BBC One Day 5: Speed Skating and GB in Curling Action Winter Olympics

ROCK MUSIC

Glorious slalom skiing from Marcel

Hirscher.

Natalie Geisenberger has won gold.

A

phenomenal run from Chloe Kim. Wow.

At last, Marcel Hirscher is an

Olympic champion.

Christie up the

inside line. In her quest for gold,

Elise Christie ends up on the floor

again.

Contrasting emotions of sport

at the highest level. The good news

this morning is that Elise

Christie's tears have turned into

motivation. As she said on social

media, onwards and upwards. She will

be back on Saturday for the heats

and hopefully the final of the 1500

metres.

There is no elbowing -

we hope - in curling,

but plenty of shouting and brushing.

It's all about accuracy and tactics

and Britain have strong

teams in both the men's

and the women's competitions.

Let's glide into action.

MUSIC: Albatross by Fleetwood Mac.

I think you could be lulled into a

false sense of security with

curling. It can seem so calming but

in fact it's incredibly intense.

That's the arena -

or the "house" in curling terms -

we are going to be spending a lot

of time there over

the next 12 days or so.

Back in 2002, 6 million people

stayed up until past midnight to see

Rhona Martin skip GB to gold -

now Rhona Howie, the canny, calm,

commander of curling,

is with us this morning.

She delivered that Stone of destiny

to win great British gold in the

curling. Good morning, and we have

the bubbling force of nature Chemmy

Alcott alongside me.

You totally

inspired me. I was staying in Ogden

for the Alpine events and you blew

me away with your focus and nerves

of steel. I was so surprised you are

so nice because on that day you

were, I have got this, I will bring

it home.

Let's live it again.

It's on its way! So much depending

on 1's stone. It needs to be

absolutely perfect. It needs to be

right in the centre of the house.

It's looking good. She's done it!

Its Olympic gold for Great Britain.

You will never see a better stone

under greater pressure.

Dougie Donnelly talking about the

pressure. What were you saying to

yourself in that moment?

I'm glad I

couldn't hear him! You are so

focused and have done all the

psychological training over the

years so you are focused on the job

in hand you have to do and you don't

know what the crowd is shouting. You

don't hear any of it. You are so

focused. For me as a skip, all I

want is a shot to play to win. The

team played the end perfectly to

give me the opportunity. If I hadn't

done it then I would have been in

trouble from them. I had the

opportunity, so I was happy.

What

age did you start curling? Eve

Muirhead, the current skipper, she

was barely walking.

I wanted a hobby

for the weekend when I left school.

It wasn't an Olympic medal sport

when I started playing it.

It has

been in 1924, but then went out and

didn't come back until 1998.

As soon

as it came back in, I thought, I

want that.

And now you have the gold

medal. We will talk about plenty

more later in the programme. We have

had a moment of history in South

Korea

had a moment of history in South

Korea with United Korean team in ice

hockey doing this...

A good chance of a goal, and they've

done it! Korea have scored their

first ever goal in Olympic ice

hockey tournament. And this arena

stands, they wave their flights.

Randy Griffin, what a moment it is.

Griffin battled and battled. In the

end it slip through, not a thing of

beauty, but a moment of history for

this combined Korean team. Whether

you are from the north or south, you

will be on your feet cheering that

goal.

STUDIO: Their last group game

against near neighbours Japan, and

you can see the North Korean

cheerleaders are there in force. Can

Korea score again? Let's rejoin Seth

and Kent. COMMENTATOR: They are

giving it everything they can. They

have gone so close. It was North

Korea who went the

Korea who went the closest, they

have Japan rocking. -- it was a

North Korean who went closest. They

are doing what they can to level

things up, and are playing

brilliantly. They beat them 8-0 in

their opening two games. Today they

have been electric, Kent.

They have

been remarkable. The head coach

Sarah Murray has said to embrace the

final 20 minutes and do whatever you

can to make it as memorable as

possible and Korea is doing that in

the third period.

The Koreans

wearing the blue shirts against

Japan. These two already missed out

on a quarterfinal place. This is for

bragging rights in Asian ice hockey.

Something the Koreans would love to

have. This would be a real step

forward, as Griffin, the

goal-scorer, steps towards the zone.

Just to put this in perspective,

Seth, if Korea could come back, and

it looks like they will take a

penalty here, if they came back to

win this game it would be the

equivalent of a gold medal for

Korea. To win a game at these

Olympics would be massive. But they

have some work ahead of them. They

will go to the penalty box. Randi

Griffin is would

Griffin is would wondering whether

she will be taking a penalty.

It's

not a Korean name but it's a name

that will go down in Korean sporting

history, Griffin. Just a couple of

weeks before the start of the

tournament there was a political

deal done. You see the penalty on

Griffin for interference. There was

a deal done politically that the

North Korean and South Korean

women's teams would play together.

And the IOC would allow the roster

to be extended to include 12 North

Korean players. It was agreed three

of them would be North Korean in

every game, at least three of them

would be. These teams are going in

different directions in women's

hockey. The North Koreans have been

up there but are on their way down.

The South Koreans have invested

money in their programme and are

going in and upwards trajectory.

They got promoted at the last World

Championship. Randi Griffin takes

the penalty box.

It was an enormous

announcement. It sent waves

throughout the sporting and

political worlds. And how the

unified Korean team has unified

those waters has been exemplary.

They are down to their final ten

minutes of these games.

Japan have

possession again. The power play.

They escaped with five out skaters

to four and they will try to use

that play advantage.

Japan have it on the blue line. It's

put towards the net. A good blocking

save from the net keeper, who has

stayed controlled on the rebound is.

Korea trying to clear.

Japan holding the zone. The captain

into the side of the net. Couldn't

finish it off. Japan were leading

2-0 before Korea hit back. Trying

again with another opportunity that

might put it to bed. A great block.

The Koreans putting everything on

the line here. Brilliant from Park.

Japan with 20 more seconds of a

player advantage. It goes all the

way through and Japan have it. In

the power play.

the power play. Not quite smashing

Korean hearts into smithereens, but

certainly giving them a good shot

here. Japan should now be on their

way towards a first ever victory in

a match at an Olympic Games. It

could well now be out of reach of

the Koreans.

the Koreans.

Wonderful puck movement

from team Japan. Two Japanese

players in front of the net causing

havoc for the Korean netminder. It

was a blast through everybody, right

through the ice, getting between the

legs of the Korean goalie.

So what

do the Koreans have here? Can they

go any more gung ho than they have

already done?

I think they have to

go the exact same way. Getting three

goals in one game is a pretty tall

order, but they have had their

chances. They will get a few more

before this eight minutes is up.

Japan with Toko, almost with a

chance to finish it off. Toko tries

again herself. It will be taken

away.

away. A good save download from

Shin, who has had a terrific game.

Making some great saves in this one.

That's fired too high. Korea will

try to force this over the line.

Kubo does enough.

Kubo does enough. Griffin trying to

help it on its way.

help it on its way.

You talk about

the differences between Japan and

Korea, and it's the presence of a

heavy duty points shot.

heavy duty points shot. The shot on

the third goal, careered Dulac that.

-- Korea do lack that.

This arena

will not stop making any noise. The

atmosphere has been so good. What a

pass and what a save. That was

incredible.

incredible. Hori picked out the pass

to the back door and somehow Shin

Sojung spread herself out to make

the save.

It might be the save of

the tournament, absolutely

remarkable from the Korean

netminder. Down and out, and she

flings her blocker to keep the puck

away.

Worked out of the zone by the

Koreans. And now they have to go

back.

It will be a penalty against Japan

with Kim Un Hyang taken down. A

raised eyebrow.

The coach tries to give his players

some experience playing in Olympic

Games. You see Jun take a breather

as she gets a break.

This is the

penalty. The

Pressure on the

backside and then the right skate up

ending Kim. Here is the save. Just

got it with her shoulder. Would have

been a question whether that was

going to go in or not. But it was a

beautiful pass. Here is the long

shot right through everybody.

Slipping under the pad of Shin and

the bow of respect after the goal.

Good shot and it was through a lot

of legs. The save 37 of 40. Good

stats that for the Korean net

minder. It has been a great game. If

it stays like this for the remainder

it still has been a really good

exhibition of women's ice hockey.

Maybe not had some of the skill of

the other games we have seen, but

it's made up for it with everything

else.

Both teams giving it

everything they have got. Especially

Korea. Just playing with terrific

emotion as well.

Offside given as

Park tried to cut all the way across

the blue line.

the blue line.

Sarah Murray, you

wonder how hard and how fast her

heart is beating right now. Looks

pretty calm on the inside. We will

talk about the athletes, we talk

about their experience, but what a

thrill for the coaching staff and

especially Sarah Murray, what she

has had to navigate through over the

past month.

You feel like there is a

film to be made in this somewhere

down the line. Korea still on that

power play, but can't do enough with

it.

65 seconds of one player advantage.

Six on five, five or four they skate

to should I say. You only count the

out skaters. You don't worry about

the goalies.

The Koreans digging in. A big

deflection. It was taken out of the

air, wouldn't have counted, it was

off a high stick of Im.

Much better

job by the Koreans, winning that

battle. You see this puck gets

deflected up. You can't touch the

puck with your stick above your

shoulders. That was close, but the

referee had already called it a high

stick. Anywhere around the chest is

fine. But above the shoulders is a

no-no.

It is outside the lines. Not able to

keep it in this time was Jun.

Japan

cause problems for Korea when

they're so aggressive on the power

play. They're overloading on the

puck side and it was too much. The

puck came inches over the blue line,

but that's enough. To be called

offside and a face-off to take place

outside of Japanese territory.

Good

skating into the zone, back to full

strength, the penalty expires.

You hear the decibels rise every

time there is an opportunity.

time there is an opportunity. Japan

maybe looking for one more insurance

marker. Korea will keep working and

now they will come forward with a

bit of speed.

Kubo should finish it. Misses the

net. What an opportunity that was.

Taka went hard to the ice. That is a

long range effort that goes into the

glove and gets a bit feisty as the

whistle blows. We're into the

closing stages. She will be part of

a pub quiz question somewhere down

the line as to who was beaten for

the first ever Korean ice hockey

goal. Shin has had had a great game.

Yes, I love the passing from Team

Japan. Taka tries to go high glove.

Just a little too excited and misses

on the far side.

on the far side. Jung taking a lock

on the big screen at her work. It

has been a busy evening for her. She

has been really solid. Only three

goals surrendered up until now.

Some

set plays being drawn out on the

board. What they're looking for is

something from the face-off. If they

can look at something here, they're

looking for a structure. There you

go. You can see what they're trying

to explain here.

They want No 3, at

the top at the blue line. We have

said that is the hardest shot. You

saw him look up at the clock and I'm

sure they're going to pull the net

minder when it gets down to a minute

and a half and he was directing

where the sixth skater is going to

go once they come out on to the ice.

There is Koike, one goal, one

assist. And they have already pulled

the net minder. So six attackers

against five for Korea. It all

starts with the face-off, you need

that puck possession and try to move

it around from there.

Japan have the

opportunity if they get any puck

possession to throw this at

ununguarded net. -- at ununguarded

net.

That goes wide and it will be an

icing call. This is like a game of

jeopardy, if you are the Japanese

theme, you have that carrot of the

empty net, but the stick of icing

the puck and giving away a face-off.

The rule is if you're up by two,

you're not too worried about icing

the puck, because you have that

cushion. But typically if it is just

a one-goal lead, you do not want to

ice it. That stops the puck and

allows the team to set up their

face-off play.

Japan try and

overload and it is helped away.

Ukita with an empty net. You can

stick this one in the books - Japan

are going to skate to victory over

Korea. But it has been a way more

difficult game than they could have

imagined. Ukita returns from

suspension and makes the most of the

unguarded net.

Just taking too much

time to decide where to move that

puck. Ukita is just a good skater.

Was able to take away her pass. And

then skate on to the empty net.

You're right, Seth, I don't think

going into this one Japan thought it

would take an empty net for them to

have a huge sigh of relief. But with

a minute and 27 left, I think Japan

can know they're skating to their

first Olympic victory.

We knew this was going to be an

historic day, turns out we have had

our cake and eaten it! Because the

Koreans have done so much. Can they

get one more? That would have been a

cherry on top of this performance.

They have worked ever so hard in

this game. Japan the better side,

hands down. But the Koreans have

made it very difficult, as Japan

come in. Here is Kubo. The final 30

seconds. Shin will grab hold of that

gratefully.

Japan definitely the

better side, ranked No 9 in the

world, Korea at No 22. You look at

Japan taking Sweden 2-1 and taking

Switzerland 3-1. Both teams beating

the Korean side by 8-0 scores. We

saw terrific effort from Korea.

Feeding off telephone crowd and off

everyone else. And another offensive

zone face-off for the Koreans. Still

fixtures to come for both of these

sides. You play for the minor

placings in the Olympics.

Japan know they're 10 seconds away.

Can they score one more? Time will

run out. And it is game over.

History-makers, Japan skate to a

first Olympic victory. Whilst Korea

get their first ever goal. It was

played in a sensational atmosphere.

Two teams that never gave up, never

gave in, never backed down and both

in the end got their just rewards,

but it is the name of that girl

Randy Griffin who will take the

applause. She is the history-maker

for a Korean perspective and it

could have been so much closer.

A

wonderful moment for hockey in

general, for this unified Korean

team, as both clubs shake hands.

Korea getting the goal. Japan

getting the victory in a hard-fought

game. Sensational goaltending from

the Korean side and there is

Griffin, the goal scorer, the

Harvard Grad. Putting the whole

nation of Korea on their feet.

She

will be heading to Duke University

soon to go and continue her studies,

but this was an opportunity she

didn't want to pass up. And goodness

me, she won't over pass up an

opportunity like this again in her

life. It was phenomenal for Randy

Griffin. That goal made it three.

She finished that one off from

range. Still there was plenty of

pressure on and the North Koreans,

they went close before Ukita sealed

things for Japan. First Olympic

victory for them on a sensational

day. Bows all around. As Japan

finish 4-1 victors here.

STUDIO: Wonderful shots of Korean

teams thanking their fans and

everybody who got the hottest ticket

in town. Everyone said they were

trying to get a ticket to the ice

hockey, because they felt it was

such an important moment. Great to

see them score their first goal as a

united Korea team. Here what is is

coming up this morning.

All new team had a tense match with

Switzerland. They're back on the ice

soon. Eve Muir head is an old hand

at this now.

at this now. At 31 Shaun White

attempts to win the title for the

third time. And Wust aims for a six

gold in speed skating. Next all

things curling.

We will see whether Ireen Wust can

make a bit more history. And curling

will continue over on BBC One,

starting on the red button, before

we pick it up on BBC One.

The schedule continues to be

disrupted and sadly alpine events

were cancelled again. The women's

slalom postponed until Friday and

the women's biathlon also offer. The

gang

gang Olympic Park had to be

evacuated for safety as well. That's

very unusual.

Those weather gods are

destroying the alpine so far. But

everybody has to keep their heads

up. It's the Olympics, we will run

the events. You rarely cancel an

event for good. We will squeeze it

in somewhere and we will have bumper

days on Thursday and Friday in

Alpine with men and women racing

both days. The forecast is looking

good, but it's brutal. The girls are

preparing every day, waking up and

getting ready for the event, and

then having to release and rest

again. It's so hard to have that

intensity and then back off.

We will

look at what the timetable is meant

to be now and it will mean doubling

up events on

to be now and it will mean doubling

up events on certain days. It's a

boost for TV viewers and spectators.

It's great sport.

Amazing.

What is

the weather forecast saying?

It

looks good. We thought the American

Michaela Shifrin might come away

with something, but the programme

for her will be stacked. She will

have giant slalom, then slalom and

then super-g within three days. It

takes a lot of adaptability to

change discipline like that. She is

adaptable, but she will have a lot

more challenges than we thought.

And

if she had any fall then she will

have no recovery time because there

are no days off any more.

The days

off where we don't see them racing

now our training runs on the hills,

so they can learn about the terrain

on the downhills and the airtime

they need.

Chemmy knows all things

about winter sports, so we will have

another question and answer session

with her. Use the hashtag AskChemmy.

Bronze medallists in Sochi, the

women's curling team, Eve Muirhead

is the skip. What did you make of

their match against OAR?

The first

game is great. The first game they

came out, they were nervous and you

could tell, it's their first game of

the Olympics, whether they have

could tell, it's their first game of

the Olympics, whether they have been

out or not, it's still

nerve-racking. But very clinical

performance, plain bread and butter

shots very well, putting pressure on

the athletes from Russia. They

really had a convincing win.

How

important is in your first game to

demolish the opposition?

To be

honest, I don't even think the

scoreline matters, it's the win or a

loss. In their head, a win's win. It

moves them up the scoreboard. It

doesn't matter if it is 10-9 or

10-2. They will have got used the

ice conditions, which are good. You

can tell the Olympic Athletes from

Russia struggled with the ice today

and were not making shots. They are

an experienced team, winning gold at

the European Championships, but they

have struggled with the ice. But the

great British girls were on it from

the word go bust up we can remind

you of the teams and how they line

up.

You will see a repetition of

certain surnames with the Muirhead

family strongly represented.

Good juniors, or making the Olympic

debuts. That's the men's team. The

women are very familiar. They took

bronze in Sochi, and won the

European title in 2017 and took

bronze at the World Championships.

They know each other,

bronze at the World Championships.

They know each other, so how

important is that, to be with people

you completely trust?

It's so

important. Team dynamic is a massive

part of success. You are spending

all day every day with these people.

You don't have to like each other.

But you have to have the same goal

and when you step on the ice you

have to work as a team. It's

important to work on the dynamic

because everyone is different and

everyone needs different attention

if they are not playing well or

playing well. It's not the same for

everyone. It's important for Eve

Muirhead as the skip, that she knows

how to speak to her players and her

players know how to speak to her

depending on how they are all

playing.

How difficult is

qualification, was it always given

that Eve Muirhead's rink would be

the Olympic team?

In Britain we have

the election process where they

could have had a play-off, but

nobody had achieved at the European

and world level to challenge Eve

Muirhead,

Muirhead, so she was automatically

selected.

It's an all-new team for

the men this time. How did they get

to that?

Again, it was the same

selection process for the men as the

women.

women. Tom Brewster and David

Murdoch were in the running having

been at the world and European

Championships last year. If they had

won a medal then there could have

been a play-off, but Kyle Waddell's

team performed really well on the

world stage at the end of last

season. So they got automatic

selection from the panel. They could

have said, we will have a play-off,

three men's teams were in

contention.

Should they have had a

play-off?

Their arguments both ways.

This young team up and coming, they

finished last season really

strongly. David Murdoch's team and

Anton Brewster's team had

opportunities to win medals last

season, but because they didn't win

any then the selection team went the

way they did.

Canada, how big a deal

is it to get selected to go to the

Olympics? How hard is it to be the

top team in Canada?

It's a massive

win in Canada, to win the Olympic

trials. Every year they have the

tournament of hearts for the women

and the pariah for the men. That's

to get to the world. In the Olympics

they have an Olympic trial with ten

teams, and any of them could win.

It's so tough to come through the

trials. And it's in December time,

so it's the team on form. It's only

this past December where they have

the trials and that team is now at

the Olympics. It is not long to get

their heads around what they will

compete in, but they are playing

well, on form.

Did you look at the

mixed doubles that Canada won and

think, that looks good.

It's just

fun. I think it's great the women

are playing the last stones after

the men.

A lot of people ask why

Team GB didn't have a team in that.

Can you explain?

It's the first year

in the other Big Sam there are only

eight teams. You qualify by ranking

points from the World Championships.

We finished eighth after the last

two World Championships, but because

career hadn't -- because Korea

hadn't, and the host nation

automatically gets a spot.

So if it

had been Canada, we would have been

in.

We were so close to being there.

It would have been great to be part

of that, but next time, I think all

these nations will be looking at the

structure and process for the mixed

doubles.

Great Britain have had good

success in curling in the Winter

Olympics. Yourself in Salt Lake City

in 2002, and the British men won

gold in the 1920s. There has been a

silver and a bronze as well. We are

hopeful for a medal from both teams.

Vary.

Rhona is confident. We can

look at the men from this morning.

Two games today and we will see them

up

Two games today and we will see them

up against Canada later. But this

was a very tense match against

Switzerland, Rhona.

Yeah,

Switzerland had the last stone

advantage in the tenth end.

This was

Switzerland to bring it level.

Yeah,

and they were tapping it up for two,

and just rubbed the top guard, just

feathered off it. If they had got

past the guard they would have got

two and won the game.

That slight

mistake meant it went to an 11th and

extra end. We can join the

commentators Jackie Lockhart and

Steve Cram.

COMMENTATOR: Thomas Muirhead doing a

good job. What you don't want to do

is stick it. You don't want to hit

it on the nose and leave your own

stones sitting there.

And that's the

difference between the take out and

what they

what they call a peel, where you

peel your own stone away from the

playing area, as well as your own

stone that's away.

Here we go again. Up the centre,

playing lovely and open, exactly as

you would want if you were GB.

That's largely down to the terrific

two shots from Cammy Smith to start

the end. Those little ticked shots

to open things up.

Another nice shot from Thomas

Muirhead. His last three ends have

been very good.

So now Claudio Patz and Peter de

Cruz working out what to do with

their final end.

They will try to

put one in the centre line around a

similar distance to the bottom as

the one in the back. It's about

protecting the back red at the

moment.

moment.

You can see where he would

like it to finish up. The blowers

have come back on again!

I think Great Britain's cause has

been helped slightly by this sticky

patch that Benoit Schwarz went

through. It will be the last stone

of the tenth end, catching the guard

on the way through as well. Get this

across...

Just want to move that out of the

way. Trying to keep this nice and

clear. The skip for Great Britain

will have a shot at the end, we

assume here, to win the match.

It's gone very quiet in here. The

British contingent,

British contingent, including the

British dignitaries from the British

team, watching this.

Oops, not what they were looking

for, but I guess they get second

prize. All of a sudden, the

difficulty for Kyle Smith's final

end has gone up threefold.

Now he

has the chance to draw up behind

that and go close in.

that and go close in. Something for

Kyle Smith to have to work around.

Depends how good he goes here.

Working out exactly where they would

like to be.

It's never over, is it? You just

thought it was going nicely Great

Britain's way, just peel off, leave

the ice nice and clear and draw into

the four foot to win the match.

Still going to have a chance to win

it. It just might have to be a very

good shot. Let's see what Benoit

Schwarz can do here.

Schwarz has struggled with his

weight, but good players come good

when it matters.

Some are just

touching the edge of the button is

what he is looking for.

That line looks good, but they're

having to work this. It just catches

the guard again. It is not even in

the house. That is a real mistake

from Benoit Schwarz. That is a

cardinal error. He has come up, it

was a tight line, but it was short.

They were trying to sweep it in. At

least into the house would have

given Kyle Smith something to think

about. A straight forward shot now

to draw this to anywhere in the

house and Britain will win their

first match. Thomas Muirhead has

come good towards the end and Kyle

Smith has struggled with one or two

of his shots. But this is pretty

straight forward. The British skip

with the chance to draw in in this

extra end, the last stone.

I'm holding my breath as well, I

don't know why. It is such a

straight forward shot. It looks

fine. Well the hand shake comes in

the end. What a win for Great

Britain. It was a tight match all

the way through. Great Britain in

the final end holding Switzerland to

one. Great Britain with the hammer

and they played it brilliantly. One

or two mistakes from both teams

meant it was a bit of a nail-biter.

But what a great way for the men's

team to start. They have won their

first match with Switzerland.

Congratulations, what a way to start

the campaign?

Delighted to get off

with a win. Couldn't be a better

start. Very chuffed.

A tight affair.

How were the nerves?

You're always

going to get nervy playing our first

Olympics, but it is keeping them

under control and knowing the

processes to do it right.

It sounds

like a stock answer, but I bet the

nerves were jangling a bit.

There

was a few missed shots, but we

played them in the Europeans and it

makes for a good game. It was easier

than we expected. I It was a good

team shot.

You had a wobble in the

middle. How important was it that

the guys got around you?

Yes

struggled for a couple of ends and

lost my feel. The boys had some good

information to pass on. A team

effort and I think every little

helps.

You are all giving nice stock

answers, it was a tough first day,

Switzerland and Canada tonight, it

was an important win.

Yes they're

one of the teams you expect to be

near the podium, so pleased to get

off to our first Olympics in such a

good performance. We struggled a wee

bit. But we pulled it together and

pleased to get the win.

Congratulations and good luck

tonight.

Congratulations and good luck

tonight.

STUDIO: First appearance and first

win. They're funny in the

interviews.

Yes, as Steve said stock

answers. First Olympics and they

have got off to a win against a

strong team.

Up against Canada, what

would she expect?

It will be a tough

game. But they're playing well.

They're playing the shots well

against Switzerland. It is a strong

Canadian team. So they're a strong

team, there is no doubt. But no, I'm

looking forward to it. I think the

British boys have a good chance of

pushing.

Really?

If they can play

the way they can play they can push

Canada to the end.

That will be a

really good match. We will be live

with that. It will start on the red

button and then here on BBC twhun.

BBC1. Now to the speed skating to

see whether the Netherlands greatest

Olympician can add another gold to

her tally.

Olympician can add another gold to

her tally. COMMENTATOR: We are

across from the Ice Arena where the

short track drama took place. It is

the women's 1,000 metres.

the women's 1,000 metres.

It is two

and a half laps of track and the aim

is to get the maximum speed after

the first 200 metres.

It is a race

against the watch. Two and a half

laps.

The Italian ranked 7th in the World

Cup.

Let's concentrate on this 1,000

metres.

A super opening for

Tandiman. She will move to the outer

lane. The skaters have to exchange

every lap, change from the inner to

the outer lane.

Wondering, we have

said it is a sprint, is it flat out

all the way. Or do you need to

measure your effort?

It is a

measurured effort, Tandiman moves

from the outside. The outer skater

has the right of way. But it is a

sprint. It is a maximum effort the

first 200, 99% the second lap and

then the last lap 110%.

Tandiman on

the inside lane. . In theory is it

an advantage to be coming around on

the inside lane on the final lap or

the outside?

A lot of short track

skaters prefer the inner lane.

Because they're used to keeping a

tight line. Some of the,

particularly the men, the speeds are

up to 60 kilometres an hour, they

prefer to have the outer lane at the

last bend.

When you're here they fly

around this track. It is so

impressive. There is a camera

alongside the finishing straight.

Hopefully we will get some shots

from that to show you the speed.

Wust, second in the 3,000 and won

the other day as well. She is the

greatest Dutch winter sports

Olympician of all time.

An

Everybody in the stadium will be

rooting for Wust to add another

gold. But I think she will be lucky

to get on the podium.

She has only

ever been the world champion at this

distance once way back in 2007.

distance once way back in 2007. The

most successful speed skater in the

history of the Olympics and it is a

false start.

false start.

The skaters only

allowed one false start. If they had

another false start they would have

to leave the ice. The skater in the

white arm band was the skater with

the falls start and that was Wust.

Wow, all that experience and it

still happens to her. That shows you

how keen she is and how important

she knows it is to make a fast start

here.

here. This will be a split second

thing in terms of where the medals

go. She missed out by 0.03 in the

3,000. She can't afford to make a

mistake now. Away they go at the

second time of asking. You see this

mad dash to get up to speed. Wust on

the inside for the first lap.

Wust

trying to keep as close as possible

to the Italian skater and she is

doing well. Coming through the first

200 metres.

At this early stage,

both inside the previous fastest

time. Still early days. We have 16

pairs. This is only the fourth pair

out. But one of the biggest names in

Wust from the Netherlands as she

comes to take the bell.

The time

almost half a second in fronts. But

it is not about the time that has

been set, but it is about Wust

skating as fast as possible.

Down

the back straight. They're on the

track now. Half way down the back

straight. It is a big, long sprint

for the line. Will it be enough for

her to claim another gold medal?

Well she is going to have a long

time to find out. But I think she is

going to set a new fastest time and

she has. 1.15.32. By over a second

we have a new early leader and it is

the great Ireen Wust.

A great time.

I don't think it will be quick

enough to win the gold. They were

having some test races when I

arrived here a week ago and the time

from another athlete in a test race

was faster. The ice conditions here

are superb. I would expect a faster

time than this time of Wust.

It is

back-loaded, so you have got the

favourites going later on.

That's

correct. Because of of course this

isn't Ireen's favourite distance and

has not skated in many World Cups

so, she will skate earlier on.

so, she will skate earlier on.

Here

is pair five, Jing from China.

is pair five, Jing from China. World

silver medallist. Judith Dannhauer,

eighth in the World Championship a

couple of years ago. She has had a

couple of top ten finishes in the

World Cup. So we will see her later

in the Olympics as well at the

shorter sprint.

Pair five of 16 away cleany. You can

hear the click-clacking of the

skates as the spring loads on the

skates open and close.

That was a

design invented by the University of

amster Stam and it is a -- Amsterdam

and it gives more pressure for

longer. Yu, 25 hundredths of a

second quicker than Wust.

second quicker than Wust.

Dannhauer

the fastest at the first time check.

They will take the bell this time.

This will be the next time check

over the line. See whether Wust's

time will be under threat. It is.

Have they timed and measured their

effort correctly? Have they got

plenty left in the tank to keep this

going? They have given themselves a

platform to set a new leading time.

Of course, Ireen, because she is

better at the longer distances, both

are Tiger up coming to that -- tying

up.

You can sense the pain, the

lengths will be screaming. The

German skater as she comes up over

the line, 1.17.41. You can visibly

see she was almost slowing down. In

the end Yu Jing from China set the

second quickst time and Dannhauer of

Germany fourth fastest. But they

couldn't quite bring it home on that

last lap. That was the staying power

and the ability of Wust to keep on

going and going.

You can see the

Chinese skater, nice compact

position, trying to stay as close to

the blue inner line, because that is

the shortest way around. But Wust

still there after her 1,000 metres.

Two and a half laps of the track.

She skated early in the 1,500 metre

and won. So she is in a similar

situation.

The Kazakhstan competitor competing

in her third Olympic Games.

Away they go. Tian Ruining with a

very punchy style.

very punchy style.

The right arm

swinging rapidly backwards and

forwards. The left arm out the back,

very unusual for a 1000 metre

skater. They want to get maximum

speed.

And Yekaterina Aydova of Kazakhstan,

going very well.

Moving round onto

the inside now.

Yekaterina Aydova

preferred to skate a little weight.

A little bit more relaxed. Both

skaters already outside the time of

Ireen Wust.

Nine skaters have

already completed their races up

until now. You can see it really

hurting. The Chinese skater, Tian

Ruining, gritting her teeth as they

come round to the finishing

straight. This is where it really

hurts, your legs screaming and

gasping for air. Tian Ruining from

China, fourth fastest so far and she

looks pretty pleased so far. And

Aydova of as extant, fifth fastest.

A personal record for Tian Ruining

of 1:15.3 six. All the training

times they have put in over the last

two weeks, the skaters have been

here since the 1st of February. The

times are really going well.

Here we go with the seventh pairing.

There are 16 pairs but we have the

equivalent of a half-time interval

after eight because they resurfaced

the ice because it will get cut up

the longer more skaters have been on

it. It doesn't take long to

resurface, but then they leave it

for ten minutes or so too harden off

a little bit. Ida Njaatun of Norway

came seventh the other day in the

1500 metres. In really good form.

Her best Olympic performance, 16th

in the race four years ago.

in the race four years ago. And the

23-year-old Kim Hyun-Yung of South

Korea.

Ireen Wust of the Netherlands has

set the time to beat. A slightly

delayed. Start. They looked like

they were up and away and running.

Interesting to see if it was a false

start or whether it was another

problem, the skater in the white

armband, the

white, indicating the

skater with the white armband...

That was Kim of Korea.

-- the white

armband. You can see the blades

almost moving as she goes into that

crouched, tucked position.

It's very

sensitive as a mechanism, isn't it?

A deep breath, and you move just a

fraction, and it will set it off.

Kim Hyun-Yung has a couple of team

sprint medals this season in World

Cup races. They went and a third

place.

place. Looking to improve on 28th

place over this distance in Sochi

four years ago. She will have to get

this right. You're just one false

start.

start. Cleanly away this time. We

will have the first time check over

the finishing line.

It is Kim of Korea who is currently

fastest in real time-out on the

track. But she has a long way to go.

Already the time is starting to slip

away. But Kim making a superb start

here.

She is, a former short form

skater, didn't make the Korean team,

and is now trying to put together a

good performance over 1000 metres.

A

big 400 metres coming up for Kim

Hyun-Yung. Still leading the way by

just less than four tenths of a

second. But Ida Njaatun is starting

to come back, the Norwegian. She has

good staying power after performing

well at 1500 metres, the longer

distance. Maybe she can start to

wind it up now.

An advantage for Kim

on the inside lane, but she doesn't

have the legs.

She is really

struggling. And Ida Njaatun's time

is good enough for second fastest.

Kim just faded on the last lap.

Kim just faded on the last lap.

Ida

Njaatun of

Njaatun of Norway does have the

faster time, but Ireen Wust is still

on top of the leaderboard and in the

gold medal position.

gold medal position.

Ida Njaatun of

Norway is currently in the silver

medal position.

medal position. A fast start, but

ran out of puff on the final lap.

The blue segment of the line

indicating whether coaches have to

stand where the skaters come along.

Kaylin Irvine from Canada, the

27-year-old from Calgary. Her best

performance

in the World

Championships, 13th at this distance

in 2013.

in 2013. And Angelina Golikova, from

the Olympic Athletes from Russia,

from Moscow herself. Golikova, all

her best results in her career have

come 500 metres. So maybe sustaining

the sprint might be difficult for

her. Golikova in the blue.

I must

say that the starter is holding the

skaters for extremely long before

they start.

Irvine looking to

improve on 18th place in Sochi four

years ago. Both inside the fastest

time. Getting off well. We expect

that from Golikova, she is really a

500 metres sprinter.

It's all about

sustaining the speed you have gained

over the first 200 metres.

Going

round the bend and into the first

finishing straight. Look at that

speed, 50 kph. Golikova, over half a

second up on the time of Ireen Wust,

with half a lap to go. This is when

it hurts. This is when you have to

drive on and dig deep. Golikova is

in that zone now, where the lakes

want to tie up and stop, and you can

barely put 1's gate in front of the

other.

Golikova is struggling here

on the last bend. Irvine almost

creeping up the inside.

Kaylin

Irvine is coming on strong at the

end, and it was closed between a

pair of them. Golikova was slightly

quicker, but again, couldn't hold

the speed having given herself the

platform. She has the pure speed,

rather than the ability to keep it

going with a longer sprint.

We can

see Golikova trying to stay as close

as possible to the inner blue line.

Coming up to the line, it's the

skate that crosses the line. We have

the clap skate mechanism, where the

clap skate widens.

By the time they

get to the final bend, they start to

look like they have heavy legs.

That's the difference between the

skaters who specialise in 500 metres

and those who specialise in 1000

metres. There is Ireen Wust, she has

had her race and will go back to the

changing room to wait.

Ireen Wust is

the leader. We will take a break

while the ice is resurfaced, and

then we will come back for the final

eight pairs. STUDIO: It shows you

the effort, it look side she is on

oxygen. We now have a chance to

catch up on some other sports. To

remind you, 11:05am, the great

British male curlers are up against

Canada and that will start live on

the red button and we will join it

here at about 11:20am after the gold

medals in the speed skating. But

first... We are going snowboarding.

We will go to the half pipe, where

flying tomato Shaun White is trying

to win a third Olympic title. He

finished fourth in Sochi, quite

controversial, but has come back

into the Olympic programme,

representing the USA and he has a

great rivalries with Australian

Scotty James. And the Japanese

competitor was the youngest

competitor to win a gold medal at

just 15 in Sochi. COMMENTATOR:

Scotty James, so much has been said

about this man. He looks relaxed. A

smile on his face. He's enjoying

every minute of this.

He has just

seen one of his biggest rivals

crashed.

The classic run is 12 to

12. Frontside 1260. My goodness,

there it is. Backside 1260.

Back-to-back 12s. Backside nine,

frontside 900.

A huge crippler.

There it is, he's done it.

What they

run to lay down first.

That's

ridiculous.

ridiculous. Back-to-back 1260s.

92!

Scotty James moves into first place

and Shaun White knows the heat is on

already, and it's only the first

runs. Shaun White has had a little

nudge from Scotty James.

He has his

eyes closed, taking a few deep

breaths. A quick slap and clap with

JJ Thomas, his coach at the top.

This is where Shaun White comes into

his own. He is brilliant under

pressure.

pressure. 1440 to start. And that

was massive, into the switch 1080.

He skyhook, maybe lost a tiny bit of

speed in the flat bottom. How did he

hold onto that? Frontside 12. He has

two tucked in his head, it was like

he was landing in the barrel a wave.

He has just lost his helmet into the

crowd. He looks like he has been

electrocuted.

They are behaving like

it's the third run! I need that

back, he said! Yes you do, it's not

over yet.

We already know where this

run will improve, and it's there. If

he gets pushed, that will be 1440.

94.25! Shaun White is claiming it,

but this is not the third and final

runs.

runs. We are just finishing up the

first run.

We are into the three final riders,

and these are the men who are vying

for gold.

Stratospheric backside air from him.

Frontside 14. Does he have the speed

for the switch 14? Yes, he has.

Back-to-back 1440s and it's a

backside 1260! You knew he would

land it from the moment he took off.

The heat is on, it's on the street!

Shaun White, look at the Japanese

coaches. They deserve that, they

needed some good

needed some good news and Ayumu

Hirano has landed the biggest run in

half pipe snowboarding just now.

Enormous backside air. Five and a

half metres and into the front side.

The grabs are held forever, it helps

him keep tight and spin as fast as

he is.

Shaun White is in the biggest

fight of his Olympic career. He has

never been put under this pressure.

Back-to-back 1440s. He follows that

up with what looked like 900 and

then back-to-back 1260s.

He is going

so big, the spins aren't rushed.

The

final 1260 still has it. That is a

run that would give the scientists

at CERN a headache.

95.25. We have

talked long and hard about where the

judging had to go. Hirano moves into

first place.

I'm just going to rip

this script up.

That's gone.

We knew

it would happen.

We knew it would be

close. Shaun White has dominated

half pipe riding for the last 12

years since he won his first gold in

Turin. We have seen one drop. This

is the second, Scotty James, the

Australian, who wan so many of the

-- who won so many of the big

contests in 2017. He was furious

when he lost to Shaun White three

weeks ago. He landed the best run of

his life and Shaun White scored a

perfect 100 to steal his glory.

Front side at 1260.

It was massive.

That is the best one ehas ever done

of those.

Look enormous front side

1080. Wow!

1080. Wow! Switch backside 1260. He

tried to claim it at the end.

Massive.

The biggest trick in

snowboarding now. That is why, it is

hard, it is difficult. Tries to

claim it, but the hand drag was

there.

I would love to see that

score broken down trick by trick. I

think he was on target there. Shaun

White in very uncharted territory.

All change at the top. 95.25 for

Hirano. Shaun White in silver.

Scotty James in bronze. Shaun White

- the most successful half pipe

snowboarder of all time is about to

drop in and he is in unfamiliar

territory. Every time he has taken

the gold it has been with the luxury

of a victory lap. Now he is under

pressure and he needs 95.25 and the

run of his life.

Front side 1440.

Switch. Rvegts rvegts

The sky hook.

The fixture of every winning Shaun

White run. Can he?

Oh! He has landed

it. Oh, my goodness. It is no longer

about the snowboarding, it is about

the judges. Look at him, the first

time Shaun White has landed that run

in competition. Scotty James can't

believe that Shaun's found another

gear and I don't think Hirano can.

Shaun White might have done it.

Let's wait and see what the scores

are saying.

It was a backside air.

The difference between them is a

backside air and a frontside 440.

This could be history. Judges put

the world out of its misery.

We are

getting the replays first, Tim.

Look

at the direction of the... His head

is looking almost out out rotation.

He is using every ounce of his fibre

to get these tricks around. The

toe-grab there. Frowned upon in

snowboarding.

He is not requiring a

body grab to get that around. The

sky hook. The grab on that. This is

his trade mark signature manoeuvre

he unveiled in Vancouver.

The double

McTwist. Here is the other 1260. You

have got to say s Shaun went 1440.

He threw it first hit top of the

pipe.

He has put that big dangerous

trick in higher up the pipe. That is

more risk, more risk equals more

points.

points.

97.95, Shaun White is the

gold medallist in 2018. Say what you

want about him, think what you want

about him, Shaun White has won

today. That was an incredible

display of half pipe snowboarding

and no one can take that away from

him. Look what it means. He has

played it cool. It is a second

silver medal for Hirano, but I don't

think he can have any complaints, it

was not a difficult decision for the

judges. After a heated season, a

hand shake to congratulate the gold

medallist. Today was brilliant.

Simply brilliant. Shaun White, truly

the rested for the first time in --

tested for the first time in 12

years and he has delivered in some

style. He has put on a master class

here at Phoenix Park to take the

gold medal.

Well done. Just how hard

was that final?

It was tough. My

first run was great. I did the

biggest 14 of my life. That I think

I will ever do. That set the tone

for the rest of the competition. I

was hoping I would hold and skate

into the first. But he did an

amazing run and I had to step it up.

Second run was a wash. I came

through with that last run. The

pressure's on. I put it down, man it

was great.

pressure's on. I put it down, man it

was great.

STUDIO: He is a big performance guy.

He had to do it.

I'm so impressed by

what that meant to him. He has

achieved so much. He had the fight

for that. It was so exciting. We all

thought it was going to be a battle

between him and Scotty James. But it

wasn't. The Japanese Hirano made

White lift his game. Look at the

height on these 1440s. That is what

is impressive to do it so high up in

the pipe and then he backs it up

with huge 1260s.

He knew he couldn't

put a hand down or have a wobble. He

needed to do this absolutely clean.

Like Tim said, he hasn't been pushed

that hard for so long. The first run

he thought the first run was good

enough. He show boated and threw his

helmet away and then it was far from

over. He got challenged not by the

person he thought he would be

challenged by. It was incredible

riding. Oh, my gosh, the heights and

he just, he stomped it. I know that

a is snowboard term.

You're allowed

to use it. A fourth gold for the

United States all in snowboarding.

What is different about him is he is

older. Two of the winners have been

teenagers, he is 31. He has come

peopled at four lives. He only

finished fourth in Sochi. He is the

come back guy and he is so

established.

He is still inspired.

He is huge in the celebrity world

and he has been in movies, you can

see his passion lies in the pipe. He

still wants to push himself.

What is

your take on the modern sports

coming in, the more showbiz element.

I I this it is -- I think it is

great. They're mad! It is the

younger and the dynamic part.

Before

we head back to the speed skating,

we have some questions, the ask

Chemmy section can be extended to

curling.

curling. The South Korean flag,

Pyeongchang, this is what it looks

like. The question is those four

symbols, what do they mean?

We know

about the centre, which is the oom

Yang, representing the red is the

positive and the Cosmic forces and

the blue is the negative. The

outside is interesting. On the left

left we have a sign meaning heaven

and then sun and moon and earth.

The

four elements.

The four seasons, the

four elements, they represent the

four virtues. The flag is so

symbolic.

Now curling, how do they

grip on the ice? How are those shoes

designed so they just don't fall.

One shoe is slidy and one gripy. If

you're right handed you wear the

Teflon on your left foot.

What is

the on grip?

Gripping material. It

is rubber.

You don't have...

A

trainer sole would grip.

Would it?

A

decent enough trainer. The

importance is the Teflon, the

thickness of the Teflon determines

how fast it is.

Do you test it

before the games?

Yes you will have

used ethem. A lot of them will

customise their trainers.

They

design themselves. You don't just go

to a shop for a pair of curling

shoes.

That what is they have done

for years. In the last couple of

years you will see certain people...

Using their own trainers.

A lot of

questions about relative speeds. At

the Olympics and Chemmy, down hill

skiers are going fast.

100mph is the

fastest. Faster than we can drive in

this country.

So the four-man bob?

That is around 93mph. But the world

record is 125mph. Can you imagine

what that feels like on your neck.

Do they not have to wear seat belts?

That is why they're jam packed.

That

is Britain's four-man bob. What

about the luge?

That is about 87mph.

In Vancouver the top speed was

96mph. That is huge.

We have been

watching the speed skating. How fast

are they going?

The most important

thing is the flats surface. It is

power generated by muscle. They

manage to skate at 35mph. That is

why the legs are substantial.

What

about a curling stone. How fast that

is?

A normal draw will take about 25

seconds to get from one end to the

other. But to play the fastest hit

you could, I don't know, 5 seconds

maybe. From one end to the other.

Curling started in Scotland with

people playing on frozen lochs, if

it wasn't an enclosed link that

stone would get up to quite a pace.

Yes you have to throw it hard on

frozen lochs. The current ice is

faster.

The world record, you in a

loch. Let's make that happen.

So we

were talking about speed skating and

how much power they can generate and

speed they get their on the ice. And

the Dutch have been dominant. But a

lot of questions, given we are

watching the thousand metres and

Wilf will be answer to this, if

Ellise Christie were to switch to

long track, is the 1,000 metres

something she would be able to do or

is it completely different.

Simon and I about that Elise might

do good at taking a year doing long

track. The Koreans very, very

popular with changing from short

track to long track. I think she

would do well.

would do well.

COMMENTATOR: We saw

Park from Korea, that what is the

cheer was. She was a short track

Park from Korea, that what is the

cheer was. She was a short track

skater. A former world and Olympic

short track champion. In the 500

meters four years ago, when Elise

Christie collided with Fontana, Park

was also taken out and that is where

all the unpleasantness on social

media that came Elise's way came

from, from the Korean fans.

Looking at it now, we have a lot of

very good skaters still to come.

What chance Ireen Wust still staying

at the top of the leaderboard?

It

will be very difficult. Some of the

Japanese skaters at the very end,

and they know what time Ireen Wust

has skated, so that'll be something

to aim for initially. The 1500 metre

champion from four years ago didn't

make the final squad this time, the

Dutch standards are so high, and

they had the trials over the

Christmas holiday, and Ireen Wust

didn't make it.

The bronze medal

here in the 1500 metres won by

Marrit Leenstra the other day. And

Heather Bergsma is the world record

holder at 1500 metres. No doubt

about her staying power in terms of

the sprint.

The skaters are waiting

for the ice to harden up after the

resurfacing. The top surface of the

ice is slightly softer, so to try to

give all athletes the same

advantage, the referees await for

the ice to harden up.

Does that mean

that for example, the first pair to

go now in effectively the second

half of the competition, Park

Seun-Hi and, would they be at a

slight disadvantage?

The ice

temperatures in the Oval have been

at around -10 degrees. They want to

ascertain that temperature for the

second group, wait until that is

achieved. -- Park Seun-Hi and

Hirschbichler.

Park Seun-Hi, a seven

time

time world champion. Gabriele

Hirschbichler from Germany, best

Olympic finish so far for her is

12th in the 1500 metres here. Away

at the first time of asking. It's

two and a half laps of the track.

And it's a wild, flat-out sprint

over the first 100 metres or so to

really get up to speed. As they come

through the finishing line for the

first time, this is when we will get

the first time check. It's green,

meaning Park is set the fastest time

at this point. She is the leader on

the track but has a long way to go.

She will try to catch up with

Hirschbichler.

Hirschbichler. Park movie to the

inside in the blue. She will have

the benefit of the inside lane,

given her short track background.

Hirschbichler at 34 has bags of

experience, but the skater with the

speed in her legs, you would think

would be Park Seun-Hi, with the

crowd roaring themselves hoarse. She

has not had a great season, maybe

saving the best until last. Maybe

it's starting to slip away from Park

Seun-Hi. Ireen Wust will be looking

on anxiously. They would break her

time. Third and fourth quickest.

Park Seun-Hi faded a little on the

last lap. But Hirschbichler came on

strong at the end, timing her effort

well. Third fastest so far, and the

German skater goes into the bronze

medal position. Look at the effort

as they go round the bend and into

the finishing straight.

Hirschbichler of Germany really

working at last bend. You can see

her left arm. Normally skaters try

to stay nice and tucked and compact,

and Hirschbichler was almost all

over the place. The speeds up to

almost 50 kph.

We talked about

aerodynamics the other day, as we

look at Nao Kodaira, one of the

favourites in the warm area in the

centre of the track. We talk about

the aerodynamics and materials for

the skin suits. What about the

blades themselves?

They are probably

about one millimetre thick.

Generally speaking they are 40 to 50

centimetres long, depending on how

tall the skaters are, as we move

onto the next pair.

Heather Mclean

turns 25 last month, fifth last year

in the World Championships over the

shorter distance of 500 metres. A

last chance to compose herself.

Arisa Go from Japan, 12th in last

year's World Championships held here

in this Oval on the coast. Just a

couple of kilometres away from the

beach in

beach in Kwandong. They didn't even

get to the point of the gun going

off there. Both of these competitors

have good success over 500 metres.

Arisa Go of Japan ranked seventh in

the World Cup this season, but 520th

at this distance.

It was Arisa Go to

make a false start.

They get away at the second time of

asking. Powerful punching of the

arms, building up the rhythm from

Heather Maclean. Arisa Go of Japan

is furthest from the camera. Down

the finishing straight, look at

speed. Both of them making a fast

start. Almost half a second inside

the quickest times so far.

Arisa Go

of Japan moving to the outer lane.

Has almost 1.5 seconds better

personal time than Heather Mclean of

Canada on the inner lane. The

Japanese skater on paper is way, way

better.

The blue line is the time of

Ireen Wust. At the moment, Arisa Go

is skating extremely well, and the

leader on the ice. Can she keep it

going?

Arisa Go needs to get onto

the back of Heather Maclean and try

to streamline her, pulling her

towards the last 200 metres.

The key

moment around the bend. Can they

keep the speed going with the legs

tying up and the lungs are bursting.

Arisa Go with a decent sprint, but

only good enough for the third

fastest time.

fastest time. 1:15.84, just over

half a second slower than Ireen Wust

of the Netherlands. Arisa Go nudges

Gabriele Hirschbichler out of the

bronze medal position.

It's just

goes to show you that the time Ireen

Wust has set in the first grouping,

how good that time is. 1:15.32. We

can see Arisa Go of Japan was tucked

tightly onto the inner line. Another

Dutchman is the coach of the

Japanese.

How many nations are not

coached by the Dutch?

In Holland

they have 14 of these 400 metre

tracks spread around the country, so

they have the facilities and

infrastructure in place.

We will go

ahead with the 11th pair shortly. A

two-time World Championship

medallist in the team pursuit,

Natalia Czerwonka. She has been

training with the short skaters in

this season to improve her

technique. And the defending Olympic

champion, the Chinese Zhang Hong.

The first-ever Olympic speed skating

medallist from China.

medallist from China. 1:15.32 is the

time to beat.

Three shots, just to make sure

everybody knows it's a false start.

That's right. Indicating the white

flag, showing the White armband

making a false start. So it was

Czerwonka of Poland at the inside.

She had a top ten finish here in the

1500 metres. You think the starter

has been holding them for quite

awhile.

Absolutely. And now both

skaters have to wait, which at end,

we saw in the 5000 metres, two

thousandths of a second was the

distance.

Every fraction of a second

counts in a distance like this.

The defending champion underway in

the predominantly black skin suit on

the left-hand side of your screen.

A

very canny style, the Chinese skater

on the outside. The upper body, if

she can retain that and just keep it

a little more still, she would get

so much more power into the ice.

Zhang Hong, just slightly in front

of Ireen Wust's time at the first

check. Down the back straight for

the first time, switching lanes.

It's important to stay as tight on

the turn. She did that very well

indeed. The green indicating almost

half a second inside the time of

Ireen Wust.

That time under threat

from Zhang Hong, the defending

Olympic champion in the 1000 metres.

Down the back straight, and she

stumbled, almost face planted onto

the ice. She has kept going but it

will cost her time. She lost a bit

of her rhythm, moving to the

outside. I think that has ruined her

chances. It did. And Zhang Hong sees

her Olympic crown disappear.

Czerwonka did well as well, bringing

hers up to fourth place at the

moment. But what happened here?

You

can see she just becomes very tired

and leans a bit too far forward. And

then the point of the skate just

ground into the ice.

You can see

coming down the finishing straight,

it looked like she could barely lift

one leg in front of the other.

The

lactate that builds up into the

legs. It's an elongated sprint, this

1000 metres.

Ireen Wust is hanging

in at the top of the leaderboard.

We are getting to the business end

of this competition. The women's

1000 metres here at the very

impressive Oval. We have not seen a

400 metre long track. It's a very

impressive sight. The Gangneung

Oval.

Oval. In the long track, this form

of the sport, a double Olympic

champion in 2014 in the 1500 and

team pursuit, and Brittany Bowe as

well, the 2015 world champion. Ter

Mors, the 2016 world champion.

Mors, the 2016 world champion. This

is a real heavyweight clash in terms

of skating ability at this distance.

This is going to be absolutely

fascinating, to see who has the

speed and staying power between

these two. Both of them former world

champions at this distance. Ter Mors

eight double Olympic champion in

Sochi four years ago. -- Ter Mors, a

double Olympic champion.

Brittany

Bowe on the outside for America, in

the blue and white, storming away.

Almost half a second already. Ter

Mors, the former 1500 metre world

champion. It will be all about the

last lap. That's where Ireen Wust

did the damage to the rest of the

group.

Brittany Bowe was fifth here

in the 1500 metres over a slightly

longer distance. Quite a big

advantage over the time of Ireen

Wust. That's time under real

pressure here. Brittany Bowe just

has to keep it going. We will see

whether Ter Mors has the strength to

close in and put pressure on.

It looks like the lead will go.

The

short track experience coming down

the the line.

Ter Mors will set a

new fastest time and the Olympic