Day 1, Part 1 Winter Olympics

the largest and most expensive Olympic games in history have been

seven years in the making. The message of last night's opening

ceremony was very clear. Russia is back in a big way. Winter Olympic

legends teamed up to light Sochi's gigantic cauldron at the end of a

ceremony that was an extravaganza of history, culture and technology. It

was quite a night. And this is the morning after the

night before. And this is the view of that gigantic cauldron from our

studio here in Sochi. It has got to be Gazprom's finest hour. But whose

finest hours and days will be the next 15 days here in Sochi? We have

a record number of athletes taking part. We cannot wait to find out who

will claim the gold medals, the silver and the bronze. The first two

will be claimed this morning. There is at least one Briton in the mix.

In fact, not one but two take centre stage in the slopestyle. At times

this is simply jaw-dropping. Southampton's Billy Morgan is a

former acrobat. The first to master the triple rodeo, he has two master

the semifinals today. But Jamie Nicholls from Halifax is already

through to the final. He produced the ride of his life in qualifying.

The final is live this morning. Cross country superstar Marit

Bjorgen was the outstanding athlete in Vancouver. The Norwegian iron

lady starts her campaign in the cross country skiing 15: . -- 15 K.

Plus, we have the opening match in the women's ice hockey as America

take on Finland. And we are going to start with one of the 12 new events

in the Olympic programme. One that certainly has the wow factor. It is

the snowboard slopestyle. The riders tackle a series of tricks and

jumps, Park style. It is not without incident and some hair raising

moves. It is not taking part on the Coastal Cluster but in the

mountains. That is where all of the snow events are taking place. There

is plenty of white stuff up there at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. It has

been described as a pretty intimidating course.

Welcome to slopestyle. If you have never seen it before, this is

essentially a skate park on a hill. It is made up of six elements. The

first three are man-made objects. The last three are jumped. They get

progressively bigger. Tim Ward will talk us through the first three

albums. This is the first element. There is the choice of five rails.

It is very technical. The second element is about creativity. A

choice of three lines, all entwined. Element three is the

largest of the three rail sections. You have got the butter box on the

left hand side, the Russian doll in the middle and on the right-hand

side the curved wall right. The key here is speed. Following this, you

have the first of the three jumps. These are the jumps and they are

massive. A lot of skiers and snowboarders were very nervous when

they first saw these. In comparison to the rails, where it is about

board and ski control, this is where the acrobatic element comes in. This

helps to put them into perspective little bit. These are known as

kickers. They are really white. Skiers and snowboarders can carve

across the face of the jump and generate rotation. -- curve. This is

the sixth element of the course. Traditionally, this is the jump that

when she checks. It is going to win gold here. We are going to be seeing

spins. Riders will be going up side down three times. If you can land a

triple caught in front of this packed arena, you stand a good

chance of getting on the podium. We are pretty excited, aren't we? I

promise you, this will blow your mind.

Ed Leigh joins us from the Roosevelt or extreme Park. -- the Rosa Khutor

Extreme Park. The qualifying for this event took place the day before

the opening ceremony. What kind of surprises have we already had?

Well, I have got to say, it was breathtaking. I had expected to see

some of the biggest names in the business throwing down. But Tim and

I watched almost every rider throw everything they had at the

qualifying. This was not even a stage where they would be

eliminated. Yet we so the best tricks. Only eight spots up for

grabs in the final from qualifying. One of the other riders ended up in

the semifinals today. A lot at stake. Because of that, they all

threw everything they had at that. Shaun White is snowboard's leading

writer. He described it as a bit intimidating. Torstein Horgmo from

Norway broke his collarbone the other day. How dangerous is this

course? Any slopestyle course is dangerous. These jobs are huge. They

have built bigger jumps. It is only on a par with the other elite

contests, the X Games in America. But what happened was, the assembled

media latched onto the idea that the riders were not happy with the

course. Any event you go to, the riders will test the course a few

days before the event and will want to make changes. No shapers can

build a perfect course because they hardly ride the course. They started

doing that but the media latched onto it and blew the story up.

Torstein Horgmo was the first to come out and say he made a mistake.

It was nothing to do with the course. Shaun White used that excuse

that the course was dangerous, to withdraw. He has his own reasons. I

would not speculate as to why he withdrew. It is not because the

course is dangerous. Any the riders will tell you that this course is as

close as you can get to perfect. What about Britain's chances today?

We may have two riders in with a chance of winning Briton's first

official medal on snow at this game is? Jamie Nicholls had an

extraordinary one to get through to the final will stop talkers through

it. The macro exactly. Jamie is one of the world's best rail riders. He

is so relaxed, so in control. He is locked into one of those rails. Very

few people hitting that obstacle. He lays down a job here that he has

never landed in competition. He comes in backwards. Spins around for

full times. -- four. He is so clean on the landings. This is what the

judges were looking for in qualification. He finishes with a

double Cork 1080. We have watched practices going on behind us. I have

just seen him land a triple Cork backside 4040. It means that he has

got something to add to this run. When he qualified for the finals in

eighth place, he has got a long way to push up if he learns this run

neatly. The potential for a medal is there. You are hedging your bets!

Everybody at home has got the calculators out. We're going to get

used to all of this. It was Billy Morgan who was the more fancied of

the riders coming in. In fact, he didn't get straight through to the

finals, having to go through the semifinals, despite pulling out a

triple rodeo. He was the first guy ever to do this move. Is this the

most difficult trick that these slopestylers can attempt at the

moment? It is certainly the most acrobatic. Because he has got the

acrobatic background, Billy's board control is not quite as good as

Jamie's. Jamie has been riding since he was eight. His spatial awareness

is perfect. The reason Billy did not get straight through to the final is

because he did not go really big on these jobs. There was a lot of

speculation as to what the judges would look for. While Billy has got

some of the big tricks, he did not do them that big. He was really

pleased to learn that triple jump. But he did not send his job is quite

big enough. That is something he has to rectify if he wants to move up

the rankings. Thank you very much for now. We are looking forward to

hearing from you again. That final is at 8:45am. We will see Billy

Morgan in the semifinals shortly. First, let's introduce you to Billy.

Billy Morgan is a freak. I am not being unkind. It is the only way to

describe a man who has an unbelievable natural talent. Spatial

awareness in Snowboarding is something that is usually learned

through years of practice. It is literally a school of hard knocks.

But Billy is just as comfortable in the air as he is on the snow. Maybe

that is because he has only spent seven years riding snow. See what I

mean? Billy's meteoric rise to the top of Snowboarding is, well,

freakish. When you were 14, what did you

envisage being the pinnacle of Snowboarding? I did not know what it

was when I was 14. I went down and there was this plastic sledge thing

and me and my friends went down the hill. That was it. What did you do

before that? A gymnast. An acrobat, if you want to be precise. Climbing

on people's shoulders on a pyramid of four blokes. We would work in the

same routine over and over again until we got it right. It seems that

has become the perfect foundation for what you do now? Yes, I guess it

is. It gave me the aerial awareness and everything I need to be a

snowboarder. Can you actually feel where you are?

Yes, I can see most of it. You know where the ground will pass by. So

you can go one, two, three. You get a throb in the head. Like

pressures? Yes. let us talk about the knee. What happened? I get a

rubbish front flip and my default did in. This was September. Did you

think the Olympics were out the way? Yes. I was devastated. Then

everything turned around and I had some proper advice and they said

there is no reason why you cannot strengthen the knee again. When I

got back on snow, it was touch and go and I thought it was not going to

work and then two days later it was fine. Britain has never won a medal

on snow. Do you have any concept of what it would be like for a British

audience? That puts the pressure on. I cannot lose my friends money. I

would love it if we got a medal. It is possible we could get one. Let us

do it. Fascinating to year him talk about having that spatial awareness,

that mental ability to track your movements through the air. His

career as an acrobat has helped him with that. Billy trying to get

through the semi-finals which took place this morning at 5:30am our

time. Billy was trying to get into the fast four to get into the final.

Two runs in qualifying and the best of them will count. Welcome to the

extreme Park for the first of the medal events. This is the men's

slopestyle. As is the tradition in Russia, we have almost perfect

conditions. His first go at each treble he

missed the ground and slowed the low tension -- rotation down. Double

flip to start things off. A little bit smaller than the ones we saw in

qualification. He has claimed to claim the mid-run. A double backflip

180. He wanted to show he could put a run down. He has done that there.

He got a cheeky tail brand. It is a very fine line. When we see a double

core or triple core we are talking about a corkscrew rotation. There is

the vertical and horizontal axis and sometimes there is the temptation to

go more for the vertical and that ends up looking like a front flip or

backflip. Yuki Kadono a very talented rider. I was comparing him

to a well-known athlete. Rotating blind onto the rails so you have to

know exactly where you are. There is one, two, two and a half. Frontside

1080. Backside 1260. Clean as you like. He is going to be absolutely

pumped. He is stopped with that and rightly so -- delighted. That was

the first one we have had the really good sound effect on. He obviously

read the small print on his insurance policy because he was able

to claim at the bottom. This boy did not have the best practice this

morning. I saw him do a 1080. He came a little bit early of the

rail. You're turning your back as you rotates so it is slightly

harder. That was beautiful. Frontside double ten, very nice.

Switch backside 12 into backside 12. What was I saying about him being

rubbish in practice? You cannot go bigger than what he went in that

bottom jump. Backside means you take off and turn your back to the

landing. Beautiful frontside 540. Some glorious slow motion views.

There is one spin, two spin, there is three. That is a good 20 metres

into the landing. That is first-place for sure. Second.

Perhaps the we came off the rails early. A lot of chat about this man

in the build-up. He is looking to break the Canadian stranglehold. The

Americans traditionally do so well at snowboard, but without Shaun

White they have been downgraded. Take nothing away from this man. On

his day he is better than anyone. He has a take the stale and variety he

has been talking about and blend it with his biggest tricks.

That was the hand drag, tail drag. There is the switch double.

Frontside with a double tail. He dragged his hands. The judges will

be no live him for that. -- punish. He is happy. I am intrigued to see

the score. We have cops about variety.

I loved that into the backside 180. He got a good handle on that. That

is so difficult. To get yourself into that position and then out of

it. That was so nice. Beautiful. They have to reward that, the

judges. Yes! First place. The crowd like that. This man had a wonderful

training session, Billy Morgan. He came in as one of the favourites.

One of the few men in the world who can do back-to-back doubles. --

triples. Brunt bought 270. Backside rodeo. He

opened a little early, but he had to. Beautiful landing. My goodness!

He opened early but completely overcooked it. What a phenomenal

run. That will have done wonders for his nerves. He gets his foot right

on there. Into the 270. Here is the backside rodeo. That was really slow

compared to the qualifiers. A beautiful landing spot over his

shoulder. Here is the triple. He is happy. He has the platform to boot

in the other triple if he needs it. I think he will want to do it as

well. He will have had two runs under his belt. First-place! That is

fantastic. The first rider to breach the 90 point barrier. This is

gametime. A lot of big names needing to land their second run. These

scores starting to dip out into the slam territory.

A little butter in there. Frontside tail grab. He has put it down. Yes.

The Russians loved that. I want to see the replay. I think it was a

triple backflip. He definitely got a touch on that, that was lovely. Some

of the good boys if they have had a bit of practice could be changing

direction on the side of that later. That is something I would really

like to see. A little bit of rotation on the last one. It was a

triple backflip. I do not think it is going to be enough. He is not

happy. Yuki Kadono is by no means safe. We like this boy. He has got a

good ethic. Smile at all times. Here we go. He has got to clean the

rails. Very nice site tail slide. Magic tap on the top of the Russian

doll. He put down a basic jump line on the first run. Now he is going

for broke. Final jump. Gartner Sykes Mac -- goodness! The backside

double! We talked about smaller riders having the lower gravity.

That played right into his hands. A bigger rider would not have put that

down. I think we will see a score to challenge Billy's because of those

rails. All three elements perfect. A little bit late on the grab. He

holds it for at least 360. A bit of a hand drag there. He is pumped. And

rightly so. Well! They have penalised the bottom jump quite

harshly. Sage Kotsenburg. He has got one of the most beautiful left-field

runs we have seen. He works really hard to get different grabs in

there. When you are spinning, a lot of riders go for the easy grab. Sage

mixes it up. I think the judges did recognise that with his first run.

It is business as usual through the rail section. A big Japan grab. A

massive tweet. -- tweak. Was it the same Ron just cleaned up?

I think so. What we have got to recognise here is there is just 1.7

five points separating Billy Morgan and sage at the moment. This could

HM the head. That was a boot grab. A boot or body grab, the judges do not

like seeing. It is close but it is not enough! 0.25 behind Billy

Morgan. Billy Morgan stays in first place for now. The name and

everybody's lips, Mark McMorris. So far he is fighting for his Olympic

medal chance here. He has not got a score that will get him anywhere

near the final. Super technical switch tricks. He just needs exactly

the same as what he did but he landed on the bottom jump.

There is the triple. First place. Yes. It was clean. He tucked it away

as soon as he got them. Mark McMorris, when it comes to the

triple corks, they are actually courts. -- corks. Won -- Mark

McMorris does his triple and double corks. It is a blend of going upside

down and spinning. I want to see the look on his face now. He is going to

be glaring at the judges, daring them not to give him the score this

run deserves. Look at the blind into that landing. Just trusting that he

knew exactly where he was. Here is the triple. Great angle. Both hands

stroking. That is probably the only mistake in the whole run. That is as

clean as it gets. I think Billy Morgan will be sliding down to

second. 89.25! They do not like it! I really cannot see a reason for

that. Billy Morgan is in the final. What will be interesting to see is

if he does a Shaun White, and uses this run to showcase his biggest

run. If I was Billy Morgan I think I would lay down a triple. I would

say, this is what I will be doing in the final.

Look how much speed he is carrying. He has got a good metre or two

despair. -- to spare. Yes! He has put it absolutely down! The switch

triple! They call him a janitor. He cleaned up there!

That is just how Billy does it. It is not a mistake. That is lovely.

Everything is there. He has just added the trick that we will see in

the finals. But Billy Morgan has got this run on Lott. -- unlocked. I

talked to Billy about this and he said that you feel pressures in your

head, you get kind of a minor headache.

Just on his toe age. A bit slow. He is happy. The scores are irrelevant.

If you have just tuned in, Billy Morgan will join Jamie Nicholls in

the final as one of two British riders in the men's slopestyle

finals here at the Winter Olympics. He has given us a John Travolta to

finish! Billy Morgan makes the finals. Sage Kotsenburg, Mark

McMorris, and Yuki Kadono of Japan makes the final. So many big names

missing out. Seamus O'Connor, a great run for him. He got to lay

down the run he wanted. An absolutely fabulous morning of drama

here at the extreme Park. We are learning a whole new language

today. We have got the backside 180 melon and the cab triple. It is

absolutely spectacular. And Billy Morgan is through to the final. It

will take place in approximately seven minutes. Jamie Nicholls is

already through. He started his snowboarding career at the Halifax

ski and snowboarding centre. I think we should get to know him as well.

Jamie Nicholls, British slopestyle. I got into snowboarding when I was

seven years old. It was kind of like a birthday present from my parents.

We got into it as a family, too. It was cool. I have tried skiing a few

times. But I hate it. I don't like it. I am rubbish at it. I started

competing into jazz -- 2001. The UK dry slope competition. I think I was

nine years old when I did the Europeans. I was pretty young,

definitely. The sport has changed so much since I started. I remember

when a backside 720 won contest. Now it is all triple corks and doubles.

It gone crazy. I like how a trick is done. I don't want snowboarding to

end up just being too crazy. Imagine five flips? It would look

horrendous, like you are in a washing machine or something! But

yes, it is cool. It is only two years ago when I thought about

Sochi. When it came into the Winter Olympics, I thought maybe I should

have a go. Here I am now. Jamie has no doubt been watching

that semifinal 20 prepare. And indeed so has five-time Olympian

Graham Bell. He would rather be competing out there in something

than watching. Great to see you. This is our first visit in an

Olympic venue apart from the fished stadium. What do you sense of the

crowd and what they are making of it? I had a real Olympic moment

walking in at nine o'clock this morning. The sun was coming up and I

was looking out across this venue. Up on the mountain there you have

the grandparents. You have the men's and women's downhill. A bit

lower down you have the parents of freestyle skiing. Here, lower down,

you have the truculent teenager, who has booted open the door of the

Olympic games and is now setting it off. It was really special. It is

great that we have two British guys in the final. It is, Graham. For

many of us I am sure Alan Baxter's third place will be a medal in

spirit as we go back to 2002. What are the chances of a British medal

this morning? The biggest competition will come from the

Canadians. Mark McMorris has struggled. But Max Parrot is riding

incredibly well. We have got to chances and there are only 12 in it.

I spoke to Billy after his qualifying run. He said he was going

to go out there and try to enjoy it as much as he can and throw it

absolutely as big as he possibly can. That is what you have to do.

You cannot win a medal by taking things on the back-seat. You cannot

hold anything back. You have got to go for it. Let's hope they do. If

they do it, and they landed, we could have a medal. Fingers crossed.

The first gold of these Olympic Games is up for grabs. This will be

the first gold ever in snowboard slopestyle. There are absolutely no

guarantees in such an unpredictable sport but you can roughly say it is

going to be tight. At this altitude and at these

temperatures, life is on the edge. Not much moves up here. In these

conditions, survival is all about hanging on. Not falling off that

age. To defy gravity, to appreciate the role beauty of air, you have to

take all your one brief moment to shine. Or maybe not. Only the most

resilient, the most impervious to pain, only the best climb back up

the mountain and fly straight off the edge.

Welcome to the first ever Olympic snowboard slopestyle medal

showdown. The man U saw then, Max Sparrow, was first place qualifier.

-- Max Parrot. We have had semifinals this morning. 12 men

through to the final. We have Britain's Billy Morgan and Jamie

Nicholls. A rider's eye view of the course. Sat next to me, Mr Tim

Warwood. It has been a phenomenal couple of days? I think back to when

we first walked in here and we watched the practice. These riders

given a couple of days to ride the jumps. You think of the progression.

I just watched practice in between the semifinals and the final that we

are about to witness. They are light years apart. The standard is

absolutely insane. I guarantee you will see riding as good as ten out

there. Let's break it down with Billy Morgan and Jamie Nicholls. Two

very different riders. They have both got realistic podium hopes?

They have both got big tricks. They are both got runs with the best

tricks. If they can use -- utilise those we will see, hopefully, podium

places. Yuki Kadono from Japan. An uncharacteristic mistake. He makes

light work of these rails. Setting himself up nicely for the jumps. The

jumps get progressively bigger. He said that one day into the landing.

He normally rides with the front foot forward. Going for the trouble.

-- triple. It is those mistakes that will separate the riders. You want

to see the rails locked between the feet. That is what the judges have

been looking for. They have been so fussy about execution. If the board

is over rotated or under rotated they will be no lies these riders.

He commits the third time round. He tries to keep his hands up but he

has just dragged his bottom on the snow. They are laughing that as a

fall. -- classing. He finally got a decent score on his second run of

the semi-finals. Switch to 70. A little nose drag over the Russian

doll. Triple, so deep into the landing. He has gone to big -- too

big! He was knocked off his throne two weeks ago. He has come back. He

is locked in a battle with his countryman. He is carrying a broken

rib. Phenomenal. We saw him in practice. He was going for the

triple and he did not manage it. That is the biggest we have seen him

go all the on that. He cannot believe his luck. He is doing a

rocky. It will be the best score from the two runs that counts. His

run was beautiful. Snowboarding can be accused of being a bit similar

with some of the jumps but what he is doing, he is the snowboarder's

snowboarder. A little butter. He is going so deep. The riders seem to be

going so much better. There is the double tail grab. Backside 1260. He

has been building gently to this. He has already been down this cost

twice today and got rid of his nerves. With Shaun White dropping

out of the slopestyle contest, the weight of America's hopes is on this

man's shoulders. I do not think Shaun White good punch at this

weight. -- could punch. He is grabbing with both hands on the

tail. He cannot believe he has put that down. The execution might get

marked down, but he went so big. We have seen the judges punishing the

riders throughout the qualifiers and the semi-finals. Sometimes we have

struggled to make head or tail of it. We start with a clean slate in

the finals. The judges have the chance to make a good impression. If

we see switch, we mean the rider is going backwards. Frontside means if

they take of the open the front of their body up to the landing,

backside means the dark -- they duck. We talk about confidence in

the finals. It is about putting down a run. You have to get a score on

the board and then you can let go. Billy Morgan and Jamie Nicholls

standing together. They are going back-to-back. These boys are so

calm. That was a nice words led -- board slide 270. He cannot believe

it. He has on strapped -- unstrapped his board. Backside triple. 1260.

That was something totally new. We knew he had room for that in the

semifinal. He has given his shoulder a range. It is 1260. We were just

saying about having the confidence and easing the pressure on yourself

by having a solid run. His weight was just over the tail. He is the

only person going upside down off that can real. Backside triple 1260.

Computer Games stuff -- computer game stuff. All the pressure on

Billy Morgan. There are all the Brits. Jamie put down a backside

triple in practice. He only learned the trick in November. You spin like

a corkscrew. Backside 270. 450, no one else doing that. He is one of

the best riders on the rails. There is one, two, three, four. He has got

it! I held my breath there. Absolutely stonking. Beautiful, very

technical. A couple of small mistakes. We know how fussy the

judges have been about execution, but Jamie having a blinder. That

gives him the freedom to explore the possibilities on his second run. He

has only led this down three times before. A tiny hand drag, but it is

small. Here is the backside triple. Slightly over rotated. I am being

picky because that is what the judges are doing. Look at his face.

He is on cloud nine. It is this which 900 in the middle. And those

little hand drags. He has a score on the board. Pressure can take its

toll. This man had it all to do on his last run. He pulled it out of

the bag to qualify for the final. He is a popular man around the street.

Russian doll there. Cap triple. He is coming round the side. When you

look at the numbers, we have two rates, three Canadians, two people

from Finland and two people from Bahrain. -- Norway.

The Americans were the powerhouse. In Norway you can go to snowboard

school. You get an apprenticeship. The Norwegians had ten riders trying

to qualify for slugs while -- slopestyle. He has been at the

forefront of mains slopestyle for a number of years. Very technical. A

big transfer. 50-50 on to a frontside 360. He is going

backwards. 1260. Frontside ten, double cork. That seemed to go in

slow motion. The big scores we have seen so far, at the top of the

table, all of the riders who have already had a run seem to be more

relaxed. It is the little things as well, the stadium is no -- is full.

To do those bigger spends most of the riders grabbed between their

legs. Here is the triple again. It just seemed to hang. The course

seems to have speeded up slightly. Big is best. They all have got an

extra 10th of a second in the air. The big mistakes have come from over

rotations. Absolutely. These riders have a sixth sense almost. They go

on pure feeling, the wind in their ears. When they are overshooting

these jobs, they are preparing for the landing. As they are ready to

land, they have got another couple of feet to drop.

Sven Thorgren had an absolutely stunning qualification run. A real

masterclass in classic snowboarding. A lot of style and really

immaculate. He came off early. I was just about to say he was really good

on rails! He has settled down now. That is perfect. 1260!

Four times around. Lovely. That is first place, easily. Those jobs were

so big. So clean. The rail mistake, that was the only big issue. That

will give us a really good idea. The judges are judging overall

impression. A mistake does not get taken off that individual trick. It

gets taken off the whole score. One mistake can be really damaging. But

everything else, we have got immaculate landings. He is killing

the rotations of these frankly enormous spins, so effectively on

landing. That is really hard to do as well. This is beautiful. If you

were to look up in a textbook what beautiful snowboarding looks like,

there would be a picture of Sven Thorgren's face. Not a bad face

either, looking at that. He is happy. And rightly so. I think he

knows what is coming. This will be one of the key scores of the final.

Absolutely. The judges are looking for execution. They are looking for

a variety of tricks. They are also looking for a landing. He has got

the bloke of Little Britain on his board as well! The sweets were the

standout riders when we watched practice last week. They were the

dark courses. My goodness. Well, I will be honest, that has really

baffled me. The judges have made us look stupid. It is a subjective

sport. It is so difficult to call. That was the rail mistake. He did

exactly the same running qualifiers. He got a 95.425 in that. Peetu

Piiroinen. One of only four riders going for pipe and slope. He is a

robot. Only five foot five. He has got a low centre of gravity and he

uses that to his advantage. That was huge. Massive. That is

about as big a mistake as you will ever see him make. He had the

backside 1080 in qualification. For him, it is almost like Meccano. He

just bolts is another stage of the trek onto the last one and makes it

look easy. Beautiful frontside Lipsyte. -- lit side. That carries

so much jeopardy. He can knock you off kilter in the air, knock you off

balance. You can see how deep they are landing. The blue lines are

there so the riders can spot where the landing is. We have got a leg

grab there. The front hand is holding onto the back of the leg.

That helps to keep his body intact. The judges do not like to see it. It

is not seen as a purist's technique. He is only three days away from his

birthday. Fourth place for that. Well... !

Roope Tonteri, it is a miracle he is here. He broke his arm in November.

He bloke is humorous in September. -- he broke his humorous. A really

nasty break. You watch how well he rides and see how much it affects

him. The man has got skills. He came in as an outsider to win the Burnley

European opium. The Wimbledon of snowboarding events. -- the burn

open. Lovely frontside 1080. I wonder if

we are seeing riders marked down for opening up too early. The course is

definitely sped up quite a lot. I think he is just stoked to be here.

He broke his arm. He got flown to the UK and saw Darren Roberts. He

coached him back to full health. I spoke to Darren and he was over the

moon that he is here at the Olympics. He will have his second

run. It is the best of two runs. He can mark this one down to

experience. All of the pressure is on the second run now. I have got to

say, we will have a quick rundown of the top five. Sage Kotsenburg in the

gold medal position. Currently in silver is Jamie Nicholls of Great

Britain. In bronze, Sven Thorgren. Peetu Piiroinen is fourth. We have

not seen too many riders laying down clean scores. Add side of the top

three, there are not really any strong scores. We have the top

qualifiers still to come. We are running in reverse order. Staale

Sandbech, one of the most elegant snowboarders. He has a beautiful

style. I am not going to curse him as I did in qualifiers. He has got

it all, hasn't he? He has got it all. This is the snowboarder's

snowboarder. Everybody wants to snowboarders like this guy.

He is in danger of melting if he gets any smoother. This is glorious.

Oh, no! It is speed. The course has sped up. The riders are overshooting

the job. They are going to big. This was beautiful. The rail section

was immaculate. Who normally rides with his right foot forward. He has

hit all of these rights going backwards. That will get extra

points from the judges. We talk about switch and backwards. It is

the equivalent of trying to write with your left hand, isn't it?

Whilst being attacked by a flock of seagulls wearing a chip at! -- hat.

Don't look into his eyes. You will get lost. Get ready for a

masterclass in liquid snowboarding. Maxence Parrot is as good as ten.

The French-Canadian. He is the form man coming into this event. He is

riding high on confidence. The French Canadians have all looked

really strong. But so far he will have seen both of his boys dropped

their runs. It is on his shoulders. The whole of Canada will be holding

their breath. That looked sticky. He has taken a leaf out of Billy

Morgan's book. The first time he has done that run. He opens up early. He

puts it down. He should not have any trouble with these jumps. He is

making this look easy. Maxence Parrot has gone down! You talk about

pressure. You talk about the pressure of the Olympic slopestyle

final. I heard his hands were allergic to the snow. He has been

nowhere near it all week. He has gone and dropped it. Unbelievable. I

have talked a lot about this. Snowboarding comes from the most

relaxed end of the sport. A lot of these riders, they are used to

riding in front of big crowds but they are not used to this much media

scrutiny. Their grandparents don't usually watch. Their parents. There

is so much pressure on them. And finally we see a little bit of a

cleaning onto Max Parrot. He has got to fight his way back into this

second run. I was with Aimee Fuller before this. She was talking about

the pressure. Her Nan and grand dad are in the stand. They will be

watching her again tomorrow. He was talking about wearing different

clothes. That is not what these guys are used to. They have got their

country's flag on their shoulder. He is not cracking a smile. He is not

to stoked. How good does this sound, ladies and gentlemen!

So, Jamie Nicholls is going to take a lot of confidence from what he has

just seen. Absolutely. He just didn't think he had it in him. In

practice, he dug deep and found it. Are we going to see the backside

1260 from Jamie Nicholls? You can see Jamie here. Sage Kotsenburg with

his laid back into that backside 180 melon grab. Lovely. My hips would

dislocate about tried to do that clap. -- grab. What a position to be

in going into the second run. And quite incredibly, I just want to

double check this, Sage Kotsenburg will be running third. It would be a

nerve wracking process for him. He has got to watch nine riders descend

after him, waiting to see if somebody can better his score. Do

they not run in reverse order? No, they maintain the order.

I am sure everybody at home is absolutely mesmerised by what we are

seeing. It is one of the most bizarrely brilliant mornings of

sport I have ever seen. Somebody is knitting at the top of the run am a

while others are doing 30 metres of pure madness. It is utterly

majestic. There will be people asking questions about the judging.

U2 have already professed a few doubts about what is going on. It is

an objective -- subjective process? We have seen a lot of inconsistency.

Judges do get to wipe the slate clean with each round. After

qualifiers, the judges were really prioritising clean execution and the

size of the jobs. The riders have definitely responded. They are going

huge now. A lot of them are opening up too early and so it is looking

messy and at the end or they are landing over rotated or under

rotated. I think a lot of the riders are struggling to go really big and

control their spins. It has been a fantastic round for Jamie Nicholls.

He only put down a first top ten finish last month in major

competition and now he is in a silver medal position. With regard

to some of the top riders, who are used to performing under less

pressure circumstances, that the Labour is the gold-medal -- suddenly

there is a gold-medal. Jamie said to us before the contest started, I

just want to make finals. He did and he did it easily on his first run in

the qualifiers. What we saw in practice before this was Jamie

trying a trick that he only learned in November. The backside triple. He

has the confidence and he is having a good time with it. Jamie has

somewhere to go. He did a switch backside 900 and will try to up

that. That will be a gold-medal run if he lands that. We have to keep

ourselves in check. Maxence Parrot of Canada will ride last. We are

waiting for the second run to start, holding our breath. Will there be a

first ever British medal on snow at the Winter Olympic Games? Fingers

crossed. The judges tasked with possibly one

of the hardest asks in snowboarding. We have seen them prioritise a

Kleenex spins and big jumps. Hearts are racing. It is a beautiful

course. A lot of talk about how safe this cost was, it is almost perfect.

Not taking anything away from the people who built the courses, but

they are not the people who do the jumps. This guy asks if he they can

change the course and that is what happened and we are left with the

perfect course. Yuki Kadono riding first. He made a mistake on the

first rail in the first run. Hopefully he has managed to settle

himself. That was better. He had to spend the long way onto the rail

will stop nice 270. Russian doll. Going so big into the landing. You

can see by the way he came out of the last then he was looking solid.

He puts down the triple. The crowd are responding. This is a beautiful

run, especially on the rails. The first trip was so risky. The most

difficult of spins onto the rails that you can do. I do not think he

got the rap on that one. -- grab. A little bit of a hand there. This was

the triple on the last jump. He puts the landing down nicely. They get a

little bit cleaner than that. It is an improvement. Really getting

punished. Those landings. Stronger than that score suggests. You talk

about pressure, it was his gold to lose. That is what everyone was

talking about. The pressure has probably taken its toll. Is he going

to rise to it? Clinical through the rails. You just heard the clip as he

went over the Russian doll. Switch triple. Really deep, really clean.

Frontside double ten. Backside triple. His scores have been

consistently lower than he would have expected. He has locked in all

of these rails. Look at where his hands are. The arms are a great

indicator of control. You do not want them to be flailing around.

Here is the first triple. Up and down three times. We will do our

best to talk you through the moves. Double frontside, going upside down

twice. He throws his head into the third court. The judges are going to

struggle to fault this. I think he has been unlucky. He knows it is

good. It is good enough for silver. At the moment. Jamie Nicholls has

been knocked down into bronze. Sage Kotsenburg sits at the top at the

moment. Sage Kotsenburg, a lot of snowboarders will be cheering him on

because he champions spontaneous alternative snowboarding. Coming off

short. He needed to make sure he was straight down the slope and it was

not. That was a complete 90 degrees in the wrong direction. Beautiful

frontside ten with the double nose. It was a beautiful run but the

spectators know it is not going to better his first run. He has so much

to be proud of. He has really showcased one of the best sides of

snowboarding. Absolutely. When the course was getting a lot of stick,

and the media were giving the designers stick, he said, the course

is fine, it is the Olympics, it has to be big. He searched for it a

couple of times. He had another go. When you look at the scores that

were going into the final, 95.75, the highest score was Maxence

Parrot. That has cost him ten points. That is an indicator of how

harshly they are measuring this. It is now or never. The snowboarders

and skiers train together. 270. All going to plan so far. Backside

rodeo. Switch triple. One two, three. He put that down very

cleanly. Oh, no! If there is a weak point, it is the double frontside

280. He was the first man to do a triple in the Olympics. He has rode

so well during the entire practice and maybe the pressure got to him.

The course seems to have got faster. That double 1080 has caused him

problems a couple of times. That is the first time we have seen him drop

it. His coach said to him, you need a front double ten. He only learned

that click two weeks ago. So disappointing for him. That has

taken the wind out of my sails. He did not get to unveil the triple

double triple that he was looking for. It is a lot over for Great

Britain. -- not over. Currently in bronze medal position. He has

slipped off the side of the rail. The kickers could work for him. He

can do whatever he wants. Cap five. It is almost as if the first rail

set him back full. Backside seven. Give yourself a round of applause.

Jamie Nicholls, one of his traits is he is a perfectionist. To them,

sliding off the first rail... You can see his hand on his forehead. He

has the first run. He is currently in bronze medal position. There are

the world's best snowboarders to come. He is popular around the

paddock. He will get high-fives from the other riders. Not least Shaun

White, who he has got very close to in the build-up. Shaun White was

trying to get tips on how to ride the rails properly. We should stop

the contest! He had a great run in qualifying full.

A little bit basic through the rails. Just slowing down. Missed the

tap on the Russian doll. Down again. That is the jeopardy. They have to

do that. They have to be doing triples. The push of shame. This is

very uncharacteristic. I do not think I have seen a slopestyle

contest with three quarters of the field have not landed a run. This is

the first medal event of these games. The amount of pressure on

these lads is huge. Sage Kotsenburg, with each rider starting to let his

imagination run wild. The first gold medal of the Sochi 2014 games

currently sits with him. Still seven riders levelled. -- left. I think we

will see the top three change, to be brutally honest. It pains me to say

it. We have got some big heavy hitters still to go. He had a lot of

flipping will stop not much spin. Just on the back seat. We ease down

the landing. Gjermund Braaten's brother will be competing in the

freestyle slopestyle. It will be an uncomfortable flight home if his

brother wins a medal! You can see the riders collecting down there.

Sebastien Toutant, never far from a smile. This man has got a lot in

common with Buzz Aldrin. He loves it clean landing! So relaxed.

This is beautiful. Very, very lazy. What his arms. They are solid the

whole time. Such a beautiful rider. He makes every trick look so easy.

The first little stumble but he controlled it within a merely

second. He has dropped it. How can you be so solid through the first

five elements and drop it on the final one? Goodness. I am starting

to build up to some kind of pulmonary overload. I drank 16

litres of water in eight minutes! If you are just joining us, where on

earth have you been? This is the first ever men's's Olympic

slopestyle. It is delivering. Sebastien Toutant had a perfect run

up to this point. He came in too early. The heel edge gave way in the

slush. His medal hopes are over. Another one of the really big heavy

hitters posts are very ordinary score. Jamie still in third place,

bronze medal position. A few riders still to go. Sage Kotsenburg in the

gold medal position. If this lad can recreate some of the magic we saw in

qualifying, it will be very special. No pressure. Just go and when asked

gold! -- win gold! Everybody knows the run he delivered in qualifying

is enough. He came off a bit early. Not as clean as he would have liked.

Oh, my goodness, massive! He did well to save that. It all comes down

to this. Oh, my goodness! A massive run! Absolutely huge! Breathtaking.

Jamie Nicholls, the first man in the finish area to raise his hands. Sage

Kotsenburg with a big hug. This is the epitome of snowboarding's

spirit. Absolutely. He came off the down rail a little bit early. We are

picking hairs. We are looking for what the judges will be marking

down. These two sections were perfect. I think it was the best

jump line that we saw. What's the replay, the board vibrating. Sven

Thorgren posted a 95 point 25 in qualifying to get here. That would

have got him a gold medal. It counts for nothing here. Four full

rotations, mums and dads. Puts it down like it was the easiest thing.

Here is the reaction of the riders. I think Jamie has sadly been bumped

out of the medals. Wait for it. We have seen some interesting judging.

They are making him wait. His first run was one of the most

controversially judged. Just 19 years of age, this youngster. I am

sure this is probably the most anxious he has ever felt in his

life. In a way, it is better to come into this as a young rider. This

medal, honestly, will have come out of nowhere for them. They had very

little expectation of something. Third position. He bumps Jamie

Nicholls out of the medals. I am stoked for him but I am gutted, deep

down. Jamie will be disappointed with the second run. But as we said,

getting into that 1440, the trick he had only landed four times before,

and managing it on his first run, was a huge achievement. Absolutely.

As cliched as it sounds, just to make the finals is a massive

achievement. He has learned to ride on artificial snow and here he is

mixing it with the world's best snowboarders. And here is one of

them. He learned on the icy hills of Scandinavia. His technique is

faultless. If you wanted to pay cares, you could say he does not

have the flair of Sage Kotsenburg or maybe Sven Thorgren. But he is

immaculate. The judges award perfect execution here. He has got a wide

stance. Oh, my goodness, that was an absolute masterclass in

snowboarding, ladies and gentlemen. Liquid snowboarding. He may even

crack a smile. He is rather stoic, this lad. Couple of small mistakes

on the rails. That is what he would say will stop --. The 540 was there

with a good bonk on the Russian doll. He got Lovren -- he got marked

down on the first run for the leg grab. He has still got the leg grab

in there. It will be interesting to see yet that is what the judges have

picked up on. The trailing arm is tucked down underneath that left

knee. It is holding his body weight down. You cannot hide that in slow

motion. But to spend four times around like that and keep it

flat... He is getting penalised for the leg grab. The others can do it

without the leg grab. He is not allowed -- being allowed to cheat.

Sage Kotsenburg, with every rider, is daring to dream. Roope Tonteri,

the second of the fence. -- the Finns. , one, Roope Tonteri! We like

this guy. He has done well to get here after

coming back from the broken arm in November. He really needs to step it

up. Too big. He could not control it. Switch. Right now, you look

across these scores and it is only the top six riders who have put down

even close to a good score. Seven riders have not managed to lay down

a solid consistent landed run. If you've joined us for the qualifiers,

the standard of writing was absolutely ridiculous. It does seem

the pressure has got to these guys. Were expecting to see a lot of guys

holding stuff back for the semifinals or the finals. Nobody

did. Everything got thrown down. They all went bananas. Roope

Tonteri, 10th down in this second run. Only two riders left. The first

will be Staale Sandbech from Norway. We got a glimpse of his genius on

the rails. Can he complete the run this time? Lets see what he has got.

He is a goofy rider. Coming from the hard side onto the

rail. Coming out to switch again. Nice. The entire top section of the

course is done backwards. Oh, my goodness! Backside triple.

There is your first place. Absolutely beautiful. The rails were

phenomenal. The fish! He is happy with that. He knows it is first

place. He held onto it. His shoulders were doing all of the hard

work. That is the only fault that you could pick. His brother, one of

the world's best snowboard photographers, has taken pictures of

him. It develops this kind of style. Absolutely beautiful from site 1080.

Frontside air 1440. 1440 treble. The only thing that he could say is that

it is not as big as some of the other runs we have seen. Is

difficult when you are spinning off your heels. I think that his first

place. That is what I am going to say. I think you are right. I am

going to agree with you. But I have been wrong 96% of the time. Second

place! This is on the cusp of being very poor waiter. Really creative

snowboarding. He did everything he could there to do something

different. Here is the man riding better than everyone else apart from

the first one. He had the best run in qualifiers. He has it all to do

after falling on his first run. Maxence Parrot. If he lands the run

he wants to land, it will be an easy choice for the judges. The Canadian

coach is going to be concerned. It would bump Mark McMorris out of

bronze. Cap double on the first. Frontside double. This is a back

triple. He has done it! I do not think that is. Both tens. There are

no mistakes. I think that is bronze. Backside rodeo off the Canon, that

may be a bigger score. Landing backwards into a frontside double.

Three spins. Not to be sniffed at. Here is the backside triple. Is that

1620? I think so. It is the triple 1620. He won two weeks ago with

that. Is that the first time we have seen that? I think so. Four and a

half spins. Both of those boys have a medal, but they do not know what

colour yet. Sage Kotsenburg was way down in the qualifiers. Can he come

back to win gold? I can feel it! . We thought it was going to be a

battle of Canada and Norway with potentially a couple of Brits,

but... The judges have the same pressure and they are taking their

time. It is the most important verdict in history potentially. What

kind of message are you going to send out about what kind of riding

you want to see? Fifth! My goodness. Confirmation for Sage

Kotsenburg. The gold medal at the first ever Olympic snowboard slopes

go -- slopestyle event. Jamie Nicholls in sixth. Absolutely

amazing. He is going to be buzzing, as is everybody watching at home in

Bradford. You can see what it means to them. There is a debate that will

read about the judging, but Sage Kotsenburg's run contains some of

the hardest grabs seen in snowboarding. We have been talking

about style, the fact that snowboarding is going towards

triples, but I think style has won through. Sage Kotsenburg taking the

gold back to America. Can we take a breath now? Sage Kotsenburg under so

much scrutiny in the absence of Shaun White and the first gold of

the rush-hour Games goes to America -- the Russia Games.

You must be really happy with sixth. I am really happy. I cannot believe

it. I am happy both of us made it to the final and got top ten. I cannot

be happier. What happened on the second run? It was weird. I do not

normally mess up on the rails. I was not going in the right direction

because normally I'd be switching to the second rail. I just had some

fun. What does this mean for British snowboarding? It means a lot.

Hopefully there is no talent coming up and to do the same as what we did

-- there is more talent coming up. I thought I had to go big or go home.

It was fine. What a way to start the Games. Are you proud of your sport?

So proud. The level was so high. The highest I have seen it. People doing

triple 16s, it was amazing. If we build the facilities, do you think

we could build on this success? Yes. If we have the facilities,

perhaps more opportunities to learn tricks, perhaps we will see some

British snowboarders on the podium in future events. You have been

amazing ambassadors and good friends.

Apologies if you were offended by anything that Billy said, but they

have done us proud on the slopes. What have we seen today? The overall

impression it is a fine line between keeping the runs clean and pushing

the ambition levels. Can you sum up what you feel that message has been?

The judges played a big role in today's proceedings but you have to

temper that with the standard of riding that we saw. These guys were

pushing the level of snowboarding so far. You will see it in a single

jump events but to be able to do it as part of a run is unprecedented.

The judges are dealing with that the whole time and because it is

subjective you have so many difference tiles -- different styles

and it comes down to personal preference and some ways. Sage

Kotsenburg with the gold, we saw him do some very difficult grabs while

controlling the spin. Getting out of those cleanly is even harder than

getting in. The right man to gold for me. Anyone else? The beautiful

thing with snowboarding as it is completely different and you have

people doing tricks in different ways. It must be so hard to judge. I

got it wrong so many times! We will have more tomorrow with the women's

snowboard slopestyle. There is so much to look forward to every

morning. It is worth getting up early for. Tomorrow we have one of

the great events of any Winter Olympics, the men's downhill.

He is absolutely flying. That is one of the quickest of the race so far.

He gets gold. Who will join the list of champions?

We hear it is a great course. It is wide open. The race starts at 7am

with coverage at 6am. We witnessed a brand-new chapter in the Winter

Olympics this morning with the slopestyle snowboard event. We are

going to one of the more traditional, cross-country skiing,

which is taking place in the mountains. It is a beautiful spot.

In some ways it is hard to describe just how beautiful it is up here.

You feel a presence from the mountains adult although we know

that all pain produces the greatest speeds, cross-country is about as

pure as it gets. These guys spend hours, weeks, out in the weeks

training, but this is the worst weather they have ever had. When

they get here they are going to get blown away surrounded by 3000m

peaks. Every professional Wood said their sport is the hardest but you

can see on this incline how difficult it is to get up these

slopes. Is it as tough as it gets? It uses every muscle in the body. On

top of that, you are balancing on top of skis which are 4.5

centimetres abroad so you are trying to stay upright and put in Boots to

getting up the climbs. Let us see if we have any breath left at the end

to talk about it. This is a game changer. As file as the sprint race

is concerned, where you talk about tactics you have to have something

left in the tank to be able to do anything. This is so much steeper

than the other sections. On the 50 kilometre, by the time you get round

here you are going to be feeling it. Is this the point where gold could

be secured? It is so severe it creates an opportunity for the

fittest to get away. How many times can they do it? You have to try to

save your best for last. It is a typical Olympic course, it is

relentless, steep, long, painful, followed by fast and dangerous

downhills. It is even test, or physical abilities, more than any

other course they will have been on this year. A few people will fall

and get broken kit, but I think we are going to get dramatic racing. It

is certainly a course for the climbers. The Norwegians love their

cross-country skiing. Marriage Bjork and is the star. -- Marit Bjorgen.

This is the 15 kilometre skiathlon. It is the first of marriage Bjork

and's six events. Patrick and Rob will explain more. Good afternoon.

That afternoon. It is going brilliantly. We have been cooped up

in our hotel rooms doing our homework, talking about it for hours

on end. Here we are on a beautiful crisp afternoon in the mountains

above Sochi. The racing finally gets underway. And what a contest we

have. Therese Johaug, the overall World Cup later this year. Marit

Bjorgen, the defending champion. Justyna Kowalczyk. Therese Johaug

wearing number one. I'm joined by Patrick Winterton. Patrick, who

plied his trade on the cross-country hills around Calgary in 1988. You

have been on this course and sampled it. You believe this is one of the

toughest courses in Winter Olympic history? The organisers always make

the Olympic tracks hard. Calgary, Torino... If you look at the

statistics here, it is brutal. There is no rest whatsoever. I don't think

they invented flat sections. It is so technical as well. Lots of time

can be gained on the corners. The classic phase is, if anything, a

little bit easier. The claims are shorter, the corners are more

gentle. When it comes to the freestyle states later, that is a

test of muddy and mind. -- body and mind.

It is the all-rounder's gold medal, this one. Two laps skated in

freestyle. It will be interesting to see if some of the classical

specialists decide to make a break before the end of their stronger

discipline. It would certainly be a long way out before the finish. But

with Marit Bjorgen and Therese Johaug in good form, somebody will

have to produce a special performance to deny one of those two

Norwegians a golden start to what should be an electric 16 days in the

hills above Sochi. I think a lot of people will wonder how long it takes

to cover 15 kilometres. The race in Vancouver was won in just over 40

minutes. The pre-Olympic race here last year to 46.7. The course is

15,736. That is not 15: Is to me. -- kilometres.

We have got a total of 61 in this competition. Some of the cross

country and the Biathlon are conducted on the time trial format.

This is everybody out on the course together. The first to finish is the

Olympic champion. It is that simple. From any it is easier than the time

trial because you are feeding off other people's technique. It is that

little bit easier to push yourself and stay with the group. If Justin

Kowal check is going to break away, I think she will try to do it on the

second loop. -- Justina: Check. If you were watching cross-country

skiing for the first time, there are some similarities to distance

running. It is a similar principle. You would be very unlikely to see

somebody trying to win the London Marathon by breaking away in the

first couple of kilometres. There are quite a few backmarkers. It is

so far so good as far as the main names are concerned. It is hard to

overemphasise how big this sport is in Norway. It is absolutely huge. It

will be wall to wall front page and back page news. They are expecting a

glorious golden return from their cross-country skiers, male and

female. They will be extremely excited to see their golden girl of

four years ago, Marit Bjorgen, deciding to put herself out front.

Just reminding the rest that she is the defending Olympic champion. The

remaining world champion. This is a cracking example of how technical it

is. We already have one victim. Marit Bjorgen took the lead before

the corner because she knew she could gain several metres on

everybody else. She is not taking advantage of that lead but it means

she does not have two ski the next hill quite so fast. I just saw a

glimpse of Charlotte Kalla in third place. A magnificent gold medal in

Vancouver in the 10K. She has raced really sparingly this year. She has

been very clever. She will be as fresh as a daisy. She has geared her

entire season around Peking here in Sochi. She did so well in Vancouver.

Charlotte Kalla comes from a tiny village in Sweden. I think there are

200 people. When she is racing, the local wood mill shuts down and they

are glued to the box. She has now got a statue in the village because

of her success in Vancouver. What do they do next if she gets a gold

medal here? There she is. Just a slight slip. She is wearing number

six. The waxing is absolutely crucial. The principle is you want

the skis to grip the snowboard you don't want the snow to grip the

skis. Absolutely. Tricky conditions. Some parts of snow in

the shade are very cold. In the sunshine is glorious. That is what

the dilemma is. What they have gone for is klister, a sticky syrup kind

of liquid which goes on the base of the ski. On top of that they have

had to try to put some stick wax to stop the snow sticking to the base

of the ski. Obviously that kills your glider straightaway. This is

the final approach into the stadium run. You will see the sharp corner

coming. If there is a group coming in, it will be very tactical indeed.

They just need to keep it safe at this stage of the race. Already you

can see a little group beginning to pull away. Marit Bjorgen in front.

Charlotte Kalla in second. Justina: Check, the tactical specialist. Will

she be strong enough to get away from the Norwegians before moving

onto the freestyle? Some fascinating moments lie ahead. Marit Bjorgen,

the Queen of cross-country. In 11 races this season. Eight podium

places, five wins. A big climb coming up very shortly. Kowalcyzyk

Has to go early on this second loop. Just like cycling, if you are skiing

in a group, you are quicker than somebody on their own. We could not

have wished for a better day for the cross-country to start. A beautiful

crisp afternoon here. It will start to get colder and faster as the day

goes on. There is Kowalcyzyk. Is this just an indication? One of the

teen culture is making sure she is getting the liquid on board. It is

an absolutely brutal sport. It uses virtually every muscle group in the

body. Even though it is fairly cool, taking the liquids and the nutrition

and the hydration OnBoard is as important here as it would be in a

fairly warm, big-city marathon. Particularly bearing in mind they

have a programme of six races. There will be quite a few athletes

intending to compete in every single race, assuming they get selected.

Dehydration is vital, even if you lose just five or six metres.

Charlotte Kalla is not going to lead the group go. In the last three

majors, the top aides have all coming together into the stadium. --

the top eight. I suspect we will lose a couple on this second lap.

Then the transition becomes a ready important part of the race. It can

take anything between 25 and 35 seconds. If you lose seconds on the

transition, that could be your chance gone. Is kind of like the

Grand Prix moment where they come into the pit lane. Occasionally

things can go wrong. Most of the big names that we would expect to be in

that lead group, are there. Marit Bjorgen second from the left wearing

number two. She looks pretty comfortable. So does Charlotte

Kalla. I wonder if she has played a really smart game? Racing so

infrequently. Everybody talking about the two Norwegians. Talking

about Kowalcyzyk and her potential ankle problems, with her picture

posted on Facebook and her refusing to talk about it. Nobody has been

making any noises about Charlotte Kalla. She has based her entire

season around this. She looks in confident mood. Nice to see Nicole

Fessel of Germany staying with the leading group. I think she probably

has the best chance in this of the Germans. She looks strong. But then

again, once this phase is over, you have to consider with the best

skaters are. We have got the top three.

We cannot rule out Yulia Tchekaleva of Russia. And then Kristin Stormer

Steira from nowhere, who is forever finishing fourth. From a neutral

point of view, if you are allowed to have a wish, it would be for her to

have an individual medal to go alongside that team gold she picked

up in Vancouver. There is a definite Group E are working their way from

the rest of the field. -- there is a definite group here.

Kristin Stormer Steira has dropped back into the second group. Thing is

not looking good for her at the moment. She will be 19 seconds

behind. That is a significant margin at this stage. I think we have to

remember that nowhere were not only one two, three in the world

Championships, they got fourth position as well. That has not been

done at the Olympics for a very long time. I think it was the Russians.

Certainly the Russians have done it on one occasion. 1960, it was. Yes,

well you go back to the history books of cross-country of -- and

there were so many clean sweeps in the early days. Finland, Norway and

Sweden utterly dominant. Great to see other nations coming into the

mix. It is so difficult to wrestle that stranglehold from those

nations. Cross-Country is almost just a part of every weekend culture

in Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is as common and activity as a stroll

in a park on a Sunday would be back home. It is how they get to school

in the early days. If you read the profiles of these athletes, nearly

all of them have mums and dads who were into the sport.

Good gripping. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen cannot be ruled out completely. We

are getting relatively close to the second half of the contest which

will be done in freestyle on different skis once they come into

transition. We still have 11 in the first group, but there is the

monster held to come -- monster hill. I thought having the classic

first favours the freestyle skiers. It is much harder for the classics

years to impose themselves. It is such a long way from home to make a

break, psychologically you would be thinking, I know they are coming.

She would have to go so early to give herself a chance of getting

ahead on what is her slightly weaker technique. This year it has been

significantly weaker. In the past she has won world cups in the

freestyle, she has been nowhere near, she is in fifth at the

moment. Justyna Kowalczyk is not 100%. There have been rumours flying

around she has hurt her ankle. A group of six beginning to pull away.

The sense of anticipation will be growing because three of the four

Golden girls at exactly where they are expected to be. Justyna

Kowalczyk's technique is not as good as the Norwegians, it is still

pretty fantastic, but not as effective, and she is struggling a

little bit at the moment. The Russians got one, two, three in

Calgary. Is this the same principle in triathlon where when they are

getting out of the water they would actually practised transition so

they do not lose unnecessary time? Certainly. In the old days they did

not realise the importance of it, but nowadays if you can get out in

25 seconds or so you are not going to lose too much time. If the legs

are shaking it is very difficult to get down. You have to switch skis

and change poles. We have the defending champion, Marit Bjorgen.

Justyna Kowalczyk, it'll be interesting to see of she loses a

couple of seconds as there was a stumble there. Justyna Kowalczyk

stuck in the exchange. That is what she did not need. 7.4 seconds does

not sound a lot but she has to catch that up so she has put herself at a

disadvantage at a crucial stage of the race. It shows you how difficult

it is coming into transition because Justyna Kowalczyk and Aino-Kaisa

Saarinen are world-class performers. Heading into the second half of the

race on the freestyle skis. They have done the classical, it is the

freestyle. A disappointing first leg for her, I do not think she is going

to see the leaders again. If she does she deserves a medal but look

at the gap they have opened up. Presumably this is Justyna Kowalczyk

trying to close down. The two who fell over at the exchange. You just

saw Aino-Kaisa Saarinen beginning to fall there. You lose all the brick

from the edge of the ski, that is the classic mistake, but one she

should not have made at that age. -- stage. These are the finest

cross-country skiers in the world and every single second will count

when it gets towards the last of the four 3.75km larks. Marit Bjorgen is

there, Justyna Kowalczyk just a bit off the pace. I think that there is

significant. She had to be with the leaders and feed off them. The

leading five have got away. Justyna Kowalczyk is in real trouble. Her is

in is the 10km pursuit. I was just wondering about her foot and if she

has problems with the ankle, one of her feet hit the snow a bit

awkwardly, but if she is feeling a twinge, that would not have helped.

Therese Johaug has Marit Bjorgen with her. Justyna Kowalczyk is doing

everything she can to close the gap. It is going to be very tough for her

to get back in contention. The Norwegians will be very aware that

Justyna Kowalczyk is out of the way. They will not want to ease up

for a second. A game of cat and mouse will develop because you do

not want to be leading the group. They will be wanting others to take

that time. I would sort of put money on Justyna Kowalczyk the end back

with the group for the next time and then she is going to find that she

is caught out because she cannot stay with the pace when it picks up.

For Marit Bjorgen, she knows that is to raise your blog can beat her but

she has the knowledge that she won this four years ago. She will be

relatively happy with the way things are panning out at the moment. She

will be very concerned because the final climb is where Therese Johaug

is going to make her move. She will be waiting patiently and if she can

get a tenmetre lead she will try to steal an advantage when it comes to

the sharp corners. She beat her in the World Championship last year.

This is the start of the climb. The stadium is built virtually on the

summit of the hill. Although you enjoy the speed almost in excess of

80kph, you know it has to come back. Is Aino-Kaisa Saarinen beginning to

suffer? Therese Johaug looks very smooth. She is beginning to boot a

lead quintet under pressure. Recovering a little as they do this

gate two technique. The hills deepens -- hill steepens and we

might find Aino-Kaisa Saarinen dropping off the pace at that point.

She completed the difficult tournament and she is a mother

chance of a medal full is she was third in the ski at one --

skiathlon. She is a prodigious talent. Justyna Kowalczyk dropping

off the pace again. In even more trouble than she was at the start.

Therese Johaug uses tempo. Marit Bjorgen has wonderful triceps. She

uses power. You can see the power in the shoulder. She has something in

her mind most of us do not have. That is one of the key points.

Therese Johaug is a brilliant climber. Marit Bjorgen had to pull

out off the last race with a virus. How much of this is going to come

down to Marit Bjorgen's belief that on the big occasion the World

Championships last year she can deliver? This can be won and lost on

the next lap. If Marit Bjorgen is right with Therese Johaug, then she

can win it. We cannot rule out a fantastic competitor who was out for

two years. Charlotte Kalla. It would be an extraordinary second gold for

her. She is right there in third place. The defending champion is in

second place. Charlotte Kalla third. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen has managed to

get back to that group. I just wonder, there is a little grimace, I

wonder if that fall in transition between the classical and the

freestyle lead to some problems with the ankle that was already a

niggling injury. That's seven seconds she tried to make up, she

got very close, that has cost her. If she had been with the leading

group, she is like a Jack Russell, she does not let go. The race is

between these five. Heidi Weng is right there. Saarinen allowing a few

metres of a gap to grow. She is in fifth. She has done really well to

hang on. She is past her best. Two brilliant bronze medals in

Vancouver. She has got a huge amount of experience to draw on. You get a

an idea of the speeds on the downhill. Patrick did the course a

few days ago and was still feeling the adrenaline couple of days after

finishing. Saarinen attacks of the hill. She is a wily, tough

competitor. She is 35 years old. Is there another day of magic in those

slightly ageing legs? When you think she was ranked 26th in the world

last year, she pulled out of the end of the Tour de Ski. She was under

the weather. A little bit of a virus affecting her. She missed 14 races

last year. She has come back very strong this year. Made a good

appearance in the Tour de Ski. I'm surprised to see her go early. I

wonder if she knows she cannot beat them on the five-minute climb back

into the stadium? It may be an all or nothing move but it is certainly

brave. And it is reminding the Swede and the three Norwegians that sarin

and is still in this race. -- Saarinen is still in this race.

Saarinen Leeds, Bjorgen second, Johaug card -- third. We're looking

back down the field. Kowalczyk has allowed the Finn to come past. It is

a long programme for these athletes. It is not Kowalczyk's best event.

She knows now that a medal is away from her grasp. Meanwhile, returning

our attention once more to the leaders, Saarinen digging up that

hill. Bjorgen to her right, our left. Then Charlotte Kalla. Johaug

coming through. The World Cup leader. Who is going to make the

move and when will that be? The three medallists will come from this

five. Will be possibly see a clean sweep from Norway or can the likes

of Kalla and Saarinen getting amongst the makes? A good

performance from Kerttu Niskanen. These two are detached. There is a

massive gap from Kowalczyk to the next athlete down the course. Nicole

Fessel from Germany is now over 47 seconds behind. There is a big

margin of 100 metres minimum. In fact, closer to 300 metres, between

seventh and eighth. Masako Ishida from Japan is doing very well. Look

at Heidi Weng on the left frame. This is, we can assure you, a really

brutal climb. So energy sapping. But Heidi Weng, the heir apparent to

Marat Bjorgen's crown, is taking it to them. -- Marat Bjorgen.

Saarinen beginning to struggle. Nowhere, one, two and three. Only

Kalla staying with this amazing triumvirate of excellence from

Norway. To really steep stages on this climb. The first one is

complete. It has levelled off a little. It is still a painful time.

The second steep phase lasts for 55 seconds. The first part of the work

is done. Joe Howe gulps the tempo. That is how she gets away. --

Johaug. I'm not sure that was not a mistake from Heidi Weng to go so

early. You know you have got five minutes of climbing. Now she is

hanging on for dear life. She glanced over to her right hand side

and saw Kalla and decided to talk back in into fourth place, or she

had been for much of the pre-seeding lap. Maybe, as you said, a little

burst of adrenaline. She is a youngster. She has finished nine

times in the top ten this season. This only comes around once every

four years. Charlotte Kalla stuck in third place the whole way round.

Very good tactically. Has not done any leading, and has conserved as

much energy as possible. She will need it. If she wants the gold, she

has to bite her time. I suspect they will make the break when they come

around the back of the stadium. The track widens a little from four

metres wide to nine. That is when they will get the opportunity to

take -- overtake. Who will still be with Therese Johaug when they finish

the ascent? Bjorgen in second place, Kalla in third. She has been for so

long. Heidi Weng, after the little flirt with the lead, going up the

hill in fourth place. Saarinen is at the back of that group of five. Look

at Kalla coming through on the inside. The Swedish athlete,

determined that the Norwegians will not have it all their own way. This

is a concerted bid to break the Norwegian dominance. It could be too

early for Charlotte Kalla. It is a bold move but she knows she has to

try some work. With a minute and three quarters still on the clock to

race, the climbing still starts. That little burst from Kalla could

be expensive. Look at the gap between second and third. Only

Bjorgen has been able to live with the pace of Charlotte Kalla. She has

been taken by surprise by this injection of pace from Charlotte

Kalla. At the moment, subject to her coming back, she looks as though she

will be in a battle for bronze. Borgen -- Bjorgen is right on her

tail. They must be a question mark over that final tactical left

unturned coming up now for Kalla. The first gold medal of this

programme is about to be one. -- won. Brilliant tactically from

Bjorgen going around that corner. Can she defend this title? She is

the word champion. She is the woman in form. She knows Kalla is still

there. Bjorgen is closing in on another superb piece of Winter

Olympic history. It could be a truly golden fortnight for a Bjorgen. She

is coming away. Kalla surely is going to have to settle for second

place. What a performance from Bjorgen. Kalla is still driving for

the line. But Marat Bjorgen has started here how she finished in

Vancouver. It is gold again for the iron Lady of Norway. Kalla has too

subtle for the silver. It is a brilliant bronze for Heidi Weng,

coming home ahead of an exhausted Therese Johaug, who this time it

ends up in fourth place. If there is any doubt as to how much these

athletes give, here is the proof. There is nothing left. That was a

superb way for the cross-country programme to get started here in

Sochi. Great tactical scheme from Bjorgen. She knew she needed the

inside line on the turn. She is four time world sprint winner. She will

always be quicker over the last 200 metres. A classic finish. Slightly

surprised how easily they got rid of Johaug on that final climb. We were

talking about how brilliant she is on the uphill sections. Kalla had

obviously spoken to her coaches about when to make that move, as we

look at Kerttu Niskanen coming over the line. When she went, it was

decisive. Bjorgen was able to go with her. How many more gold medals

will be see from Bjorgen here in the hills and the sunshine of Sochi?

Well, whatever else comes her way, she has added another gold to a

growing list of accolades. She must now go down as one of the sport's

all-time greats. You are certainly right there, Rob.

She could go down as maybe even the greatest ever in the history of the

Winter Olympics. She has got other five chances of medals. What she did

get another medal, she would overtake her fellow countryman who

has 12. That is the record in Winter Olympics. Eight of them weren't

told. The iron Lady is not for turning. She marches straight on.

That is a wonderful fourth gold medal of her career for Bjorgen of

Norway. In a sprint finish with Charlotte Kalla of Sweden. Great

action, wonderful views. Wonderful action so far. We have

seen the traditional, the cross-country, and the very new in

snowboard slopestyle. It has been a very dramatic morning. We are also

going to be showing you some ice hockey now. It is the first time we

were -- we are going into the venues here. The first we are going to see

is the all conquering Americans. At least they would like to be. They

were beaten to the gold last time around by the Canadians in

Vancouver. So serious are they about trying to win it this time, they

have voted not to march at the opening ceremony last night in

preparation for a very big match today against the team which won the

bronze the last time, Finland. This is a grudge match in as much as the

Finns beat America, it was the first time since 2008 they had ever been

beaten by anybody other than Canada. That was last November.

Plenty to be proved today. This is how the ice hockey competition is

going to work. It has been rearranged slightly. The competition

format has changed. rearranged slightly. The competition

format has Group a buddy for strongest teams. The first two teams

will progress to the semifinals. The bottom two will reach the

quarterfinals where they would play the top two teams from group B.

Bring it on. We bring you two of the teams who

could be contesting a medal. It is the first match of the group

stages. The United States against Finland. The big decision for the

coaches was starting goal position. The Finns have the best goalie in

women's hockey right now. The big decision was who was going to going

goal, for a Katey Stone. She has gone for the veteran, Jessie Vetter.

Here we go. The women's ice hockey competition at Sochi 2014. The 22nd

Winter Olympics is underway. The US wearing the blue shirts against the

white shirts of the fence. Immediately in possession. They are

big, they are strong, they are a physical team as well.

Finland forced back towards the blue line. Hilary Knight puts her team in

a little trouble. Cleared away down the ice. Finland have a chance to

clear from their own end. Time and space. Intercepted. Scores! 53

seconds! Hilary Knight! No problem in beating the goalie. It is one

shot and one goal for Team USA. I was just going to talk about the

transition of Finland as they went from defence to offence. A direct

turnover to Hilary Knight. She pounded of the post past the goalie.

She gets her head up and has a good look. The goalie beaten clean. What

a moment for Hilary Knight. Good save by the goalie! What a

chance that was for the Americans. Great saviour. Kelli Stack had an

opportunity. Continuing to play at round. Good save, really good save.

That is the best opportunity of this match so far, they are developing

and getting stronger. Tremendous play by the Olympic veteran for Team

Finland. She had her own defending team-mate coming in. It is pretty

hard 16 minutes into a period to get your first shift. This could be an

opportunity on the angle. On the toes. Comes straight forward and

gets away from her. Gets enough on the short to deflect it away. The

Americans are favourites and they want to get off to a flying dart and

the -- a flying start and they did. A sigh of relief for Finland, that

was evenly good opportunity. We are going to see some pushing and

shoving. A bit of old time OK. -- hockey. The captain lays it out. The

Finnish defence taking offence. A lot of pressure. It is interesting

to see how much room both teams are being given. Battered home, the

Americans doubled their advantage. That was like a home run Derby. The

deflected shot comes in. Fantastic position. She takes it higher off

the body. She must play at below the height of the top of the goal.

This was the shot that hit the corner. Carpenter scores on the

angle. Rebounding hard off the board. There was Carpenter. America

lead 3-0. The Americans are all over it. What a finish. Tremendous play.

I do not know if it goes off the Finnish defender. That was

world-class. Carpenter on the one all those -- bounce. Tremendous

finish from Carpenter. The US are in control.

How did that not go in? She is dumbfounded. We are too. I do not

know what happened was not -- as she had made the play but she was unable

to hold on for the closing finish. It looked as if her hand went up

almost in celebration and then in desperation.

Thin man cannot get on the board on this occasion. -- Finland. It is

going to be a powerplay and the Americans will be frustrated when

they think the opportunity went one way, trying to make a play, Decker

goes down, and that was the falling American player.

That was the defensive number nine taken down their. It is a good

moment for them to test. Goal! They needed 25 seconds. She fired home a

shot side. That is a good opportunity for them to get momentum

in the tournament. It could not be cleared by the defence. Look at the

play across. Just cannot get past the post in time and she knows what

she is doing, a clinical finish, a huge goal for confidence.

The Americans start with a win, a comprehensive performance for 55

minutes, a late goal from Finland. They start the campaign with a 3-1

victory over Finland. The United States get a little bit of revenge

after defeat by Finland in November. There has been a lot happening this

morning. You might have to adjust your alarm clock to earlier.

Tomorrow is one of the most widely anticipated events, the men's Alpine

downhill. It has produced great drama and controversy. The king of

the mountain in 1968, the Frenchman got three gold medals. He was

already a celebrity before this to such an extent that the

International Olympic Committee questioned his amateurism.

Afterwards he would become a global superstar. The dominating figure has

been a French man whose performances made him almost and mac Olympic

board. -- god. It was the only one I expected to win and I got another

one. The third gold medal, the last part of the trouble crown of Alpine

skiing, might not have been one. The slalom was shrouded in fog. The

Austrian skier was in the lead. The Austrian requested and was granted

leave. He was disqualified for messing a date on his first run

before his path was blocked. He won the third gold and became a

superstar. Presentation of the third gold medal... The Austrian remains a

great hero despite the controversy. Sage Kotsenburg wins the first gold

of the Games in the snowboard slopestyle. Mark McMorris took the

bronze despite a broken rib. Jamie Nicholls was second for Britain at

the halfway stage and finished sixth. Billy Morgan was ten. --

tenth. Marit Bjorgen won the cross-country.

Still to come, Jonathan will be here shortly to take you through the

speed skating. The Six Nations also continues

today. I am off to practice my backside 180 melon! Goodbye.