Opening Ceremony Highlights Winter Olympics: Today at the Games

This programme contains scenes

of repetitive flashing images.

What is this thing

that enthralls us?

A frozen world but full of life.

Massive forces at play.

But there's creativity,

passion and delight.

This is where sport,

science and humanity collide.

And the result is truly spectacular.

There's the battle with gravity,

those who wish to harness its pull.

The search for aerodynamic

and technical superiority,

with speed the ultimate motivation.

Klammer's done it and

this crowd go wild!

And those for whom gravity...

They're chanting Eddie.

..is the enemy.

Safely down.

Where the demand for spatial

awareness and extrasensory

perception is palpable

and beautiful.

What a marvellous set of marks.

A smile and a tear

for Robin Cousins.

Where ice is the battlefield

but the competition is human.

The energy is intense.

It is combustible, unpredictable

and utterly enthralling.

This is a marriage of old and new,

tradition and modernism.

Where memories of what has gone

before shape what is to come.

Sport, science and humanity collide.

But this is a celebration

of all three.

Welcome to the Winter Olympics.

At the Winter Olympics,

the forces of nature

and the laws of science combine

with the strength, precision

and skill of athletes to deliver

the most gripping drama.

Over the next 16 days we will bring

you the highs and lows

of the 23rd Winter Olympics.

A team of 59 from these shores have

travelled halfway round the world

to South Korea hoping to indelibly

write their name onto

a very exclusive list.

The list of British Winter

Olympic medallists.

Hello and welcome to

Today at the Games.

It is now just after 4am,

and about 20 below in South Korea,

which is why we are basing ourselves

in the UK from the, ahem,

Alpine studios of Salford.

We'll be here every evening at 7pm

to bring you all the highlights

from Pyeongchang with a little help

from our dedicated team

out in the Far East.

This is what we have for you over

the next hour.

This is what we have

for you over the next hour.

GB are sending their biggest team

to a Winter Olympics -

we'll assess our medal chances.

Then we'll bring you highlights

of the opening ceremony -

in South Korea, expect

the unexpected.

As she travels her road

to redemption, we speak

to Elise Christie.

Five and a half thousand miles away

is where over 100 medals will be

decided over the next fortnight

or so, and this is where it's

all going to happen.

The area around Pyeongchang might be

known as the Korean Alps

but it's much chillier.

The temperature is below zero

for four months of the year.

Here to tell you more about the host

city is our snowboard

commentator, Tim Warwood.

Hello and welcome to Pyeongchang,

or, as the locals would say...

Home to the 2018

Winter Olympic Games.

And the first to be

held here in South

Korea.

We are roughly 200 kilometres east

of the capital city, Seoul, and

we'll be spread across four

locations where there will be plenty

of drama...

Oh, he's down!

Thrills...

Spills...

And excitement over

the next two weeks.

In Pyeongchang in 2018 so far,

the majority of recorded

temperatures have been

-10 Celsius or lower.

Ice!

So we look on course for the coldest

Winter Olympics to date.

South Korea is one

of the world's leading

providers of technology and that is

being embraced here at the Winter

Olympics.

I am ready.

Am I ready?

I'm not, actually, this

is a little bit scary.

Hello.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

Go, and he's out of the gate.

What a start by Warwood here.

There is also a chance to be a pilot

in the dangerous world of

bobsleigh.

Don't worry, I've got my lucky egg.

That was insane!

The food here in

South Korea is superb.

Chicken ramen and of course beef.

And kimchee, which is

fermented cabbage.

Everything you need before

heading out for a good

time.

You could find yourself here,

microphone in hand, singing along to

some of your favourite K-pop.

Out the way, then.

# Eh, sexy lady!

# Oppan Gangnam style!

I'm 38.

Over the course of the next two

weeks, the most amount of

medals ever will be handed out

inside the Pyeongchang Olympic

Stadium there.

It promises to be

absolutely spectacular.

Strap yourselves in.

This is Pyeongchang 2018.

I think #2i78 is having a lot of fun

out there. Soon to fly out to Korea

Amy Williams, Jeon In-kwon who

carried the flag and Chemmy Alcott.

Amy, the success of British athletes

in the sliding event is particularly

strong.

Yes, we have brought home

medals in the last four Olympics,

from Salt Lake City, Turin, me in

Vancouver and Lizzy Yarnold. We have

a great development programme, we

know how to win medals and we

maximise our ice time. We have the

best equipment and coaching and we

know how to learn and to kind of get

good on tracks quickly, I think that

is thing, when there is an Olympics

like Vancouver, Sochi was brand-new,

so is this track in Pyeongchang, we

are good at learning quickly, it has

been phenomenal to see like Lizzy

fast track through from almost four

years from starting to slide to

becoming Olympic champion, so we

have got new people coming on in and

it is an exciting time. Once the

Olympics are finished you start with

the development squad and

concentrating on the new lot, and

the new wave of athlete's.

It has

been successful in terms of science

and technology, the money invested

has paid off. Jon, is this the best

venue ever for short track speed

skating is this

It is a big call but

I think it is. To compete in front

of that crowd who are knowledgeable

and passionate, the guy also have a

ball over there, and they will feel

the atmosphere, it is going to be

fantastic.

You had the honour to

carry the flag at the opening

ceremony four years ago, what is

this moment like?

Special. It is

hard to explain but it, just such a

proud most moment for me and having

a strong team behind, it was our

best for 100 year, our best

performance, hopefully that I can

beat that this time but it was

special.

Chemmy we have the traal

alpine events but supplemented by

the events like slopestyle, big air,

it brings a different flavour to the

games.

It is important that the

Winter Olympics is seen to

development we have this creative

side. It is interesting being the

athlete, because the freestyle

athletes they never dreamed about

being an Olympian, you spoke to them

four years and they weren't sure

what they were getting ifrn to. Than

changed with Jenny Jones, they are

dreaming of becoming Olympian,

becoming a medallist, so it is like

the X-Games is good but from Britain

we love the Olympics, that is why we

have a great show here, everyone

gets inspired by the Winter Olympic,

so it is a real big deal for them.

We love watching the huge variety of

sports you are going to see over the

next, well more than two week, the

build up to the games has been far

from straightforward.

South Korea's noisy neighbours have

been dominating the front pages

and the fates of Russian athletes

caught up in the doping scandal have

dominated the back pages.

Matt Pinsent assesses a Games

caught up in controversy.

Every addition of the Olympic Games

is going to have its challenges, but

it seems as if Pyeongchang is taking

it to a whole new level.

50 miles across those hills, is

North Korea, and let's be honest,

relations with them recently have

been absolutely appalling. But in

the hast few weeks North Korea

announced they would send a

delegation to the Winter Games to

compete, so are we on the eve of

some Korean good will?

I have been

doing Korea for 30 year, and I

cannot recall when a situation was

as dangerous as in the last year,

the tension between south and north

is becoming more sophisticated and a

bit dangerous. Especially for our

side of Korean peninsula. All this

reconciliation is not going to last

long, because the United States

would be deadly opposing any kind of

economic interaction between two

Koreas,

Still the Korean citizens

has the same his tri, we are one

people, one nation, so we are

rooting for both team, Korea and

north. Hopes in Democratic People's

Republic of Koreaia might have been

high but the rest of the world asked

about attending the gales.

It feels

better to come and not boycott. You

have to remember it is the athletes

of occasion, it is the pinnacle of

their career, it is up to us to make

sure we are here accuse loss as we

can guarantee the safety.

Another

problem is that of Russia, and their

doping. This obviously started back

at the last winter Olympics in Sochi

in 2014, but just recently, it's

come to a head.

Russia has been

banned from competing at the Winter

Winter Olympicses in South Korea. It

follows allegations of state

sponsored doping.

The Court of

Arbitration for Sport has up held

appeals from 28 of those banned

Russian athlete, which leaves a

whole lot more questions, and the

only person who can answer them, is

the President of the IOC.

Could you

do into any more detail?

Do you have

any regrets about the intervening

four years and the way it has been

handled?

No, we issued the toughest

sanction, which we deissue, on a

National Olympic Committee, this is

the exclusion from the Olympic aims.

But the IOC did clear 169 athletes

who they judged to be drug free,

they compete under an Olympic flag

with neutral kit, and no Russian

anthem if they win.

We gave a new

and young generation of Russian

athletes, the opportunity to be

invited, to show the Russians that

it pays off to be, to be clean.

In

one final chapter to the Russian's

trying to get to Pyeongchang, a

further 32 athletes challenged their

bans from December. But, just hours

ahead of the opening ceremony their

appeals were dismid saying the IOC

were within their rights to block

them from competing. No-one's naive

enough to think that a Winter

Olympics is going to solve all the

world's sporting or political

problems, but with world class

events about to beginning, hopefully

we can all take a 17 day break from

them.

We can focus on the sport.

In Sochi GB won four medals -

who can forget Jenny Jones winning

Britain's first medal on snow,

Lizzie Yarnold's sliding to Olympic

gold and our curlers holding

their nerve when it mattered?

Well, the pretender

to Jenny Jones's crown

on the slopestyle was Katie Ormerod.

Katie just missed out on a place

in Sochi four years ago and now

she's out of competition in South

Korea.

Katie suffered a severe

fracture to her right heel

in training on Thursday.

The 20-year-old medal hopeful

suffered a minor wrist fracture

in practice on Wednesday

but was still intending to compete

in Sunday's slopestyle.

But unfortunately the heel fracture

was too severe and she went

in for surgery earlier today.

She's been on Instagram

and seems very comfortable.

Hink that a Winter Olympics is going

to solve all the world's sporting or

political problems, but with world

class events about to beginning,

hopefully we can all take a 17 day

break from them.

We can focus on the sport. This is

the latest of a long list of

injuries.

She said it was all about

the Olympics for her, when she broke

her wrist she was positive she could

come back. She has broken her back,

her arm twice, and her shoulder, and

I never miss the Olympics through

injury but I know what she is going

through, it is brutal. She is just a

charger, someone who continues to

take that much risk again and again

knows she can deliver, and that is

why she has taken that risk and we

feel for her, because it is a brutal

position, she is out there, she is

in hospital for another week, she

will be watching. The good news is

her family is represented. Jamie

Nicholls her cousin is competing, so

at least she can cheer him on.

It is unfortunately this is the

problem with Winter Olympic sports.

There is such a thin line twine

success and disaster, we have a

really strong team. That is why it

is hard to predict the medals. They

have to push themselves. Dave Ryding

he has to go to his limit to get on

the podium. If in slalom if you go

half a millimetre wrong, you are

out. So it is brutal, but that is

equally what makes it exciting.

We will talk about those who remain

and could still win medals.

Paddy Geary now takes us

through those British athletes

looking for Olympic glory.

Tis the season, weeks, months, years

spent on eyes just to discipline in

a blur or an error. Winter sprinter

Elise Christie was disqualified for

all three distances in Sochi, close

to quitting but now I had a world

champion or a world record holder in

them all. Things change fast. Drama

does not always unfold at high

speed. The slow story of curling up

Ulreich us in 2002 will stop good

Rhona Martin be followed by Eve

Muirhead? -- gripped us. Up on a

mountain, nobody will jump like

Eddie, but there is a slalom star in

Dave Ryding who learned his craft on

Lancashire Odd less than Alpine

slopes and won a historic silver

medal in the World Cup circuit last

year. Four years ago Andrew Musgrave

made these Bridcutt by

. He is a more competitive animal

this time for the the essence of

freestyle, James Woods, is the

acting and Katie Summerhayes have

all got World Championship medals

since Sochi, and such form means

success is expected. Rocky times in

British bobsleigh, a sport used to

bums but still be outside chance of

a medal from both British men's

four-man crews and who could forget

the skeleton queen? Lizzy Yarnold

four years on from her gold men's

four-man crews and who could forget

the skeleton queen? Lizzy Yarnold

four years on, Goldwasser in Sochi,

this season her team-mate Laura Deas

has become faster. Lizzy Yarnold

spent time away from the reasons of

choice and health, it has been a

roller-coaster but this is her

favourite part of the ride.

We can talk about the sliding

events.

We can talk about the sliding

events. Lizzie is defending her

title, Laura Deas is alongside her.

The bobsleigh team, do you feel

there is a sense that they believe

it now and they can win medals?

Yes,

there is a sense that they believe

it now and they can win medals?

Yes,

after I won my gold medal Lizzie was

quoted as saying that she watched me

do it and it's not impossible. When

you see somebody in your team

winning and getting a medal, it

proves you can do it. We might not

have an ice track at home in Great

Britain but we can still win medals.

She had done it before. Laura Deas

is right on the end, she studied at

the same time as Lizzie and has a

faster push and she has been

consistently better all season. --

she started. She is good enough to

win a medal and I hope on the day

the pressure does not get to her.

She wants to be the next person in

the team. And in the bobsleigh do

you have the two teams, Lamin Deen

and Brad Hall, Brad Hall it still be

new driver and is still learning but

he can get it right on the date, is

whether he can be consistent. Lamin

Deen as well. The rate is over to

Matt Gohdes, you have four runs but

they all count.

And they only have

one medal -- the race is over two

days. The bonus with short-track

speed skating is lots of action,

Elise Christie had three chances. We

know it can go wrong, but what do

you expect from her?

Just to see

that smile on her face, to get out

there and put in a performance that

she knows she can do and if she does

it, it could be raining medals and

some big history made. Like we said

about team-mates stepping up, we

could see Charlotte Gilmartin

stepping up and Cap Thompson as

well. -- Kathryn Thomson.

We know

the Koreans love their short-track

speed skating and a lot of

competitive skaters so is there a

danger they might block out Elise in

the early rounds?

I think so, it is

part of the sport. They will try to

target Elise to stop her but she is

good enough and she is a world-class

athlete. She is a world champion.

They will target her but she is good

enough to beat them.

Amazing stories

across the British team and other

nations of unlikely contenders. Dave

Ryding has to be on that list given

he did not start skiing on the snow

until he was 15.

He becomes from

Pendle dry ski slope, we always have

this excuse that we don't have snow

but we have so much determination as

a nation and sometimes it is nice to

be an underdog. He went to Kitzbuhel

and got his first podium in front of

all the Austrians, beating Marcel

Hirscher will and they hated that!

He had nothing to prove apart from

to go down and do it. But we heard

at the opening ceremony a gentleman

from Ecuador carrying the flag, any

roller skis, practising his event on

tarmac. We have artificial ski

racers like Dave making the

transition and a cross-country skier

from Ecuador who trained on tarmac.

Amazing. We will show you highlights

of the opening ceremony in a moment

or so but carrying the flag for

Great Britain will be Lizzy Yarnold

and she has been talking to Matt

Pinsent.

You have been chosen as the flag

bearer, what kind of honour is that

in your career?

It is an honour that

I never really thought about but it

means so much. The flag represents

the whole team. And as a team we

represent everyone in Great Britain

who has watched us and supported us.

For our parents to watch us,

grandparents watching at home, that

is the moment when they say, Great

Britain, your skin tingles and the

emotions begin.

They know how to put

on a show in South Korea. It started

with images of wind Lubitz gone by.

Starting in Chamonix -- Winter

Olympics.

Lillehammer, Nagano in 1998,

Salt Lake where our curlers made

a nation so proud with that historic

gold, Vancouver where Amy slid

to glory, and of course four years

ago in Sochi where we were treated

to our greatest ever medal haul.

It seems remarkable that there were

so many Winter Olympics where we

watched other nations but never

considered ourselves contenders. It

is different now, so many different

athletes who are there and want to

make their mark. The opening

ceremony is when we all feel the

curtain raising.

We can now join our commentary team

of John Hunt and Robin Cousins.

Here we go, the countdown upon us,

this is the belt of peace, the Bell

Sangwon Temple. And the sound of it

according to legend calmed the waves

and brought peace.

and brought peace. The Olympic rings

lit up multicoloured, the Sliding

Centre in the background. A nice

start, isn't it?

It's beautiful.

35,000 expected to be here.

Walking

over the bridges to come to the

venue, the firework blocks are

frozen into the river.

That's

lovely, isn't it? A really nice

start. So, a journey, five children

we will see throughout the night,

travelling to the past and the

future is tailored about the history

and culture of their land, finding

answers and the question of peace.

The colours of their costumes also

symbolise the five elements, red for

flyer, black for water, blue for

wood, white for metal and yellow for

the Earth. -- red for fire.

We have

Haenarae, Ara, Puri, Bichae and

Nuri.

And the five colours also

symbolise the five colours of the

Olympic rings.

The tiger makes his way to the

centre of the stage and when he

roars, with his black stripes, you

can see spreading onto the stage,

they transform into the Baekdudaegan

mountain range which begins at Mount

Baekdu.

The White Tiger and the children to

be joined now by a vast array

wonderful animals and plants from

land and water. Wild boar, flowers,

butterflies.

The Vermilion Bird.

And now we get our first look at

Ung-nyeo who is a character from the

creation myth, and according to the

myth she was a bear but after

praying for a hundred days she

became a woman. She married the

heavenly King, D, and gave

heavenly King, D, and gave birth to

Dangun, the founder of the Korean

nation. -- the heavenly King,

Hwanung. Two additional characters

joining the stage, the Phoenix and

the curious half man, half bird. The

Phoenix a mythical animal, a bird

that lives a thousand years and

flies between heaven and earth. It

is said that the Phoenix only

appears during a peaceful time.

And now the first use of augmented

reality tonight, the image we are

seeing at home pretty spectacular.

And the formal introductions,

firstly the president, Moon Jae-in

who was sworn in the following his

victory in May 2017 to replace the

country Butt first female president.

-- the country's first female

president.

Please welcome the

President of South Korea and the

president of the Olympic commission.

A key theme tonight of unification

between North and south.

Certainly

the audience here are loving, crying

at the fact that the unification is

happening in this stadium tonight

with this ceremony and I think hopes

of a longer-term truce are expected

and hoped for but certainly the

crowd here feels very honoured and

blessed that these two great

countries are coming together.

Ladies and gentlemen, please stand

for the national anthem of the

Republic of Korea.

National Anthem of the republic of

Korea.

NATIONAL ANTHEM OF

THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA.

Nearly 2.5 billion people expected

to watch the games. These are the

potential stars. Greece

traditionally begin the parade.

Tradition dictates they always head

the parade. They are represented by

four athletes, two alpine skiers and

two cross-country skiers.

Officials of course walk with

athletes as well.

Nigeria, their flag bearer. She is

from the sport of bobsleigh and of

course that is the big headline

here, the women's bobsleigh team

will be the first African bobsleigh

to have appeared at a Winter

Olympics.

Here come Norway. The most prolific

of all the Winter Olympic nation,

have won more medals an any other.

329. Their flag bearer

329. Their flag bearer is a four

time biathlete.

They have 13 and 12 medals

representatively.

Now Germany, a mighty team, 154 in

strength, Germany sit third on the

all time Winter Olympic medal table

tee behind Norway and United States.

Watch out for the sliders.

The luge starts tomorrow, Felix Loch

will attempt to win another medal

there. Our flag bearer is Eric

Frenzel. He has won the last five

overall World Cup titles.

Jacqueline Yurling looks to be the

one Lizzy Yarnold has most to fear

for. The United States. The flag

bearer is Erin Hamlin who is the

fourth luger to earn the honour. She

is getting married this year as

well. Quite a time she is having.

The US have a host of favourites.

Shaun White will attempt to win a

third halfpipe title and he is in

form. Chloe Kim is woman's

snowboarding answer to him. A

halfpipe gold medal favourite. She

is sure to get a great reception

given both her parents hail from

Korea. Vancouver 2010 gold medallist

Lyndsey Vonn is back. She warmed up

for Pyeongchang with three

consecutive World Cup victory, the

last came in early February in

Germany, and in Michaela Schifrin

became the youngest champion and is

being tipped to win a host of medals

in Pyeongchang. Switzerland and the

flag bearer

flag bearer is a three time

Olympian. Cross-country skier.

Watch out for iPod, that is the

athlete who upset Shaun White. He

will mark his return from a serious

knee injury and a heavy crash in the

E games by defending his title in

South Korea. We welcome Great

Britain. Lizzy Yarnold. Skeleton

hero from Sochi. What a moment for

Lizzy. Looking to defend her title

despite an inconsistent season to

date. She won in Sochi but nearly a

second. Katie Summerhayes with her

sister Molly who

sister Molly who works in McDonalds

and Izzy Atkin.

and Izzy Atkin. We wish them all

well. Austria have twice hosted the

Winter Olympic, 19644 and 1976

slalom superstar marshall Herscher

has yet to win the Winter Olympics.

A win for him would be one of the

biggest stories of the games.

Annan Veith. She is the flag bearer.

Now the Olympic Athletes from

Russia. So much talk about Russian

involve skating. Here of course, we

will be hearing from IOC President

Thomas Bach before too long. They up

held the bans of course, today. From

earlier in the month. Among others,

though, they do have some

sensational figure skaters.

They do,

two young ladies fighting for a gold

medal, in fact three that could

medal, in fact three that could be

on the podium,

The 1988 Winter

Olympics in Calgariry saw the

Jamaicans have a bobsleigh team. It

ended in tears on the ice with the

four-man crew disqualified. However,

that setback ultimately helped spawn

the film Cool Runnings based on

events in Canada. 30 years on from

that, Jamaica will be represented in

the women's bobsleigh competition

for the first time.

for the first time. She qualifies

for Jamaica as her father is from

the Caribbean island.

Stand by for the roar of the night.

And a truly historic moment. Here in

Pyeongchang.

Welcome the children back from their

time travels earlier.

time travels earlier. The unified

team under a unified flag of Korea.

The flag is held by Chung Gum and

Hwang Yunjong Won. Hard to

understand what this means to South

Koreans who some would agree are

still at war.

But there is nothing

like sport and you say, almost to

point of cliche that you see people

who have one thing in common and

that is is a love of sport that

brings countries and nations

together and athletes together.

Politics and religion out the win

ghoen it comes to sport from the

athletes who performed from the

heart.

-- window when. We were told people

were sobbing in the audience,

wanting to be here early and be

round and see this moment happen. It

is incredibly inspiring.

It has attracted some of the major

players on the world political

scene, Mike Pence, US Vice President

is here and also here which some can

scarily believe is the sister of Kim

Jong Un, the leader of North Korea,

here in the stadium tonight.

This will the competition of your

life. Over the next days, the world

will be looking for you to

inspiration. You will inspire us

all, to live together in peace, and

harmony. Despite all the differences

we have. You will inspire us by

competing for the highest honour in

the Olympic spirit of excellence,

respect, and fair play. You can only

really enjoy your Olympic

performance if you respect the

rules. And stay clean. Only then

will your lifelong memories be the

memories of a true and worthy

Olympian.

Move on now to the Olympic

rings, this has been pretty much top

secret how they do this. Just one

aspect of the ceremony they did not

want for anybody to be aware of. Use

of augmented reality again.

Hundred skiers and lights, with

drones racing down the slope, as if

to show the co-existence of humans

and technology.

Now it had to be. Gold list in

Vancouver. And turned this country

on its head, and became Queen almost

overnight, and she is one of the

most revered athletes this country

has ever

She is so charming and so lovely.

Sochi was a big dispoints skating.

For many fan, she skated

beautifully, where she was given the

gold.

gold.

A perfect choice Robin?

They

both skated brilliantly, the judges

made their decision.

made their decision. I was in the

Kim Yuna camp.

Kim Yuna camp. A megasuperstar in

this country.

A tremendously emotional moment I

suppose for any athlete, Olympian.

Whether you are fortunate enough to

be a torch bearer and I was lucky in

London, I got to carry the torch

during the relay, but to be part of

it, again for these athletes, to sit

down, for the audience to sit, and

this now, the reality, the torch has

been lit. The flame is alight. Yes,

the games are now officially open.

That was a phenomenal opening

ceremony, a beautiful mixture of

traditional stuff like the puppets

and the drumming and the drones!

Oh

my gosh!

my gosh!

1218 drones! Turning into

the Olympic rings, I had never seen

anything like that.

That is some

incredible programming, someone has

spent hours doing it.

And they took

a big risk because they never tried

them below -10 Celsius so they kept

them in this warm hub and brought

them out minutes before. Can you

imagine if something went wrong but

nothing went wrong.

It seemed to be

they got the athletes out quicker

and onto those heated seats but

there were moments of real emotion

and I loved the lighting of the

flame and the cauldron, that was

beautiful and Kim Yuna, there was

definitely a tear in her eye.

As

athletes, when you see that Olympic

flame it actually means so much and

if you have been part of analytic

torch relay or not, to see the

flame, that is when you know it's

real and it's the Olympics. They

could probably feel the heat off it

and that is the spine tingling

moment, this is the start of the

Games.

A lot of athletes don't make

it to the opening ceremony,

competing tomorrow, the short tract

speed skating team were not there,

but Lizzy Yarnold carrying the flag,

you know what it's like.

Her heart

rate would have been going through

the roof! And about the torch as

well, that is when the athlete

really feel it has begun.

You were

impressed because sometimes she did

it with one hand and you struggled

with that with your muscles!

I think

a lot of changing Japan's! We like

the kit, very smart. Very warm, that

is the main thing.

Warmer than other

things!

The image of the opening

ceremony in terms of athlete was the

United Korean team and Thomas Bach

made reference to it, saying this

was the symbol of the world, and

athlete from its country carrying

the flag and the United team walking

out together. I think that is the

bigger message.

On the highlights programme we're

going to focus on the lighter

side of the Olympics.

Let's go off piste.

We going to see selfies and plenty

of things, this was Team GB just

before the opening ceremony started,

surrounded by the obsolete team and

the skeleton competitors for the

Aimee Fuller got in with the

Jamaican bobsleigh team! I ensure

she will be part of our commentary

team as well. Nick Buckland and

Penny Coomes have the figures they

didn't -- of figure skating ahead of

them. Andrew Musgrave is competing

on Sunday but was getting in the

mood. Norway had a bit of a mix-up

in communications, they thought they

ordered 1500 eggs and got 15,000!

Out then you get the numbers wrong

when you're typing them?

Athletes

love eggs!

We have a very special

feature every night, calling it Red

Hot, Ice Cold.

We all know preparation is key.

Communication? Not so much.

Teamwork... Bad luck. The

competition has started in the mixed

curling.

curling. This was Swiss curling, a

six stone finish. Action underway in

the moguls, a lot of support for the

home competitors. And the start of

the opening ceremony, as he was two

years ago in Rio, Pita Taufatofua of

Tonga, coming in with his oiled

chest, he was definitely red hot!

And it is very cold out in Korea.

Here is Radzi.

Pyeongchang is situated in the

mountains 700 metres above sea level

which the locals claim is perfect

for healthy living. However,

alongside that is the weather, the

buried come very cold weather. --

very, very cold weather.

The Pyeongchang area is the coldest

place in Korea because this place is

a mountainous area. Average

temperature in February is about -11

Celsius.

It really is cold, in fact,

look at this. I know it is supposed

to be cold, it is the Winter

Olympics but the coldest on record

was 1994 in Lillehammer. That Jim

Norwegian thermometers reached as

low as -11 degrees. If temperatures

stay this low, could that effect the

2018 Winter Olympics?

We continue to

ask the operators that each

temperature is possible to operate

the games and they say it depends on

the situation.

And that situation is

largely determined by the amount of

time the athlete spent outside in

the freezing climates. For an Alpine

racer is less than two minutes. But

a cross-country skier is more like

two hours. Whatever the amount of

time, a crucial element is the kit

they wear to cope with the frosty

conditions. With around 60 Team GB

athletes travelling to Pyeongchang,

that is a lot of sports and a lot of

kit.

Four years ago we were walking

around in shorts and flip-flops in

Sochi.

Really?

It's great to be part

of an Olympic Games in the winter

when it is cold. Everybody got about

110 items of kit, there is

competition where and generic

village clothing. The puffer

jackets, woolly hats, scarves and

gloves, hand warmers to keep

everybody warm.

Do you think the

cold might help or hinder Team GB?

Help. Cross-country is a great

example, the preparations they have

done and the work in the background

getting their skis right, it is

ideal so they are having a great

time on the track. And on the

Sliding Centre, the first few runs

were good so we are in great shape

and the cold weather is looking to

benefit Team GB.

For the first ever

I'm hoping it cold?

Absolutely!

How do you protect yourself from the

extreme temperatures? Question

adapted with the last minute?

Absolutely last-minute, we worked

out how quickly our body lost

temperature, they will have electric

things in their salad pets, hand

warmers, it's important to give your

muscles really warm. We would take

air temperature, humidity, ice

temperature and all affect what

equipment you use.

Is there

different kit for extreme conditions

for extreme conditions for Alpine

events?

No. The fastest skiers can

go and what they are wearing is

under the like with wet nothing at

all, skin to wind so do you

sacrifice your time by being warmer

or goat for the win? The guys don't

wear much and become the girls

neither, they tape up their faces

from any skin is exposed as with the

wind chill you will get frostbite.

And the boot flexed changes and it

gets brilliant scientific because

the guys are used to skiing at a

certain flex but it is solid and

they take up a hairdryer! We are

trying our ski boots!

We will be

watching out for that. One place the

temperature does not change is

inside the rink at the short-track

speed skating.

Elise starts her campaign tomorrow

qualifying in the 500 metres.

When I'm on the ice I'm free. Speed,

movement, power. On the edge, never

fully in control no one ever can be.

Turmoil for Elise Christie!

Being

disqualified in Sochi hurt. Not as

much as the death threats and

bullying that came with it. I had a

lot of abuse on the intranet and

stuff. -- Ronnie internet.

I thought about never skating again.

It took me two years to get over

that. It made me tougher than I ever

thought I could be. I thought, I can

do this. I will do this. I'm not

scared.

Christy aiming to become the first

British woman to win a short-track

world title.

I am ready for the

spotlight.

Christie leading the

charge, it's going to be tight,

she's done it! She is the world

champion, Elise Christie! Here comes

Christie on the inside and it is

another gold medal!

Proving

something to the world, won gold,

two golds, three golds.

The overall

title coup Elise Christie.

When

something breaks your heart it takes

time to love it again but I'm

smiling now.

You were her team-mate for many

years and she is smiling again. This

could be one of the great sporting

stories ever.

I think so, I think

she will come back strong, she is

smiling but hopefully she will be on

the top step of the podium in a

couple of weeks.

What that she had

to do in qualification? Stay safe?

Yes, it is a sprint event, 500

metres, so people are close together

and things can go wrong but if she

keeps clean tomorrow, she has a good

lane draw so hopefully she will

cruise through.

She will be in heat

four and have the number one on her

helmet as world champion and she

told me that only the world

champions are allowed to wear gold

boots.

Isn't that a target on the

back?

It's on her feet!

The number

one!

The coverage starts tonight.

Qualifying for the men's snowboard

slopestyle gets underway.

Jamie Nicholls and

Billy Morgan go for GB.

This is how you can watch.

The Winter Olympics across the BBC,

follow the action live from midnight

until midday on BBC TV and iPlayer,

BBC Cap! Breakfast and Radio 5 Live

will bring you the best of the

overnight action and headlined each

morning. The action continues in the

afternoon with extended highlight

and every evening catch all the

latest news with today at the games

and more catch up on BBC Four. And

full coverage is available on the

BBC sport website and app.

Let's find out what you are most

looking forward to.

Everything is

just amazing to watch but something

like the slopestyle is phenomenal,

they are going higher than a

double-decker bus doing flips and

turns and hoping to land on two

skis. That is one to watch.

It has

to be the short-track, four athletes

competing tomorrow. And hopefully

the girls qualify in the first round

and set themselves up.

It has to be

the agility and risk of the men's

slalom and Dave Ryding but like Amy,

the skier cross, always a great

event, bigger and harder and the

terrain is brutal and so epic to

watch.

Just so much to enjoy.

Well, all the action kicks off

in just over four hours on BBC One

with the men's slopestyle.

In the women's slopestyle back

in Sochi, an athlete made history

by becoming the first ever British

medallist on snow.

It's difficult to keep

up with the Jones.

Next up, Jenny Jones. Currently

lying in fifth place.

She is a

bachelor, a champion. --

bachelor, a champion. -- battler.

Great grab, looking very solid.

Jenny Jones has just taken Britain's

first ever Olympic medal on snow.