Countdown to the Games Winter Olympics

South Korea -

an emerging global leader.

The fifth largest exporting nation.

The world's digital hub.

And a place entirely

obsessed by speed.

Which makes it the perfect host

for the 23rd Winter Olympic Games.

Here, over the next two weeks,

we will watch in awe.

Amazed by the grace.

The skill.

The sheer nerve.

Competing not only with each other

but with Mother Nature.

Testing what is humanly possible

against snow, ice and gravity.

Leading to the extraordinary.

The spectacular.

The perfect.

This is the capital, Seoul -

a booming, busy metropolis that sits

110 miles west of the region

of Pyeongchang, which is where

the Games will take place.

Around 2500 athletes from 90

competing nations will pass

through here and get their first

taste of Korean culture.

And believe me, they'll get

a welcome quite unlike any other.

Despite having very little snow,

the expectations for the British

team have never been higher.

It's a bigger team

than it has been before.

That is thanks, in part,

to funding of £28 million -

more than double of what was

available in Sochi.

In Russia, that cash was converted

to solid gold in the form

of Lizzy Yarnold's skeleton success,

silver and bronze in curling,

and Jenny Jones' brilliant

bronze in the slopestyle.

And GB could yet be awarded

a fifth medal from Sochi

in the four-man bobsleigh,

following the disqualification

of Russia.

But now it's time for the Class

of 2018, who will carry our hopes

over the next two weeks as once

again we become bizarrely intrigued

and engrossed in all that

slips, slides and shreds.

I've been taking in some

of the local culture and looking

at the tensions surrounding these

Games.

I've been exploring the striking

new venues as well as meeting some

Winter Olympic legends

and our best medal hopes.

There is nothing else

I could have done.

The Alpine competitions remain

the blue riband events

at the Winter Olympics -

and something that British athletes

just aren't meant to be any good at.

We don't grow up in the mountains.

But last season, Dave Ryding

did the unthinkable -

he got himself on the podium

at a World Cup event in Kitzbuhel,

Austria, and in doing so put

himself bang in contention

for a Winter Olympic medal.

Former downhill skier Chemmy Alcott

has been to meet him,

and his story starts not in the Alps

but on the plastic

in Pendle, Lancashire.

Dave Ryding tries to

rewrite the record books!

Kitzbuhel is rocking!

He is second!

That is sensational!

The first British racer

on a World Cup podium since 1981.

Hi, David!

Is this a little striptease?!

Dave, this is it.

That is the guy, yeah.

It is heavy.

How often do you polish this?

Not often enough!

Slalom skiing is so competitive.

There is a bunch of you that

are always competitors

for the podium but there are two

racers who are slightly elevated.

Are they beatable and what can

you do to narrow the gap?

They are a step above the rest.

I am competitive with the rest now.

I used to see limits for myself

but now I don't think

there are limits any more.

I believe I can catch them.

You are out there racing

week in and week out.

It is not where it started for you.

It started on a dry ski slope.

Do they know?

They do know, anyway!

Can we go to Pendle

and you can show me the ropes?

Let's check it out.

This is where it

all started for you?

Yeah.

That is where the name

Rocket came from.

As a kid coming up here.

I guess you could say

it is the Alps of the UK.

Back in your day

there was not a fence.

You used to race around sheep.

That is why you are so agile!

There is no family background

of being a ski racer?

Not as a racer.

My dad loved it.

My mum learned to accept that he

loved it and was very supportive.

Is it true that your grandad sold

ski stuff out of the back of his van

to support your career?

Yes, he set up a website and started

selling skis and that sort of thing.

All part of the journey.

Dave Ryding from Great Britain.

So naturally Pendle dry ski slope

is really proud of having

a Kitzbuhel medallist.

How do you think they will

react when you come home

with an Olympic medal?!

All they talk about

is, are you capable?

I have proven I am.

Kitzbuhel is the same

competition, the same people.

I am not writing it off.

But I know it is difficult.

What kind of conditions

would suit you?

For some reason I used

to be rubbish on the ice.

I've trained so much

to get better on the ice.

Now it is my thing.

A cold day, icy snow

and it should be good.

You talked about the

pressure and expectation.

How will you be able to handle it

on the day when you wake up

and you have got a chance?

I have been to two Olympics already.

I know what it is all about.

I know what it would be like.

It is all pretty similar.

If I ski the best I've ever skied

and don't come away with a medal,

that is all I can do.

I will give it everything I have.

If I can do it for British skiing,

it would be awesome.

The good news for Dave

is it has been as cold

as -24 in the mountains,

so potentially plenty of ice.

It is warmer here in Seoul.

This is one of the traditional

markets where people come at night

to eat all sorts of delicacies.

I think I had better have some

guidance as to what to try.

Wendell is the chef.

My name is Wendell.

This market has all of

the traditional food in Korea.

This is braised pork.

These are Korean sausages.

The red part is the

Korean for soul food.

It is spicy rice cake.

Is this like a vegetable soup?

Yeah, it is a vegetable soup.

Oh my God, that's hot!

That is spicy!

Is that aubergine?

No, that is beef with egg.

This looks more like my thing.

Normally we share this.

We cut it in half.

What is it like living here?

I keep seeing everybody

running everywhere.

We are in a hurry all the time.

In the office it is hurry, hurry.

On the internet, it

has to be really fast.

If you go to a restaurant,

it has to come really fast.

This is really good.

This is more my thing.

You should dig into this.

That hot thing?

Wendell, don't!

They call this place the Land

of the Morning Calm.

But everybody seems

to be in a hurry.

There is a real energy and drive.

Driven in part by music.

Specifically, K-pop.

This area is called Gangnam.

You remember Gangham Style, yeah?

I have come to the offices

of YG Entertainment,

who look after some of the biggest

pop acts in Korea.

With the bands there

is a particular look.

The hair is magnificent.

Psy.

Big Bang, they have been huge

in Korea for the past ten years.

Can you tell me first of all

about the phenomenon of K-pop?

What is it?

The song has to be from Korea.

It is very current in modern-day

Korean music that it's Korean

people listening.

We are breaking out all those K-pop

acts to the rest of the world.

Psy is really important.

He opened the market.

Nobody expected that Korean

bands could tour but it

has really happened.

How much is this also about Korean

culture and Korea as a country

being sold to the world?

Korean pop works very positively

for other industries,

especially IT industries.

It is very important.

If I came to a concert

of one of your bands,

do I need to scream a lot?

Sure.

You have to scream a lot

and you have to dance.

Am I a little bit old?

Not at all.

Mothers and daughters

come to our concerts.

Not that I am saying...!

Staying with the hot hits,

and one of the biggest names

at these Games is undoubtedly

Lindsey Vonn.

A superstar on and off the slopes,

the American won downhill gold

in Vancouver in 2010.

Vonn skis for the gold medal!

She's got it!

Nobody can touch her

when she is racing.

She was very much expected to do

the same four years later.

But a series of injuries

ruled her out of Sochi.

Since coming back, Vonn has been

edging closer to the record

for the most World Cup wins.

But as Chemmy Alcott found out, it's

nearly always boom or bust for Vonn.

When we grew up racing

we would watch Bode Miller

because you knew he would win

or he would crash.

I hate to say it, because every time

I watch you, you going so hard.

The limit is sometimes crossed.

Yeah, I don't really

have an 80% or a 90%.

I'm always trying to win.

I realise that it is

an Olympic year.

I am trying to be safe.

But when I get in the starting gate

I can't really control myself.

With the evolution,

you are massively honest

in what you go through in terms

of your physical training,

even after crashes you get

on there and say, this is how

I am feeling.

That leaves you vulnerable to people

being very opinionated.

How do you find that?

There are some good ones.

Some guy told me that I should eat

make-up because that would make me

pretty on the inside.

That is really solid.

That was a pretty good one.

But I generally just glance at it

to see a general response from fans.

But the trolls, they

will always be there.

I wish them the best and usually

I delete the negative ones

because the children don't need

to see that.

How important is the team around

you to keep you focused and happy?

It is really important.

When you are on the road for so many

months, you need a good

team supporting you.

Especially when things

don't go well.

My dad is my new hype man.

Will he be at the start going...?

Maybe.

He will be yelling me on.

It is nice to have family here.

And my team has always

been so good to me.

Is that why the dogs are here?

They love you no matter what.

Look at her.

She is always here.

Exactly.

It is nice to have

somebody to come home too.

Even if you're coming

home to a hotel room.

Lucy is always there.

She loves me and she

doesn't talk back.

They do say it is a track that

benefits the Americans.

It kind of varies.

It can be really dry.

Or icy.

It depends on how the snowmaking is,

how they prepare it.

I really like the course.

It really suits me.

I think the weather will be

a little bit interesting.

We will have to see

when we get there.

In general it suits the Americans

really well and hopefully

we have some success there.

Interesting to hear Lindsey Vonn

talking about criticism on social

media, much of which came

after saying in an interview

she will be "representing the people

of the United States,

not the President".

Some Americans taking that

as an insult to President Trump.

Himself no stranger to trading

insults, he has been back and forth

with the leader of North Korea

like a game of table tennis.

Most recently joking

about the relative size

of their nuclear buttons.

While we very much hope that sport

will take centre stage this year

there has been a nervous backdrop

to these games with heightened

tensions between neighbouring

North Korea and the United States.

North Korea says it is

now a nuclear power.

"Little rocket man is a sick puppy."

I have been doing Korea for years

and I cannot recall a situation

as dangerous as in the last year.

The major problem is

North Korean nuclear programme.

The uncertain political state has

led to questions over whether some

nations may opt to stay at home.

We feel it is better to come rather

than boycott, not turn up.

You have to remember it's

the athletes' occasion,

they do not choose

where the Games are.

It's the pinnacle of their career

and they want to be here,

it's the utmost for us to be

here as long as they can be.

Since the Korean War ended

in the middle of the last century,

the north and south have remained

divided, but in a major step forward

athletes from both countries

will march under the same united

flag at these Olympics

and there will be a unified

team in the ice hockey.

This woman lives and works in Seoul.

It was surprising for us,

because North Korea and South Korea

was in a really bad relationship

in the last ten years.

So we were very excited about it

that we can actually meet them

and see the people from North Korea.

I hope the Korean team show all over

the world a good example

for the possibility,

with North and South Korea can make

peace and unified nation.

We know there is this united team

particularly in the ice hockey,

how much significance should be

read into this?

Well, a short period of warm weather

in the middle of a very cold winter

which is going to get seriously

colder in a few months' time.

Alongside this political unrest

there are other tensions

of a sporting nature.

South Korea was the scene of one

of the biggest drug scandals

in sport when Canadian sprinter

Ben Johnson failed a drugs test

at the Olympics 30 years ago.

They go first time and Ben Johnson,

Johnson away and clear.

Johnson wins it.

Olympic champion Ben Johnson has

been caught taking drugs and will be

stripped of his gold medal.

All these years later,

the issue of drugs is not gone away.

Russia has been banned

from competing at the Winter

Olympics in South Korea.

Russia finished top

of the table in Sochi.

After an investigation

into state sponsored doping,

the IOC have banned them

from the Games despite

repeated Russian denials.

We issued the toughest

sanction which we can issue

on a National Olympic Committee,

this is the exclusion

from the Olympic Games.

There was a crime committed

in Sochi, everyone knows

the evidence was put out

there regarding the state doping

and the manipulation of samples.

The IOC need to sort it out

and protect the integrity

of the Games and the clean

athletes around the world.

169 Russian athletes with no drug

violations and a consistent history

of drug testing will be allowed

to compete here under

the Olympic flag.

We gave the new and young generation

of Russian athletes the opportunity

to be invited to show the Russians

that it pays off to be clean.

However on the eve of these

games more turmoil.

The Court of Arbitration

for Sport overturned bans

on some Russian athletes,

ruling there was

insufficient evidence.

With sport in the hands of lawyers,

it seems the overall outcome

is unlikely to satisfy anyone.

Of course, Olympic Games are no

stranger to controversy and tense

political situations.

But despite these difficult

backdrops, they still

have the power to mesmerise.

And it was Valentine's Day in 1984,

when 24 million of us sat glued

to our television screens waiting

for Jayne Torvill and Christopher

Dean to take to the ice in Sarajevo.

Now the main attraction tonight,

a complete sell-out for the ice

dancing championship.

From the very start it

has been Jayne Torvill

and Christopher Dean in the lead,

the target is Olympic gold.

What do you think it was about

the routine which was so magical?

I think people had bought into us

as two people and each year

we were reinventing ourselves.

When we performed Bolero it was

a really emotional experience.

They are four minutes

away from Olympic gold.

The beginning of Bolero

the music was running over,

it was four minutes 28 so the fact

we started on our knees

and my blades didn't touch the ice

until after 18 seconds made

it technically legal.

That is how we started that iconic

move at the beginning,

that is how it came about.

We heard the music and we knew

the music and the minute

one of us said Bolero

there was no turning back.

Had you tried different costumes?

No, we were always

going for the silk.

For us it was expensive.

Do you remember how much it cost?

A couple of hundred pounds at least!

We think back to performing it,

from my point of view I see it,

an outer body experience.

It feels like a dream sequence.

It feels like I was looking down

on somebody else doing that.

Are there moments you remember

from the end of the performance

to seeing the scores.

It felt deadly quiet

as we were doing it

which I think it was.

And that added to the atmosphere.

It's like a movie where everything

is slow motion and silent

or there's gentle music.

The music stopped and then

the roar of the audience.

I think if you look at the close-up

I kind of go like that.

That last breath.

Chris kind of did a similar thing.

We were collecting flowers,

so many flowers people had

thrown on the ice and then

there was another cheer

which is when the first

set of scores came up.

By the second we had not got off

the ice at this point.

Then all the sixes.

Six across the board!

What a marvellous,

marvellous result.

Because of the numbers that

watched that did it feel

to you as if life had changed?

It did feel different.

You almost feel that you are part

of a different club of athletes.

Because you have a gold medal.

It opened so many

doors for the future.

It was such an amazing thing.

Life always seems like it

flashes on, next thing,

moving forward but every now

and again to be able

to sit down and reflect,

which we don't do that often,

but you go, that was pretty good.

Following Torvill and Dean

is an almost impossible task.

But Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland

have thrown everything at it,

even moving away from their families

to be out in Detroit, Michigan,

surrounded by the best figure

skaters in the world.

Pyeongchang will be their

third Olympic Games.

But as David McDaid has been finding

out, getting here has been

the toughest challenge

of their lives.

It's so hard to train

for an Olympics when healthy.

You push your body to

the absolute limit every day.

There's only so much

your body can deal with.

In a second my life changed.

Penny Coomes has suffered a serious

knee injury in training,

shattering her kneecap

in eight places.

It could end her hopes of competing

at the Winter Olympics.

Like that, I am on the floor

with half of my kneecap up

here and the other half down there.

I remember crying, not from the pain

but from what could be.

And yeah, I have had the hardest

year and a half of my life.

But at the same time it's

the strongest I've ever

had to be and it's been

a really rewarding time.

That is a career-ending injury

for 99.9% of people.

Yeah.

Definitely.

We just didn't know

what the way forward

was I think, once it happened.

It put everything into

perspective a little.

It's only ice skating but it's

something we've grown up

with and we absolutely adore

so there was only one

thing we were going to do

and that was going to come back

and pick up where we left off.

So many people were like that's it,

they are done, you cannot

come back from this.

I have heard this.

I remember reading those

things and being so mad.

I channelled that energy.

I remember using that energy

at our comeback and being out

there and being like this

is for all the people who thought

I could not do this.

Because I can.

Now I've got on and I just feel

like, I can't believe it.

I've got my leg back.

It takes a lot of really getting

some kind of crazy grit

from within to be able to do it.

Not every day was a good day

and I didn't do it on my own.

When I was down I had my physio,

my psychologist, and then

of course Nick.

I said I don't know if I can do

this, I don't know if my knee

will ever be strong again

and he just said that is OK.

I think I needed to hear that

in order to get better.

It is like the step wide and then

the cross together because then

I can see you stepping wide.

That'll be great.

Cool.

Hello.

How was that today?

Good.

Tough training day ahead of us

so it was nice to start the day

with some positive sections and get

feeling in the legs again.

We are in Michigan where you have

been based the last

few years, why here?

Finally enough Michigan

is an ice dancing hub.

There are three big ice dancing

camps and our coach is one

of the best in the world so we have

come here for the last three years

and trained with a lot

of our kind of rivals,

I guess which motivates us

everyday and training

which is an interesting dynamic.

But we all get on really

well, it's really cool.

Sometimes I listen to the melody

rather than the beat

and sometimes I get confused

because that is what I used to do.

When we step wide

we can take longer.

It has taken us through the most

emotional roller-coaster

but at the same time it has brought

us together, closer

than I ever thought possible.

I'm just looking forward to the next

couple of months to really enjoy it

and soak in the experience.

What does Pyeongchang

represent to you?

I'm sorry.

It's just so emotional.

Because this has

always been my goal.

When we first set out it was always

like, let's do a pre-Olympic

Games and Pyeongchang,

let's be the best here.

And kind of have that...

Taken away, I feel

like I have earned it.

Tenfold.

Before I had even got there.

Going out there after what we have

been through, it's going to be

a real fitting end to this period

of our lives.

But the best bit is yet to come.

As at any Winters, the figure

skating and alpine events

will be hugely popular.

But the hottest ticket in town

is for short track speed skating.

It's an obsession here,

and it's fair to say they get them

on the ice from a very young age.

Now four years ago in Sochi,

our own Elise Christie had

high hopes of glory,

but her Winter Olympic dream

turned into a nightmare.

She may receive a penalty for that.

When I got off the 500 I was upset.

She has been penalised again.

I can't believe this has happened.

After the 15 I was

actually confused.

No!

I cannot believe it.

What on earth is going on?

When I got off the thousand

it was more annoying

than anything else.

After that there were a lot of death

threats, a lot of online abuse.

That mostly came from Korea.

I spent about six months afterwards

being scared of being in the house

on my own or going out on my own,

because so many at once

made it feel so real.

It was a very difficult time.

Do you think you are more resilient

now to the outside world?

Yes and no.

Definitely more resilient in terms

of like, I get that they are just

people hiding behind

a computer screen now.

How different do think you are now

mentally from four years ago?

Very different.

I was very naive four years ago

and less confident than I am now.

My mental state back then completely

relied on the outcome.

If I didn't do well,

that would affect my whole season

because I just lost a lot

of confidence and couldn't fight

back from it as well.

One of the biggest things for me

was accepting failure.

I thought, I'm prepared to go out

and put everything into winning.

I would have settled

for a medal basically.

They are very keen on short track

speed skating in Korea.

Yeah, it's very cool.

They want to take pictures even

when I'm out on the street.

They want to see you.

It makes you feel a lot better

about online abuse because you know

that in the street everybody

is happy to see you.

You seem incredibly relaxed?

Yeah, definitely.

There is nothing else

I could have done to put

myself in a better place.

It is what it will be.

I have no control over someone

wanting to take me out

in the first round to get me out

of the competition.

There will be so many people rooting

for you and this could be one

of the great stories.

It would be great, wouldn't it?

Yeah.

For me, I got my

redemption in the Worlds.

She has done it!

Elise Christie is

the world champion.

But I see the Olympics as a way

to give back to everybody who did

support me through that hard time.

I would love to come

home with the gold medal

so everybody who supported me...

That is the reason I keep going.

I didn't want to do it any more.

I felt I had to do this

because everybody has put so much

into this and believed in me,

so I have to at least try.

That is what is important now,

that everybody knows

I am trying my best.

So yeah, that is the goal.

Elise isn't the only one to have had

victory snatched from her hands.

The Winter Olympics is full

of stories of drama

and danger and devastation.

It's why we love watching!

That one is going to be on sport

bloopers for years to come.

A slight malfunction there.

Robin Cousins of Great Britain.

He is over!

Oh no!

That was incredible.

Snow business.

They have all gone.

That has left Steven Bradbury

to cross the finishing line.

There was one other

event on the track.

Are we supposed to do that?!

It all went wrong and now

he is in real trouble.

He cannot believe that.

This is a lap of honour.

Freedom!

The athletes will make their way

along these open roads

to Pyeongchang, busy chatting,

listening to music,

perhaps sitting quietly,

Olympic dreaming of how it must feel

to stand at the top of the podium

and secure your lifelong dream.

For one British athlete, that dream

has already been a reality.

Sliding head-first at over 80 miles

per hour, she brought home Team GB's

only gold of Sochi 2014.

Lizzy Yarnold is desperate

to create that feeling again.

I am looking at whether the ice

feels wet or if there

is frost forming on the top.

Everything is completely heightened.

Sound, sight, smell, everything.

All this information

is coming together to try

and have the fastest run.

It is a complete

orchestra of information.

And then you are lying on the sled.

And the whole thing is rattling.

It is violent.

She is going to win

the gold medal, surely!

Nice to see you again.

I've got loads to ask you.

It was the most amazing

two weeks of my life.

As soon as I saw my parents,

my family, my friends,

and everybody who has supported me

and got me there.

Perhaps not surprisingly, you did,

after Sochi, need to step away.

Was that always the plan or did it

slightly come upon you?

I hadn't yet become world champion,

World Cup champion,

European champion.

There were still so many goals.

So I quite quickly knuckled

back down, focused in

on these new challenges.

That is how to win your first

World Championship.

I was really pushing myself,

expecting a lot of myself and it

drove me to a point of physical

and mental exhaustion.

Trying to drive yourself

to get everything out

of every training run,

with the process and determination

to win, I didn't realise how much

of a toll it was taking.

What did you do with your time away?

We moved house.

I did some crafty courses that

were so different to Skeleton.

Lampshade-making, university

courses, stuff like that.

I'm intrigued by this idea

of the defending Olympic

champion who then switches

into Mrs Lizzy Roach,

who makes lampshades,

does a book-keeping course,

and then switches back

again to Lizzy Yarnold,

the athlete who listens

to an orchestra of information

while she is flying down this track.

When you pull on the superwoman suit

and become Lizzy Yarnold,

the athlete, do you feel different?

No.

Everything is just done

to the best of my ability.

So I don't feel like a huge step

change from Lizzy at home

to Lizzy the athlete.

In all of life I think I have huge

expectations of hope for myself.

The reason I came back to Skeleton

after being Olympic champion

is because I love being an athlete.

I feel hugely honoured to work

with a completely different team

that took me to Sochi.

There is still so much

to learn and explore.

It is a lot of hard work

but it is a lot of fun.

When it comes to the track

in Pyeongchang, how many

times have you raced it?

Every track has a personality.

You get to know what you think

about the character of the track,

how it wants to treat you,

whether it is a fiery

adolescent that wants to throw

you from one side to the other.

I'm not sure if I know

the personality of the track yet.

I have only been down about 20

times, competed there once.

But it is something that is exciting

and you never know what's going

to happen until the finish line.

It will be a brilliant race.

And this is the Alpensia Sliding

Centre, the track Lizzy will have

to master if she's to become

the first British athlete

to successfully defend

a Winter Olympics title.

The Alpensia Sports Park

here in the mountains

is the main hub for venues,

with the opening and closing

ceremonies happening

at the Olympic Stadium

and the Olympic village based here,

as well as the venues for biathlon,

cross-country, bobsleigh,

slalom and numerous other events,

including the ski jump.

Hang on - did someone say ski jump?

We can't look ahead

to a Winter Olympics without looking

back at a moment in history.

Because sometimes it's not

the winning that counts,

it's the taking part.

As a young child I was always

in trouble, always hurting myself,

always in and out of hospital.

If somebody dared me to do anything,

climb the highest tree,

I would go ahead and do it.

So ski jumping was

the ideal sport for me.

I wanted to be a downhill

racer in Sarajevo in 1984

but it was very difficult.

I didn't have the money,

couldn't get the top coaches

and train with the top teams,

so I was doing the best

I could with what I had,

which wasn't much, really.

I decided to go to America.

That is when I first

started jumping.

Lake Placid was the host

of the 1980 Winter Olympics.

They had the ski jumps.

I asked if I could have a go.

I started on a ten metre jump.

That afternoon I wanted

to go on the 90 and they

said no, it's too big.

I carried on jumping.

I thought, gosh, I wonder

if there would be a chance of me

getting to Calgary in 1988

as a jumper rather than a racer?

To be picked to be

Britain's first-ever jumper

was a dream come true.

I was going to love every single

minute of getting to Calgary.

I can remember everything

like it was yesterday.

The first time I arrived

in Calgary at the airport

there was a banner on the wall

saying, welcome to Calgary,

Eddie the Eagle.

I said, who is that?

They said, it is you.

I was christened Eddie the Eagle.

It took on a life of its own.

I went into the small hill

competition having only done one

training jump on that small hill.

I did OK.

I landed on my feet,

which was always a bonus.

Then the whole Eddie the Eagle thing

got bigger and bigger.

We had 90,000 people around

the stadium watching the big hill.

The whole crowd started

shouting, Eddie, Eddie!

I would give them a wave.

They were going potty.

Here he is, Cheltenham's

favoured son.

And a lot of these people

are here today to see Eddie.

And there you are.

He is safely down.

Listen to the crowd.

71, that is a British record.

I knew I would come last but as long

as I could achieve something,

and getting a new British record

was a great achievement.

Unfortunately, because I became

so popular, they said it's not right

that a guy who comes 58th should get

more attention than the guy

who won the event.

I get the impression

you are enjoying this fame, Eddie?

Yes, if they are cheering me on,

I want to give them

something to cheer about.

Straight after Calgary

they kicked me off the British

and Olympic team and I was prevented

from ski jumping ever again.

For me, getting to the Olympic Games

was my gold medal, it was my dream

and I made my dream come true.

Eddie the Eagle, a tale so unlikely

it was made into a Hollywood film.

And it's not the only one.

The Winter Olympics have provided

the inspiration for Cool Runnings,

the story of the first Jamaican

bobsleigh team back in 1988.

Jamaica are back in the bob once

again, though this year it

will be time for the women

to make their debut.

Then there's the recently released

I, Tonya, which follows the story

of Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan,

the American figure skaters whose

dramatic rivalry led to Kerrigan

being attacked prior to the 1994

Games in Lillehammer,

only for her to come back

and win a silver medal.

Moving away from the mountains

of Alpensia to the coastal

cluster of Gangneung,

there's the ice hockey,

speed skating, figure

skating and curling venues.

And it's in curling where GB will

once again be expecting a medal.

The men won gold in 1924.

And in 2002, Rhona Martin struck

gold with her final stone.

She's done it!

Olympic gold for Great Britain!

And maybe not surprisingly, it's

developed a celebrity following,

with fans like George Clooney

and Bruce Springsteen, no less.

It's a sport of precision

and tension, where emotions must

be kept under control.

The British women's team claimed

a bittersweet bronze in Sochi.

And with Eve Muirhead

leading them once more,

you sense only a gold medal

will offer true redemption.

We went into Sochi as

the current world champions.

We were the best in the world.

There was expectations.

We knew we had beaten

everyone there.

It is pulling up, is it

going to get there?

I think it is.

And Canada have won it.

The British team, of

course, crestfallen.

The dream of Olympic gold has gone.

Probably the most devastating

defeat of my career.

We did not have much time to dwell

on it but that probably

is what helped us in the end.

And now they could be the Olympic

bronze medallists if this stone

is right from Eve Muirhead.

The storm is going to get

there and the brushes go in the air

and Britain win the bronze medal.

I am still really pleased with that

but now I think I have got a taste

of the Olympic podium

and all I want to do

is build my way up.

We have a bit of

unfinished business.

You always want to do better.

We are feeling like we are in a good

place at the moment.

We have been working really

hard and had a great win

at the European Championships.

Scotland the gold medallists

here in Switzerland.

The gold medal at the Olympics

is the only gold medal I am

missing in my collection,

so for me it would mean a lot

of very, very hard

work has paid off.

I have put in a tonne of work to get

to the position I am in just now.

To stand on top of the podium would

be something extra, extra special.

Eve's younger brother Thomas

witnessed her last special moment

from afar, but it's impact

was no less profound.

I was at home at university

in Edinburgh and I can remember this

moment watching her throw the last

stone for the bronze medal

and it gave me a real buzz

inside and I thought,

I want to be on that stage

and competing at the Olympics.

Four years on he is fulfilling

the Olympic dream.

Alongside Kyle Waddell,

Cammy Smith and brother

Kyle Smith, Thomas is part

of an all-new men's line-up.

After David Murdoch's rink

won silver in Sochi,

expectations will be high.

It's all about how well

we perform that week.

He's quite an analytical skip.

If he thinks he will need your help

he will always ask.

We will talk about each game

after and go through every shot

and see if there is anything

we could have done differently

or if we called the right shots.

I have been curling

with Kyle my whole career.

Our fathers used to do it

together back in the day,

our mums would drag us around

the ice rinks and I remember playing

with him when I was a wee boy.

We started a team together

and we have basically worked on that

over the years and got

to where we are today.

We always saw ourselves as a team

that was sticking together to try

and make the Olympics.

Because that was always the goal,

to win the Olympics.

I think we have got a chance.

We have given ourselves the best

chance and the work we have done

to build up to this event,

I'm just itching to go.

I hope everything comes together

for us at the right time.

So impressive, isn't it,

the dedication of Eve and Kyle

and all the curlers -

and so aware of the narrow margins

between success and failure.

And they may not yet be household

names, but it only takes a moment

Just ask Jenny Jones.

Next up, Jenny Jones.

Currently lying in fifth.

I cannot look.

She is a battler.

A champion.

Yes!

Beautiful Jones!

Great grab, looking very,

very solid for Jenny Jones.

Jenny Jones has just taken Britain's

first ever Olympic medal on snow.

Absolutely amazing,

I cannot believe it.

What would you say

to your mum and dad?

Competing for a place in the GB

squad four years ago

was a young Katie Ormerod.

And she used the disappointment

of not getting in

to fuel her ambition.

Jenny has been to meet her.

All I've been thinking

about is this Olympics.

It's so exciting.

It's really stressful now as well

because I'm trying to get

the balance right between training

too much and trying

new tricks but safely.

It keeps me up at night sometimes.

The team are just warming up this

morning, getting their speed

right on the kickers.

Then hopefully they can progress

to the more technical tricks.

I remember seeing you in a dome

and I was like, look at them,

little shredders going around,

eating sweeties and stuff.

Yes, it was really cool,

it was that long ago, I can't

remember life without snowboarding.

Can you remember the

first time you went?

My dad was teaching me on a dry

slope, I kept going every

week and I loved it.

We were all trying to

qualify for the first ever

Olympics, how old were you?

I was 15.

So young.

I was so gutted.

I think I missed out

by one or two spots.

It was so close.

I was really sad for a couple

of weeks but I put it

behind me and was like right,

I just want to watch it

and watch my team-mates do well

and I really enjoyed watching it,

it was cool.

You had a few injuries.

But that is part and

parcel of snowboarding.

When we came out to watch

you in Sierra Nevada what happened?

It was the world champs and I just

dropped in for the first rung

of the second training day and got

the speed completely wrong

and caught my heel edge

on the landing and went smack.

I ended up breaking my back

which is not that cool.

I love that you are laughing

in the same sentence as you say

you broke your back.

It's crazy but luckily

it was really minor,

I got away with it and I am back

to full strength now.

Looks like she is

ramping up her tricks.

It's amazing to see

the progression of women's riding.

Tricks you were winning with four

years ago probably wouldn't even put

you on the podium now.

How was that?

She's happy!

Last season Katie really

made her mark winning the first

World Cup event and securing

a brilliant X Games bronze medal.

Going to the Olympics this time,

we've got slopestyle and big air,

do you feel you are stronger in one

than the other?

I got more big air World Cup

podiums last season

than slopestyle but I got

bronze at X Games in slopestyle

so I think it evens out.

Slopestyle is, you could say more

chances of it going wrong

which is harder than big air,

because that is just one

drop instead of three

jumps and four rails.

Let's say you are at the Olympics,

you get the result you want

and come away with a medal.

How do you feel you will be

affected by that after?

I think it will change

my life a little bit.

Are you ready for it?

Yeah, hopefully I get a medal.

And see what the future brings.

I am rooting for you.

Thanks!

But desperate news, earlier today

it was confirmed Katie has

fractured her right heel bone

in a training fall and

is out of these Games.

There's no doubt that the Winter

Olympics as a whole has benefited

hugely by boosting the traditional

sports with the X Games events.

And one of the stars in the men's

snowboard is going to be

the legendary American Shaun White,

who has the best nickname

of all - The Flying Tomato.

He qualified for these,

his fourth Olympic Games,

very much at the last minute.

He had a bad injury in October,

but he came through in January

at the qualifying event in Snowmass,

Colorado with the

perfect score of 100.

Meanwhile, on skis there are high

hopes for a lad from Sheffield,

as Tim Warwood found out

when he went to meet James Woods.

You do it because you love it.

That is why we got into it.

The mountain is like a blank canvas

for you to show yourself.

For those that don't know,

where did it start for you?

I am a kid from Sheffield

and none of my family

were into skiing or snowboarding,

we did not know anything about it.

There was a dry slope in Sheffield

and my mum found a free skiing

and snowboarding lesson

in the newspaper.

I went and tried it

and just went, every day.

I am James Woods, I got silver

in ski cross and boarding half pipe.

I am James Woods, I got silver

in ski cross and gold in half pipe.

I remember my first skiing

and snowboarding idols,

they were the local guys

in Sheffield and that

is how it works.

It's the skate park mentality.

Those guys brought me up.

X Games is kind of freestyle

skiing and snowboarding,

that was the Olympics at the time

that you aspired to?

We are brand-new to the Olympics.

I did not grow up staring the

Olympics down as the ultimate goal,

the end goal because I genuinely

didn't even think I would

be in the running.

It was as big a surprise

for me as it was for you,

anybody that got into the Olympics.

Beautiful run from James Woods.

Now it is Great Britain.

I am wearing this kit and it's very

different everything I have done.

Freestyle skiing is an image,

if you look good you feel good

and if you feel good you ski good.

That's a good philosophy.

How is it wearing a uniform?

It's weird.

It's strange.

Conforming and being part

of the team, it is strange.

It's the Olympics.

It hits home, I am not doing this

for me or my personal gain.

Of course I am and in a way I am

a competitive person

and want to do the best I can do.

You see a challenge and you get

the eye of the Tiger, don't you?

But the whole representing

your country side of it,

what the Olympics represents,

that is the biggest thing

I could take out of Sochi.

Considering how hard he's had

to work off the back

and a painful hip injury,

he will be pleased with that result,

good enough for fifth.

If you win a gold medal at

the Olympics it is a life changer.

It is cool, it is sick.

I'm a kid from Sheffield

who just loves something.

That is where I come

from and that is who I am.

It would be sick to influence

and inspire some people.

I love skiing more than anything.

I love charging, I will ski forever.

So 59 British athletes in action -

and we've got a bit of everything.

From the calm consistency

of curling, to the bone-shuddering

speed of skeleton.

The sharp edges and sharp

elbows of short-track,

and the finesse of figure-skating.

There is so much variety,

so much excitement.

The Opening Ceremony takes place

over there, and I can't wait.

It's time for the 2018

Winter Olympic Games.

ROCK MUSIC

ROCK MUSIC