Just not in the contest

scene. To be honest, it was so great to have a little break from that.

Even though I compete well, I don't love competing. Really? No. I don't

need to compete to be fulfilled or to validate that I am a great

snowboarder. I always think that to win an Olympic gold medal, you have

to have this single-minded desire to win at all costs. And look what it

did to me. I did have that, and it was against my whole being. It did

not work for me. So taking my experience from the last games into

now, I am just doing what I love. And now I have taken on three

events. You have just told me that you are not a natural competitor,

and now you say you have taken on three snowboard events! Roared

across, slopestyle and halfpipe. Yes. Crazy. -- boarder cross,

slopestyle and halfpipe. It is the boarder cross that intrigues me,

because slopestyle and halfpipe are both born from freestyle and you are

doing similar motions in the air. But with the boarder cross, you are

suddenly into Alpine territory. It is racing. What made you think, I

want that? When you are racing, you are living and everything else is

just waiting. You are a woman after my own heart! The journey to just

even get into a World Cup was very interesting. Did you have to go back

to amateur level? Yeah, I was lining up in the Stargate with 16-year-old

kids. -- the start gate. There was a sweet girl and she was like, I can't

believe I'm riding in boarder cross with Torah Bright! I'm like, let's

race! It was a really quick learning curve for me. On my last one, I

qualified in the top 16 into the rounds. People were going, wow. If

you are qualifying in the top 16, you are racing. I'm like, yes! I

didn't expect it to go that quick. To be honest, boarder cross is just

snowboarding. Just like halfpipe and slopestyle. It is a combination of

it all, plus free riding. One of five siblings always does devout

Mormons, it is perhaps surprising that Torah's parents allowed her to

leave home at 14 to join the rock star world of international

snowboarding. When I look back, I go, mum, dad, what were you

thinking? This was how she explained it. She said, well, I believe I have

told you the correct answer pulls and I had faith that you would

govern yourself by them. And I totally did. I wanted to be a good

daughter and a good person, and I did not move my life off what I was

taught. I don't think it is a coincidence that the three women who

have dominated halfpipe snowboarding all have faith or spirituality. I

have seen a lot of top female athletes who struggle with

confidence or insecurity, and you guys seem to have this belief. Do

you think there is a connection there are twin faith and confidence?

I don't know, really. I guess we can make that connection, but I do feel

that when you have a spiritual connection or a faith or something,

it does give you a grounding sense and it gives you a purpose as well.

For me, being religious my whole life, it is also a foundation. I

have read in various places that you are calling it after these games, at

least on competition. If you take three gold medals, or just three

medals, will you turn your back on it 's if you are having that much

fun and you are so successful, can you turn your back on it? I would

like to kind of slow down or be done with competition. But, that being

said, yeah, if I am still feeling it, I will keep going. But then I

definitely would not be on a full contest schedule, I will pick and

choose. I am just taking each year as it comes. I am just going to

shred. Surely while everyone else is specialising in events, going for 43

will be a dilutions of her talents, especially where she has no history

in boarder cross. I don't think so. In halfpipe, you need immaculate

board control. That is the foundation of her skill set and it

translates well from the other disciplines. Jim drastically,

slopestyle has progressed a lot in the last few years for the women, so

she might struggle to keep up there. But with the boarder cross, her

skill set works. You write her off at your peril. As we heard earlier,

Team GB had a world champion going into Sochi. Lizzie Yarnold will be

the woman to beat in skeleton. Silver and gold from the last two

Olympics, our Great Britain sliding team will be one of the strongest in

Sochi. Here are some to look out for.

Shelley Rudman. John Jackson. Lizzie Yarnold. British bobsleigh. British

skeleton. It is exhilarating, fast, adrenaline, nerves, excitement. You

have to be a certain personality type to begin with. You have to have

almost no steel. It is the adrenaline that I love. When I go

down and I have this led in my hand, I just think about being explosive

and going as far as I can with the sled. Once you go past curve one,

you are on a roll and you just feel the track and you start to

instinctively steer it and your fears go away. Your peripheral

vision and everything takes over. You are feeling the interaction

between you and the eyes, and it is all your senses working at 1 million

miles an hour. When it goes right, bobsleigh is a sport you love. When

you are upside down with six kilos on top of you, it is not nice. For

any athlete, it is our dream, and it has been since I was ten years old.

This is what I have been training for everyday of my life it would

mean everything. I am just so proud to realise the dream I had as a

child to go to an Olympics. How much of an advantage is it going

into the games as favourite? Well, winter sports are unpredictable, but

as Svindal told me, I would rather be world champion and favourite than

not. Not sure if it holds true for some of the younger events. If you

look back at the X Games last weekend, both the men's and women's

favourites lost out to younger riders. That was the last event in

their preparation for Sochi, and their confidence could be in

tatters. Well, it is not long to wait now. If you are into winter

sports, all your prayers are about to be answered.

And the 22nd Winter Olympic Games from Sochi, Russia, starts on

Friday. We will bring you live coverage of the opening ceremony

from 3:30pm, as the Olympic torch is lit to symbolise more than two weeks

of top winter sport action. And we will both be there to ensure you do

not miss a second. We will have 200 hours of television coverage of the

games, plus 650 hours of live action via six HD streams, on whatever

device you choose. And as an aperitif to that, if you missed it

earlier in the week, Dan Snow presents A History Of The Winter

Olympics. That is on right after us in a couple of minutes. Now, this is

the last Ski Sunday of the season. We have wrought you racing from

France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. And we brought you stories

of winter sports pioneers from New Zealand, Australia and the United

States. And on the eve of the biggest winter sports event in the

world, it is time to say Auf Wiedersehen from Schladming.

And welcome to Sochi. Looked at them barred in each

other! They have made contact. Joy for the Swiss supporters. It is

hard, this skiing stuff, isn't it? He has got it! Nothing quite like

it. Do you have views on

the BBC's television services? If so, the BBC Trust

would like to hear from you.