Day 14, Part 4 Winter Olympics

from the intensity and accuracy of curling it is time now for

Britain's Bladerunners to blast off. Elise Christie and Jon Eley are both

in the race for medals at the Iceberg Skating Palace tonight.

Welcome back to the Olympic Park. You remember in London we had super

Saturday and we were hoping this could be fantastic Friday. A silver

medal in the bag thanks to the curlers, the Canadians were just too

strong. There could be more to come exactly a week after Lizzie Yarnold

won her medal in the skeleton because we are heading into the

tightest race track of them all. The men's 500 metres quarterfinals are

on already and Jon Eley is on shortly. He carried the flag at the

opening ceremony. He was nominated by his fellow athletes and they said

he was one of the most experienced men, this was his third Olympics, he

also has huge respect from all the others and according to the chef de

mission he embodies the spirit of Team GB. 500 metres is his best race

and he has got a tough quarterfinal coming up. Then we will see whether

one of the great comeback stories has a happy ending. Elise Christie

has had some bad luck when she was disqualified from silver medal

position in the 500 metres final and then she was given a bizarre did not

finish for missing the finish line by one centimetre. She got abused on

social media and very nearly packed her bags, but she pulled herself

together and pondered on the positives. She is skating

magnificently and won her 1000 heat after a supercharged overtaking move

around the outside. The 1000 metres is the rays she knows she can make

her mark in. She is the European champion and a bronze from the world

Championships and has the talent and the fire to reach a final. After

that as we know in this spot anything can happen. It will be

supercharged. There is a massive crowd and I have seen the queues

building up all evening. It is another busy day, so Jon Eley and

Elise Christie coming up, but we have been catching up with the man

who has been Britain's great short track speed cake, Wilf O'Reilly.

Expect noise, tension and drama. What are Elise Christie's chances?

She had three medal chances to win and the first two have gone

dramatically wrong. Her best distance, the last day of the short

track speed skating I still believe she is in with a good chance of

getting a medal. It is a top field. Who are her biggest rivals? All five

of the skaters like this great -- like to escape from the front. She

does not want to lead all the way from the front, but she needs first

or second place and she wants to control the rays from the front. We

were talking to the team performance director looking very relaxed. She

knows what she has to do tonight. I spoke to Stuart this morning and I

was saying it was all about a fantastic Friday and he said, it is

fighting Friday, so the gunners are out. She will get some confidence

for the way she tackled her heat earlier in the week. Absolutely. It

all seems very relaxed in training. Stewart says, all we do not want is

bad luck. Jon Eley is up against Victor An of Russia. He is in the

quarterfinal in the second lane. I think he should qualify quite

comfortably. But the biggest thing is this crowd because when Victor An

approaches the start line, the crowd goes crazy. It is his third Olympics

and he is used to the big arena, so he should not have any problem

whatsoever. We will be back here when it gets all underway.

That was recorded a few moments ago, so the arena has filled up and

there is Jon Eley. As you know it is one of the most unpredictable sports

of them all with tight turns and needing a burst of speed stand the

straight and people losing their balance and getting slightly edged

and falling. In 2002 in Salt Lake City Steven Bradbury sat last in

both the semifinal and he did the same thing in the final and even the

great American skater was one of those who came crashing down and

Steven Bradbury went for the medal. You could sit out at the back and

hope things go wrong at the front, or you get up there into the

argy-bargy. You have to change your tactics. We can head off to our

commentary team, Wilf O'Reilly and Hugh Porter.

We are looking at the Chinese skater. But we have a sneaky feeling

we are going to hear more about that race. JR Chelski hit the side boys.

And the Japanese skater went up in the air as if he was doing an

acrobatic movement. I would not be surprised if he got advanced into

the semifinal. Park changes his lane. He changes from the outside to

the inside. You are absolutely right. The Korean has been

penalised. JR Chelski, the American, has advanced. He joins the Chinese

skater. We have got the line-up ready for the quarterfinal number

three. It is the top two skaters who go through into the semifinal. We

are looking for eight from these heats. But if there is an

infringement or a skater has impeded another skater, it is reviewed by

the referees and they get an advancement and that is what has

just happened. At the back from Russia is Vladimir Grigorev. The

Chinese skater finished fourth in the 1500 metres and is trying to

make up for it in the shorter distance. The Canadian is lying

second. It was the Chinese and the Canadian. The computer is saying

that Cournoyer got it. But we will have to wait and see. The world

record is held by Charles Hamlin. But the time is slightly irrelevant.

The Chinese skater got off to a magnificent start. Vladimir Grigorev

charged through and left the Canadian and the Chinese skater

clear. It is a battle of the fittest. They were not in a

qualifying position, so it will be interesting to see whether or not

the referee advances him through to the next round. It was victory for

the Chinese skater. Vladimir Grigorev was penalised. We have got

one more quarterfinal to go. There is Jon Eley skating on the ice,

getting himself ready, composing himself for the challenge ahead. He

was a finalist in Torino. This is his best distance. The flag bearer

for the British team at the opening ceremony. Inside him is the great

Victor An who has got four gold medals to his credit and racing for

Russia. He represented career before changing nationalities. Jon Eley

holds his own. Tucked in on the pace of Victor An. Olivier Giroud of

Canada has got some work to do. Come on, Jon Eley. You are really going.

Or of a sudden Olivier Giroud has closed in on the coat-tails. Ride on

the front is Victor An. Jon Eley is in second place. Oh, yes! Tremendous

by Jon Eley. The 29-year-old skipper of the team. That was a superb skate

from him. Very controlled. Victor An got the number one lane. He had to

make sure there was no distance between them and he did exactly

that. He must be absolutely delighted with that. He knew that

Victor An was going to be the danger man. He was all over him like a

rash. You can see him crouched behind Victor An. Jon Eley is almost

six feet tall, but manages to get around the corners as swiftly and as

technically well as Victor An. I said he would not be under any

pressure, this is his third Olympic games and he showed his colours.

Flag bearer. That is the kind of result we want to see. He is going

into the the competition next on the night is

the ladies. We will be welcoming onto the ice Elise Christie.

Can Jon Eley replicate that in the next round? He should probably get

lame position number two, judging on his time. That is what you want in a

500 metres contest. There are no skaters on the ice at the moment. We

are moving to the ladies. Elise Christie has been moved from

quarterfinal number four 2/4-final number one. The good news about that

is that originally, in number four, was a five up affair and she was

skating against Jorien ter Mors. Pierron, and Drolet. Jorien ter Mors

has been taken out. I think this will help Christie. She has had so

much bad luck, crossing the line in silver medal position to have it

taken away and in the 1500, she was first in the heat. But she finished

just up the track and they said she did not complete the distance. How

is she handling the pressure? It is great to see she will now only have

four skaters. Her coach will have decided the strategy with her. It is

business as usual. This is her favourite distance. She does not

need to panic. It is business as usual. We will monitor that with

interest and see whether that will favour her. She has got to keep an

eye on the opposition she is facing, because she has the 21-year-old who

got two bronze medals in Vancouver. Seung-Hi Park. That is likely to be

her big challenger. The 23-year-old from Livingston in Scotland, racing

out of Nottingham on the ice. No doubt going through her mind how she

will race this. I saw the coach giving her the sign, staying

relaxed. The GB team are up at the moment. Elise Christie is just

waiting for the whistle. Christie is racing from position number one. I

am not sure she will want to stay in that position. If the race is not

very fast, it will probably be the best place. All of them liked to

lead from the front. On the right, racing from the inside position,

Elise Christie. Drolet of Canada and then... We have a. To. Nerves are

going to play a part. I think it was Marie-Eve Drolet of Canada. In fact,

it was Seung-Hi Park. She will be told by the referee. It is we have a

second start. If the skater has two, if, for

example, Seung-Hi Park is awarded the second Falstaff 's... And I

think that might have been... It could have been -- false start. It

means the race now has two. It is not allowed any more. If there was a

third, you could be out. I am sure Elise Christie knows about that.

This might be a tentative start but we are OK this time. Elise Christie

almost got knocked over. She collided immediately. That was with

Drolet of Canada. I am really pleased she stayed upright. It was

dangerous. They like to skate from the front. Pierron of France is

trying to get around the outside and Christie is staying out of trouble

at the back, but she will need to start before the pace increases. We

saw her electric pace when she accelerated from the back past the

field in the heat. She established a fantastic window advantage. Of

course, this competition is stiff. Seung-Hi Park takes over the

pacesetting. Elise Christie must try to make a move and come around the

outside. She is gathering herself. Trying to pick up the pace but she

does not seem to have the acceleration. Having said that, she

is on the outside with a lot of work to do. Christie, right into second

place. Pierron sweeps into the boards and into the finishing

straight. Well, it she skated that with style. She left it very late, I

must admit. We will have to wait to see what the official result is not

coming around the outside, it was superb. I was worried but she made

the move. All of them like to skate from the front. You saw

immediately, even though she had to be number one lane, there was a

challenge in the first bend. Pierron of France, just moving to the front.

It will be interesting to see, Christie came around the outside,

clearly not in any trouble. She had so much speed she even went past

Seung-Hi Park with half a lap to go. That was reminiscent of ice dancing

for the French skater. Will she be advanced? Do you think she is out? I

think Pierron could be out. You have to be in a qualifying position.

There is a decision now. I would be interested to see the official

result. I think we can draw from that the fact Christie has put the

disappointment of the two events behind her and I think that was a

display of confidence. She even got around Seung-Hi Park, that must

bolster her confidence. This is the result confirmed. There was a

penalty for the French skater. Drolet not making it through. Three

more quarterfinals to go. On the extreme left, we are looking at the

Dutch skater, Jorien ter Mors. She skated earlier this evening in the

team pursuit, in the Dutch team that set an Olympic record. She is going

to be stretched. Jorien ter Mors is the European

champion, fourth at the moment, in the orange. Valerie Maltais set a

new record in her heat. She is comfortable leading from the

beginning. Jorien ter Mors retired and she has

made a successful comeback, dictating the terms at the front.

Waiting to make a move is the Japanese skater. Valerie Maltais is

still leading. Yui Sakai in second. Something will have to happen

shortly. Jorien ter Mors might be carrying fatigue from the team

pursuit qualification earlier. Having said that, she made the move

tarp into almost third place. Does she have the power to challenge the

Japanese skater and qualify? It is the first two who will go into the

semifinals. Jorien ter Mors hack to come along way around and she is

going to do it, taking second to through into the semifinals. Valerie

Maltais wins. These 1000 meters are becoming an elongated sprint with

the skaters taking off immediately from the start at it is a battle to

find your way around. Valerie Maltais controls the race from the

beginning. 1.29 one one. You can see the left arm crossing. I

do not think there is any major infringement. It will probably be

Valerie Maltais will qualify. Jorien ter Mors will probably go through as

well. She already has one goal medal, Jorien ter Mors, and that

came on the long track when she won the 1500 metres at the expense of

Ireen Wust. The talent of this woman, to my knowledge no skater has

won a medal in long track and short track in any Olympics. We are into

quarterfinal number three. 70 years of age, subtly

Fontana has won a silver and two bronze medals. Such an experienced

campaigner is the Italian. She is skating well. Controlling the race

from the front, not making mistakes. She does not want to leave

it too late. Emily Scott at the back needs to make a move. Fontana has

three medals already from these games and she looks comfortable.

Shim, 17 years of age and the winner of the World Cup competition. Her

age belies her power, determination and strength. The young Chinese

skater is trying to get around. Fontana hanging onto second place. A

terrific move by Kexin Fan. She slid right out.

Challenging and almost sliding over the line. I think there will be a

call on that. Fontana was taken down by the Chinese skater. It will be

interesting how they will call it because I felt what happened was

what happened to Elise Christie in the 500 metres. Christie came up the

inside and Fontana moves to the left. Maybe we can see it here.

Shim, she was controlling the race comfortably. She is clearly in

front. It is exactly the same as what Elise Christie had. Fontana

leaning over and barging over and, of course, losing her balance. It

could mean Emily Scott will make it as second. That would probably mean

Fontana would be advanced to the semifinals. The Chinese skater could

receive a penalty. We are anxiously waiting to see what will be the

outcome of the deliberations by the referees. I should think they are

not the most popular of people by the end of the evening. The

right-hand on Fontana's shoulder. She does that because Fontana is

coming back in onto the track and that is exactly what happened with

Elise Christie. She was in front at that time. Some of these decisions,

the gaps are miniscule. It must be a marginal offence that they

eventually penalised somebody. Everybody is looking up at the

scoreboard in the middle of the arena. Arianna Fontana has been

penalised. We have one more quarterfinal in the ladies 1000

metres. Racing from the inside is Jianrou Li. Alang Kim from Korea and

the Polish skater, Patrycja Maliszewska. Immediately the Chinese

skater once Frank position, but she has lost it and there is a change

right on the head of the contest. It is Jessica Smith from the USA, but

being challenged immediately by Alang Kim. Jessica Smith is really

controlling this race. It is excellent skating from the American.

The Americans having a disappointing Olympic games. Jianrou Li is second

and came from Korea is third. Jessica Smith is 30 years of age and

she is obviously brimming over with confidence and quite happy to keep

turning the screw and holding the rest at bay. But is she going to run

out of her stamina and power? Lurking behind her is Jianrou Li.

She has already got a gold medal from Sochi and that came on day one.

That was from the 500 metres. Still at the front is Jessica Smith the

American. The challenge is likely to come from GM rudely. That is on the

line. It will be interesting. On the line it was came from Korea. I think

Jianrou Li was surprised to see the appearance of the Korean. She

beautifully timed the acceleration going to the line. We will have to

wait for the official photo finish. This was the action that was trying

to deny Smith the lead. Kim trying to get round. But she could not get

round Smith who was taking the shortest route on the inside. But

then the challenge came from Jianrou Li. But this surprised the Chinese

skater and I am wondering if it has cost her a place to go through.

Smith is OK, but the Korean suddenly appeared on the screen. Jianrou Li

is OK. Providing that result stands, it will mean Jessica Smith is joined

by Jianrou Li who is in search for her second medal in Sochi, having

got the gold medal in the 500. I must admit the Chinese are skating

very well here. We confirmed the qualifiers into the semifinals. We

wait for the referees to rejig them in their respective semi finals. But

good news, Elise Christie is through comfortably. We have got Jon Eley

and Elise Christie progressing into the semifinals.

If you think Elise Christie moves fast, look how quickly will owe

Riley has moved. That Wilf O'Reilly. It was very nerve wracking. But what

did you make of her tactics tonight? It was very controlled. On the first

corner she almost got knocked over. She composed herself and she relaxed

and came from the back and was very controlled on the outside. I thought

she might have left it a bit too late, but showing extreme control

and an extremely good performance. From where you were when she hit

that first bend, did you think she was gone? She kind of backs off and

then she starts to relax. She leaves a little bit of a gap and she goes

around side the French girl and she stays there quite superbly and uses

the edges on her blades really well. Then she came back in and she stayed

on the outside. She kept out of trouble. And then there was a crash

and she could have come back inside behind Park, but she kept on the

inside. Very similar to the tactic she used in the heat. That is what

the technical team have worked on before the race. Absolutely. The

racing is getting so that the gaps are moving tighter and tighter.

Going into the semifinals there was the salute with the one finger and

she is getting into the race and she has not had that many races until

now. Her confidence will be building and after seeing Jon Eley, which was

amazing getting into the semifinal, I think Team GB will be up with a

fantastic Friday. I have been talking to Jon Eley and he is the GB

flag bearer and he seems to me that he is growing in confidence as the

competition continues. Absolutely, it is his third games and there is

no pressure on him whatsoever. He had the perfect race, with Olivier

Giroud making a bit of a mistake and Jon Eley capitalised on that mistake

and qualified very comfortably. Just when he finishes there is a fist

pump to the crowd. And we have to tell the viewers there is a

considerable gathering of Team GB viewers tonight and they have come

to support them. You will see it as he crosses the line. That shows an

athlete at the top of his game. I said this morning he could get

through to the semifinal and it is the top eight skaters in the world.

Maybe he can come away with a medal at his third Olympics. But the one

thing that worries me is he is up against the Russian. The Korean now

compete for Russia and when he comes on the place goes crazy. When you

are on the start line whether there are 12,000 people here, you do not

hear anything, you do not even hear your coach. You are so in the zone

in the race, I am sure it will not put him off whatsoever. What is

going through their minds right now? What either technical team saying to

them? Both of them will go back and they will sharpen their skates and

go on the exercise bikes and keep their legs very loose and recover

and relax. Maybe listen to some music. It is all about recovering

and relaxing and not panicking. The semifinals. Elise Christie is up

against the brightest new hope, will that affect? No, because she has

just beaten her skating partner in Korea and she went on the outside of

her as well. This girl is not afraid of anybody. I spoke to Stuart this

morning and he said it was fighting Friday and that is what she is out

to do. And you do not see anything in her body language which suggests

the controversy she has been through? Not at all. I have already

said it is a roller-coaster sport and we are used to disappointment

and she came back in the European Championships and at the world

championships last year and I think she is at the peak performance of

her life. We are still on for medals, fingers crossed, Jon Eley

and Elise Christie both through to semifinals.

I know everybody at home is absolutely loving this. It combines

so many skills. You have to have power and pace on the start block,

you have to have power and pace and great balance. When they leaned down

on the inside you have to have incredible stomach muscles. You have

got to be strong enough to hold your own and stay on your feet and then

know when to get aggressive again. It will be so intense tonight

because it is not a case of the semifinals tomorrow and the finals

of the next day, it all happens this evening in the space of one hour. We

will find out if they can make it through to the finals of their

respective races. You have also got to be able to take the bruises as

well. Elise Christie looking very strong. Jon Eley is a very different

build. He is over six feet and yet he has an elegance on the ice and he

is looking very smooth. I know how much people at home would love Elise

Christie to finish this Winter Olympics on a positive note. If you

are watching and you do not understand the advancements and the

penalties, here is a guide to the riskiest sport of all. Short track

speed skating is a race against each other and not the clock. It is a

knockout format with skaters tearing around the 111 metres oval track

anticlockwise at speeds of up to 40 miles an hour in the hope of beating

their opponents and progressing into the next round. Tactics play a big

part with competitors often happy to track the leader and then produce a

late charge to the line. But a bunch of skaters vying for positions at

high speed means crashes are frequent. Short track specialist

Apollo Ono has won eight medals in this event including two golds.

Apollo Ono is here as part of the NBC team and I know Wilf O'Reilly

has been catching up with a lot of the short speed skaters. It was on

Saturday night and they all still love the sport. Steven Bradbury is

here helping coach the Australians and working for Channel ten. What do

you think of the standard of short track speed skating now compared to

when you were racing? The standard is a lot higher. The girls in the

500 metres are going quicker than how I went in Calgary. The equipment

has improved, but there is no comparison whatsoever. We can see

the skaters warming up now and getting their muscles ready for the

semifinals. Is it the top two, plus any others who may have been knocked

out of the way and get advance? It is the top two, but we have the

strange anomaly, if there is a problem along the way, somebody has

pushed somebody and it stops somebody who looked as if they were

going to be part of the qualifying contingent, then the referees will

review it and look at the computer and give a decision. The actual rule

says the top two go into the final. Watching from the sidelines is Nicky

Gooch, the coach to the women's team. Stewart in the purple coloured

jumper has done a great job of getting Elise Christie back on the

track and he put forward Jon Eley to carry the flag and he is confident

this is the best British short skating team there has ever been at

an Olympics and they are feeding off the confidence of each other.

Whatever happens tonight, they have put on star performances to have two

in the semifinals and with realistic chances of getting into the finals.

It is a great credit to the organisation of British short track.

We will hand you back to Hugh and Wilf O'Reilly.

The skaters getting ready for the challenge ahead. That is of course

to get into an Olympic final. The first semifinal brings five skaters

together because JR Celski has been advanced, because in the

quarterfinal he went spinning out and the referees decided, after

scrutinising the computer, he had been denied a chance when he was in

a position to challenge. Wu. He is racing from position one. Cournoyer

from Canada, and then Tianyu Han and JR Celski and Satoshi Sakashita. It

is a tradition at this stage of the competition that they are announced

to the crowd. Cournoyer, a rookie Olympian, I have not seen much of

him, but he is skating well. The Chinese are going well. Tianyu Han.

JR Celski. He is a popular skater. He has a lot of pace, sometimes it

runs away with him and he gets himself into trouble. And Satoshi

Sakashita from Japan. He is the oldest at 24 and the youngest is

Han. They are called to the start. This is when the referee makes sure

the crowd are totally quiet. Who was that? I think it was Satoshi

Sakashita. Either him or JR Celski. The skaters on the outside have

furthest to go to the first block and might try to take advantage of a

possible false start. It was the Japanese skater on the outside. And

we are away this time. It is four and a half laps. The full house is

loving every moment of the competition. China in charge. Wu,

and his fellow countrymen. . That was a great pass on the inside

by Cournoyer of Canada. He is skating out of his skin. Victory on

the line. Wu. And also the Canadian, who really skated well. He

certainly did. I thought the Chinese might have gone for some team

skating. We saw JR Celski out of the picture, disappointment for him.

That will mean no individual medal outside of the relay. The Chinese

skaters are flying off the starting line. It does not matter what

position they are in, one and two quite comfortably. The Canadian

sneaked through on the inside. The Chinese coach. That was the

incident. It was a superb move, coming on the inside. Blocking the

final bend. Leaving no room. I do not think there will be any major

incident. The head referee is looking at the video replay. It is

still being scrutinised but Wu, he was fourth in the 1000, just shy of

the podium, but he showed what a skater he is there. The public

announcement is saying it stands. We know two who will be slugging it out

for the medals. Now we can wait to see if Jon Eley can get into his

second Olympic final. There he is, such an experienced competitor. He

was in the medal rush in Torino. He did not make it to the podium, but

he is in good form and this is his favourite distance. Victor An, the

fastest qualifier from the previous race. That is the advantage, when

you are fastest, you get lame position number one. Jon Eley is

being announced to the crowd. Victor An, before he switched to be a

Russian, he got a bronze medal in this event. Jon Eley chase down

Victor An. Sjinkie Knegt has won a bronze medal here and that inspired

him, in the 1000 metres, completing semifinal number two is Wenhao Liang

of China. He skated in Vancouver but did not win a medal in the single

events and another false start. Nerves are beginning to play a part.

I think it might have been Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands. It could

be Liang, of China, or possibly even both. More than one can get this.

One skater is allowed one false start. If it is a second time, they

have two leave the ice. Sjinkie Knegt got it.

Jon Eley the oldest man in the contest is beaten to the second

position. You can see how important it is to get the initial spread out

of the way. Come on, Jon Eley, . Look at this. Victor An goes down

the inside. What a skater he is. Sjinkie Knegt has gone into third

and Jon Eley is back in fourth. Victor An, who has got one gold

medal and a bronze. Jon Eley having to settle for fourth. Unbelievable,

the Russian, he must be the greatest short track skater of all time. I

think he is the highest ranked medal mail ever. Disappointment for Jon

Eley. He made a mistake at the moment when he was probably going to

go through. The Chinese, they have their timing and start position, it

does not matter what position they are in. Victor An came from second

into first, making it look so easy. That was a stunning display of speed

and confidence by Victor An, putting him into the gold medal final. Jon

Eley will be in the B final, where they classify the competitors from

fifth position onwards. He was in distinguished company and he rose to

the challenge. Jon Eley will skate again. He was also BB finalist in

Vancouver. These are the warriors who will slug it out -- B. It is

unbelievable stuff. Jon Eley will not be disappointed with that

performance. He would've liked to have got into the final because then

anything can happen, but he did justice. The fact that he carried

the flag for the country inspired him. He has been a faithful servant

of short track skating. And he is a three-time Olympian. B He will be

skating in the final. -- B final. This is the composition of the first

semifinal. Jorien ter Mors has come here from setting an Olympic record

for the team pursuit and so her recovery power has been stretched to

the limit. The first to be introduced is Valerie Maltais from

Canada, racing from position number one. Jorien ter Mors alongside her,

the European champion. And the 21-year-old, Seung-Hi Park. While

champion five times. Her brother is competed also competing here.

Jessica Smith skated positively in the heats. And the call to the line.

They have nine laps of the arena. Valerie Maltais gets the sharp end.

She led the last race from the front. It will be interesting

whether Seung-Hi Park in second place will try to knock her of her

race plan. There are no charitable hand-outs at this stage of the

competition. They are attacking this with passion. There is work to do

for Jessica Smith and Jorien ter Mors. Four laps to go and the pace

will be lifted. Seung-Hi Park, the 21-year-old. An incredible history

in short track speed skating. Maltais is in second and a move by

Smith. Jorien ter Mors will have to find something, she is running out

of distance, at the back. At the front, with conviction is Seung-Hi

Park. Maltais has gone down, can you believe it? Second over the line was

Jessica Smith. A Christmas present, gift wrapped, because Maltais slid

out. Jessica Smith must have thought, I cannot believe it, I will

be in an Olympic final. It is about staying on your feet and

particularly at the last lap, Maltais must have been tired, she

had led from the front. She tried to go around the outside. Seung-Hi Park

came through to take it on. The Canadians have had a disastrous

Olympics. You could see the left skate sliding through. Just going

down. It was a Christmas gift for Jessica Smith, of America, who will

qualify. The only American who has made an individual final. We will

look at it, Jorien ter Mors did not challenge. It looked as though

Maltais would make it. But she does not. Seung-Hi Park and Smith will be

a to rest. And now, Elise Christie. She won the European title for the

1000. That was in Germany. She has got position number three. She has

nine laps to sort it out. From what I have seen, the power and

acceleration, she seems to be able to move through when required. The

first to be announced, Shim. And then Fan from China. And then Elise

Christie. There is no legacy of disappointments reflected here. She

has dismissed it from her mind. And the second Chinese skater, Li. She

has one gold medal in her pocket when she won the 500 metres. The

young Korean on the inside is only 17 years of age. Talk us through

that. That was Fan Kexin of China. Interesting to see that these

Chinese skaters do not do a bit of teams skating, it is officially not

allowed. Korea has already got one into the final. Shim Suk Hee is

trying to join her. Jessica Smith is the other qualifier. We are away

this time. The referee is happy with that. Immediately going to the front

is Fan Kexin. The Chinese are at the book ends at the moment. And Jianrou

Li of China is coming around the outside. Shim Suk Hee not allowing

that to happen. Elise Christie is comfortably at the back. You have to

sit in that position when you are amongst this group. Absolutely. She

could be waiting for the exploration, the explosion, but she

is leaving it very late with five laps to go. Come on, Braveheart,

start to think about making a move. It is the young Korean leading the

two Chinese. When is Elise Christie going to make her move? The

Livingston express. Come on, you need to make a move. She is slightly

distant, or has she gathered herself for a run. Here comes Elise Christie

with the long run down the outside. She is up to third. She has found a

fantastic line on the inside. But the Chinese skater has challenged

her again. She falls and takes Christie out as well. The first

place goes to Shim Suk Hee. But I think Christie will be advanced. I

would like to see that again. She was certainly in a qualifying

position and yet again it is turmoil for Christie. Going into that last

bend Jianrou Li of China I think possibly will receive a penalty. I

think that is a clear-cut case of being advanced. I would be very

surprised if Christie does not get advance. Take a look at the images.

Fan Kexin came through from the front and split the Chinese girls,

making sure they were not going to control the race. Christie is out of

the screen at the moment and she left it very late indeed. Shim Suk

Hee almost went down there. This is where Christie makes her challenge

on the outside. There was no room and Christie came around the

outside. Absolutely no way at all that she should get through. I am

going to make a prediction she will be advanced in the final. The gold

winner from day one was spinning and Christie was involved in that

incident. A very difficult call indeed. The skater has to be in

front and they were both parallel going into that bend. She has been

the victim of calls that have cost her so far. On day one in the silver

medal position in the first event only to be penalised and placed

fourth. And then with an incredible injection of power in the heats of

the 1500 she won by a country mile, but when they looked at it she

passed on the inside. The referee is still looking at the race review.

They have cameras that we cannot see. They have other camera

positions that are not allowed to be viewed by anybody other than the

referees. What is your feeling on this? If she does not get advanced

here, she is clearly in front. She is taken out on that last turn. I

think she caught her. I do not think she caught her, it was a huge fall,

but we have to wait for the official result. I must admit since she came

on the ice she has been shining like a beacon. She definitely ought to

get advanced from that. We have seen the replays. Wilf O'Reilly feels

Christie should be advanced. Fan Kexin and Shim Suk Hee... We are

seeing two penalties. I cannot believe it. Jianrou Li has been

penalised and so has Elise Christie and she is not going to advance into

the medal contest. In fact Shim Suk Hee and Fan Kexin are in that

contest. I find that absolutely bewildering. She will not even raise

in the B final. Nicky Gooch is calling the referee over and saying,

what is going on? What is going on? I have no idea. If you do not know

what is going on... Clearly she was in a qualifying position going into

the last corner. The Sochi Olympics have been very unfavourable to Elise

Christie. Only two skaters will be lining up for the B final.

Absolutely because two skaters have received a penalty in the semifinal.

And there is no appeal, is that? Not at all. These four will contest the

medals. I find it totally bewildering, I cannot understand it.

She was clearly in my opinion up ended by the skater that was

spinning around. Let's take another look at the images. On the front we

have got images of the men's contest that took place a little bit

earlier. It is so disappointing. There certainly will not be any

charitable hand-outs, but I do not think it would have been charity if

Christie had advanced. I cannot see anything that she had done wrong.

She was up ended and spun out of the contest purely because of the clash

with the Chinese. Watching this from outside like

everybody at home we are utterly shocked and it is huge

disappointment for Elise Christie. After everything she has been

through and the quality skater she is she clearly deserved more. Hugh

and Wilf, can you clarify the rules as they stand? I do referees making

the assumption they were level and it was 50-50 and they penalised both

skaters? I would think that is the path they have gone down, I think

Wilf is more qualified to answer that. I cannot see how they could

have judged it any other way. Christie was clearly in a

challenging position to go into the medal contest. But because of that

she has been penalised. I am almost speechless. It is just astonishing

to me. Absolutely amazing. You were saying there is no channel of

appeal? No channel of appeal at all. I do not know whether that was one

of the cases a few years ago and they took it out because of the time

it would take for appeals and they would have to be reviewed and

considered. There were reviews and appeals in cycling, but that took so

much time because of appeals and counter appeals, so there is no

appeal. This is the first of the semifinals. Jessica Smith had a gift

wrapped invitation when the Canadian skater ahead of how went out. We are

going to take another look at Christie's race. You can see already

the way the contest is developing with five laps to go. Christie is at

the back brimming over with confidence and she is looking to

make the pass on the outside, so that underlies how fast and strong

she was feeling. She starts to make the move and you have got to have an

incredible amount of pace and power to do that when you have got three

ahead turning the screw. But it did not deter her at all. It was that

move where she began to get involved in the contest. She found her way

into third position and was looking for the line underneath. She went

cleanly into second place but the Chinese skater decided she wanted to

get underneath. From that shot you can see clearly the Chinese skater

actually spun and it looked to me it was absolutely obvious that she had

pushed Christie out of the contest. To give that decision she had been

penalised, how could she be penalised by that? She was taken out

clearly by the Chinese skater trying to reassert her position on the

inside having lost it when Christie had gone through the finishing

straight and made her way on the outside. I am absolutely mesmerised.

Wilf is with me. I think it is a very disappointing decision by the

referee. Both skaters going into the last corner and it could have gone

either way, but certainly one of them was at fault and in my opinion

it was the Chinese girl, Jianrou Li. Absolute disappointment for Elise

Christie. We have seen the replay again and it looks very much as

though Jianrou Li who clearly lost second position in the final lap was

so upset by that she tried to reassert herself. When she did, you

will see that she then to me spins and takes Christie out. That is what

the problem was. We do not know why the penalty on both skaters came

about. We do not know why it came about? Clearly Elise Christie was

coming on the outside and had more speed and was crossing over into the

turn and is taken out by the Chinese skater. But the pivotal moment was

when she got into that second position and the Chinese skater,

Jianrou Li, was so fired up by it, she tried to reassert herself in

second and there was nowhere to go. What is more interesting is whether

the referee... You can see Christie coming on the outside and she is

clearly in second place and she manages that. Jianrou Li comes back

on the inside and Christie challenges that and she is taken

out. It is absolutely ridiculous. For my money that move by Jianrou Li

has sanitised the opportunity of Christie getting a medal. And in the

kind of form she was in she looked to me as if she could take anybody

on. I cannot come to terms with that decision. Some of the decisions

transcend refereeing I have seen over the years. The Olympic Games is

also a very high pressured event for Olympic referees. Her shoulders are

in front of the body of Jianrou Li of China. I asked the referee

afterwards was the double penalty actually all on the same incident or

maybe was there something else he saw? The referees look at different

footage to what we see here on television. But to be fair it was

only in the closing stages that Elise Christie got involved. She was

not in the race. We were getting concerned that she was too distant.

Then she got involved, clearly she had the power and speed to do it and

she delivered it, but I am afraid she was up ended and rather sadly it

has not proved to be fruitful, the trip to Sochi for Elise Christie. It

is so sad. We will have to see how is she -- Hershey bounces back.

Every time she has come out she has had to soak up incredible

disappointment. She has had to do it three times. I have never, in all

the Olympic Games I have watched, and this will be my seventh, I have

never seen a skater that potentially could have got a medal in every

single distance, who has gone out. And, of course, we saw the caption

on the screen confirming there are two athletes in the B final. Explain

why she cannot be in the B final. The B final is to rank the skaters,

five, six, seven and eight, because they will receive an Olympic

diploma. When you receive a penalty in a semifinal, you are not allowed

to take part in the B final. Of course, Elise Christie will go away

from these Olympic Games empty-handed. The next event is the

B final for the men in the 500 metres. This is a chance for Jon

Eley to try to clinch on this. If he could, it would place him fifth in

the competition. This is the line-up. Sjinkie Knegt was a bronze

medal winner in the 1500 metres, in fact the 1000.

There is the relay final later this evening. Maybe conserving energy for

that. I am still recovering from that decision. I think Christine is

an innocent victim -- Elise Christie. I would be pleased to hear

if you speak to the referees what they have to say.

Jon Eley is getting himself ready to try to win the B final. He will be

racing from position four what -- which is not a good position. Han,

on the inside. He takes his place and alongside him, JR Celski, a

former runner-up in the World Championships. He has got Olympic

medals. A bronze medal for the relay in Vancouver. In third position,

Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands. Bronze medal winner for the 1000 in

Sochi. And Jon Eley. You have got to get those levers working quickly and

try to sprint from forth into a better position. -- fourth place.

Silence is called. Quiet in the arena. There is not a seat to be

had. The atmosphere is sensational. The applause resonates around the

arena. You can hardly hear yourself. We got away first time, I can hardly

believe it. Jon Eley, great stuff. Up into second place. He almost went

but rectified the problem. In third place, JR Celski. Han, he

is still at the front. JR Celski got down the inside of Jon Eley. Han, he

takes it from JR Celski and in third spot, Jon Eley, which means he is in

seventh place overall. A very positive skate by Jon Eley, just

saluting the ground. He probably gave it his best shot. It was an

excellent start. Coming back from fourth place and into second. He

might be a little disappointed, to have come from fourth place on the

outside and lose it to JR Celski, a bronze medallist from Vancouver.

Disappointment for Jon Eley, I suppose, as well. There is a roar in

the arena. Just to confirm the result. The reason for the roar in

the arena is because Victor An of Russia is going to be on the ice

next. He has won a gold medal already in the 1000 and also a

bronze medal in the 1500. What it means is that the skater who has won

the most medals in short track history is the American commentating

behind us, with eight medals. Victor An has got for gold medals and two

silver. He is within two of equalling the American. The crowd,

cheering, resonating around the arena. They are shouting, Russia! In

2006, Torino, he got the bronze medal for this, Victor An. He used

to enjoy the nickname of Harry Potter. That was because of the

glasses. That he used to wear. Now, as a native Russian, of course, he

is now known as Victor An. He made history for Russia because they have

not won a medal in short speed skating and he has put that right.

That is the line-up. It will be interesting, Victor An imposition

three, how that will affect him. The Chinese have had amazing starts. Wu

committee is starting from position number one. And by him, Cournoyer

from Canada. And in third An position,

-- Victor An in third position. Completing the line-up for China,

Liang. Victor An comes into it as the winner of the World Cup. He won

two rounds from the four to put himself in that top position. The

noise is going to be unbelievable. Two Chinese skaters in this, will

they be able to contain the firepower of Victor An of Russia?

And what can the rookie Olympia do, Cournoyer, from Canada? I was going

to say we have got this away first time! Liang. On the outside. The

skaters are allowed two false starts. If you did it a second time,

he would have to leave the ice. It seems strange not to see Charles

Hamelin in a final, but he skidded out in the earlier rounds. And we

are away. The Russian was left. I cannot believe it. He has a lot of

work to do. China leading. Wu. Cournoyer is going well. In third

spot, Liang. And one of the Chinese skaters has gone. Victor An in

second. He goes down the inside. He is asked on issuing. -- he is

astonishing. Look at that. That is his second gold medal from Sochi. No

man in history has ever won five gold medals for short track speed

skating. His overall tally is up to seven. Batman is unbelievable. What

a card and collected performance. He waited for the Chinese skaters to

make mistakes and cruised through. He went to Salt Lake City and did

not win. He went to Torino and won three gold medals. He was just

getting his girlfriend in the crowd. He is the greatest short track speed

skater ever. He is really lapping this up. The Russian audience, I

think he will be a megastar. He gotten all. . It almost seems like

he knew what would happen. We saw the Chinese skater, I am not sure,

Wu. He came through. He crashed out and Victor An came around the

outside of the Canadian as if he was standing still. And then up the

inside. Amazing skating by this Russian skater. He has a chance of

getting another medal in the 5000 heaters relay. Look at his face.

What a skater -- 5000 metres relay. There is always one in all sports

who is a megastar. And that is the man in this discipline. Victor An.

He is also the European champion. It is confirmed. The official results.

The Olympic champion is Victor An from Russia. Victor An never gets

involved with any problems. He started the race almost as if he

knew something would happen so he would weight and keep out of

trouble. There will be sporting hysteria when he comes out to get

his flowers. Victor An of Russia gets the gold medal, his second from

Sochi. Do you think he can get another

medal? If he does, he will equal the American's record, who has eight.

But he only has two gold medals so he has surpassed him for

performance. In Vancouver he had an injury, he almost broke his ankle.

That is why he missed the games in Vancouver. If he had skated those

games, how many would he have? A Chinese woman is the greatest

achiever. If something peculiar happens in the

a final, then somebody in the B final could get a bronze medal. I

will get you to run that by me after the race. It is nine laps of the

track and sadly we are not going to see Elise Christie from Great

Britain. The victim once again of harsh judgement. Two skaters

involved in this. Jorien ter Mors and Valerie Maltais. How will they

skater this? It will be tactical, it does not need to be quick, you do

not need to jostle for position. Jorien ter Mors skated this

afternoon and she will be taking it very easy. But it is a very serious

race, believe you me. Jorien ter Mors is in second place and now she

moves into the front place. She came here to win a medal. Unfortunately

she has only won a gold medal in the long track. Only? Disappointment

because there was a controversy that she would have preferred a bronze

medal in short track than a gold medal in long track. And it has

upset the racers in the long track. It was in the Dutch press. The

European champion from the Netherlands comes to the front. Can

Valerie Maltais attack her? It is still Jorien ter Mors at the front.

What has the Canadian got left? Jorien ter Mors is going to win the

B final. She takes it. In second spot is Valerie Maltais of Canada.

Possibly a disappointing Championships for Jorien ter Mors.

She finished for in the 1500, six in the 505th in this 500 metres. She

led the last four laps. Valerie Maltais was trying to challenge the

inner line. Like athletics where it is the chest of the athlete, that is

why the skaters push their skates out. There was 29 centimetres

difference between first and second. There is the official result of this

B final. Not particularly fast. They will be ranked fifth and sixth in

the overall classification of the 1000 metres. The skaters for the a

final now come onto the ice. We can look forward to the medal contest.

We have got two from Korea, Seung Hi Park and Suk Hee Shim. We have got

one from China, Kexin Fan, and the American, Jessica Smith. They are

now being introduced. Racing from position one is Seung Hi Park. She

will skate on the inside and right alongside her is Jessica Smith from

the USA. In lane three is Suk Hee Shim, only 17 years of age. And

completing the line-up from China is Kexin Fan. This is the ladies 1000

metre final. China were disqualified from the

ladies' 3000 metres relay. Seung Hi Park and Suk Hee Shim have

both got gold medals from Sochi, being members of the winning relay

team. Already it is park ride on the front. Jessica Smith moves through

again in that comfortable leading position. Quite lucky to make this

final. I would rather have seen Elise Christie coming on the

outside. Korea now in one and two. They will be looking for silver and

gold finishing positions. Smith is trying to get involved in the mix.

Six laps to go. But still at the front and looking very good indeed

either Koreans. It is the 17-year-old who is being challenged

by her fellow countryman. Now that changes. What is happening here is

they are keeping the pace so high that the rest cannot get involved at

the moment. The Chinese athlete is clinging to the pace. It is still

Korea in one and two. Kexin Fan is trying to come on the outside. This

is the last lap and Kexin Fan is coming round on the last lap. Park

takes it. It was a spirited effort. A spirited bit of skating for Kexin

Fan could not make it. Disappointing for Jessica Smith. I think she was

lucky to get through to the final. There will not be any issues, the

referees will look at the race review, but there are the

celebrations from the Korean coach and the skaters. A second gold medal

for Seung Hi Park. She adds that to the gold medal she caught in the

relay. She was in Vancouver as well, so she is getting a nice trophy

cabinet. Suk Hee Shim knows how to control these races from the front.

Kexin Fan challenging. Could not quite make it. We are waiting for

the official result. A victory salute from the winner, Seung Hi

Park. There is going to be a break for the ice to be resurfaced and

they will resume at 24 minutes past ten. We have got some ice

resurfacing to go and we will see the 5000 metre men's relay. There is

the official result. CLARE BALDING: If you are just getting back from

work and you are thinking, hang on, that was the final that Elise

Christie was meant to be in, what happened? She qualified from her

quarterfinal into the semifinals and she looked strong and then this

happened. Suk Hee Shim was not allowing that

to happen at all and Elise Christie is comfortably at the back. Can she

sit in that position? Absolutely. She needs to start moving up because

there are six laps to go. But she is leaving it very late indeed. Come

on, Braveheart, start thinking about making the move. On the front it is

Suk Hee Shim. She is leading the two Chinese and Christie will be aware

of that. When is she going to make her move? The Livingston express.

The laps are going by and she is slightly distant, or is she

gathering herself for a run? It looks like it. Here comes Christie.

She is up to third. She has got a fantastic line on the inside. But

the Chinese skater has challenged her again on the inside. She falls

and takes Christie out as well. The third place goes to Suk Hee Shim.

But I think Christie will be advanced. I would like to see that

again. She was certainly in a qualifying position and again it is

turmoil for Christie. Going into that bend Jianrou Li of China

possibly will receive a penalty. To me I think that is a clear-cut case

of being advanced and I would be very surprised if Christie does not

get advanced. Take a look at the images. Suk Hee Shim controlled the

race from the front as she has done in every race, splitting the Chinese

girls, making sure they were not going to control the race. Christie

left it very late indeed. Suk Hee Shim almost went down there. This is

where Christie makes her challenge on the outside. There was no room

and Christie came around the outside. It is interesting to see

there was no way at all that she she could have got through. I am going

to predict she will get through to the final. , the gold medal winner

from day one, Jianrou Li, she spun, and then Christie was involved in

that incident. Absolutely, a very difficult call indeed. They were

both parallel going into that bend. I cannot believe it. They have both

been penalised. She is not going to advance into the medal contest. I

find that absolutely bewildering. It is becoming a habit, more

disappointment and heartbreak. It looked like you are taken out

completely. My view is when I saw the race it was the harder of the

two races and it had good people in it, the people you expect to be in

the final. I thought I would save my energy and use it at the end when I

need to use it to qualify, but not to overuse it because I wanted to

qualify for the final. I went to do my outside move and they went wide,

so I switched inside because they cannot catch me out. You catch them

by surprise. I knew I would have to pull tight and blocked her early.

But she was still coming and she kept going. But everyone is trying

to qualify, so it was feared dos. I was pretty sure she hit me from

behind. Even from the 500 earlier when I got disqualified for diving

in the inside, then I get disqualified for the opposite reason

today. I am not saying anything about the referee, but I am very

confused and heartbroken. Have you had time to look at the replay? What

has your coach Nicky Gooch said? Everybody in Team GB is shocked. I

never expected to be penalised. I do not understand. With 500 I knew

there was a chance, but with that I am gobsmacked and I am devastated I

have spent all this time training and not to be given the chance to do

this final. I was skating so strongly. I don't know, I had not

given it everything. Have you seen the replay? I watched it on the

screen in the middle of the ice and it is the same that I felt, I felt I

was pushed from behind and I was knocked off my feet. I do not

understand how you can penalised two people. It is done and I have to

accept that and that is the problem with short track, that every referee

will judge the situation differently. They should have the

same referee all year and it is more consistent. You must feel like the

unluckiest athlete in the world, at this Winter Olympics. Can you say

what it has been like for you? Everybody knows I have found it

tough. I am trying to hold myself together further Great Britain

because I do not want to be known for crying on camera. You are doing

a very good job. I wanted to bounce back. I felt, this is my last

chance, I want to do it for everyone, including myself. I was

hammering the overtakes. I have never overtaken like that. To have

it taken away, the chance taken away, it is devastating. Everybody

in that final, I have beaten this year. You have so much support, the

curling team came to support you. I have a good relationship with both

of the girls and boys team and the figure skaters, we were together for

a month and watching them yesterday I was so proud of them and I wanted

them to feel the same with me. I am sure they are proud. What about

Nicky Gooch, your coach? He is gobsmacked. We will look into this a

little bit closer. What do you mean, looking into it closer? Are you

suggesting you will talk to the officials for justification? To talk

it through with them, to understand, so that I can move forward. I

understand the 500, even though it was a close call and the 15, there

was not much I could do, but more to understand why, that is all. You

have done your country proud tonight. Everyone will agree you

have been hard done by again. It has been dramatic, I know. -- traumatic.

I was trying to skate so cleanly. I have had messages, wishing you the

best. What do you want to say to the people of Britain? I am just amazed

by it, I have never been known before and to have everybody backing

me, I feel privileged. I will come back in four years and I will try

again, definitely. I will be working hard. We look forward to seeing you

in four years. Thank you, well done. I know how many people at home will

want to reach through their televisions and give her a hug.

Incredibly brave to talk about it. She is as confused as everybody

else. Will flow Riley, the one thing we think might be why the judging

panel disqualified her, was the incident before the last corner. She

had so much speed, coming round the outside. There was a gap between the

first skater and the second. outside. There was a gap between the

first skater and the This is with four laps to go, you are saying,

make your move and she is about to do it. She was skating well. She was

not panicking. There was an incident. She starts to come around

the outside and I thought she was going to go all the way around. She

comes into third place and sets to move up really well. Up the inside,

no problem. She protects her position here. I think it was where

she was protecting her position. I think that is where the penalty was

given, not where the incident happened. How much can you protect

your position? If we are skating level, show me. If we are level, you

have the advantage, coming around the outside. Elise Christie changed

lanes. It is like driving a car, you move over to the left. That is where

I think... I can do that? Not really. You cannot push somebody.

You are not allowed to change your lane position and that is what she

did. Because she had so much speed she came around the outside and

tried to move in and that is where I think the problem happened. We think

she disqualified her for the elbow and not actually for the fall, where

she is not at fault. Clearly then, you can see she is in front. And

then Li crashes out and takes her with her. We think it may be the

earlier incident, before they turned into the corner. If it was that

incident, that is pretty harsh. You say it is noncontact, but every race

has contact. In her interview she said of course, the Chinese girl

will not give away her position but there is argy-bargy, if you like. To

make that call, particularly after the disappointment she has had, it

is really harsh. It is desperately bad luck, 23 years old with winning

the World Cup series, a bronze medal from the World Championships. She is

relatively young. She has changed her mental approach since Vancouver.

She said she wanted to understand this, she was confused. The coaches

will go back. They can request to look at the footage, the video that

the referees watched. That is the big problem. I have been lobbying

for a number of years, why can we not see exactly the same footage

that the referees look at? That makes it complicated to understand.

It is not the only judging controversy. Last night, the

ladies' singles in figure skating. I want to assess the strength of

feeling after the short track speed skating. How eloquent was a Elise

Christie, but most people watching would not have been polite to sum up

how they feel. A lot of people do know, those who were watching. Jenny

Jones, the snowboarder, she was watching and she tweeted it was so

harsh, Elise Christie, such a great skater, what happened? That was the

immediate question everybody wanted to know. Penny Coomes, in the ice

dance, she said she was devastated for Elise Christie and did not

understand the decision. People could not work out what they were

seeing. Chemmy Alcott said, that is brutal, I do not understand this

sport. And Aimee Fuller is gutted for Elise Christie. People are

saying they lived through the Olympic Games with Elise Christie,

going through the disappointments with her and it is heartbreaking for

people to see her going out in this way. That is the reaction from a lot

of people. Wilf O'Reilly understands and he does not -- did not

understand at first. I have had pieces out of my blade. Again, the

referees need to start making it clear to everybody and allowing the

millions of people around the world to see what the referees are seeing

and maybe we can understand this sport. A lot of people think it is

rubbish, I might not watch that again. They do not know the hard

work that has gone into it. We can get a reaction from inside the

British skating camp. I cannot believe this, we are here

again with more heartbreak for Elise Christie. Did you see the replay? I

did have a small look at it. I am disappointed. You have to respect

the referees' decision, but I think it is outrageous. I am heartbroken

for her. It was clear for everybody to see she was taken out. In sport

you need referees to make decisions but unfortunately, there are

questions within sport about whether it is a decision made on opinion,

maybe the rule needs to be more clear the future. We put together a

great team. Not just Elise Christie, but the whole team, the support

team, in the short track conversion have done amazingly well and I am

proud to be part of that and to manage that. We came here with many

opportunities. We came out fighting today. I thought this was going to

be fighting Friday. Everybody around Elise Christie and Elise Christie

herself, because she has to do it, hat to turn out and do it. Jon Eley,

too, I won't forget his performance. I am disappointed and frustrated. I

am probably angry. Angry at the decision of the referee.

Ultimately, you have to respect the decision, but, basically, he was

wrong. I have covered many sports and travels the world and I have not

met such an unlucky athletes like Elyse Christie what she has been

through. We knew what we were trying to do, she was World Cup champion,

world number one in the 1000 metres, she led every race. We changed the

tactics for the Olympics. We gave her experience at racing from the

back, from the middle. She was happy with her performance. She believed

she had made the Olympic final, again. She skated beautifully

tonight. We chatted before the race. She was in the zone. That is

hard to take. All you can do as the support team is give the athlete...

The training environment, give them an opportunity. Elise Christie has

taken that opportunity and won a silver medal and got it taken from

her. If you look at what the girl was disqualified for in the race

before, or what Shim did. It is the same. It is

not fair. If it were, we would be celebrating one, two, or possibly

three medals. You said she had the talent to win medals at 500 metres,

1500 and 1000 and she goes home without registering a result in any

of them. That is probably the most disappointing. What was really

nice, the support staff have worked well. I went to the press conference

at the start of these games. They said about managing the processes.

If I look at how the whole team have rallied around to manage the

processes, the outcome, unfortunately, is not the outcome we

wanted for Elise Christie, but they have done a magnificent job. How do

you pick yourself up? You won two gold medals, you got a chance to win

real gold medals and you had two crashes. What do you and British

skating do to make sure Elise Christie does not just go to a

different sport? The one thing that came out of these Olympics is that

short track is on the map in the UK. I did it back in 1988 as Nicky Gooch

did it in 1994 when he Wigan a bronze medal and Elise Christie is

doing it. -- when he won a bronze medal. Four years is the next

Olympics, it is four years of hard work. She is still young. It was

nice to see the positive response in her interview, as well. Hello, OK.

We are OK, I was worried we would be moved away. Jon Eley, he is one of

the more senior athletes. He was so touched to be voted in as the flag

bearer and he finished seventh, which is a cracking results. It was

an amazing results. He was so relaxed coming into the games. There

is no pressure on him. He made the semifinal but he had a little

mistake with two laps to go. It could have been a final and a medal,

easily. Having watched the sport, it can go one way or the other. You can

be unlucky or lucky. We are going to give you a chance to enjoy the most

extreme final, the 2000 to 1000 metres. Steven Bradbury thought he

was lucky to get into the final and a medal would be a bonus and this

happened. In 1994 in Lily hammer Steven

Bradbury was part of the 5000 metres skating relay team that won a

bronze, Australia's first ever skating level. He was in Salt Lake

City in the short track 1000 metres. By his own admission he was

not the fastest skater. One lap to go and they are all bunched. He has

gone and there are two left. There are only two standing at the end.

He was through to the final. His tactics were not to lead from the

front. This is the battle for the medals. Canada lead. Nobody putting

in a great injection of pace. Into second place and China are third.

Australia are fifth. China second, Korea third, Canada four. There is

the bell. China are ominously placed. Oh, and they have all gone.

That has left Steven Bradbury to cross the finishing line. The most

amazing gold medal of any Olympic Games. And Australia's first ever

gold medal at the Winter Olympics. A reward for being this far back and

willing the entire field to tumble at the last turn. The power of oars

as in positive thinking. He is still shaking his head. He cannot believe

it either. Australia's first medal of these games. He gets generous

applause because he did nothing wrong.

Wonderful to hear in that he is the voice of the late Tony cupboard.

Steven Bradbury became the first Australian to win a Winter Olympic

gold medal and he said, I know that I was lucky, everybody knows that I

was lucky, but it does not change the fact that I worked five hours a

day, six days a week for 12 years to get lucky and it is that kind of

attitude that Elise Christie needs to take forward. She has the talent

and if she works hard enough it will one day come right and we hope that

she gets the glory that she deserves. The sporting action

continues thick and fast on the BBC with this.

The Six Nations is back at 7:55pm tonight. It continues tomorrow.

Before that we will have all of the highlights from Day 14 and hopefully

we will be joined by the British men's curling team and we will have

highlights from the women's slalom and the ski cross. But we are going

to bring you by Arsenal and now. Russia are hunting a third

successive gold medal in this. They have dominated this. Norway and

Belarus looked on paper to be their main rivals.

There is a huge roar from the Russians in the crowd. But there are

plenty of nations here who will fancy their chances. Switzerland at

the front now. Yes, it is a good start for her. There may well have

been a problem for the Germans. They have won a medal in every

competition, but the German has lost one of her polls. They have a

quality Quartet, so they may well be able to regain that deficit. Ukraine

clear five, Russia clear five, and a big cheer from the crowd. It was one

more target to go. They have missed one and they have missed again, so

that is 20 seconds thrown away by the Italians. There is a problem.

The Frenchwoman is down. She looks as though she has taken a real

tumble. What a tussle for gold this is turning out to be. The Italians

are out of it for now. Remember, we have lost the French. Germany had

problems. There were issues with the rifle. The French have gone for

now. The Germans have gone. One by one the big nations are falling by

the wayside, but not the Russians and not the Ukrainians. Halfway

stage. This has been a superb effort from Ukraine so far. She is giving

it everything. Remember the Czech Republic have gone good athlete,

great athlete, good athlete, great athlete. They may lose some ground

here. We have got Russia and Norway coming into the stadium side-by-side

in third and fourth. What drama lies in store in the second half of this

race? This is vital. The crowd are not helping. It was so close. 30 or

40 seconds could have been thrown away. They only had 40.69 to spare

over Russia and Norway. Surviving that wobble in the range. Will it be

enough to bring Ukraine and amazing gold medal with just two days to go

in Sochi? And the Russians are coming. Ukraine leads. But look at

how quickly Russia is closing her down. She is going to come under

real pressure. There were 17 seconds at the last checkpoint and now it is

just ten. It is going to get close in the last stages. This is

brilliant shooting. Superb shooting and Ukraine could be on their way to

gold. Russia have got one miss and they are in a bit of trouble, but

they can take 15 seconds out of Ukraine. This has been a Quartet and

beaten by the opposition and the politics and united by passion. In

so doing they have created sporting history. What a timely reminder of

the power of sport and what a poignant, poignant example of the

great principles on which the modern Olympic movement was founded. It is

gold for Ukraine. It is a moment they could hardly believe what

happened. Huge pressure on all four of them and they have delivered in

some style. Silver for Russia. The crowd responding. Once again they

are on the podium. It is an amazing record that keeps on going. She is

absolutely exhausted, but she will get a moment on the podium. Bronze

for the Norwegians in the women's relay to go with their mixed gold.

What an amazing evening for Ukraine and so richly, richly deserved. Many

Ukrainian athletes have opted to return home because of the violence

in their country. The former pole-vault Sergey Bubka insisted

they should stay here to help unify the nation. Perhaps they have

provided a little bit of cheer for the country after the race. After

the race they asked everybody to observe a minute's silence for

everybody who died. Very relevant for Ukraine. We are

going to head into the Bolshoy to bring you the highlights of the

hockey final between the two superpowers of women's ice hockey.

Canada versus USA, the gold medal will be one. That's won. The

Americans draw first blood. The captain leads by example. Carpenter

scores. The US now have that too -0 advantage and Canada could be facing

their first Olympic defeat in 16 years. Canada is running out of time

and they are also running out of ideas. Out of absolutely nothing.

The Canadians score and we will have a grand slam finish. The net is

empty weight to the right hand side. Are you kidding me? Denied. You

suspect the Canadians were always going to have one. And the Canadians

have levelled it with 54 seconds to go. The Americans cannot believe

what has happened. We go into overtime. A golden goal for Canada.

She took it into overtime and now she wins it. A stunning, stunning

comeback. Canada finish on top again.

It really was an extraordinary match. In the men's game Sweden are

through to the final. They beat Finland in their semifinal. Right

behind me the USA and Canada are facing off again. We will be joining

it live after we catch up with the action so far.

He scores on the redirect. Canada take the lead. It is the start of

the second period. Good interplay in the zone. Quick was beaten. It is

food for thought for the Americans. Tremendous work from the Canadians.

He finds Jamie Benn. It was an easy goal from there. We join it now live

in the third period. Calida wearing the red shirts. --

Canada. America are struggling to get

anything going. That was caught brilliantly by Drew

Doughty. The Canadians are smothering them. They are making it

more difficult with each shift that passes. It has not been a classic

yet, this game. It has been a grinding effort from the Canadians,

who have taken their chance when it came.

Sidney Crosby has found it tough in this tournament. I suppose he will

my mind, as long as a gold medal comes his way at the end of it.

Crosby threw himself at it, but he could not find the target.

A tremendous shift from the Canadians, building momentum.

Crosby, on the second chance, trying to dive and hoping it crossed the

line. He could not get to it. This is an opportunity for the

Americans is that deflected off a stick. The play stops with the

whistle. The Americans are struggling to deal with the

Canadians. 32 - 23, they are outshooting the Americans, the

Canadians. Crosby was diving after the rebound. He sees the replay on

the screen. Crosby has yet to score in this tournament. You know that it

is coming at some point, if you think back to Vancouver. That was

almost a goal for the Americans. People were only really remembering

the one goal, they did not worry about the rest of the tournament,

because he got the overtime winner against the Americans in the final.

This is a repeat of that match. I would say that was a little more

exciting. James van Riemsdyk, who had that

chance. The tip in front of net a moment ago on Carey Price, was more

dangerous than maybe will be remembered. It was just touched in

front as the pass came out of the corner. James van Riemsdyk, having

an outstanding tournament, right there again. If Corey Price had been

cheating at all, it would have been a goal, but he stayed where he was

meant to be. Rick Nash, Abe big and strong

player, found the lovely pass. -- a big and strong player.

Ryan Madonna got in the way that time. The Americans are blocking the

shots, getting in the way and wanting to keep this as a one goal

game. Into the body, Carey Price again, rock-solid. As we move to the

third period, the tempo will increase, as the Americans need to

push forward. They need to start getting closer to the shot count the

Canadians have on them. Seven to the advantage of Canada. Look at the

shots coming in. TJ Oshie was getting in front of the Canadians

shot. The Americans are better overall shooters. Their percentage

is higher than Canada. But the one goal on the board right now is all

that matters. Patrick Kane has so much speed. Zach Parise is a shooter

but he put that in the middle of the maple leaf and you will not score

too many if you put it on the goalie of the calibre of Carey Price. One

of the best puck handlers in the world. He can make you miss. He will

need to get going. He has not scored. He does not need to, he can

facilitate anyone on the line. Sweden await the winner of this

match in the final. Finland will play in the bronze medal match,

which is tomorrow. The final is on Sunday. He could not find the

target, Chris Kunitz. Patrick Bergeron had to drop his

stick, it was broken. The shooting has not been as good as the teams

would have liked. A lot of nets have been missed.

Ryan Getzlaf, a moment ago, almost going over the boards. You could

have had too many men on the ice Canada.

Jamie Benn scored the goal that separates these two. Corey Perry,

one of the scorers in Vancouver. It is starting to pick-up and it

would do as we are inside 12 minutes. The Canadians are feeling

jubilant after the Canadian women won goals last night. -- the gold

medal. The Americans need to start gambling

soon. Ryan McDonagh, whose shot is taken away. Patrick Sharp waited and

waited. Matt Duchene saw it hop over his stick. It was a great delay by

Patrick Sharp. Canada gave it away on the boards.

Ryan Kessler came in hard. Jay Bouwmeester, the big defence

man, did well there. Pietrangelo, he did well. He turned

away from trouble. And then he put Jay Bouwmeester in trouble. Phil

Kessel tried to feed it through. Off the blocker. That sequence came from

loose play in behind the Canadian goal, as their two defencemen are

not perfectly aware of where they are moving to and the timing as they

got this off the boards. The sharp shot through the stream. Matt

Duchene almost had the chance to put it in the empty goal.

Chris Kunitz was mugged, no doubt about it. Phil Kessel did not like

the call, but I do not think the referee had a choice. It was a

clever play by Patrice Bergeron. He lets up. Phil Kessel hack to come

back and steak the stick a way of Chris Kunitz, driving to the empty

cider goal. -- driving to the empty side of the goal. Yesterday, two

games were won with comebacks. Canada go on the power play. If they

go two up, they will definitely be in the box seats. That was a great

block. That was well blocked again. Canada

have more advantage. Ryan Callahan powers to the bench.

Has the intensity gone a little from the Canadians' play? The power play

must improve. They have great shooting from the blue line with

this man involved with the offence all tournament.

This is a moment that could build momentum if they do not concede. Was

that straight into the stands? There was a deflection? Ryan Callahan

coming down on those shots. Shea Weber, he can fire the shots. He is

laying down and taking the punishment. That is to prevent the

offensive defencemen from getting their shots through to the goal. His

team-mates love him to pieces because he is completely selfless.

Canada hanging on to their lead. A place in the final is at stake. The

defending champions in pole position at the minute. Phil Kessel is out of

the penalty box. Patrice Bergeron, he almost squeezed

that home. Patrice Bergeron having a tremendous

game for Canada, almost opening up the backside. He is leading the line

with Crosby and Chris Kunitz. Canada lead 1-0 and that game

continues on the red button. Next on BBC Two I will be joined by the

silver medal winning curlers and we will be discussing the short track

speed skating. Join us in a moment.