Day 1, Part 2 Winter Olympics


Day 1, Part 2

Similar Content

Browse content similar to Day 1, Part 2. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Good afternoon and welcome to Sochi. A summer resort on Russia's

:00:43.:00:50.

Black Sea coast. But thanks to over ?30 billion worth of investment,

:00:51.:00:56.

host to the Winter Olympics. With nearly 3000 athletes from 87

:00:57.:00:59.

countries, these will be the biggest Winter Olympics ever. But will they

:01:00.:01:06.

be the best? That evaluation remains to be made. Over the next couple of

:01:07.:01:13.

weeks. As far as Team GB is concerned, it may well be the best

:01:14.:01:18.

ever games. UK sport have said a target of a minimum of three medals.

:01:19.:01:25.

The upper estimation is seven medals, which would obliterate the

:01:26.:01:31.

previous number of four, which was in 1924 in Chamonix. Let's begin

:01:32.:01:37.

with a tour of the park. It is the first time there has been a -- and

:01:38.:01:44.

Olympic Park for a Winter Olympics. Behind me we have got the central

:01:45.:01:48.

area with the Olympic flame. This is where the athletes will receive

:01:49.:01:53.

their medals. There will be a ceremony every evening. Behind

:01:54.:01:59.

that, the fished Stadium, where the opening ceremony was held. There is

:02:00.:02:09.

the Bolshoi, where the ice hockey finals will take place. If the

:02:10.:02:14.

Russians were to win, it would be the moment of the games. We are more

:02:15.:02:19.

concerned about what happens in this arena. It is the ice cube. It is

:02:20.:02:27.

where curling takes place. Around to the right, we have something which

:02:28.:02:30.

looks like a velodrome. It is where the long track speed skating will

:02:31.:02:36.

take place. As a little aside, these funny bits of pavement, that is for

:02:37.:02:45.

the Formula one, that is in October. The final venue here is the Iceberg

:02:46.:02:50.

Skating Palace. Figure skating and short track speed skating. No snow

:02:51.:02:58.

down here in the Olympic Park. That is in the mountains, which look

:02:59.:03:06.

absolutely lovely. There is a new road that takes you there. It cost

:03:07.:03:11.

?4 billion. It will take you on a 60 kilometre journey. We have also got

:03:12.:03:24.

the cross country and the Alpine venues. Quite simply, none of these

:03:25.:03:35.

existed when Sochi was awarded the games in 2007. It is the most

:03:36.:03:40.

expensive Olympics ever staged, winter or summer. There is no magic

:03:41.:03:44.

without sport. This is what is coming up in the next couple of

:03:45.:03:52.

hours. Dutch legend Sven Kramer is looking

:03:53.:03:57.

to retain his 5000 metre title in the speed skating. In the Biathlon,

:03:58.:04:04.

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen has Olympic history in his sights. And we will

:04:05.:04:09.

catch up with the slopestyle action from earlier today with Jamie

:04:10.:04:16.

Nicholls and Billy Morgan in action. Lots to look forward to. You can

:04:17.:04:23.

keep in touch on Facebook, Twitter. We would love to hear from you. Our

:04:24.:04:28.

first action is going to take place in here. Long track speed skating.

:04:29.:04:33.

Expect it to be painted orange because the Dutch superstar is in

:04:34.:04:34.

the house. The Olympic record is in sight for a

:04:35.:04:55.

Sven Kramer! What a finishing time. A new Olympic record. The world

:04:56.:05:04.

record-holder, the world champion, is now going to become the Olympic

:05:05.:05:08.

champion. He won three gold medals -- he has

:05:09.:05:16.

cited three gold medals here. It should be quite a games for the

:05:17.:05:21.

Dutchman. Here is your guide to long track speed skating.

:05:22.:05:27.

In speed skating, the aim is simple. Race a defined distant as fast as

:05:28.:05:33.

possible. In the individual event, skaters race in pairs on separate

:05:34.:05:39.

tracks. They switch lanes every lap in order to skate an equal distance.

:05:40.:05:46.

There are ten individual distances from 500 to 10,000 metres from men,

:05:47.:05:52.

and 500 to 5000 metres for women. In the team pursuit race, two teams of

:05:53.:05:56.

three compete against each other, starting from opposite sides. The

:05:57.:06:03.

event takes place on a 400 metres oval track, almost four times larger

:06:04.:06:11.

than the short goals. -- course. Shani Davis won Olympic gold in 2006

:06:12.:06:18.

and 2007 -- 2010. You begin the first black athlete to win an

:06:19.:06:21.

individual gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games.

:06:22.:06:36.

We are going to bring you our statistic of the day. This one is

:06:37.:06:43.

about speed skating. The first Winter Olympic gold was in speed

:06:44.:06:48.

skating. That was in the 500 metres. Let's go skating now in the present.

:06:49.:06:57.

We join this with four pairs to go. Wilfred O'Reilly and Hugh Porter are

:06:58.:06:58.

your commentators. Jonathan Kuck being introduced to

:06:59.:07:09.

the crowd. He will start on the inside, wearing the white armband.

:07:10.:07:14.

There is the defending Olympic champion, the world champion, the

:07:15.:07:18.

world record-holder, Sven Kramer. The Flying Dutchman. 27 years of

:07:19.:07:26.

age. The fans are here to support him. He knows the time to beat to be

:07:27.:07:28.

the leader. Heat ten of the men's 5000 metres.

:07:29.:07:56.

On the left of our screen is Sven Kramer. His opponent, Jonathan Kuck

:07:57.:08:05.

of USA. Kramer, the world record-holder and current world

:08:06.:08:07.

champion. He won that world title on this very ice in March of last year.

:08:08.:08:13.

He has been under immense pressure. He is starting the first of the last

:08:14.:08:17.

four appears in exactly the same situation that daddy started in

:08:18.:08:27.

Vancouver. -- four pairs. He is the man of the moment, the Olympic 5000

:08:28.:08:33.

metres record holder, moving on the inside lane, already skating away

:08:34.:08:37.

from Jonathan Kuck of the USA. Across the line there though. He has

:08:38.:08:43.

to be careful of that, Sven Kramer. Coming through the first lap. 29.04.

:08:44.:08:57.

A sub 32nd for Kramer. No Dutchman has ever won the 5000 metres

:08:58.:09:02.

back-to-back. Only one man in the history of the 5000 metres has

:09:03.:09:07.

achieved that. That was Thomas Gustafsson in 1984 and 1988. Cramer

:09:08.:09:13.

is arguably the greatest 5000 metre skater of all time. -- crammer.

:09:14.:09:26.

The strength of Sven Kramer is particularly in the last five laps.

:09:27.:09:33.

I can almost hear his coach doubting from here from the commentary box.

:09:34.:09:42.

He needs to pick up his game. Coming up to tidy another loop. This is not

:09:43.:09:52.

a particularly good start by him. He knows the time he has got to put

:09:53.:09:56.

down here. The other big guns will be watching him from the centre of

:09:57.:10:04.

the arena. I expected him to go quicker at the start. It is

:10:05.:10:10.

certainly surprising. We have talked about the ice conditions. 29.56. He

:10:11.:10:19.

is still 1.77 outside the leader time. He is getting encouragement

:10:20.:10:33.

from the coach. Sven Kramer has said the only money is afraid of is

:10:34.:10:34.

Berks. He needs to dig deep. It is getting

:10:35.:10:50.

near to to seconds. -- two seconds. This is the first time there has

:10:51.:10:54.

been some panic in the Dutch camp. Almost two seconds of side. He has

:10:55.:11:07.

only lost three 5000 metres races in his whole career. At the moment he

:11:08.:11:08.

is in second place. Jonathan Kuck is eight seconds shy

:11:09.:11:21.

of the time of the leader. Sven Kramer is going to have to dig

:11:22.:11:37.

deep and find something. 3000 metre mark. I thought he would be well in

:11:38.:11:44.

control of this contest at this stage. Just looking at this time

:11:45.:11:50.

schedule from the world championships last year, he went

:11:51.:11:55.

throughout this time of 3.45. Now he has gone through at 3.47. He is two

:11:56.:12:07.

seconds slower. Sven Kramer can find something in the closing stages. We

:12:08.:12:11.

have seen it all before. And there we are. He has ignited with four

:12:12.:12:20.

laps to go. He leads the Russian. He kept us waiting, the king of the

:12:21.:12:24.

discipline. Now he is beginning to please the crowd. Amazingly, the

:12:25.:12:31.

last three Olympic Games have been won in a time of 6.14. The world

:12:32.:12:37.

title on this very week was won by Sven Kramer last March with 6.14.

:12:38.:12:48.

Now it is nearly two seconds. His speed is somewhere around 6.17.

:12:49.:12:53.

Jonathan Kuck is well out of the racing. I still predict he will be

:12:54.:13:04.

looking at 6.12. The Olympic record is 6:14.16. 800 metres remaining. He

:13:05.:13:12.

is four seconds faster than the leader. The Korean is looking at the

:13:13.:13:21.

start of this event. The coaches happy. Just over a lap remaining.

:13:22.:13:29.

Sven Kramer coming back to the line. He will get the belt. His opponent

:13:30.:13:34.

is in the middle. He must realise this is going to be an astonishing

:13:35.:13:39.

mark. One lap remaining. Six point two seconds faster. This could give

:13:40.:13:46.

him something about 6.12. That would be a new Olympic record. Sven Kramer

:13:47.:13:53.

on his way now to the line and the concluding stages of his 5000 metres

:13:54.:13:59.

skate. The style of the King himself. The defending Olympic

:14:00.:14:06.

champion. He only comes. He hits the line. The time 6:10.76, a new

:14:07.:14:16.

Olympic record. He has put the marker down. And he has prodded them

:14:17.:14:18.

big time. What a skate that was. Jonathan Kuck still coming through

:14:19.:14:34.

after that slip. A disappointing time for him. There we have it. Sven

:14:35.:14:41.

Kramer has really thrown the gauntlet down to the best of his

:14:42.:14:46.

competitors. He has blown the opposition completely away. He

:14:47.:14:55.

frightened us in the early stages. He certainly did. He didn't panic in

:14:56.:14:58.

the beginning. I was getting nervous. The coaches of got total

:14:59.:15:09.

belief. He coaxed into the 5000 metres Olympic title in Vancouver

:15:10.:15:16.

and hopefully here again in Sochi. He becomes the first Dutchman ever,

:15:17.:15:20.

if he can clinch the gold, to win the gold medal back-to-back. He

:15:21.:15:25.

would equal the record of Thomas Gustafsson. Three key remaining. --

:15:26.:15:33.

three heats remaining. I think he is saying that he did everything he

:15:34.:15:39.

got. If there is anybody else who can beat him, it could possibly be

:15:40.:15:43.

these two skaters, particularly Jorrit Bergsma. This is the man that

:15:44.:15:55.

Sven Kramer has gone on record saying he fears. The Dutch

:15:56.:16:01.

commentators were telling me the Norwegian challenge, the best

:16:02.:16:05.

challenge, is likely to come from this person here. The 11th heat of

:16:06.:16:31.

the men's 5000m. You're at there, -- Jorrit Bergsma is going to have to

:16:32.:16:40.

skate out of his skin to knock Kramer out of top position. Both of

:16:41.:16:47.

these skaters have a similar personal best. Kramer had to do

:16:48.:16:55.

everything himself. These true will be eating each other away, making

:16:56.:17:00.

sure that they can draft in the exchange lanes, it is going to be

:17:01.:17:10.

close. Sverre Lunde Pedersen was fourth in 2013 so he is a good

:17:11.:17:15.

all-rounder and the distance will not say is Jorrit Bergsma. He is

:17:16.:17:23.

engaged to an American sprinter who will be competing in the

:17:24.:17:30.

Championships next week. At the moment Jorrit Bergsma concentrating

:17:31.:17:39.

and doing his inimitable style. It is early days. As he turned the

:17:40.:17:52.

screw to early? -- too early? You can see this gate, you cannot see

:17:53.:17:57.

the laces or anything. He tried briefly to make the team for

:17:58.:18:06.

Vancouver. He now has his place here. Silver in the 10,000m in the

:18:07.:18:16.

World Championships and Jorrit Bergsma got the silver last March.

:18:17.:18:27.

The man who beat him? Sven Kramer. Jorrit Bergsma is going in the

:18:28.:18:30.

second race after the resurface on the ice is going to be a little bit

:18:31.:18:38.

harder. You saw the line behind Jorrit Bergsma. This man is really

:18:39.:18:53.

impressive. The big question is, has he gone too early? He knows the time

:18:54.:18:56.

to beat at Kramer speeded up towards the end. He never really got

:18:57.:19:03.

involved in the contest until about four to go. Can the 28-year-old put

:19:04.:19:17.

the Olympic champion to the test? There is still a long way to go.

:19:18.:19:24.

Lovely style, flat back, aerodynamic. The crowd are watching

:19:25.:19:31.

anxiously. Two more rounds to go after this. Still very close. Sverre

:19:32.:19:42.

Lunde Pedersen is nearly five seconds off the pace but he is still

:19:43.:19:52.

doing a good time. 6.15 would put him in the front cluster. Jorrit

:19:53.:20:01.

Bergsma has slipped back. The challenge has evaporated. He is 0.38

:20:02.:20:11.

slower. Kramer is walking away, he does not like to watch these races.

:20:12.:20:21.

Were the early laps a little bit too quick? He is slipping back. It is

:20:22.:20:32.

going to be much slower. It is almost a second. We are going to

:20:33.:20:40.

have to focus on the time of Jorrit Bergsma. That is going to be reined

:20:41.:20:49.

about 6.12. He will be aware he is losing distance. As he comes down

:20:50.:20:58.

with three laps to go, Jorrit Bergsma crossing the line, will he

:20:59.:21:09.

go inside the 32nd lap time? 1.5 seconds slower than Sven Kramer. His

:21:10.:21:19.

coach edging him on. Jorrit Bergsma is still five seconds within Denis

:21:20.:21:28.

Yuskov's time so he is close to silver medal position. At the

:21:29.:21:43.

moment, good enough for silver. Can they maintain it? Keeping his upper

:21:44.:21:52.

body as still as possible. His opponent, they can maintain the

:21:53.:21:57.

pace, the amount of time he is trailing would be good enough to

:21:58.:22:04.

boots Denis Yuskov -- to put Denis Yuskov down at place and Sverre

:22:05.:22:12.

Lunde Pedersen could be in bronze. With two more heats to go. This is

:22:13.:22:33.

any later. -- a nail biter. He just does it. That puts them into second

:22:34.:22:52.

and third. Kramer leading on 6.10. Those are the three medal positions

:22:53.:23:00.

with two to go. Jorrit Bergsma was the major threat to Sven Kramer. We

:23:01.:23:07.

can see the shoes he was willing to try to cut down the wind resistance

:23:08.:23:14.

on his skates. You can already see the upper body moving from side to

:23:15.:23:28.

side, having to work a lot harder. Sverre Lunde Pedersen looking very

:23:29.:23:34.

comfortable, a good time for him. He has a personal best of 6.10. Both

:23:35.:23:48.

skaters stating very well. The last medal the Norwegians won was in

:23:49.:23:59.

1894. They would love to get one here -- 1994. The competitors being

:24:00.:24:19.

introduced to the crowd. To the left is Bart Swings. His opponent is Jan

:24:20.:24:38.

Blokhuijsen. I was mentioning about the challenge coming from Jorrit

:24:39.:24:44.

Bergsma, Jan Blokhuijsen is the current European champion, Kramer

:24:45.:24:50.

decided to set that one out, but he still skated very well indeed. In

:24:51.:25:01.

the 5000m he went 6:15.8 at sea level. That would put him in silver

:25:02.:25:07.

and it would boost Jorrit Bergsma into third. -- push. I hope they do

:25:08.:25:15.

not make the same mistake as Jorrit Bergsma. Already they are under the

:25:16.:25:20.

time of Kramer and they will pay the price for that. We still have 11

:25:21.:25:27.

laps to go. That was a really clever way to approach the distance by

:25:28.:25:33.

Kramer. It put everybody into a false position. They. , the Olympic

:25:34.:25:39.

champion is not going to deliver here. That was the second time that

:25:40.:25:51.

Jan Blokhuijsen is then -- went out of his lane. We might hear about

:25:52.:26:04.

that later. Bart Swings driving Jan Blokhuijsen out. That will save him

:26:05.:26:13.

energy for later in the race. This is not very smart. We still have

:26:14.:26:25.

nine laps to go. Look at the times. Watch this. Bart Swings drafting Jan

:26:26.:26:38.

Blokhuijsen. Going outside of their lanes. It will be interesting to see

:26:39.:26:48.

what the referee of the USA as to say about this. -- has to say.

:26:49.:26:57.

Meanwhile they are both inside the time of Kramer. Another interesting

:26:58.:27:03.

fact about Jan Blokhuijsen, he is going to go back to the Netherlands

:27:04.:27:07.

to finish his preparation because he wants to get away from the Olympic

:27:08.:27:12.

pressure. That is interesting indeed. They are still holding the

:27:13.:27:23.

time for Kramer. Great skating by the Belgian. Wearing the white

:27:24.:27:34.

jacket is the Olympic champion of 1982 at the 10,000m. He knows what

:27:35.:27:39.

it is like to be at this type of level. He seems to be totally

:27:40.:27:48.

oblivious of the role. He is just getting on with it. Both skaters

:27:49.:27:59.

slightly slower than Kramer. He needs to pick the temple up -- tempo

:28:00.:28:20.

up. Nearly a second off the pace of Kramer. The early impressions of

:28:21.:28:26.

being ahead have completely evaporated and they are nearly a

:28:27.:28:29.

second behind, but when you look at the times, if they maintain this,

:28:30.:28:35.

they could both move up into a medal position. Absolutely. If they have

:28:36.:28:44.

decided beforehand, I am not going to beat Kramer, but I am going to

:28:45.:28:52.

get on the podium... He would still be in a medal position at the

:28:53.:29:00.

conclusion of this. Jorrit Bergsma and Sverre Lunde Pedersen could both

:29:01.:29:06.

get pushed down. The gold medal position is out of reach. It will be

:29:07.:29:12.

interesting to see what the referee has to say about crossing this lane

:29:13.:29:20.

a number of times. It is getting critical. I bet Jorrit Bergsma and

:29:21.:29:29.

Sverre Lunde Pedersen cannot now to look. He knows how close it is going

:29:30.:29:38.

to be. He has to find something. He was over the line again. I think he

:29:39.:29:45.

has done that five times. It really is amazing. A very good lap by him.

:29:46.:29:58.

Just about clinging to a podium position, if they can maintain this

:29:59.:30:05.

and keep the gap at the strength you saw on the previous lap. What a

:30:06.:30:20.

cracking pair. He is still in the silver medal position. And Bart

:30:21.:30:25.

Swings is just about going to hang onto the bronze. The coaches are

:30:26.:30:30.

shouting to them. They have to give it everything now. They are totally

:30:31.:30:36.

committed. Are they going to put themselves onto the podium with one

:30:37.:30:43.

heat remaining? Approaching the line. 6:15.71. And Bart Swings just

:30:44.:30:55.

misses out on the third spot. He goes forth. With one heat remaining,

:30:56.:31:06.

the Dutch are first, second and third. It is looking like a clean

:31:07.:31:11.

sweep. Jan Blokhuijsen can just about stand-up. Got the silver medal

:31:12.:31:24.

in children at the 3000 metres. -- to Reno.

:31:25.:31:33.

At the moment we are looking at a clean sweep by the Dutch. Sven

:31:34.:31:45.

Kramer winning at the moment. There is the collision. He can must not

:31:46.:31:52.

control where he is scathing. Do you think the crossing of the line will

:31:53.:31:58.

prevent him from getting the silver? Normally what happens is it would

:31:59.:32:01.

probably be another country making complaints about it. Unfortunately

:32:02.:32:06.

now we cannot have the Dutch complaining about the Dutch.

:32:07.:32:17.

Swings, the Belgian, could complain. We are in the final heat. Onto the

:32:18.:32:26.

ice now is leash on Hong. -- Lee Sung Hong. The silver medal winner

:32:27.:32:35.

from Vancouver. He is racing against Patrick Beckert from Germany.

:32:36.:32:53.

The Korean, a very formidable distance skater. And a man that has

:32:54.:32:59.

got to be respected. He got the silver in Vancouver. He went 616.9

:33:00.:33:12.

at sea level. -- 6:16.9. Is it possible we could get a turn up with

:33:13.:33:20.

the final pair? Sven Kramer went out cycling yesterday and actually fell

:33:21.:33:23.

off his bike. There was some concern in the Dutch camp. Lisa Young who --

:33:24.:33:35.

's Young Hooley... This is the final pair. The Dutch

:33:36.:34:01.

fans making them is on The Times. It is almost an anti-climax after the

:34:02.:34:06.

Dutch. But we have to respect the Korean. He is being led by the

:34:07.:34:10.

German. Patrick Beckert, his older sister, Stephanie, she skated in

:34:11.:34:18.

Vancouver and got herself a couple of silver medals. Fine family

:34:19.:34:25.

pedigree. It will be interesting to see what these skaters and their

:34:26.:34:31.

coaches have decided. Will they skate for the silver and the bronze

:34:32.:34:35.

time? Those are The Times to be beaten.

:34:36.:34:41.

They need to have looked at the schedules and worked out exactly

:34:42.:34:49.

where they need to deliver. Keep themselves in the comfort zone, if

:34:50.:34:57.

you can be in the comfort zone. At the moment they are two and a half

:34:58.:35:02.

seconds of Sven Kramer's time. They would be looking at 6.12 or 6.13.

:35:03.:35:23.

Full concentration for these two. Trying to stay as aerodynamic as

:35:24.:35:40.

possible. It is a pure time trial. Lead coming from the Short Track.

:35:41.:35:44.

Tried to make the Olympic Short Track team from Korea. That was in

:35:45.:35:51.

2010. He failed to make that team and then moved across to the long

:35:52.:35:55.

track. He prefers the longer distances. Patrick Beckert just

:35:56.:36:06.

crossing the line again. There has been a lot of crossover from skaters

:36:07.:36:12.

going from short tackle -- short tax too long attack.

:36:13.:36:18.

They will have to raise their game here if they are going to pressurise

:36:19.:36:29.

the times of Jorrit Bergsma and Jan Blokhuijsen.

:36:30.:36:44.

This will be the 100th medal for the Olympics in the long track.

:36:45.:37:01.

This event first held in 1924, actually. The 22nd time that this

:37:02.:37:13.

competition has been contested. Both of those skaters with those split

:37:14.:37:17.

times have drifted off the pace of silver and bronze. It looks like the

:37:18.:37:21.

Dutch are already beginning their celebrations. They are. Keeping an

:37:22.:37:27.

eye on the clock. But Lee of Korea on the outside that mag inside and

:37:28.:37:33.

Patrick Beckert on the outside. Almost neck and neck with three laps

:37:34.:37:42.

remaining. -- on the outside. If they keep those sort of lap times,

:37:43.:37:47.

they may be lucky enough to get sixth and seventh place. Three laps

:37:48.:37:59.

remaining. I said at the top of the commentary that no Dutchman had ever

:38:00.:38:01.

won the gold medal at this event back-to-back. That statistic is

:38:02.:38:06.

certainly going to be a raised here now on day one of the long track

:38:07.:38:10.

disciplines in Sochi. The concluding lap of the final heat

:38:11.:38:46.

of the men's 5000 metres. On their way around to the line to complete

:38:47.:38:51.

the distance. Patrick Beckert of Germany and Lee of Korea. Here we

:38:52.:38:59.

are, it is the German that is going to win. His time is going to put

:39:00.:39:05.

outside of the medals. Still a respectable time but not good enough

:39:06.:39:09.

to see him on the podium. Eighth position for him. The time for the

:39:10.:39:18.

Korean, Lee, puts in 12th. There are the official results. Sven Kramer

:39:19.:39:26.

takes the gold medal. Jan Blokhuijsen take silver and Jorrit

:39:27.:39:32.

Bergsma takes bronze. A clean sweep for the Dutch. The first time ever

:39:33.:39:36.

in the history of the lyrics. It was a compelling contest. We had to wait

:39:37.:39:39.

but it was worth waiting for. I said it looked a little bit like a

:39:40.:39:48.

velodrome. It has just turned orange, which is very appropriate.

:39:49.:39:55.

What a performance from Sven Kramer. Who is to bet against taking those

:39:56.:40:01.

three gold medals? The last time the Dutch got a clean sweep in speed

:40:02.:40:06.

skating was 1988. We are going to the Biathlon next. That is coming up

:40:07.:40:16.

shortly. First, a little bit of this.

:40:17.:40:28.

Original sporting drama. Brand-new this Winter Olympics. I know nothing

:40:29.:40:38.

about it. An event that will blow your mind. How will it do that?

:40:39.:40:58.

Imagine hitting one of these pipes? When they go, they go really big.

:40:59.:41:06.

The one rule is there are no rules. There cannot be no rules. That

:41:07.:41:17.

doesn't make any sense. We really have got to see it. I cant wait to

:41:18.:41:23.

see this. It will be an awesome ride. What am I doing here? I am

:41:24.:41:30.

off. I'm going to watch some. This really is not to be missed. It

:41:31.:41:34.

happened earlier today. Jamie Nicholls and Billy Morgan going for

:41:35.:41:44.

Britain. Here is your guide. Slopestyle originates from

:41:45.:41:46.

skateboarding and is one of two new Freestyle Skiing events adding to

:41:47.:41:52.

the Olympic programme for Sochi. The objective is to produce a run that

:41:53.:41:56.

makes the best use of all the rail sections and jumps, producing

:41:57.:41:58.

technically different tricks that link together. The judges mark each

:41:59.:42:07.

one on trick difficulty, execution and height. The course is 635 metres

:42:08.:42:14.

long. It starts with rails at the top before featuring three jumps

:42:15.:42:19.

which get progressively bigger, so riders build momentum and save their

:42:20.:42:23.

best jumps to the bottom -- for the bottom.

:42:24.:42:30.

This is Ron number one in the slopestyle final. If the semifinals

:42:31.:42:36.

were anything to go by, the final is going to be of the chart. We have

:42:37.:42:42.

got two runs. It will be the best score from those two runs that

:42:43.:42:48.

count. Sage Kotsenburg, his run in the semifinals this morning, was

:42:49.:42:51.

beautiful. A masterclass in diversity. He was grabbing the board

:42:52.:42:56.

in ways that other writers are not capable of.

:42:57.:43:04.

He is the snowboarder's snowboarder. He has left some in the

:43:05.:43:22.

tank year. -- here. There must be some speed from somewhere. All the

:43:23.:43:25.

writers seem to be going faster. Backside air double 40. A great run

:43:26.:43:39.

from Sage Kotsenburg. He has been building gently for this. You talk

:43:40.:43:46.

about some of these slopestylers who have not gone yet. Sage has got rid

:43:47.:43:52.

of his nose and he has laid down the Zenith run that he was looking for.

:43:53.:43:58.

With Shaun White dropping out, the weight of America is on This Boy's

:43:59.:44:04.

shoulders. It does not diminish anybody else's performance. I don't

:44:05.:44:08.

think Shaun White could point at this weight. I don't think so

:44:09.:44:14.

either. Look at that! I think they are calling that the holy Crail! Of

:44:15.:44:24.

the execution may get marked down, but he went so big there is nothing

:44:25.:44:28.

they can pull back. The highest score we have seen so far. The

:44:29.:44:40.

highest score today. We talk about confidence. It is about putting down

:44:41.:44:49.

a run. Billy Morgan and Jamie Nicholls going back to back. The

:44:50.:44:59.

coaches have done such a good job. Transformed British snowboarding.

:45:00.:45:05.

These boys are so calm and assured. Billy Morgan proved that today.

:45:06.:45:23.

Backslide rodeo. Landed backwards. He cannot believe it! Unstrapped his

:45:24.:45:50.

board. 1260. That was something totally new. We have not seen that

:45:51.:45:59.

from him. I am looking for excuses. I think the snow is a little bit

:46:00.:46:07.

soft. He is the only person going upside down off that canon rail. It

:46:08.:46:18.

will be interesting to see what he can score. Triple 1260. The next

:46:19.:46:33.

rider also from the UK, Jamie Nicholls. He did a backside triple

:46:34.:46:50.

in practice. Backside 270. 450, no one else doing that. Far more

:46:51.:46:55.

technical than anyone else in that part of the rail. One, two, three,

:46:56.:47:11.

four. He wanted the 1260. He has got it! Now the triple. I held my

:47:12.:47:30.

breath. Absolutely stonking. Beautiful. Very technical. A couple

:47:31.:47:37.

of small mistakes. We know how fast the the judges have been about

:47:38.:47:46.

execution. This gives him the freedom to really explore the

:47:47.:47:53.

possibilities on his second run. He has only done their four times

:47:54.:48:08.

before. -- done this. A tiny hand drag, but it is small. Look at the

:48:09.:48:18.

smile on his face. He is on cloud nine. It is the switch 900 in the

:48:19.:48:33.

middle. He has a score on the board. Sven Thorgren had a brilliant

:48:34.:48:50.

obligation run. -- qualification. He came off early. He has settled down.

:48:51.:49:10.

540 on the Russian doll. Massive 1260. Backside 40, 40. Lovely. That

:49:11.:49:29.

is easily first place. Those jobs were so clean. The judges are

:49:30.:49:40.

judging overall impression. He mistake does not get taken off the

:49:41.:49:48.

individual trick, it comes off the total score. My goodness. I am

:49:49.:50:02.

baffled. The judges have made us look stupid. Talk about pressure. It

:50:03.:50:34.

was his gold to lose. That is what everybody has been saying. The

:50:35.:50:41.

pressure has probably taken its toll. Is he going to rise to it?

:50:42.:50:53.

Looking clinical through the rails. You heard the clip as he went over

:50:54.:51:02.

the Russian doll falls. Really clean. Frontside double ten. He hand

:51:03.:51:20.

dragged on the snow. Mark McMorris has consistently said that his

:51:21.:51:31.

scores would be lower than expected. He has locked then all of these

:51:32.:51:39.

rails. The arms are a great indicator of control. He knew

:51:40.:51:48.

exactly where he was. He knows it is good. It is good enough for silver.

:51:49.:52:02.

He is in a medal position. Jamie Nicholls has been knocked down to

:52:03.:52:16.

third. The next rider is Sage Kotsenburg. A lot of snowboarders

:52:17.:52:29.

will be cheering Sage Kotsenburg because he champions creative

:52:30.:52:32.

spontaneous alternative snowboarding. He came off short. He

:52:33.:52:44.

needed to make sure he was nice and straight and he was not. A total 90

:52:45.:52:59.

degrees in the wrong direction. Beautiful frontside ten. Lovely.

:53:00.:53:23.

1260. Even the spectators. -- the spectators did not think it was

:53:24.:53:30.

going to beat his last score. He searched for it a couple of times.

:53:31.:53:41.

He had another go. That cost him ten points. That is how harshly they are

:53:42.:53:51.

measuring this. Billy Morgan, it is now or never. The snowboarders and

:53:52.:54:07.

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

:54:08.:54:21.

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

:54:22.:54:33.

cleanly. He will be distraught about that. If there is a weak point, it

:54:34.:54:44.

is that double frontside 1080. He was the first man to do a triple in

:54:45.:54:54.

the Olympics. His coach said to him, you need a front double then. He

:54:55.:55:00.

only learned that trick two weeks ago. So disappointing. He has made

:55:01.:55:14.

the finals but it is not over for Great Britain because Jamie Nicholls

:55:15.:55:30.

is in the start date. -- gate. He slipped off the side of the rail.

:55:31.:55:39.

The kickers could work for him. We are going to see the cap 14. It is

:55:40.:55:49.

as if the first rail has sent him back. Backside triple, no, backside

:55:50.:56:06.

seven. One of the traits of his riding is he is a perfectionist and

:56:07.:56:12.

to then sliding off the first rail, the fact he does not get that locked

:56:13.:56:19.

in, you can see his hand on his forehead. If he can recreate some of

:56:20.:56:38.

the magic we saw in qualifying, then it will be very special. No

:56:39.:56:55.

pressure! Everyone knows the run he delivered in qualifying is enough.

:56:56.:57:14.

He was a bit early. 270. Beautiful. Cap triple. He did well to save

:57:15.:57:36.

that. Frontside ten. My goodness! That was huge. Jamie Nicholls the

:57:37.:57:43.

first man in the finish area to raise his hand. This is the epitome

:57:44.:57:56.

of snowboarding spirit. He has the 270 onto the down rail. I love this.

:57:57.:58:11.

Watch the board vibrating. Jamie is out of the medals. Only two riders

:58:12.:58:34.

left. Staale Sandbech next. Let us see what the Norwegian has got. He

:58:35.:58:46.

rides with his left foot forward. Switch 270. Another switch. The

:58:47.:59:00.

entire top section of the cause is done backwards. -- course. 1260.

:59:01.:59:22.

Backside triple. First place. Has to be. He is happy with that. He knows

:59:23.:59:37.

that is first place. He holds onto that. His shoulders doing all the

:59:38.:59:47.

hard work. That is the only fault you can pick from that. The only

:59:48.:59:54.

thing you could say is it is not a big as some of the riders we have

:59:55.:00:15.

seen. Second place! My goodness. An it all comes down to this man, the

:00:16.:00:23.

former man. He has it all to do after falling on his first run.

:00:24.:00:30.

Maxence Parrot from Canada. Can he scrape gold?

:00:31.:00:39.

The Canadian coach will be a little bit concerned.

:00:40.:00:50.

Backside rodeo. Getting a bit deeper. Almost made the same mistake

:00:51.:00:59.

as Billy Morgan. Double on the first. Frontside double.

:01:00.:01:10.

He goes 1260! The first two jumps, both ten. It may be a medal. I think

:01:11.:01:26.

that is bronze. There are no mistakes. Technicality on the rails,

:01:27.:01:39.

I think the others were better. This is the rodeo where you fall of your

:01:40.:01:49.

heels and do 1.5 spins. Three spins with two flips through the middle.

:01:50.:02:00.

What kind of message are you going to send know about the kind of

:02:01.:02:03.

riding that you want to see? Fifth-place!

:02:04.:02:15.

Confirmation first Sage Kotsenburg. The first gold of Sochi 2014 goes to

:02:16.:02:24.

America. Starley Sand back in second. Mark McMorris in third. --

:02:25.:02:26.

starless Sandbech. Lead and Tim laying down an early

:02:27.:02:49.

marker for the gold medal winning performance for commentary. -- Ed.

:02:50.:02:55.

Somebody has suggested maybe slopestyle should not be in the

:02:56.:03:01.

Olympics. One American TV host said it was Jack has TV. I don't think

:03:02.:03:07.

anybody would agree with him. Now it is Biathlon. One of the toughest

:03:08.:03:14.

Winter Olympics boards. -- Winter Olympics sports.

:03:15.:03:18.

It is deemed as one of the hardest things in sport. We combine

:03:19.:03:22.

Cross-Country skiing with target shooting. You are skiing on multiple

:03:23.:03:30.

to rain at the heart rate of about a beats per minute. Then you put the

:03:31.:03:37.

ski down, hit five target with a rifle. You need the physical

:03:38.:03:45.

capacity to be able to ski hard and also the cam collectivist to be able

:03:46.:03:49.

to hit the targets. It has been called a tough sport for tough

:03:50.:03:56.

people. This is the ultimate test of a winter Olympian. It is the speed,

:03:57.:04:01.

endurance and fitness they fell runner, and the pressure of it darts

:04:02.:04:06.

player. You have to throw your darts with a heart rate of 170 or 180. We

:04:07.:04:12.

will find out just how hard it is when we go around the course. You

:04:13.:04:18.

have got very little time before you start your first climb. I can

:04:19.:04:24.

imagine when the altitude kicks in, as soon as you start making those

:04:25.:04:27.

extra demands, you are going to feel that. The incline got steeper. A

:04:28.:04:39.

sudden demand for oxygen. There is simply not enough there. The effects

:04:40.:04:45.

of the altitude is really what is getting us. 83% of the normal amount

:04:46.:04:52.

of oxygen. My pulse rate is doing about 170. It has not been therefore

:04:53.:04:57.

many years. When you go downhill, you go for nothing. It is a classic

:04:58.:05:04.

Olympic course. On the bottom of this downhill, if you get the line

:05:05.:05:09.

wrong or you lose your speed, you do not get any advantage. It is a

:05:10.:05:18.

really tough course. This is where the race will be won or lost. As

:05:19.:05:24.

soon as they entered the stadium, you have to come out of that racing

:05:25.:05:28.

head mode and bring the pulse down, focus on what is coming up. As they

:05:29.:05:35.

prepare for the shoot, they will be looking around. If the wind is

:05:36.:05:40.

coming from the site, it is going to send in all sorts of spins. They

:05:41.:05:45.

will have to look at the flags all the way down the range. Once they

:05:46.:05:49.

have done that and have decided they do not need to adjust the site, they

:05:50.:05:53.

get down to the business of hitting the target. The guys who come in

:05:54.:05:58.

first have the most pressure, the most expectation. If the guy is 30

:05:59.:06:04.

seconds ahead of everybody else, he knows that everybody is expecting

:06:05.:06:08.

him to win. But under that sort of pressure where everything is shaking

:06:09.:06:11.

and maybe he forgets his routine, that is where things go wrong. That

:06:12.:06:16.

is why you can never guarantee the gold belongs to you until you cross

:06:17.:06:21.

the line. That is why it is such a fantastic sport.

:06:22.:06:27.

Not surprisingly this event is very popular amongst the military. Our

:06:28.:06:31.

sole representative, Lee Jackson is a serving member of the Royal

:06:32.:06:32.

Artillery. Lee, made it to the Olympics. It is

:06:33.:06:45.

a beautiful venue. What has your experience been so far? It is a lot

:06:46.:06:50.

different to where we were this time last year. A lot of work was going

:06:51.:06:55.

on, conditions were not great. It was wet. The accommodation is great,

:06:56.:06:58.

the villages with a nice, the surrounding area is beautiful. The

:06:59.:07:04.

snow conditions are fantastic. What is that course doing? It is

:07:05.:07:11.

physically hard because of the altitude. You are out of the start

:07:12.:07:21.

block and straight into a climb. It is technically hard downhill. There

:07:22.:07:25.

is a lot of stress on the legs and the knees. Take you back three or

:07:26.:07:34.

four months, and the future of the British team was looking bleak? Yes,

:07:35.:07:40.

there was a problem with funding. We have a sponsor that will secure the

:07:41.:07:45.

future for the next few years. That is great for the sport and great for

:07:46.:07:49.

the athletes. It is a relief to know that come next year there is a

:07:50.:07:53.

future of training and preparation. The Olympics will be a reality for

:07:54.:08:03.

our athletes again. How difficult is this? The environment is different.

:08:04.:08:10.

There was so much going on in Vancouver. Sensory overload. Wedding

:08:11.:08:15.

in a bigger village with a lot more athletes. My first time at the

:08:16.:08:21.

Olympics. Being in the club of being an Olympian. This time I am more

:08:22.:08:25.

relaxed and I know what I need to do as an athlete to be able to go out

:08:26.:08:30.

there and deliver the performances I need to do. Enjoy the game is a bit

:08:31.:08:37.

more. -- enjoy the game is a bit more. I would be satisfied with top

:08:38.:08:42.

14. I am capable of more. But to walk away from this Olympics being

:08:43.:08:47.

able to say, that's OK, that would be top 14. If I get into the top

:08:48.:08:54.

aides, I would be really happy. Anything better than that it would

:08:55.:08:59.

be a dream Olympics. We will watch Lee Jackson with

:09:00.:09:05.

interest. This started a little bit earlier on. Here is the action from

:09:06.:09:11.

the start. We have already witnessed the first

:09:12.:09:22.

episode in the cross country story today with the women's skiathlon.

:09:23.:09:32.

Now it is the men's ten K skin. -- 10K sprint. Some tricky conditions

:09:33.:09:40.

coming down over the top were you see the cable car is moving up and

:09:41.:09:47.

down the mountain. Here is Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, a legend in this sport.

:09:48.:09:51.

Is this the day when he goes one better? The Russians in the crowd

:09:52.:10:00.

will be very excited about their man. Four times in the top six this

:10:01.:10:14.

year. There is a mess. He needs to really focus. Brilliant with most of

:10:15.:10:24.

his other shots. A little shake of the head from the Russian coaches.

:10:25.:10:30.

The mass start champion from a couple of years ago were now

:10:31.:10:34.

complete a penalty loop. That will cost between 22 and 24 seconds. He

:10:35.:10:47.

cannot afford another one. This is why this sport is so fascinating and

:10:48.:10:49.

so very unpredictable. It can all plenty of patriotic support for the

:10:50.:11:13.

Russian. He has got a tough job on his hands. Slazenger, his third

:11:14.:11:22.

games. He has been around a while. Seventh in the relay.

:11:23.:11:39.

It really is such an unusual combination of qualities required to

:11:40.:11:49.

make it in Biathlon. Two sets of skills that he would not necessarily

:11:50.:12:02.

put together. Cornel Puchianu made his international debut two years

:12:03.:12:03.

ago. A good number of people have turned

:12:04.:12:16.

out here on a fairly crisp, clear evening. No sign of the fog that

:12:17.:12:22.

sometimes causes issues here. Touch wood, we want a clean night because

:12:23.:12:27.

it should be a fascinating race. Here comes Emil Hegle Svendsen. The

:12:28.:12:33.

world champion. Silver medallist in this event four years ago. Kenny

:12:34.:12:41.

once again get the better of his big rival? If it flashes red he has had

:12:42.:12:52.

a mess. He had to dip the centre circle. -- he has two hit. Starting

:12:53.:12:59.

in the middle. Sometimes they go left to right, sometimes right to

:13:00.:13:04.

left. Whatever works. The pressure is on. He took a little bit longer

:13:05.:13:09.

with that. Excellent shooting. He is on his way. He will not go into the

:13:10.:13:18.

lead. The big names amongst the early starters. Here is Ole Einar

:13:19.:13:27.

Bjoerndalen. Early stages for the 40-year-old Norwegian. Norway have

:13:28.:13:35.

already tasted gold today with Marat Bjorgen in the skiathlon.

:13:36.:13:43.

Bjoerndalen trying to do his best to create a bit of history today. The

:13:44.:13:58.

clock is ticking. If Gainey used a golf enjoyed a penalty loop. -- the

:13:59.:14:11.

Russian endured a penalty loop. Bjoerndalen let -- yet to miss. He

:14:12.:14:21.

has won this title twice. Andre roster of projects. -- Andre roster

:14:22.:14:33.

GUI jets. Sweden's suit champion from four years ago. Watch how the

:14:34.:14:45.

elbow rests into the hip. It is the same distance. Anywhere in the black

:14:46.:14:52.

circle cans. A good start. Good shooting. Excellent. No penalties.

:14:53.:15:06.

And you have always got half a chance. He can ski his heart out

:15:07.:15:13.

now. Knowing that he has shot clean. It is simply a question of how

:15:14.:15:18.

quickly he can negotiate the last 3.3 kilometre loop.

:15:19.:15:38.

Can this competitor gets himself into contention for a medal? A

:15:39.:15:42.

really good season on the World Cup. Two more. And sometimes the

:15:43.:15:50.

last one is the hardest but he has shot claim. -- clean. Great work

:15:51.:15:58.

from a man from the Czech republic. Now we just wait to see whether he

:15:59.:16:04.

is coming out quicker than Lindstrom who also shot cleanly today. Yes,

:16:05.:16:11.

ten seconds. So Moravec will have a great opportunity here. This is

:16:12.:16:20.

crucial for John Dahlen -- Bjorndalen. The shooting has let him

:16:21.:16:24.

down at times but that is clear. So half of the shots have been

:16:25.:16:28.

successfully negotiated for Ole Einar Bjorndalen. That is the reason

:16:29.:16:33.

why he finished so far down the pecking order in 2006 and 2010, and

:16:34.:16:40.

look at that. His quickest so far. Can the Grand Master of old continue

:16:41.:16:42.

to turn back time? We know that he has the penalty loop

:16:43.:16:58.

that he has completed in the prone he needs to most certainly shoot

:16:59.:17:01.

clean here to have any chance at all of a good finish on the leaderboard.

:17:02.:17:06.

The crowd roaring. A huge Russian presence as you would expect. And

:17:07.:17:18.

that is better. And but for that mess, the first time round in the

:17:19.:17:24.

range, what might have been -- but for that miss. You can see how

:17:25.:17:29.

costly that this was, the cost of ticket for Ustyugov -- clock still

:17:30.:17:33.

ticking for Ustyugov. A massive time now for another

:17:34.:17:59.

hopeless venison -- NL Heckler Stenson -- Svendsen.

:18:00.:18:13.

Oh, yes, and this is good news for the new Wii gyms. An understated

:18:14.:18:21.

fist bump from the coach. Watch the clock. How close will he be to

:18:22.:18:26.

Bjorndalen's time as he exits the range? One second, so it is Norway,

:18:27.:18:33.

one and two at this stage but remember there are some world-class

:18:34.:18:36.

men who have yet to even start the competition. After shooting once,

:18:37.:18:42.

Svendsen leading, Bjorndalen in third, and Simon Eda in second, but

:18:43.:18:51.

the world leader, Martin Fourcade yet to get to this. His shooting up

:18:52.:18:57.

until this season has been sensational. They have been some

:18:58.:19:06.

cracks in his quality. And he may or may not know that Svendsen has shot

:19:07.:19:14.

clean. And he's going to have to do the same here. The man who pipped

:19:15.:19:19.

him to gold here at the World Championship last year. Massive

:19:20.:19:23.

moment at the range now. And there is the miss. With his

:19:24.:19:35.

second shot, he cannot afford another one.

:19:36.:19:41.

Svendsen coming across the line and I know there are guys quicker than

:19:42.:19:48.

him at the last checkpoint but Martin Fourcade instead of turning

:19:49.:19:53.

left and carrying on onto the course, endures the penalty loop and

:19:54.:20:02.

Svendsen's time is ticking away. Bjorndalen, the action just keeps on

:20:03.:20:10.

coming here. All of Norway will be holding their breath and he has

:20:11.:20:15.

missed with the first shot. He is a great skier and he will have to be.

:20:16.:20:20.

What a shame for Bjorndalen. That is going to add at least 20 seconds to

:20:21.:20:30.

his finishing time. Svendsen into the range once again. Bear in mind

:20:31.:20:35.

that Bjorndalen's time is taken after his penalty loop. Svendsen can

:20:36.:20:42.

give himself a wonderful, wonderful chance of upgrading his silver four

:20:43.:20:46.

years ago to gold this time round but it does depend on the next five

:20:47.:20:49.

shots out of his rifle. Oak noI can't believe that -- oh,

:20:50.:21:10.

no. It looked like it was going so smoothly but two and along with

:21:11.:21:13.

Bjorndalen, he has missed one in standings shoot. He will turn right

:21:14.:21:19.

and he will do a penalty loop. It will be fascinating to see where he

:21:20.:21:27.

is in comparison to John Dahlen -- Bjorndalen. Meanwhile, Simon Edo,

:21:28.:21:35.

10th in the World Championship last year.

:21:36.:21:47.

Good stuff from Simon. You cannot take anything for granted in this

:21:48.:22:02.

most predictable sports. So Fourcade cannot surely afford another miss.

:22:03.:22:12.

He already has a single one and this would end his aspirations of a gold

:22:13.:22:13.

medal. That's better from the overall World

:22:14.:22:32.

Cup leader, that is the quality of shooting that we have come to expect

:22:33.:22:36.

from him. And he is Bjorndalen coming across the line. He has

:22:37.:22:48.

beaten his deliberate the other time, how costly will be miss proved

:22:49.:22:53.

to be? Ole Einar Bjorndalen has gone into the lead but Svendsen, Martin

:22:54.:22:59.

Fourcade and a whole host of other world-class by athletes are making

:23:00.:23:05.

their way to the finish so it will be a long and agonising wait to the

:23:06.:23:10.

legendary Norwegian and look at that. How significant. He will not

:23:11.:23:20.

be quicker than Ole Einar Bjorndalen. The old man has talked

:23:21.:23:25.

the Young pretender to his crown. They both only missed one. So that

:23:26.:23:33.

means that the on Dahlen has shown significantly quicker speed on the

:23:34.:23:39.

skiing and Svendsen will be absolutely devastated with that.

:23:40.:23:44.

Over 30 seconds down and there will be no repeat of his silver medal

:23:45.:23:49.

four years ago. Or his gold at last year's World Championships. And now

:23:50.:23:58.

a real danger man, Anton Shipulin. And it is a big condition as we have

:23:59.:24:02.

seen so many times this evening, if you can shoot clean. This is huge.

:24:03.:24:13.

No! And so fun it is the fifth and final shot that is there on doing.

:24:14.:24:20.

Martin Fourcade's brother, Simon, crumbled under the pressure when he

:24:21.:24:26.

became the World Cup overall leader a couple of weeks before Vancouver

:24:27.:24:31.

and it did not go well for him in Canada. He just couldn't cope with

:24:32.:24:36.

the pressure. We are back with his brother. Looking at the time, Ole

:24:37.:24:44.

Einar Bjorndalen who is leading currently, surely the old man of the

:24:45.:24:51.

Norwegian team has not done it again.

:24:52.:24:56.

So, Fourcade's time keeps on ticking and the margin he has got too close

:24:57.:25:07.

keeps on going full the watcher Matic scenes here. He is almost nine

:25:08.:25:12.

seconds slower than Bjorndalen. The man who beat him to the gold at the

:25:13.:25:17.

World Championship is already out of contention. We know that Svendsen

:25:18.:25:22.

cannot get a medal. But what about Jaroslav Soukup question mark the

:25:23.:25:29.

athlete from the Czech Republic is inside Bjorndalen's time. Can he

:25:30.:25:34.

break Norwegian hearts here? What a performance this would be. Closing

:25:35.:25:42.

in on what he hoped would mean a really, really special moment.

:25:43.:25:54.

Every successful hit on the target for big we did with massive applause

:25:55.:26:03.

from this patriotic crowd. -- will be greeted with massive applause.

:26:04.:26:08.

They need to be patriotic here again like last night at the opening

:26:09.:26:12.

ceremony. Good stuff from the Russian, a

:26:13.:26:25.

little nod of approval and the crowd, very excited by this. His

:26:26.:26:35.

compatriot Anton Shipulin is also quick.

:26:36.:26:44.

That is surely game over for the Norwegian. A whole season's work and

:26:45.:26:50.

it is underhand in the space of about five seconds. -- and it is

:26:51.:26:55.

undone. That is such a shame. Other the floodlights, it creates

:26:56.:27:12.

the most amazing atmosphere here. -- under the floodlights. The Russian

:27:13.:27:17.

crowd will be hoping that Anton Shipulin will give them reason to

:27:18.:27:21.

cheer. A great couple of performances from the German. Coming

:27:22.:27:31.

into the range here, the time of Jaroslav Soukup just inside 70

:27:32.:27:36.

minutes and remember, these guys if they should quickly enough, be in

:27:37.:27:39.

and out of the range in about 25 seconds but this will have to be

:27:40.:27:42.

special if he is to exit on level terms with the Czech athlete.

:27:43.:27:58.

Fourcade, he has treated outside the time of Bjorndalen.

:27:59.:28:09.

How many more will come through and potentially deny him a place on the

:28:10.:28:14.

podium? Jaroslav Soukup could well take the

:28:15.:28:25.

lead here. Or has he jetted just outside the time of Bjorndalen? I

:28:26.:28:31.

think he has. The pace of Bjorndalen in the last mile must have been

:28:32.:28:35.

electric because Jaroslav Soukup was on course to beat him. There are the

:28:36.:28:42.

standings right now. The world champion, Svendsen, down in eighth

:28:43.:28:43.

place. Is it destined to be gold for Ole

:28:44.:28:53.

Einar Bjorndalen? One miss but he skied beautifully and the veteran is

:28:54.:29:00.

close to writing another chapter in this illustrious career which has

:29:01.:29:08.

not been matched. Rate performance from his opponent and the big

:29:09.:29:13.

Norwegian gave it the big fist pump when he crossed the line. This

:29:14.:29:18.

really would be cause for Norwegian celebrations back home. What an

:29:19.:29:28.

accolade, and it is the first event with the relay to come and other

:29:29.:29:35.

chances for golds as well. Is there an opportunity that Bjorndalen could

:29:36.:29:42.

get to 13 medals? They are talking and analysing. They are trying to

:29:43.:29:49.

ascertain whether Ole Einar Bjorndalen has secured... Wait for

:29:50.:29:55.

this, his seventh Winter Olympic gold medal and his 12th medal of any

:29:56.:30:05.

colour. His sixth consecutive winter Olympic games did not win a medal in

:30:06.:30:09.

Lily hammer but got beaks periods. He won this title in 1998, 2002,

:30:10.:30:15.

three Mrs putting down to 11th in Torino. 70 in Vancouver but just the

:30:16.:30:24.

one miss and it could well be that only missing one target has earned

:30:25.:30:33.

him an unbelievable miss. -- piece of winter Olympic history.

:30:34.:30:40.

What about the athlete in third? Final .7 seconds, denying the man

:30:41.:30:54.

from Russia a place on the podium. The Russian coming home. A pretty

:30:55.:31:01.

good performance from him. The crowd already know that his chances have

:31:02.:31:11.

gone. They were excited when his opponent crossed the line, but it

:31:12.:31:14.

was not quite to be. So, we are getting very close now to

:31:15.:31:30.

finding out if anybody can deny Ole inode Bjorn Dahlin, our debate the

:31:31.:31:37.

most impressive old medal of the seven, if he is to win. There were

:31:38.:31:46.

only 87 starters. Jakov Fak has shot clean. It is

:31:47.:32:04.

simply a question of how fast. Look of fact is on paper the only

:32:05.:32:26.

man who could have denied Ole Einar Bjorndalen, and you can see the

:32:27.:32:32.

finish line to his left. It is not going to be enough, he shot clean,

:32:33.:32:36.

but he has not been fast enough to match the 40-year-old. Jakov Fak the

:32:37.:32:43.

bronze medallist from four years ago and at the World Championship last

:32:44.:32:44.

year. A good performance from Jakov Fak,

:32:45.:33:07.

would have expected this from him, he is very consistent, come the big

:33:08.:33:13.

occasion, irrespective of what he has done that season, but he will

:33:14.:33:21.

not get on the podium this time. Every finisher crosses the line, as

:33:22.:33:26.

every minute ticks on, it is looking more and more likely as though it is

:33:27.:33:31.

going to be a seventh gold medal for Ole Einar Bjorndalen. The

:33:32.:33:35.

celebrations for the Russians, the good effort from them.

:33:36.:33:46.

The Italian is a really good athlete, great to see him getting

:33:47.:33:52.

his first World Cup victory, tied with Simon Schempp. Wanless has put

:33:53.:33:58.

paid to his aspirations of getting the podium. You can see him, he is

:33:59.:34:11.

parallel to the finish, and another contender and another athlete who

:34:12.:34:13.

could deny Ole Einar Bjorndalen comes and goes. All the way through

:34:14.:34:21.

the World Cup season, Ole Einar Bjorndalen has only been one or two

:34:22.:34:27.

Mrs away from winning these events, but all of the victories and

:34:28.:34:32.

plaudits have been taken by Martin Fourcade, and Emil Hegle Svendsen,

:34:33.:34:39.

who is down in ninth place at the moment, the reigning world

:34:40.:34:50.

champion. He was made to look ordinary by Ole Einar Bjorndalen. It

:34:51.:35:00.

would be great to see Ole Einar Bjorndalen's face in the next couple

:35:01.:35:04.

of moments. He is a true professional, and I wonder at what

:35:05.:35:10.

stage he will begin to start celebrating. A massive fist pump

:35:11.:35:18.

when he crossed the line and realised he was ahead. The Czech

:35:19.:35:29.

Republic athlete in third place. It does look very much as though that

:35:30.:35:35.

is going to be enough for the victory. Now, he starts to smile, we

:35:36.:35:42.

cannot see the face, but we can see the wrinkles, he has allowed a few

:35:43.:35:47.

wrinkles, and they are allowed the fist pump. Their all-time biathlon

:35:48.:35:54.

hero has done it again. Incredible, a seventh gold medal. He is now the

:35:55.:36:02.

joint most decorated Winter Olympian in history.

:36:03.:36:13.

The Ukrainian, coming towards the finish. The interviews have already

:36:14.:36:27.

started. The dozens of Norwegian journalists will already be

:36:28.:36:32.

rewriting their front page, perhaps they have the iron Lady of

:36:33.:36:35.

cross-country on different cover, but now they will have to make room

:36:36.:36:39.

for two of them, because Ole Einar Bjorndalen has won another gold

:36:40.:36:50.

medal. A staggering record. Seven gold medals, four silver medals, one

:36:51.:37:00.

bronze medal. Wow. Ole Einar Bjorndalen, good luck. It was not

:37:01.:37:04.

good looking needed today, it was skill and speed, and he produced

:37:05.:37:08.

both. Ole Einar Bjorndalen missed one target, that means he had to be

:37:09.:37:15.

so much quicker than the guys who shot clean, and he was. Emil Hegle

:37:16.:37:21.

Svendsen and Martin Fourcade only missed one. When it mattered, when

:37:22.:37:25.

it counted, Ole Einar Bjorndalen produced the speed of men ten and 15

:37:26.:37:32.

years his junior. A quite incredible story.

:37:33.:37:41.

Perhaps the Russians in the crowd will have their moment to cheer

:37:42.:37:50.

later on. They're athlete missing out on the bronze by 0.7 seconds.

:37:51.:38:02.

The Italian heading towards the finish. His third Winter Olympics.

:38:03.:38:11.

He was 26 in this event in cheering eight years ago. It is hard to

:38:12.:38:17.

believe that was eight years ago, where does the time go? We know how

:38:18.:38:25.

good Ole Einar Bjorndalen race, but in the face of the quality of Martin

:38:26.:38:32.

Fourcade and Emil Hegle Svendsen, it is an amazing achievement. 12 Winter

:38:33.:38:38.

Olympics medals, seven of them gold medals. If there is one more to come

:38:39.:38:46.

in the relay, it will be the most committed Winter Olympian in

:38:47.:38:56.

history. Not shared, two will have the accolade all to himself. Still

:38:57.:39:06.

pushing, still driving. The Belarus athlete coming across the line, head

:39:07.:39:12.

of the Italian. Plenty more opportunities for these men. They

:39:13.:39:17.

are at the beginning of what will be an exhausting couple of weeks. The

:39:18.:39:25.

Swedish athlete, his father won bronze medals in the biathlon, the

:39:26.:39:32.

20 K and the relay, so he comes from good stock. It is good support from

:39:33.:39:47.

the Russians in the crowd. It is safe to say that he is delighted

:39:48.:39:52.

with that. What a performance. Just watching the last few athletes,

:39:53.:40:16.

towards the finish. Just going over the stats, the silver medallist and

:40:17.:40:24.

bronze medallist shot clean, but Ole Einar Bjorndalen missed one and

:40:25.:40:30.

managed to beat the younger men. Simply sensational.

:40:31.:40:54.

Ole Einar Bjorndalen plays his cards close to his chest, and I wonder how

:40:55.:41:00.

much emotion we will see from him on the podium. The embrace for a seven

:41:01.:41:10.

time Winter Olympic champion, this sport may never see his likes

:41:11.:41:16.

again. Great celebrations from the Czech Republic athlete, a wonderful

:41:17.:41:23.

bronze medal. And somewhere in among the handshakes, the high-fives and

:41:24.:41:30.

the backslaps, the Austrian, who has managed to get himself a silver

:41:31.:41:37.

medal. The Slovenian, his fourth Winter Olympics, twice 10th in the

:41:38.:41:40.

relay. The Kazakhstan athlete comes across

:41:41.:41:53.

the line. The Bulgarian's father was an Alpine

:41:54.:42:12.

skier, grinding his way towards the finish. It promised to be dramatic,

:42:13.:42:21.

and there was an opportunity for Ole Einar Bjorndalen, as the holder of

:42:22.:42:26.

the subplot, to upset the party, and he did that.

:42:27.:42:39.

Great celebrations. The last man onto the field, the American, coming

:42:40.:42:56.

home. Brilliant celebrations. The Polish athlete still on the course.

:42:57.:43:06.

He will be coming home just outside 29 minutes.

:43:07.:43:25.

Thank you for keeping us company over the last hour. Apologies for

:43:26.:43:37.

the fire alarm interruption. You never know what is going to happen

:43:38.:43:38.

at the Winter Olympics! Order was restored in time to see an

:43:39.:43:53.

incredible piece of biathlon Winter Olympics history. The result that

:43:54.:43:59.

many people in Norway barely dared to dream about, Ole Einar

:44:00.:44:04.

Bjorndalen, despite the fact that he missed a target, he beat the lot,

:44:05.:44:09.

the 40-year-old securing his seventh Winter Olympics old medal, 12 medals

:44:10.:44:16.

in total, his status as the greatest biathlon has ever seen is now

:44:17.:44:19.

absolutely assured. The secretary-general will present

:44:20.:44:41.

the flowers. She must be delighted at how her sport has produced a

:44:42.:44:47.

truly historic race here, in a state-of-the-art facility. Jaroslav

:44:48.:44:56.

Suker, could he have dreamt of a moment like this? Earlier on this

:44:57.:45:01.

afternoon, when he was preparing himself to do battle with 86 of the

:45:02.:45:07.

very best by athletes in the world, bronze at the World Championship two

:45:08.:45:12.

years ago, but that pales into insignificance compared to this.

:45:13.:45:16.

This is the big one, the one that only rolls around every four years,

:45:17.:45:22.

and he has earned the right to call himself a Winter Olympics medallist

:45:23.:45:29.

in esteemed and historic company. A brilliant bronze medal for the man

:45:30.:45:30.

from the Czech Republic. What a moment for the big Austrian.

:45:31.:45:42.

, he lunged for the line because he knew he had reduced a good race. He

:45:43.:45:48.

was the first of the big names to come home, he didn't know whether it

:45:49.:45:52.

would be good enough for gold but he knows now that it has been more than

:45:53.:45:54.

good enough for silver. He has been on the Olympic podium

:45:55.:46:06.

before but this one is just for him and it is richly deserved.

:46:07.:46:07.

APPLAUSE. How does this compare to the six

:46:08.:46:23.

golds he has won before? Ole Einar Bjorndalen has rolled back the clock

:46:24.:46:28.

and produce winter and the big history here, the seventh time he

:46:29.:46:34.

has stood atop the winter Olympic podium. A hat-trick of titles in

:46:35.:46:40.

this event alone. And he in this moment and on this day, joins his

:46:41.:46:47.

compatriot as it the most decorated Winter Olympian in history. What a

:46:48.:46:55.

story what a day and what a smile and does he dare to believe that 12

:46:56.:47:01.

can become 13? Many more chances over the next two weeks, but that is

:47:02.:47:07.

for another day. Tonight, the celebrations and the accolades

:47:08.:47:12.

belong to the greatest I athlete in history and everybody in the crowd

:47:13.:47:16.

including the Russians -- greatest biathlete, is saluting him. Bjorn

:47:17.:47:22.

Dahlen is in a class of his own and he has touched Winter Olympic

:47:23.:47:27.

mortality tonight -- immortality, Bjorndalen.

:47:28.:47:31.

JONATHAN EDWARDS: What the performers there from Bjorndalen,

:47:32.:47:34.

the oldest ever individual winner of a medal at a Winter Olympics. Less

:47:35.:47:38.

good for the Jackson from Britain, he ended up in 60 Seventh Place so a

:47:39.:47:43.

real disappointment there. We saw Sven Kramer any man's 5000 metres

:47:44.:47:47.

speed skating hoping to retain the title, this is what happened.

:47:48.:47:52.

COMMENTATOR: It will be in astonishing mark, one lap to go, 6.2

:47:53.:47:57.

seconds faster, this could give him something around about a 6.12 and he

:47:58.:48:01.

figures that, it will be a new Olympic record. Cramer on his way

:48:02.:48:08.

now to the line and the concluding stages of his 5000 metres skate, the

:48:09.:48:17.

style of the defending champion, and here he comes, Sven Kramer now,

:48:18.:48:21.

coming for the line and he hits the line. And the time, a new Olympic

:48:22.:48:31.

record. Cramer has put the marker down and put it down big time. What

:48:32.:48:38.

a skate that was and only just shy of the world record at low land sea

:48:39.:48:43.

level. JONATHAN EDWARDS: What a skate that

:48:44.:48:48.

was, he led a one, two, three for the Dutch team and I am joined by

:48:49.:48:55.

the chief Skating writer for a Dutch newspaper. Frank, what was it like

:48:56.:48:59.

from a Dutch perspective in there? One big party for the Dutch and he

:49:00.:49:05.

was still serious after the race and for him it was a bit like business

:49:06.:49:11.

as usual. It may sound strange, and after the race, he went down as he

:49:12.:49:19.

went to the hotel so to the village but for the supporters, it was

:49:20.:49:24.

fantastic. In terms of how he skated, our guys, Wilf O'Reilly was

:49:25.:49:28.

saying in commentary that he may be a bit slow at the start, what was

:49:29.:49:32.

your perspective? He knew what he had to do, he was not slow. He said

:49:33.:49:39.

he had to skate 6.10 for the gold and to do that, you have to skip lap

:49:40.:49:46.

times around 29 seconds, and all the others made a mistake, they started

:49:47.:49:52.

to fast. So I think that is the thing. In terms of the 10,000 metres

:49:53.:49:56.

which is coming up in a few days' time, a few bad memories from four

:49:57.:50:02.

years ago in Vancouver. Remind us what happened. People watching at

:50:03.:50:07.

home may not know. He made a huge mistake and it wasn't his fault, it

:50:08.:50:13.

was mainly the fault of his coach. The speed skaters had to change

:50:14.:50:19.

lanes every lap. And they know when to do that but the coach wasn't sure

:50:20.:50:27.

if he swapped lanes already said he said he had to go to the inner lane

:50:28.:50:32.

but he had already done that. So the thing was he went into the inner

:50:33.:50:37.

lane when he had to do the outer lane and he was disqualified and it

:50:38.:50:45.

was a big tragedy in Holland. It was dramatic for the coach especially.

:50:46.:50:52.

And he still coaches him question mark Eleanor Gass, he has had lots

:50:53.:50:58.

of success -- and he still coaches him? Yes, . It was. How much

:50:59.:51:06.

excitement would it be that home for this medal? For the ten kilometres

:51:07.:51:13.

grid at Know, for the ten kilometres consumer No, 45 kilometres.

:51:14.:51:17.

Everybody knows at this distance that he was going to win at his

:51:18.:51:26.

distance. The only question in Holland was whether it was going to

:51:27.:51:30.

be a one, two, three. The King of Holland was there to watch it as

:51:31.:51:35.

well. From one speed skating star to another and this man's journey to

:51:36.:51:37.

Olympic gold was something. Really something.

:51:38.:51:49.

Dan Johnson, the skater who could not win a medal. He tried in 1984

:51:50.:51:59.

but he tried in 1988. The American came to Calgary as well spread

:52:00.:52:02.

champion that on the night of the 500 metres, his sister Jane died

:52:03.:52:06.

from leukaemia. He fell at the first turn.

:52:07.:52:14.

He tried in the 1000 metres and fell.

:52:15.:52:22.

He raced in vain and Albertville in 1992, and he skated onto Lillehammer

:52:23.:52:33.

in 1994. He finished eighth in his favourite event, the 500 metres. He

:52:34.:52:38.

had one last chance, after seven attempts in seven events in four

:52:39.:52:43.

Winter Olympics spread over ten years after a decade of trying and

:52:44.:52:47.

failing, he had this - the 1000 metres.

:52:48.:52:51.

And at last, Dan Jansen was out in front. And there he stayed.

:52:52.:53:03.

COMMENTATOR: 1.12.43 and the world record has gone to Dan Jansen, a

:53:04.:53:09.

remarkable piece of skating. He has taken the world record and there are

:53:10.:53:14.

his parents, his father is standing there waving his arms. His fourth

:53:15.:53:19.

Olympic Games and could that be with that world record, his first medal?

:53:20.:53:24.

At last, ten years after losing his sister Jane, he celebrated with his

:53:25.:53:28.

daughter, Jane. A very moving story there and Frank,

:53:29.:54:02.

another American speaks skater we want to look at for, Shawnee Davis.

:54:03.:54:08.

Yes, he is quite a character. He does everything on his own. He is

:54:09.:54:13.

training outside the federation, he is preparing himself, he has no

:54:14.:54:19.

coach. No sponsors, but he is at the top and has been for a while so it

:54:20.:54:24.

is impressive. And looking for three golds in a row in the 5000 metres.

:54:25.:54:30.

Yes, that is unique. He has a good chance of achieving it. In terms of

:54:31.:54:38.

the women, another big hope for the Dutch, ten two. Yellow marker the

:54:39.:54:40.

same goes for the women. She can become the most success full

:54:41.:54:51.

female with athlete. She is aiming for four golds and in the three K,

:54:52.:54:56.

it will be the first tomorrow. She is up against the lady who has been

:54:57.:55:03.

called the queen of skating in Vancouver, two gold medals. You may

:55:04.:55:07.

not agree with that! What about Southwark over -- Sablokova? Yellow

:55:08.:55:20.

marker they did not really have to qualify because they are the only

:55:21.:55:24.

athletes from that level from our country said she was not too

:55:25.:55:29.

impressed with the last couple of weeks and Wurst has been on the top

:55:30.:55:33.

level for a long time. She is the favourite, I think. But Sablokova is

:55:34.:55:37.

always there on the big moments so it will be very exciting.

:55:38.:55:42.

The way the Dutch are skating, we will probably be speaking to you

:55:43.:55:47.

again, thank you for speaking to us. Still plenty of action from

:55:48.:55:50.

Sochi to come but here are the headlines so far.

:55:51.:55:58.

The USA says Katzenberg won the first in slopestyle. --. Jamie

:55:59.:56:10.

Nicholls finished a creditable sixth and Billy Morgan ended up in 10th.

:56:11.:56:20.

The first women's gold winning the ski Afon, her fourth old medal

:56:21.:56:25.

during her career after three in Vancouver.

:56:26.:56:31.

And we have witnessed history in the biathlon, Ole Einar Bjorndalen won

:56:32.:56:37.

gold to claim his 12th winter Olympic medal equalling the game's

:56:38.:56:43.

record. And speed skating star Sven Kramer that a Dutch one, two, three

:56:44.:56:47.

to defend his title and broke his own Olympic record by four

:56:48.:56:57.

microseconds. -- for seconds. I trust you are enjoying coverage here

:56:58.:57:00.

on BBC Two but it is not the only way to keep across the Winter

:57:01.:57:01.

Olympics on the BBC. Watch all the excitement of the

:57:02.:57:12.

Winter Olympics with BBC Sport. We are showing every sport live from

:57:13.:57:18.

Sochi. With up to six streams of live sport showing across your

:57:19.:57:22.

devices, you will be in full control of all the action from the Games.

:57:23.:57:30.

Check out our live updates, and catch up on any action you have

:57:31.:57:34.

missed on the BBC iPlayer so you can share in all the drama, wherever you

:57:35.:57:40.

are. The Winter Olympics - across the BBC.

:57:41.:57:45.

JONATHAN EDWARDS: So we have got the downhill tomorrow at 7am, don't miss

:57:46.:57:51.

that and then coming up at ten past five, of the final score, we have

:57:52.:57:57.

got women's moguls and the figure skating, Clare Balding is in the hot

:57:58.:58:03.

seat for that. So that is it for the first day here, lots to come still

:58:04.:58:10.

but back in 1934, the first gold medal was won by an American and

:58:11.:58:15.

here, the first gold medal of Sochi 2014 was also won by a American, in

:58:16.:58:21.

the slopestyle. What would they have made of snowboard slopestyle back in

:58:22.:58:25.

1924? It is certainly something they would never have imagined they would

:58:26.:58:28.

see full thanks for watching and we will be back at 5:10pm. Goodbye.

:58:29.:58:38.

COMMENTATOR: Sven Kramer will skate out of his skin here. He has ignited

:58:39.:58:47.

the burners, history being made here. Sven Kramer as defended his

:58:48.:58:52.

crown, gets a gold and the crowd loved it.

:58:53.:58:57.

Jamie Nicholls, 20-year-old from Halifax. Into 1260, yes, Jamie puts

:58:58.:59:02.

it down!

:59:03.:59:04.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS