Day 16, Part 1 - 9.30am to 12.30pm Winter Olympics

We have come to the final day of this 22nd Winter Olympics here in

Sochi. 95 title is decided, just three more up for grabs and host

nation Russia are looking good to top the medals table, plus the

possibility that Britain may have its most successful Winter Games

ever. Good morning. For the final time from the Olympic Park. Where

did the time go bust and Mark behind me, the forgotten stadium because

there has been no action since the opening ceremony. -- where did the

time go? We have the ice hockey final, Sweden against Canada. We

have cross country skiing, a gentle 50, to is on a Sunday morning -- 15

kilometres on a Sunday morning. The men's four-man obsolete is

beautifully poised -- four-man bobsleigh is beautifully poised. It

is very tight. If we can make ourselves heard, the

Russians are just zero point four -- 0.4 ahead of the Latvians. They

really blasted a second run, which was close to being perfect. 55.13,

they scored. There is Zubkov, the driver.

was close to being perfect. 55.13, they scored. There is Away we go.

What sort of a start are they going to get? It is not a bad start. It is

a brilliant start considering the ice is pretty soft. It is only minus

two degrees which means the ice will chop up very quickly. Up the hill, a

very light touch from Zubkov. We are going in order of their

places from the overnight slot. Two runs yesterday, two runs today. You

can see some of the shades are up to try to keep the heat of the track.

Two corners to go. He is driving particularly welcome he has hardly

hit anything in terms of obstacles. Across the line in 55.02. It is

absolutely magnificent. There is the finish house.

Conditions are not as fast as they were yesterday. But that is a

magnificent run. Zubkov, on course to get his second gold medal, to do

the double. In -- it would be magnificent for Russia if they did.

I hear that Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev are coming, to add to the pressure a

bit for the Russians. A lot of teams under pressure. The Germans have got

a medal in every Games since 1968. 50 years since they fail to get a

medal. This is the Latvians, the young guys who blasted off a

brilliant start yesterday. They equalled the best start of anyone.

Here we go, this was a team that was really on form yesterday. They are

already behind yesterday. I think they will be disappointed. They were

talking about bashing off a 4.73 start but instead they are slower

than the Russians. That really is the big thing they have in their

armoury so they are slipping away. Did not take a touch out of five and

the Russians did. Will this track cut up? There are -- they are a

tense down. They are much faster than the Russians were. Edge a 10th

down. They are in second place, 0.17

behind. Really nervous looks on the faces of the Latvians. They know

that will be a tough margin to pull back in on the final run. The next

few pilots will be interesting. Arndt is a brilliant pilot. Out of

11, you can see the sun coming on the track there. This bobsleigh, 630

kilos with all of the men in it. It is three times being put through a

tiny patch of metal which will slice it up pretty quickly. Just below us

is the finish area and that has not come uncovered yet. This is Arndt.

The Germans are so desperate to get on the medal table, it could be up

to Arndt. That is better than I thought they would do but it is

still a long way from the Russians and the Latvians. They are giving

away almost a 10th of a second straightaway to the Russians. Let's

look at how far they will be behind. Over a third of a second. The loss

of momentum makes them struggle through the first section. As they

came through there they were hitting on the side but this is cleaner.

Just coming through this time. And absolutely clean. A big slap out of

11, up the hill to 15. Two corners to go. Over half a second down. It

is pretty poor for a top crew. 55.47. Zubkov is very blessed this

morning. He is feeling pumped. To go out first in these conditions is a

massive advantage but he has earned that. He is number one from the

overnight position. I hope this track is not cutting up too much.

Let's have another look. The exit of nine, a little late, you can see the

articulation allows you to twist off the end of the corner. If it wasn't

articulated you would absolutely crash off a corner like that. These

bobsleighs twist. This is the crew I think could do damage to Zubkov. If

the nails it here, Holcomb, the Olympic champions can still pull

something special out. They had one of the stars that was equal to

Zubkov yesterday. -- they had a start that was equal. I think that

shocked everyone. Let's see if they can get close to 4.75. It is quite

close... It is as good as the Russians managed. He should not lose

any of the time-out of the start. Let's see how the knife train does.

He has lost a little bit. Just waiting for the split. 0.24

down, it is too much. A remarkably low-lying through seven. Into 11, he

wants to avoid the tap. It is only a tiny touch, can he really nothing

back? No, he is losing time. -- real anything back. He is in third place.

0.5 ahead. Arndt is in fourth place, my goodness. Holcomb is back in the

medal position already. Not too much wrong with that slide. This track is

definitely slowing up with every sled. We have to wait and we have

Germany three, Russia two and then Great Britain. The first sled down

will be the British. Looking at the positions right now, Zubkov is in a

commanding lead. Holcomb is the best part of half a second behind Zubkov.

There is a glimmer of hope for the British to push towards the bronze

medal. Yes, there is. And this is a German sled. Here we go. Their best

start yesterday was 4.80. That is 4.82, it is pretty good. It is

better than Arndt's start and that is what they have, Kuske's crew. He

has taken a touch and already down. Keep an eye on the difference here.

They were going sideways after the big bang on the right-hand side.

They have slipped out of the bronze medal position. You can't really

trust the speed gun. A little tap into 14, up the hill to 15. They are

losing time all the time. It is quite quick. 55.50.

Steve Holcombe looks really happy. He is up in third. On the next two.

-- the crews that have a chance are the next two. Great Britain can out

start this crew, the Germans. They are relying on a fantastic slide and

he did not quite nail it. The Brits are jet propelled, they have a

commend a start. They sure do. -- they have a tremendous start. This

is Russia, there is a shot-putter in their, a hurdler. And another

ex-athlete. In they get. It is the fifth fastest we have seen. It is a

better start than they managed yesterday. This is the one crew I

worry about for Britain more than any other. They really put their act

together in the two man. He can keep his cool, Kasjanov. If he holds

this, through town and into 11, just 52 hundredths back. It is pretty

fast. Nothing to alter the speed. Out of 15, he is not going to go

into the bronze medal position, you might go into fourth. That is good,

he is in fourth place. 100th of a second ahead of the Germans. He is

going to be in the mix for sure. In the final run. Latvia might still be

in second position, it wasn't a particularly good run. They will be

nervous of hanging onto a run of -- a medal of any description. I can

see Holcomb moving up to the silver. Great Britain, let's hope they nail

this start. They have got to do something below 480. There is Great

Britain. John Jackson, Stuart Benson. We have not mentioned him

too much. He is six foot five. In the Royal Air Force as well. Bruce

Tasker and Joel Fearon. It is the perfect crew. A very experienced

pilot, two massive horses powering it away. Joel Fearon on the back, a

10.01 sprinter. Exceptional leg cadence. He takes the few extra

strides and loads it. Come on, Great Britain. It has got to be a good

start. That was good! That is a really good start! Excellent first

part of the course. Not touching the sides at all. He avoids that tap.

That was good piloting from Jackson. Just behind the bronze medal

position. That is pretty good, as well. He has to try to keep this

within six tenths to stand a very good chance for the final run. Seven

looks unlikely. And he is pulling it back! Wait for the next checkmark...

They have moved up. They are in sixth place at the moment. That is

not bad. He is 18 hundredths behind the bronze medal position. That can

be caught, absolutely. We are going in the first order. They will get

the better ice, this time. They could pull this back. Lovely

steering from Jackson. Well done, Great Britain. They could not have

done much better. Certainly, Great Britain or on a mission. That will

come with the next run, to get amongst the medals. This is Beat

Hefti. Alex Baumann, Juerg Egger and Thomas Lamparter. Beat Hefti is the

medallist. Thomas Lamparter is back after being injured. That was ugly.

Still, a superb start. And he manages to wrestle this back under

control. Not the best start for Beat Hefti. They are going well but they

are touching. That will slow things down. Just that light touch up the

hill. And that was ugly of the wall from number seven. Big mistake. I am

not sure how that time compares. John Jackson, 63 hundredths behind

for Great Britain. They will drop into eighth place. 55.6. Eighth

place. My goodness! And their medal chances might have gone.

Beat Hefti, looking around, he cannot quite understand what went

wrong. There were some touches, there, which did reduce the speed.

Let us look at the loading. Beat Hefti, he gets in first. The back

man sat down early. Actually, they just panicked a little bit. That is

very unusual for the Swiss. They pull that off too early and the

pressure sucked them back. Germany. Francesco Friedrich, he is a very

good driver. They will be really unhappy with that. That puts a very

big deficit on the Russians. The British and the Latvians and the

Americans, those big starting teams. They have got around all right. 65

hundredths back. That is a very solid speed. After that week start.

No, he is starting to lose more time. They will go just ahead of

Beat Hefti. They are going sideways. That was bad. 55.8. They are in

ninth position. Not looking good for the Germans. Down in fifth place,

seventh place and now, that's my position could be called by some of

the crew is coming next. -- that ninth position. They won four medals

on the bounce from 1994, gold medals. They have always been

dominant over the last however many decades. That was quite similar to

Canada. They got kicked away. And they came in very lately. That was

close. He looks nervous. He should not be. The pressure is on because

the president is here. Canada 2. He drilled very well on the second push

yesterday evening. -- drool. -- drove. Leaving Canada down on the

rest of the world a little bit. In Vancouver, they were right up there.

One of the fastest in the world. Lyndon Rush is an Olympic bronze

medallist. But if you don't have that big engine or that massive

start, you just have gravity. It is not easy to come back from that sort

of deficit. This is disappearing fast. Nearly one second. We will see

this split. They will go into ninth place or 10th place. 55.6. Ninth

place, at the moment. Just ahead of the Germans. It is

extremely unlikely that any of the teams coming down can go ahead of

John Jackson and Great Britain. We pretty much know that the battle for

Great Britain is to make up less than two tenths of a second to get

onto the medals. All these teams have got time deficits.

Polishing his runners. Russia leading. Then Latvia, USA. And Great

Britain and Northern Ireland are there. In sixth place. Polishing,

there. Getting annoyed with the cameraman for getting too close.

They treat their slaves like someone very important. -- sleds. USA. Nick

Cunningham, London Odirlei Pessoni and Justin Olsen. Stuart Benson. If

you follow social media, he smashed the toilet in the Olympic Village

because he got locked in! Heavy-handed but powerful. Not

absolutely world-class. But in this night train, this new prototype, he

has the gold Olympic medal. But it is four years old. Still good top

end speed. Coming down. That is a very good drive. Quite a distance.

There we are. 55.97. In 11th place. They just kept ongoing down. --

ongoing. The ice is only minus two degrees. It is going to get cut up.

The first man down got the best of the ice. With each, you give away

some time. Great Britain 2. Hopefully it does not get much

worse. Because there are gold will be to get into the top 20 did it

inside that final run. -- to get inside.

And away we go. They got a lot of abuse in Holland in Vancouver, Edwin

van Calker said he would not take responsibility for these men behind

me, it was too dangerous. He got heckled by a large chunks of the

Bobsleigh fraternity because it is a pretty macho crowd. He was being

called a coward and all sorts of things and it was not until the

Prince Regent said, actually, I think he did the responsible thing.

Suddenly, things turned around and he got more sponsorship after being

the laughing stock. Good to see him sliding again. This is nice. Still

1.6 nine on the leader. -- down. They have gone ahead of USA 2. That

is a significant amount of time and that could be sufficient. Uphill

section. He nailed that. That sucks you right up to the woodwork. You

can slam into that and lose a lot of time. He is a very good pilot.

Probably in better shape for years ago. He would have done better in

Vancouver, because his starts were better. Latvia 2. Latvia 1, still in

second place. Here we go. They can really shift. That was a little bit

off the pace. We are seeing low speeds of 51. And that was ugly.

They will go backwards from that. 1.2 seconds behind. That is in

comparison to the Russians, who are leading this. That is pretty

straight. Since the touch last time. He has straightened it up. Into 11.

It makes a deafening noise. It comes down this track. Pretty cool. 55.97.

That is last place, at the moment. Just looking forward to Great

Britain going. 18th position. They are close enough, they could move up

to 16th place. And there are gold will be to try to attack the top 15

because we have got two runs and it is the aggregate. The lowest time

wins. Simple as that. You have to be consistent. He can make big mistakes

at times. There are times added up to exactly the same as Latvia 2. The

Olympics printer for Canada in the back, Bryan Barnett. Things are not

going well for Canada. Especially with crash yesterday. They will be

going last. That was horrible. He comes from Darwin and he is going

pretty well at the moment. 1.59 seconds behind the leaders. He has

got to do better than 1.56. It is 1.87. He has gone ahead of

Latvia two. He stays exactly where he is, in

13th place. Let's have a look at the load. A good load. The bagman has

two pop in those handles. Great to have a 200 meter man on the back of

a sled, someone who has got exceptional top end speed. The men

on the side need gears to dig it out. The guys in the side load

after. The man on the back has got to have exceptional speed. In the

past we have the likes of Marcus Adam, John readers -- John Regis. I

think he owns the 200 metres record for Britain. Zach Roth, more serve,

this is Russia three. They will be anxious to make a move. Nobody has

made a move in this particular bobsleigh. We are up to 15th place

now. There is only one noticeable jump. That is Team GB moving up to

six and Holcomb moving up to third from fourth. That is a disappointing

start for a Russian crew. It looks like they may overtake Kiva --

keeper Mannus. 1.94 behind. They are just ahead of

Latvia two, by 0.2 of a second. Canada and Russia, leapfrogging

Latvia two. It takes me back to my point, the Latvians are known for

blowing hot and cold. Let's have a little look out of 11. The camera

picks up how much ice is dragged off the wall. All of that is slowing

them up. Not such a bad place to take a hit, the track is very steep.

There is the Latvian, Melbardis. This is the Czech Republic one. They

had just gone ahead of Great Britain two who like to places behind. They

had an exceptional run yesterday and they moved up a number of places.

They will be riding on a high, confidence is with the Czechs.

That is certainly a start that Great Britain two will be hoping to beat.

They are a bit slower than they were yesterday. And here we go. This

gives us a very good idea of what sort of load speed they have. It is

not a bad line at all. I don't think this is quite as picture perfect as

Vrba had in his second run. He is high through 11th. He takes a big

slab out of 11. Coming through that bit berry well indeed. 55 .95, they

keep slapping out these sub 56 second runs -- very well indeed.

They are in 16th place at the moment. They have gone behind

Latvia. They have pulled back nothing on anyone there. They are

within shouting distance of Latvia now. Vrba and his crew, 16th

position, one run to go. The obvious target is 15th. Look how many

strides the back man took in the end. That is too many. He needed to

be in two or three strides earlier. You saw the slab out of 11. You saw

the camera shake as it hit the woodwork. Not quite as good as his

second run, Vrba. Cluster there is a shot-putter in there. I

think he is in the faster it -- on the far side. That is quite slow.

The British will be trying to beat that time. To beat the French crew

will be a good scalp. France are traditionally a solid bobsleighing

nation. The last four man medal was in 1998, the British shared it with

the French. There is or is a good battle between the French and the

Brits. -- always a good battle. Going through there, just waiting

for that to come up and they have hit it perfectly. It has slowed them

right down. 2.12 seconds behind. It looks like they will go behind the

Czechs. 2.2 seconds behind. Great Britain go next, Lamin Deen,

John Baines, Andrew Matthews and consignments. It is very catchable,

it was not a tremendous light. -- and then Simon 's -- Ben Simons.

Here is up the hill from 14 to 15. Costerg is a good pilot. Hopefully

the Brits can put it together and overtake the French and maybe even

the checks. -- Czechs. Here we go. John Baines is right

behind the pilot, going in at three. Watch the time. Good news for Great

Britain. Lamin Deen has been driving this

sledge for many years. He is driving it better than ever, I think. Just a

slight touch there, that has knocked off time. It will do. 2.20 is what

the French are behind the Russians. They have to try to keep as close to

that mark as possible. Around through ten and into 11. A little

bit of a run out of 11, down to 14. -- a rub out of 11. Exactly the same

as the Brits. Come on, a couple of extra tenths now. That is quite a

slow time in the end. Let's just hope it is good enough to stay ahead

of the Italians. Italy one goes next, another big heavyweight of

bobsleigh, not doing so well at this Olympics. The Koreans are in 20th.

Then you have the likes of the Austrians, remaining ends --

Romanians, they will be desperate to get inside the top 20.

The chances of the Koreans making the top 20 are pretty slim.

The Italians now, Bertazzo, Fontana, Romanini and cost. -- Costa. An

important run. Equal 18th, with Great Britain. 4.95, it is a bit

slower. We have seen load speeds of nearly 51, to is an hour from the

very best. -- 51 kilometres an hour. Everyone is being compared to the

Russians, they lead after three runs. Bertazzo is a great pilot, he

has this Ferrari built sled. Can he get it to a top end speed? He has

but early on he was doing a lot of steering. That slowed things down.

And in the left hand side there. Through 15, quite a lot line. --

low-lying. 56.06. Identical. Absolutely equal

with Great Britain. There is a good battle. The French, just ahead. That

is GB two. Great Britain one are up in sixth position, very much close

to the medals, very much in contention for battling for probably

bronze. The Russians and the Latvians are a bit too far ahead.

They are just inside the top 20. That they need for qualification for

the final run. Yes, GB two. GB one way ahead, close to the medals. We

have the Koreans to go next and then the Austrians. It is going to be

hard for anyone outside the top 22 really troubled the Brits now, look

pretty solid for going in the fourth and final run -- outside the top 20

two really trouble the Brits. That is GB two that I am talking about.

GB one will be going for a medal. Korea are well down, 1.9 seconds

already. Here we go. In John one is the pilot. -- Yunjong Won is the

pilot. Here we go. 4.92. That was the time to beat. The Koreans

starting 4.92. We are starting to slip away from a world-class start.

Just took a knock on the right-hand side. That would have slowed them as

well. Nine, into ten. Five jeez almost going sideways there, that is

better. It is 56.25, they are in 20th place.

I was just wondering whether Great Britain were equal with Italy? They

were in 19th place? Yes, they are equal. Great Britain 2. The Koreans

slot into number 20. Well, they are a very long way back. Great Britain

2 have certainly cemented 18th place. They could push up to the top

15. As we look at the results after heat number three. Russia in the

lead, then Latvia. The USA in third. Austria will have to pull something

out of the bag. If they are to qualify for the final run. Benjamin

Maier, Stefan Withalm, Markus Sammer and Vairis Leiboms. Here we go.

Somebody has got a cowbell in the audience. That is a very slow start.

Not great. Benjamin Maier on the front handle, only 19 years old. A

couple of very good sprinters. 200 metres, one of them is 400 metres.

And as I said, 200 metres sprinters or a very good thing to have. I was

talking about John Reid. -- are a. They are picking up speed. They keep

referring to the leaders. Importantly, they are down on

career. -- career. -- Korea. That was very similar. And 20 First

Place. -- 21st place. Well, down on Korea. 16, into 17.

That is the final speed gun. You are moving at your fastest and we saw

the quickest hitting 140 kilometres per hour. That is exactly 87 as per

hour. Not the fastest track in the world but not far away. You will hit

100 mile 's Brouwer in St Moritz, likewise in Vancouver. -- mph.

Romania. Supported by three stalwarts. Here we go. 2.66. That is

not bad. I was impressed with the way that they have got their act

together in time for the Olympics. They are looking like a very slick

operation, here. And they are improving. If they have the funding,

they have the determination. 3.2 behind the Austrians. We will not

see them again. Coming through the final bend. 56.62. 22nd.

Well, 56.62 was in fact their slowest time. They could have done

better but nevertheless, like so many others. Going through that

corner, it goes sharp and hard turning around the corner and that

drives you up with that centrifugal force. And you have to steer through

that. If you do not steer, you will flip. The pressure will suck you up

and turn you out at the end. Australia. 4.97. That is fastest so

far. Heath Spence is already up on his previous times. This is looking

at their best ever finish at the Olympic Games. Through seven and he

hits the woodwork. He has to get this back together. He seems to have

done that already. That is good. Coming down here, just that little

touch but nothing much. The dangerous corner, 14, we saw the

Canadians crashing here yesterday. They will be going last. Over the

finish line. 56.23. 20 Second Place. -- 22nd place. They have gone ahead

of the Romanians. Man for man, they are better athletes. They just do

not have the slicker operation and the amount of time that the

Romanians have had. Slapping of that woodwork. That is what you see, you

want to take that steering on the last second, just before hitting the

woodwork. And he did not. That bobsleigh is something they have to

rent. It does not belong to them. We will say goodbye to Austria. --

Australia. Believing your dreams. That is lovely! France 2. And this

is a very long way behind 20th place. Believe me. They will have to

have the run of their life. To even contemplate the top 20. That is a

very weak start by the French. They just do not have the athletes coming

into the programme they used to have, they used to have rugby

players. It is more available sport. Those around the Olympic track. It

just does not attract national stars, like the British, the Germans

and the Russians. That is not bad. He went around that one cleanly.

Just hitting that on the right and left. That is losing time. Towards

the finish. 56.35. 23rd. That is the last we will save the French. It

would be a miracle to get into the top 20. That is extremely unlikely.

It is just trying to get down safely. And place as highly as

possible at the Olympic Games. As we have seen, this track can bite back.

It has done this a few times in training. We have seen some crashes.

So, the Japanese bobsleigh on the track. Hiroshi Suzuki. Toshiki

Kuroiwa, Shintaro Sato and Hisashi Miyazaki. We saw the Japanese flag

as well. It was littered with autographs.

The Japanese always at the Olympics, not necessarily every World Cup.

Since neither know in 1988, when they held the other pics. -- Nagano.

They want to be under five seconds. Just not going off the top of the

hill like some of the Egger teams. Well, they started off with five

seconds. That was quite decent. They took a hefty dog, there. -- dump.

Brilliant sunshine, here. Going sideways, knocking off time. 56.63.

All of these accolades will be running around 56.5 seconds. --

athletes. They are in last place, for the time being. Just five left

to go in this third, penultimate, run. Then 30 minutes of a break.

Alexander Zubkov will have to wait until the last sled to try to get

that historic double gold medal for Russia. I am looking forward to

seeing the Canadian crew that crashed yesterday. They have a new

crew. We wish them well. They should be going for a good time. Meanwhile,

this is Slovakia. Milan Jagnesak. They have not broken five seconds,

yet. And they still have not. Over 40 years old, on the handle.

Alexander Zubkov is almost 40. Milan Jagnesak is not in the same shape as

Alexander Zubkov, but he still world-class on the handle. They took

a hefty knock higher up the course. That is better. This looks much

better. Tapping with the back of the sled. Another problem. Sideways,

into 16. Almost four seconds back. Pretty pedestrian. But they were

down safely. And that is their campaign over. 56.51. That was

faster than their first, yesterday. Which I think was pretty good. Yes,

pedestrian but in comparison to Alexander Zubkov. 87 as Brouwer in

comparison to 130 mph. -- 87 mph. They don't have a budget and oddly

close to the Russians and this is like Formula One on ice. You need

the fancy kit. And the ice is just cracking up. It'll be hard to put

down a very big run. Poland. He we go. Beth Tweddle here we go. -- here

we go. They were right up there one decade ago. In Holland and David

Bissett has been going too long. They were one of the first cruise to

have all three men behind him below 3.10 seconds. They are exceptionally

quick but they don't handle it any more, not even close. But stunning

speed is crucial. They want to get down that hill quickly. Oh! Just

hitting the left-hand side. 4.13 seconds behind. Shifting a little

bit quicker than Slovakia. 22nd. And the next one is Brazil. But a winter

power. But they can push. If they can just load slicker, they could

get down to a world-class push. 4.9, their fastest so far and that is not

bad. This is very much a story like cool running. -- Cool Runnings. They

have been learning their trade. They will be going next. Unfortunately,

the gap is 0.6. Respect from the other athletes. Clapping their

hands, cheering them. They are always riding close to the edge.

Forcing it. Exceptionally high speed. Oh, my goodness! The pilot

has struggled to get in. There we go. I do not even see that start

time. It was actually really good. 4.88. They have to keep cool. I was

a very nice line. I like his style. He has pulled that back. Stay away

from the walls! That is the important thing. And he has done so

far. I am surprised that is not faster. A Just because of the

resulting big slide. Lucky to get through corner once safely. A

Rudiger drive down the bottom and I am sure they will get a massive

cheer from the Russian crowd. It is not a bad time. They are in 20

Eighth Place, but who cares? -- 20 Eighth Place.

It is not an easy skill. These guys are all big men. Maybe not as chunky

as some of them because they are more track stars than shot-putter 's

and weightlifters. You can see how difficult it is. He is knowing about

27 mph, over speed compared to our 100 metre runner because you are

going down a hill. You have spikes on the end of your toe and if you

slip and make a mistake, it is easy to get it wrong. My heart has been

in my mouth for the last five minutes watching that. Yes,

everybody is waiting for the Koreans to come next. Canada three, who

crashed just today -- yesterday, two of the break meant damaged

collarbones and bones so they are having to sit out. -- the break

meant -- break men brake men. Off we go. Let's make sure we get

everybody in. What they do have is a start house in Korea. They really

slick they might not have the power. They

have to run up to the maximum weight... Well, you don't have to

but you would be mad not to. You need the weight and the Mass for the

momentum. A big slap on an uphill section to keep the pace and it

makes it more difficult for the smaller guys to push of a sled. It

is way heavier. The Russian crew, one gram five kilos per man on

average. Goodness, that was some stunt driving out of 11. It was,

they were almost up on two rails. A little bit hi there. And coming off

in 56.89. Just one crew to go now, the

Canadians. The pilot, Kripps, took a big hit to the head yesterday. He

claims he was not concussed but people were worried. Hopefully

everything is together. Coming around through into 11, there. Took

a slap of 11, that is lent -- that sent him low and got sucked up by

the centrifugal force. It was a hairy moment for the Koreans. Canada

are to the forefront now. They are in last place for the time being.

They could make up the time if they have the speed. It was the second

run yesterday that made all the difference. They managed to finish,

that is why they are here today with Justin Kripps. Two new men in the

crew. Down to a world-class start for the final sled. They are down in

30th because of the crash yesterday. It was into corner 14. Everyone will

be holding their breath as they come down towards that. There is another

few hundred metres of eyes before we get to the crash corner. That is

superb. -- metres of ice. He has avoided the corners every time he

has been down there. The exit of 11, going down the chicane, gets three

safely, kicks up some ice but no crash this time. -- gets through

safely. They are not going to be in the top 20, we will not see them

again but they have finished the MPEG. That is very good. -- finished

the Olympics. That is a very good effort indeed.

As Colin said, they won't be in the top 20. That is a shame, but

nevertheless, they have done well. These men were in eighth position

when they crashed. Just like the Brits they were pushing towards the

medals. It could have been so different for the Canadian crew. A

little bit of a rub out of 11. 55.72, we haven't seen anything that

good since the other Canadian, who sits in ninth position. That shows

you their quality. When you crash, you still crossed the finish line

and get a downtime. It is the aggregate of all four runs.

Preparation goes on for the fourth and final run. Between Zubkov,

Melbardis, Holcomb and the rest. Great Britain are in sixth position,

they are close enough to a medal. You won't want to miss the final

run. It starts at 11am, it will go in reverse order, the Russians will

be last. It was all a bit of a mad dash at

the top of the programme to get to the bobsleigh. Let's take a pause

and look at what is coming up for the rest of the afternoon. The first

medal we will see decided today is in the cross country skiing, it is

the men's 50 kilometres. The bobsleigh will be at 11am, in

reverse order. Then it is the gold medal match in the eye socket,

Canada against Sweden. -- in the ice hockey.

the men's ice hockey final is coming up in just over an hour. There is no

rush and for that, we have to thank the Finns who beat them in the

quarterfinals. The Finns lost to Sweden in the semifinals which meant

they were in the bronze medal match, against the USA.

He scores, what a moment! A magical moment for the most famous Finn. It

is over to the flying Finn and the flying Finn does it again. In doing

so, becomes the oldest player in Olympic history to score a goal.

That will go a long way to him being the oldest player in Olympic history

to maybe winning a medal. He has been one of those guys who has

always delivered. Now they double it up! In the space of just a few

seconds, this game has gone to 2-0. This is something else.

Heitanen scores! That should do it! 34 years ago it was the miracle on

ice. Right now for the Americans, it is misery on ice. They come across

the line, they support each other, they pick up the loose change and

they bank it. The Americans 's work was so sharp for so long in this

tournament, it is amazing to see them 3-0 down. 4-dearer down! -- 4-0

down! And Olympic legend has come to the table again. At 43. Watch the

dynamic duo do it again. What a goal! It is five! The Americans are

being hammered here. They are being embarrassed at the Bolshoy. A great

finish. It is insatiable. -- sensational. Finland have won the

bronze medal. Salminen leads them all the way.

It is Salminen, -- it is Selanne, the oldest player in men's Olympic

history, he scores twice to lead his team. To another medal.

I have been joined by our hockey expert. We will took about the final

in a second, but for America, it has been a horror tournament -- we will

talk about. They could not have predicted it. They were the best

team in the women's tournament coming up to the gold-medal game.

They were 2-0 up with three minutes to go and to lose in the middle they

-- the manner they did was devastating for the women's

programme. They won the first one in Nagano and then it has been Canada

all the way. When I was watching it in the hotel, I turned off with

seven minutes to go because the Canadians were dead and buried. They

were they were dead and buried and they came back. They broken play

goes off and American defender and then they have life. There is a

clearance down the ice that goes off the post. And then the Canadians

find a way to score and take extra time. There was a genetic breakaway

that was called for a penalty and in the power play, they made it count.

The way they celebrated suggested they were just relieved to have the

game over. They were beaten by the Canadians in the semifinals and

could not recover well enough to bring the emotion they needed for

the bronze medal. This men's final, Canada and Sweden. You have cut

jewel citizenship, British and Canadian, and they have such

history. Title number 13? They have won the most gold medals of any

nation. I am surprised in the manner they have got here, with defence.

The Swedes are deep and they have great quality and they deserve to be

here right from the beginning. There are some talk about the difference

in the size of the ice rink compared to the NHL, which might suit Sweden

better. They might sit back and try to contain Canada? They are very

smart and do not make stakes, they draw you out and tempt you to play

them strongly towards the board and they make nice plays. They are great

with power play. Russia, we hope to see them here. They did not fire?

They have the superstars but that does not make the team. It it is

appointing they had such a very dramatic finish. In the

quarterfinals. Just getting thumped. -- disappointing. They will need to

look at their style of play. From the doghouse to the penthouse, and

they are all in the doghouse! We have not heard from the President!

Lots more later but we shall head back to the cross country skiing for

the final men's event. This is a battle like the top of the medal

table, Russian -- Russia against Norway.

Welcome to the mountains above Sochi. This is it, after 15 fabulous

days and 22 gold medal races, there was just one event left. Huge

edition and pride associated with this. It has been here since the

very beginning in 1924. Sweden and Norway are tied on seven titles

each. Five or six standout names. There was a lot of criticism and

resistance to introducing the mass start. But after the race in

Vancouver and Karina, the fans are realising it was top-class

entertainment. This is a very large field. 65 men. Some late news this

morning. The Austrian has been withdrawn. There is no place for him

and he is very good. The longest, hardest race at these Winter Games.

The very last event in what has been a very atmospheric centre. The

defending champion. He has been out of sorts. Can one of the talented

Russians, Alexander Legkov, finish in style? That is what they did last

night. The packed crowd went into ecstasy last night. But that was

last night and this is today. 50 kilometres separating one of these

men from a very rich slice of Winter Olympic history. It has been

contested since 1924. And some of the great names in cross-country

have come here to conquer this. Through the tunnel, the assault has

been laid down. They have excelled and produced some really good

results. The Americans have been below par. It has not been good for

them here. That is why they are not topping the medal table. The

Russians are happy to take things steady initially. If you start at

the back, just bide your time and wait for the downhill opportunities

and the wider track. This is a beautiful track but there are some

narrow areas when ladies send behind the back of the stadium. That is

only four metres across. And one of the fastest parts. Just that quick

shot of Andrew Musgrave, one of three competitors who has entered

this, who wanted to enter, but you could not keep him out if you tried.

this, who wanted to enter, but you I hope he runs a very sensible race.

I hope that he gets top 25 and improves the best ever British

performance. It is possible if he gets it right and is feeling good,

top 20 is on. That would be superb for Andrew and there will be great

excitement. They have done so much great work to secure the next

generation, they will be watching avidly and hoping their man can

produce top 25. Very early stages. Literally, 42 kilometres. Still

blogs together. Watson of Australia, of the pace of the next slowest.

Actually, not skiing badly. The track is much harder. Who is that?

In red? Swiss collars. Curdin Perl. -- collars. -- colours. Noah Hoffman

still going well. Look at Andrew Musgrave. I just saw him coming

across the checkpoint. Not totally detached from this leading group.

Just biding his time. There is still a very long way to go. Is this a

definitive move? Is a very long way to go. But the Russians are

responding. And he is definitely dangerous. And that was definite

acceleration. Very clever. 20 metres before the top. You cannot go early

on that. He just picked up his pace. For about 15 metres. And he has

stolen the lead. He is indicating he is coming in for new skis. That is

why he made that break because he does not want to lose much ground.

That was not a bid for glory, it was a sensible move to make sure he gets

a clean entry into the exchange. He will have to go to his right and

along that long line of skis, he will be going into lien number

three. And off he goes. That is tactically reddened. Just giving

himself an opportunity to minimise the amount of time he will lose when

he comes in for that headstock. This is where it gets interesting. Most

of the bigger names are going in. Bernhard Tritscher, from Austria.

And Alexander Legkov. See how much time he has lost. Not bad at all. He

will be in the top 11. He could gain that on the first long downhill.

They look after this five kilometre. Alexander Legkov time that urgently.

Damage limitation and he is on fresh skis. -- times that brilliantly.

What a race, we have seen domination by Norway with the woman yesterday

but when you look at the top ten or 15, we have got fenland, in a race,

Spain, Kazakhstan, Norway, France, the USA, Italy, Switzerland. --

Finland. This is a very healthy situation for the sport. Into the

last six and a quarter miles. There was a slight dejected look in the

shoulders of Matti Heikkinen. He has been caught. What will unfold? Who

will come away with the last gold-medal?

There are a lot of classy men at their and or only six miles to make

an impact. That lead was cut from 22.7. That could be his chance gone.

You only get one opportunity to break away. Too much energy

consumed. Surely he will find the pace over the last five coulomb at

is too much. There is a problem here? He has broken his skis. He is

out. What a tragedy. He was looking very good. He was poised to strike.

And this is destined not to be his title. Remember, he fell in

Vancouver when he looked like he was poised to strike for a years ago. He

will go home with two gold medals but he was looking brilliant and he

was putting himself in a position to mount a challenge. All credit to him

for carrying on. Hopefully he will get to the finish line. So there is

no Swiss representation in the leading group. Alexander Legkov is

leading. And when news reaches the stadium that Alexander Legkov is in

the hunt for a medal, they will do what the Norwegians did. It is

possible but they will have to eat... Martin Johnsrud Sundby.

Martin Johnsrud Sundby, from Norway, he is the only non-Russian in the

top four at the moment. And the World Cup leader is trying to come

through on the inside. Martin Johnsrud Sundby wanted to go later.

He had to make his move. Looking very light. But Alexander Legkov has

the power, you must accelerate past the rings. And you could be in with

a chance of the gold medal. If it were together, it will come down to

tactics on the final corner. Alexander Legkov has produced what

could be the most important 100 metres of his career. He has the

advantage. There is one remaining corner. He just needs to keep

composed. We have seen so many people run into problems. Is it

destined to be Alexander Legkov? That gap has opened up to third

place and Martin Johnsrud Sundby. Still under pressure. Martin

Johnsrud Sundby is there. The perfect finish for the Russians! But

which one will come out on top? Alexander Legkov, driving, pushing.

Alexander Legkov is letting the stadium. And it goes to the host.

Alexander Legkov was absolutely supreme. He collapses to the snow.

His legendary status has been secured. Look at the reaction from

the crowd. Can you believe it? In the very last event, appear in the

mountains, it is going to be one, two, three for the Russians. An

extraordinary finish and Alexander Legkov had the power. Come the

moment, nobody had the answer. The Russians could not have written the

script better. Gold, silver and bronze. All being awarded in the

stadium tonight and that'll be a moment to savour and to remember

forever. These young men have produced the perfect climax to an

absorbing 16 days. Here we have the Russian quartet,

0.4 ahead of the Latvians. Across the line in 55.02. That is

magnificent. Slower than the Russians, they are slipping away

here. 55.15, in second place. The Germans are desperate to get on the

medal table. Things are looking bad for the Germans. This track is

slowing up with every sled. This crew can do damage. Come on, Great

Britain. Can we do it? Seven tenths is looking unlikely. He is pulling

it back in. 18 hundredths behind the bronze medal position, that is

catchable. Team GB's final moment of these

Games are upon us, it might yield history. Are you feeling lucky? We

do hope so. In the background over their, that is GB two, about to do

their final run. Before we go there, you have had lots of questions so I

am going to test you on your knowledge. Is this the same track

that we have seen? Skeleton, bobsleigh and luge slide on the same

track. Variant start positions. Often the pilot comes out and he has

a woolly bag on top of his crash helmet, what is that? All of the

crew have their helmets already on. The driver wants to keep it warm on

the inside. As soon as the breath comes on, it can fold it up. -- fog

it up. It is preserving the heat within it, they do the having and

puffing, it is making sure it does not steam up. -- huffing and

puffing. They seem to wear shorter bottoms... A lot of the Bob boys

make them shorter. I think they find it more comfortable and like to

flash their calf muscles! Each to their own. In the skeleton, the

aerodynamics are different. Spikes on the shoes, they are not normal

athletics bikes. -- athletic spikes. Back in the day it was literally

athletics bikes but it used to match up the ice -- mash up. We now have

brush spikes which gives you better grip. It make sure they do not clog

up and they can sprint with the extra grip. GB two, just about to

go, in 19th, are we expecting them to move up? I am opening they can

move at least one spot. They have just at the ice freshly ripped, a

thin layer of water on the top. -- freshly gripped. The slowest teams

actually have the best ice. Lamin Deen will be looking to maintain

18th, if not move up one. And GB one, less than two tenths behind the

medal position. John Jackson, his team are in sixth. Less than two

tenths to a bronze medal. Robbie impossible to get to the top --

probably impossible. But a really good push on the last one, let's see

what they can do. We will be looking for them to keep the sixth spot. If

not, it is so close. Here we go, GB two.

COMMENTATORS: There is a lot of tension up there. Lamin Deen, John

Baines, Ben Simons and Andrew Matthews have got to have the drive

of their life. Their best start time at the moment

came right at the beginning of yesterday. That is better. It is

100th of a second better than they managed in their first push. They

have really gelled as a group. Pickering would have been in this

sled, they have not pushed as much together as they would have liked

to. There is no surprise they have improved throughout the four runs. A

bit of a tap there. They are ahead of the Koreans. They are 18th equal

with the Italians. Carrying an advantage of around eight tenths of

a second. They are extending it. Down to 14... This is good. Just

what we hoped would happen for Lamin Deen and the rest. .75 of a second

ahead, they are a bit off the pace. 0.7 of a second in the lead. That is

exactly what the Italians will be aiming for. It was a good run. I

fear for this track. It is so warm. That was not a bad slide. It was a

really good start. Right up at world-class level. Only a handful of

crews have hit 4.8 or below. You can see the handles are kicking around,

that sent them late into ten. He dealt with it well, Lamin Deen. Now

they have to sit and wait and see if the Italians, who were equal with

them, they don't have as good conditions, if they will go behind.

Bertazzo and the rest, can they get a fast start? 4.91 is their record

and they are well outside it. Another thrown together crew at the

last minute. One of their team members was pulled for doping last

week and they had to drop the new man in. Romanini at three, a

multiple Olympian, a good guy to have as your extra man but still,

not a great thing to happen, a terrible thing to happen, I am sure

it is Anna Baris meant for Italy. Down into nine -- I am sure it is an

embarrassing and -- and embarrassment.

They are .15 of a second down but they are increasing speed. They are

exactly on target. Will they go ahead? They will.

Just held it together a bit better through the final couple of corners.

In one way it is good to see that the track held up, not getting cut

up too quickly. What we saw yesterday in slightly colder

conditions was that after about seven or eight sleds, it started to

degrade. That is similar to what happened to the Canadians yesterday.

They did not crash like the Canadians, they did not go quite as

late. Bertazzo handled it well. France number one. Lowick

the French are full of tension. Desperate to do well.

Here we go. The best start time, 4.94. Exactly the same there, that

is good. They are carrying an advantage over the Italians and the

British of 16 hundredths of a second. The start is similar to what

the Italians manage. A big slap out of five up the hill, it is not good

for the French. There was a bit of over driving. They are maintaining

their lead. A little late out of nine, he controls it well, Costerg.

A horrible rub out of 11 but somehow he is still in the lead. A bit of a

sideways slide, a loss of speed. 1:30 6.7 and it is 5577.

Is it worse to take a steer and go into a slide or take the tap, they

very much took the tap. It did not slow them down too much. This was a

team, Great Britain one and France one, who tied for a medal in 1998. A

good bit of piloting, a tap out of 15, down to 16. They didn't lose any

top end speed. Once you start slowing those runners sideways to

the ice, that is when you slow down. You are digging up loss of ice --

lots of ice. Vrba, Sochi, Devorah and

very consistent times, the team from the Czech Republic. That was well

orchestrated. The best start time at the moment, 4.87. These guys can

start well. They are a slick outfit. A couple of power strides at the end

from the man on the back. Vass -- Vacek. Great Britain are going

the Czechs are ahead of the French. They just hit on the right hand

side. Looking for the next checkmark. They are going well. 11

hundredths up through corner ten, into 11. They just lost a hundredth

of a second. Straight as a die down the middle. 0.2 of a second behind.

My goodness, 55.8. And the Czech Republic have gone into the lead

ahead of France, and that means Great Britain and Lamin Deen stay

fourth place. It means that Lamin Deen will not improve his position.

The only chance is if someone has a shocking run, potentially a crash

but no one would wish that on anybody, and then they would drop

down to 20th, that is as low as anyone can drop now. We are going

from 20 down to one, in reverse order. That means the very best are

waiting to go last. Zubkov has the lead after three runs, he will be

going down last. We have just seen Prime Minister Medvedev arrived with

a huge entourage in a helicopter. He will be hoping for another big

Russian gold. Who knows? Maybe GB one can still put a damper on things

and get up into the medals. Kibermanis goes now. As is the

smaller of the Oskars. Here's not the biggest -- he is not the biggest

of pilots. It is a world-class start.

A little bit of a sideways slide but a fancy bit of steering got them

back on track. They are well ahead of the Czech team. Coming through

here, just in the lead. Just taking a slight tap there. On the left-hand

side. They had two tenths on the Czechs going into this run and they

are not going to lose that the lead in the final hundred metres. This is

quick. .19 of a second ahead. That guarantees Latvia two 15th

position at worst. Just 14 crews to go.

That was a great piece of steering. Just a little correction. We could

see those runners at the beginning of that, just rocking backwards and

forwards. The first of three Russian sleds. And they are good at

starting. The fastest so far. For quite 22. A little bit slower but

not bad. A little bit disappointing. You want to keep your starting up

their very best. It is not surprising that the athletes are

getting tired and dehydrated. They have had intense competition. They

have gone behind, they have lost that to Latvia. If they can drive

this perfectly, they could get back. Very slight tap through 13, back

down the hill. That gap is shrinking. It will be close. Very

close indeed. Just in second place. Latvia 2 have done well. Lots of

really young athletes with Russia and Latvia. In four years time, they

will be much more experienced. Oskars Kibermanis has only been

driving for three years. Just a little bit sideways. Taking the tap.

You can see the very best avoiding that. Not many can do that. Canada.

Chris Spring in the driving seat. Very strong and quick. Also not big.

He has the body weight all right. But not as strong as some of the

Brickman. You have your biggest on the side. -- brakemen He has two

pool that handle and sit down first. And then you fit in, like sardines

crushed into a tin can. It is about as large as a regular bathtub. Low

speed, behind the Latvians. What is this time? They are in the lead. And

going well. 12 hundredths up, the Canadians are pulling away. That was

great piloting. Yes, they are very good. They have missed out on all

the holes. 55.76. They have gone into the lead. Latvia 2 looking

disappointed, but they stay in second place. Canada 1 have taken

the lead. 12 teams left. They are guaranteed 14th position. Starting

to get close to the top ten. Who is in the run? From John Jackson

onwards. The top six looking most likely. It is pretty tight down to

the bronze medal. And the top two are out on their own. Oskars

Kibermanis and Alexander Zubkov. But there is big pressure. Well done.

The former Australian, he made the move to Canada, Chris Spring. Very

much one of the boys. They have done well. USA 2. Nick Cunningham, 100

and Paul Muntean, 100 and Andreas Neagu and Dallas Robinson. Nick

Cunningham has been considering a career in Rodeo after the games.

Nothing will be as dangerous as this. 4.87, the third fastest we

have had so far. That is not bad. They are carrying an advantage over

the Canadians. That start was similar to Canada. Slightly better.

Still that small margin. No room for error. Well, they are going sideways

on the previous men and losing that advantage at the top of the track.

The Olympic gold-medal winning sled. Still in the lead, here. That

was ugly. Only one tenth up, they will lose time. In fact, they have

gained time. Ahead of Canada. USA 2 or in the lead. That was good

driving from Nick Cunningham. We're coming up to Number 10. And

Great Britain goal in 15th position. -- go. That was one of the absolute

top speeds. 137.3. Quicker than Canada. So, the Dutch are next. And

their advantage over the Americans is 12 hundredths of a second.

Starting is so important. 4.81. That was their best. And that was just

outside. He overcooked that. They are still in the lead. They had 12

hundredths of a second. Still pretty quick. Still in the lead. Yes, they

have got the lead. But that is reducing. Into corner number 11.

Nice, flat line. It is hard to see from that camera angle, see what the

split is. 100. They are ahead. Look at that! The Netherlands or in the

lead. The USA have lost it. That is magnificent. 55.75. Very close to

the top slide so far. The Dutch are 1.7 seconds behind Alexander Zubkov,

who will be coming down last. Each time as a time advantage, it is the

aggregate, the lowest wins. John Jackson is behind for the bronze,

there was just over 15 hundredths between the bronze and where Jackson

is sitting. We're getting close to the money. Into the top ten. Yes.

And on to Germany 2. In the lead. The younger is Trevor world

champion. He has tremendous. Francesco Friedrich. This will be

disappointing for him. This is a massive margin ahead of the Dutch.

He has to have a huge run, has to take the lead. He should do that,

unless he crashes. He is certainly going well at the moment. Just that

slight hit, there. Coming uphill. My goodness! That is good. Very, very

good. 55.41. They have gone into the lead. And Germany 2 set the

standard. That is the fastest we have seen down this track in this

final run. That is good news for everyone still to come. You can see

those marks made by these heavy bobsleighs. Sometimes you can see

the ice cracking. That does not make for good running. Germany in the

lead and we have got two more German crews in the top ten. They have won

a medal in every Olympic Games right back to 1964, that was very poor for

them. No medal at all, then. Since then, they have been the most

dominant nation. I just called a glimpse of Thomas Florschuetz, who

will be warming up. Or, finishing his warm up. Heading to his

position. Canada. Lyndon Rush, Lascelles Brown, David Bissett and

Neville Wright. Lascelles Brown is prominent. Yes, the former Jamaican.

He is on the back. Exceptionally muscular. Big weightlifters, these

guys. All even with Germany. They just lost that lead at the start.

That was very close to catching up on the right-hand side. Still behind

Germany 2 at the moment, but they had a very good run. Still 100th of

a second. Really high-pressure! Well, they have gone into the lead.

Germany 2 must be sweating. They are going well. Pulling away. Things

looking good for Canada. Oh! They are ahead of Germany 2. That was

very, very good. 55.38. Well, there are a couple of aid leaps forward in

times. -- egg. -- big. The next coming down, Switzerland. And then

the Germans and it jumps forward again. The Germans are in seventh

place again and then sixth place, Great Britain. And then it is very

tight all the way up to third place. I wish you would stop saying that!

But that was a very good run by Canada 2. Lyndon Rush, the man in

charge. Beat Hefti. Alex Baumann, Juerg Egger and Thomas Lamparter

getting their chance. Do not think that he is cool and

collected. He is not! He is absolute dynamite on the front handle. He can

be ham-fisted driving, though. This is a very different beast. With the

four-man bobsleigh, he just does not have those skills. Having a very

good look. That was a brilliant start. 4.81. That was untidy. That

was terrible. He has lost a tiny bit of that lead but not much. Corner

Number 10. It has not brilliant so far, they are losing more time. Up

the hill and down again. Another split... Five hundredths. That is

all. Coming through, look at that. 55.6. And they have lost the lead.

Sorry, they have gone into the lead. Just two runs before Great Britain

one. We watched the Swiss come out of five. Hefti took a slap and a bit

of a sideways slide. But he is still in the lead by 100th of a second

ahead of next rush. -- Rush. Germany will be anxious for the fastest

possible start and run. They are one ahead of Great Britain.

They much prefer starting on that front handle. Instead of running

onto it. That is the equal, that is not bad.

-- that is the equal. Not a bad start at all. They came into this

with 17 hundredths, they have slightly extended the lead on Hefti

and his crew. They are going well here. Next is Great Britain. And

that is the sort of target they will be setting. Almost a quarter of a

second up, holding firm at that lead. Just a few hundred metres of

ice to go, it looks good for Germany three to take the lead. It looks

very good indeed. Coming through the finish in 55.53.

That was a good run, and that is Germany three. We have got Germany

one, yet to come. Germany two have already slid.

Let's have a little look out of 11. There was a tap, it didn't kick up

too much ice, didn't bother steering with the front runners. In the end

the back end kicked up a little bit. Florscheutz leads head of the Swiss.

Up next will be Great Britain. Great Britain one, in a great position at

the moment. They are going to need the run of their lives if they are

going to push forward to the medals from six position. John James

Jackson is the pilot. Stuart Benson and Bruce Tasker will be on the

flanks. Joel Fearon, the brakeman. There is the British support. What

can we do? They have got to nail the start.

They have to hoof off. Everything is good, they still have 20 seconds.

Come on, Great Britain. A big start is what you need... This looks good

for Great Britain. It has equalled their fastest start, it is the

fastest we have seen so far. It is brilliant. Magnificent start from

Great Britain, truly world-class. You need the big engine to hoof it

off the hill if you are going to have a chance of winning medals.

That was a big tap but at least they didn't go into a slide.

Nearly two tenths of a second, we will get a good idea on the next

blitz. Nearly a quarter of a second up, it is a brilliant slide. This

could be remarkable. Absolutely direct. Watch the speed! Just about

the best we have seen so far. They are 0.41 in the lead! That is

remarkable. Absolutely early on. We have Germany one next, in fifth

position. They are carrying just two hundredths of an advantage over the

Brits. I can't remember the last time Britain beat Germany in a four

man contest in the Olympics. It has to go back to the 40s or 50s. The

best we have ever done is a silver medal in 1924. We got a bronze in

36. And a bronze in 98. We have just put ourselves in a good position

there. A good chance of a medal now. But it will take a couple of

mistakes, probably, from those in third and fourth. There is the man

in third, Steve Holcomb, the Olympic champion. There is Arndt, as well.

Top of the World Championship table this year.

Can Great Britain beat this good quartet? They have to hundredths of

a second on Great Britain into this final run, they are already eight

hundredths behind. The Germans are massively out powered by the

British. A great start by Britain, a very direct drive. What is the

checkmark? They are behind by 0.18. The load speed was poor, they are

going to be behind. They didn't take a slap out of five, Jackson did. Can

the Germans real in the Brits? Great Britain and Northern Ireland, they

must have been going quickly. Things are looking bad for the Germans. I

think Britain will hang onto first-tier. Three tenths behind!

Britain will be in the lead! -- hang onto first year. While! That is

fantastic. They have moved up a place. Can they move up two more. In

the last three or four decades, if you'd have said, would you like a

medal all eat the Germans, beating the Germans would have basically

meant you have got the gold -- would you like a medal or beat the

Germans? We have four crews to go. Germany are not going to win a

medal. Not unless there are big mistakes. Things can happen. They

are in second and third. Melbardis prowling around in the

background, the Latvian in the silver medal position. This is

Russia two. Kasjanov, he is definitely one of the danger men and

one of the men in form. Can Kasjanov get in amongst the medals?

Prime Minister Medvedev is watching on, hoping the Russians will be

pushing forwards to the medals. They are 100th behind the Brits, the

Russians have been out started by the Brits, as well. That is

phenomenal. Great Britain are still in the lead. But Russia are coming

on strong now. In fact, they are not. They are plus 0.04 seconds

behind. The next split will tell us an awful lot. They have overcome the

start deficit. They are ahead of the Brits. It will need them to take a

big tap for the Brits to go back in front.

It is looking really good for the Russians. I think they will go ahead

of the Brits. And our chances of a medal are slipping away. .08 the

second into the lead head of Great Britain. That is fantastic.

It is their fastest light to date. Kasjanov is a super race. --

we have three teams to go. The Olympic champions are next. They are

going to have to hunt down this Russian crew who have just laid down

a massive run. This Russian kit, while, is it good?

Britain has been backed by McLaren and helped greatly by them, and

thank you for all of that help from the British team, but the Russians,

they also have a big budget, probably dwarfing the rest of the

bobsleigh world. What can Steve Holcomb do now? They are 0.45 away

from a gold medal. A little bit less for the silver. This could be an

even bigger performance. It is a brilliant performance there, the

second fastest time they have achieved. They had 15 hundredths on

the Russia two crew. They are into corner five. They are on fire here.

The Olympic champions, trying to hang on. He doesn't just want

bronze, he wants gold. He will be hoping the Latvians and the Russians

falter. He took a bit of a sideways slide earlier but it is faultless so

far. Time is slipping away. It is ebbing away. The next split, this is

going to be right down to the wire... Has he done enough? He has!

He is livid... He is throwing his helmet down, he knows the next two

crews have massive leads. Kasjanov and his crew will finish fourth

again, the same as in the two man. A horrible place to finish. Two crews

to go. Kasjanov may yet get a medal. The screaming and shouting and

anguish may turn to delight in a minute. USA are guaranteed a bronze

medal, that is for sure. It is looking likely now. That John James

Jackson and his crew will slip to fifth. They are still in the bronze

medal position, two crews to go. The Latvians are up first. Steve Holcomb

has guaranteed his crew a bronze. Latvia were one of the shocks of

this tournament. They are 0.17 behind Zubkov who is in first place.

Melbardis and his crew, can they do it? These men are dynamite at

pushing. Melbardis is in early. It is a tremendous start. Up on USA

one, it is a big margin to throw away. It will need some sloppy

driving to lose that. The nominal load speed. They all entered so

gracefully. -- for nominal -- phenomenal load speed.

We are going to have a new first place, of that I am sure. This is

the crash corner, that was fine! A bit late in but no problems. They

are going to go into the lead. They have got the lead.

Now all they can do is wait to see if Zubkov can drive to a second gold

medal. That was a brilliant performance by Latvia. John James

Jackson and his crew, down to fourth position. One crew to go. They are

outside the medals. They will be bitterly disappointed that they have

missed a medal. I put up such a good fight from a horrible start. -- they

put up such a good fight. That is just off the back of their World Cup

draw, that is where they finished in the World Cup despite some flashes

of brilliance. John James Jackson has come back from a ruptured

Achilles to be here, it is a night on miracle. They are going to

guarantee fifth place. Here is the crew about to push for gold.

This team will go down in Russian history, that is for sure. Zubkov

and Voevoda have already won the two man. Not their fastest start. But

this is enough. Lovely correction. The front runners twitching. 14

hundredths up. Alexander Zubkov, does he avoid the tab? Just about.

This will be an important checkmark. This could be the gold medal winning

performance. They are extending the lead. No problems, there. This could

cost them. It looks like Russia is on for it. Here they go. And it is

Russia who have won the gold medal in the four-man bobsleigh. Latvia

are second and America, the defending champions, were third.

With Steven Holcomb. But Alexander Zubkov is absolutely fantastic. He

nearly retired in 2011, so, I do not want anything to do with the

Federation any more. He described as being like slaves. He wanted his

share of the money and glory and I believe that Vladimir Putin said,

stay on. He carried the flag and he has got them to gold medals. That

should put Russia back to the top of the medal table. It might give them

the overall lead at the end. Well, the oldest man ever to win the

four-man bobsleigh. And well done, John Jackson, Bruce Tasker, Joel

Fearon and Stewart Henson, ending up in fifth position in the end. Not

far away at all. One tenth of a second, that was all it was, over

six kilometres of ice. So well done to Great Britain. Well, scenes of

jubilation. Alexander Zubkov. And the Germans without any medal. First

time since 1964. The former Olympic champion, the German head. He looked

absolutely distraught with that performance. The Germans are

normally so brilliant at Olympic Games, they have been so dominant.

Today, the Russians get the double gold medal. And Alexey Voevoda is

also a double winner. Alexey Negodaylo and Dmitry Trunenkov, they

held their nerve. The Prime Minister is flying in on his helicopter, that

must have added to the pressure. They will present the medals here.

What sort of time? 0.11 The second. That is how close we were. They

don't like each other, but Alexey Voevoda has to come together with

this man, Alexander Zubkov, to push the back of the sled. Just in

monster of a pressure. This is the result. -- a monster of a pusher.

That is a brilliant performance by Britain. But Russia undoubtedly be

champions. -- the champions. Great Britain finish in 19th place, Great

Britain 2. That was a very good performance by them, well done.

Russia might not have made the final of the ice hockey but what a final

day without qui -- clean sweep and then the bobsleigh. John Jackson

just missing out. Matt Pinsent is with Great Britain 2.

Every time we see you, you are smiling more. It has been going

well? If you were to tell me that four years ago I would be at the

Winter Olympics, finishing in the top 20, in the four-man bobsleigh

and the two-man bobsleigh, I would not have believed you. That has been

a great result. Talk about what it has been like between you? We have

come together and it has been fantastic. We are good friends, and

it is never ideal losing your team-mate in the holding camp but we

have got the depth in the squad to get another athlete and start. You

said after the third event, the four-man bobsleigh? That is true? We

really showed that today, we are a force to be reckoned with. And

finally, the atmosphere before you went off, what was going through

your mind? Just to get it right this time! We had a few issues with the

first round and then we saw to that I'd and we're with the top boys in

the world, so really happy. What is the plan going forward? We will see

what happens in the summer, we have more training and we will see if

there is a funding situation and hopefully we can go onto the next

Olympic Games. It has been great seeing you out here. Great result

for all of you. Thank you. And it was an agonising fraction of a

second away from a medal. They gave their reaction.

We can see smiling. Try to put into words what that last run was like.

Overall, it has been great. 11 hundredths of the medals. Sometimes,

just being involved in such a very close race, it makes it worthwhile

and enjoyable. You had four of those fantastic starts and fantastic

driving? It has been a combination of three years of hard work and the

training camp. We gave everything. That is all I can ask for. That is

an awesome result, fifth place, and when you have all of these guys

behind us, and they are very happy. You started in 12 place on the first

run and the Russians are winning, that is a massive advantage on their

home track? Definitely, they have had a much more practice than we

have. Starting in 12 but is in a worse place. After day one, we're

just very happy to have brought that time. Every run, moving up the

order. Yes, just chipping away. What was that feeling like, looking at

those times? We did look a little bit, and not supposed to! We have to

say thank you to everyone who believed in us, before we even

believe in ourselves and people were there. Two years ago, we could not

dream of this. What about the qualities of this team? What is it

like? We are just so in love, we do this for everybody. Without them, I

would not be here. It is amazing for me. What about the future? I would

like to stay for another couple of years, depending on what the Royal

Navy and the Royal Marines have me doing but I am happy to keep working

and I think we are still developing as a team and hopefully Bruce will

take over for the next Olympics. But we will see what happens. It has

been brilliant. Lots of people have been saying it was great watching

you. Well done. Thank you for all of the support back in the UK. So, that

includes all of the sliding events. We will head back to Matthew and Amy

Williams to review what has been the golden venue 14 gigabytes. -- for

Great Britain. Are we feeling elated or disappointment? No, I am just so

proud of the boys. I am buzzing, but at the same time, they were so

close. 11 hundredths. That is our sport, you can be so close and you

watch that little clock going from green to red and they know they are

so close. Top six. Unbelievable from them. They have got so much ahead of

them in the future. We can be nothing but pride of them today. I

mentioned it to them but it was such a disadvantage going from 12

position. You go off the world ranking, we were 12 in the world.

And it is in middle of the day and the quality of the ice dollars

decrease. Those first few, they have the best ice. No doubt about that,

potentially if they were in that top three going, you would have had a

score -- you would have had a quicker run. You must keep fighting.

And starting was one of their strengths? Joel Fearon, he is an

amazing crew man? They have worked so hard, they have got together and

have been pushing and training very hard. They are a very tight unit.

And you can see, for men jumping in perfect harmony and timing. That

takes a lot of practice and it shows their strength. On that first track

at university, the time they have put in Hazel. And John's driving was

impeccable? Back-to-back, consistent. That is what wins races.

When you have got four of those runs and every single one counts. He did

not quite slide as well on the first and that could be nerves but

otherwise, he has been consistent with every single one. Better than

anyone else out there. In that sense, we have a lot more left to

come from these boys in the future and we wish them well to keep

performing and keep the funding they are and that is the biggest thing

with winter sport, keep that funding to be able to perform and use those

resources and continuously improve and move up those world rankings to

be fighting for a medal next time. We have spent a lot of time here

watching the bobsleigh team. The skeleton did us proud?

Unbelievable, that race seems like months ago. It was only days ago. We

have had some highs and lows, emotional, butterflies in my

stomach, waking up with the nerves. It is the environment, the love for

these sports. And Lizzy Yarnold bringing home that medal. What more

could be asked for? It proves that the setup back at home with that

performance pathway, those strong, rigid plans that the athletes have,

that works. Having everyone together, that adduces medals. Lizzy

Yarnold was dominant. She did not give her opposition any looking? No,

she was out there from the start to begin with. Like she has done for

this entire season. Not just the Olympics, she stood on the podium on

nearly every one of her World Cup races. She kept consistent, she did

not change anything for the Olympics, the team worked really

well and they knew what to do, they just had to do the same thing and

perform and she stood on that start line and did us proud. She stayed so

confident and I was really amazed at her ability to control herself

Andrew Motion and she enjoyed that race. And she brought home a medal

for Great Britain. We didn't do a very good jump of controlling

ourselves! I could not with my tears. It has been quite strange not

competing. Seeing everyone and I have really loved that. Just the

spirit of the Olympics and that is why we are here. That is why these

guys and girls free in every single day. It is all for this moment. You

can see the joy that it brings and everyone here is a friend, we are a

community together and we want everyone to do well but we want also

to be standing on the podium. That has been at. Some brilliant sessions

appear. Back to Jonathan. Thank you. When an organising

committee sits down to get this sorted out, they want everything

looking fantastic and the volunteers and the infrastructure, but the big

unknown is just how well does the host nation perform? Here in Sochi,

the Russians have done it. Look at that medal table. Four years ago,

11th place. Here, home territory, the top. The team gold medals. 33 in

total. The last time they topped the table was in 1984. -- 33 of the

group 13 gold medals. And there is just one more left to be decided.

How do you like that? Sensational. And he scores! Canada win. He cannot

stop scoring. America take victory! They look so amazing, scoring again.

This is a very day on the Black Sea. The defending champions will defend

their title against Sweden. Wonderful stuff.

The men's ice hockey final, the final event and the atmosphere will

be amazing. Before it got busy, Jason and Brent got inside to talk

about this final. Not the finally Russians were hoping

for, the home side not died in the quarterfinals but we have an

intriguing game ahead. Brent Pope will be commentating. Great to see

you. What do you expect? The Canadians have been more

defensive, the Swedes had been defensive from the start. We will

see a tactical battle. You have to play defence first and take your

torturers when they come. I spoke to Mike Babcock, what has struck me is

they have this air of confidence. Is that something you have noticed with

the Canadians? Some of the comments I think this is

probably the best Canadian side ever assembled at an Olympic Games.

Strong words. You can see their confidence. Babcock knows how to

win. He has his team prepared. They may be peaking at the right time.

When you watch the Canadians, there is a remarkable team spirit, how

important is that? With the Canadian women after they won a gold medal,

the men's team came over to congratulate them.

Will they be worried that Crosby hasn't scored yet? He didn't have a

great tournament in Vancouver either. He has played better as the

tournament has gone on. He may be the start today. What will it take

for Sweden to win? They need to score first, be effective in the

power play. The other intriguing thing is this crowd, predominantly

Russian, who will they be cheering for? I bet it is Sweden! It will be

rocking at the Bolshoy Ice Dome, no Russia here, can Sweden take the

Olympic crown? A great final in prospect. No

holiday for Jason in Sochi, here is his preview.

This has been an ice hockey competition to remember.

East West rivalry as dramatic as it promised to be.

COMMENTATOR: What a finish, the American lead, the Russians are back

on level terms. America take victory. A shock exit for the home

team. It is Finland on their way to the

semifinals. Russia crash out.

A showdown between neighbouring countries and a fierce rivalry done

and dusted. Canada are through to the final!

Sweden are going through to the final again.

Now it comes down to one last faceoff, Sweden versus Canada.

They will be fighting it out for the final gold medal of this Winter

Olympics. COMMENTATOR: It is gold for Canada.

Canadians will think back to Vancouver and will be eager to bring

home the gold medal again. It is about winning, about Canada,

hockey supremacy. We like to brag it is our game.

We always have a lot of pressure on ourselves. Any time Canada puts on

the skates, gold is the only middle we want.

Pressure means we have a chance. I will take pressure all day long. We

have an opportunity to do something real special. It should be fun.

Sweden didn't start as one of the favourites but this is their third

final in the past six Winter Games. On two previous occasions they have

won it. COMMENTATOR: It is Sweden, they celebrate their gold-medal!

Lundqvist was crucial eight years ago and he has been just as

invaluable this time around. In the first Games, we didn't play

as we wanted -- the first matches. Growing up, my first dreams were to

play for my country, in an Olympics. Just to be here is a great feeling,

a proud feeling. Canada is favourite. They have a lot

of skilled players in their line-up. It will be a great challenge.

The semifinals showed that Sweden can make a comeback after going down

1-0. COMMENTATOR: A bullet! They are not giving up easy chances

to the other team. We can achieve great things.

They have a lot of highly skilled guys but we need to play our game.

We have to put everything we have onto the ice.

Every Canadian player is on the NHL roster. Crosby, Benn, Price.

They have done a lot of winning in their careers, it should be a lot of

fun. You came here to compete as hard as you can. Sweden played

methodical hockey. We will try to speed it up.

They play with no ego, it is all about team, they will be hard.

So, the putts stops here with both sides ready to do battle at the

Bolshoy, it will be a final to remember.

So, here we go, the last medal of the Sochi Games. No quarter asked,

no quarter given, live from the magnificent Bolshoy Ice Dome. The

men's ice hockey gold medal, let us go over to our commentators, Seth

Bennett and Brent Pope. Welcome to the Bolshoy, Canada

against Sweden, there will be support for both sides. Which way

will the neutrals go, that is the question. We have seen a few Russian

shirts. If few interesting hats. The officials make their way onto the

ice, they will have a big roll to play, and have plenty of experience.

And all North American line-up officiating this match. It has been

interesting for the officials. This is their gold-medal selection, to do

this game. This is an honour, the best they can achieve. To be in

charge of this game, they will have nerves as well. They have got better

as the tournament has gone on. As we turned, it will be a good night,

this place is picking up. Price leaves the way for the

Canadians. The defending champions against the current world champions.

The 2010 gold-medal winners against the 2006 gold-medal winners. These

are two of the best teams in world ice hockey over the past decade.

They come into this tournament, both undefeated in their five Games until

this point. They have played some terrific hockey. Not spellbinding by

any stretch of the imagination but, defensively, they have been mean.

Just nine goals conceded between the two sides. It is outstanding

defence. Lundqvist leading. Price. Here is

the starting line-up. In a game like this, where a shot can come from

anywhere on the goal line, we have seen Lundqvist let in a couple of

goals from positions he would prefer to have been able to save. Price has

been stellar and strong. As we have moved through the Games, Price was

the right guy to put in position for Canada. The fence has come from

their defence in this tournament which is unusual.

The captain, Sidney Crosby, he was here four years ago. He picked over

time as his moment to announce himself as Canada took gold,

courtesy of that young man. Kronwall has been here before, gold-medal

winner back in 2006. They exchange pendants. The coach, Par Marts, he

was very calm. Never going to get excited about anything, I don't

think! Mike Babcock, again, somebody who is absolutely on it. He knows

what he wants from this team, very much in control.

The other day, I said Mike Babcock was like an eagle on the bench, he

doesn't let anything go under the carpet. He will tell you positive or

negative, and is always feeding back to his players.

Let us wait and see what happens. Here we go, the final event of Sochi

2014 is under way, the men's ice hockey final, the gold-medal game.

Terrific teams packed full of NHL Starts, Canada are in red. Sweden

will try immediately. Sweden coming forward. A big

deflection. Carey Price hanging onto that one. Still plenty of fans

filing into this stadium. We may see some empty seats. Heightened

security. Probably only in the second period when we will see seats

being filled. When the ceremonies are on, this place is on lockdown.

Sweden won the faceoff but Crosby brought it away. Sent into the zone.

Carlson has had a superb tournament.

Crosby, feeding one in... That was an opportunity. Bergeron was not

able to convert it. And that the other way with Sweden. The first

chance of the game went Canada's way.

Sweden, unable to get it out, this is what this line does so well.

Trying to stab it home. Held on to stab it home. Held onto by

Lundqvist. An outstanding start by Canada, as Crosby created an angle

for himself. He passed to Bergeron which was outstanding.

Bergeron almost went back. Jabbing away at Lundqvist, a good start by

the Canadians. A tiny gap between the post and Lundqvist's foot.

Let us see whether Canada can squeeze the puck in there. Sweden,

how can they contain that big, strong line?

A good answer from Sweden, good transition. Into the body! All the

time in the world but he had no support, the shot was his only

option. The Canadians were getting tired working against the Swedish

fence. They took the opportunity of a line change.

Carey Price was so far away from his net.

That was great defensive play from Jimmie Ericsson.

Sweden have the chance. A half chance really for Bergeron but he

got himself tangled up. It is happening so quickly. Bergeron

again. Sidney Crosby is on it right now. Sweden had better look out.

Sidney Crosby has not scored in five games which means he is due. Yes, it

means the pressure is on for him in Canada.

This could be a chance at goal. Or not! Did that come straight back off

the post? The referee on the spot. We will get the replay here. You

will see it as it comes around. Can you believe that has come across and

another great omen for Canadian hopes today. Something similar came

-- something similar to this happen to the women. This is harder for it

to stay out Barnett is for it to go in. Normally would have bounced off

the lake and gone into the open goal but it stays out. Wow! The hoppy --

the hockey gods are smiling on Canada right now.

A great chance but it remains goalless. Canada will be thanking

their small mercies there. We will see a lot of these playing out here

today. If anybody thought this was going to

be a Canadian walkover, these first five minutes have shown that will

not be the case. It will not be against the Swedish players, they

are too good and too careful about how they manage the park and they

skate well and they are critical. A hard hit on a sharp and here is a

chance for Erik Karlsson. He knew that it was coming and he may be

rushed the play about. Erik Karlsson is the leading scorer in this

tournament. The Canadians are hemmed in here for

now. Erik Karlsson has had four goals and

four assists. For a defence man to be leading the scoring at this level

is just incredible. He has been lights out from the blue line and

the powerplay if the Swedes get an opportunity, they are scoring in

almost a third. They will make the Canadians play -- pay.

Alexander Steen was born in Canada. A Winnipeg boy but he always chose

to play for Sweden at international level. He has dual citizenship. A

similar story for one of the American team. The Canadians have a

whole extra roster in North America that could also be playing in this

tournament. Drew Doughty has been magnificent

for the Canadians offensively. Alexander Edler goes right up the

middle. They all go chasing after it. We get a whistle here. It has

been a breathless first seven minutes. Drew Doughty has been a

leading scorer for the Canadians in this tournament. He has been doing

his job for the blue line as well. He has four goals and four assists.

These two are sharing the limelight as the young man's -- Young guns,

from the defenceman position. Erik Karlsson has shot in the powerplay

and once every three times they score. The interesting things is

that the Swedish players take more penalties than any other team. The

Canadians, if they can work into the powerplay they have a chance but if

they open the door to the Swedes that will go a long way to measuring

the outcome of the 60 minutes. Erik Karlsson is outstanding. We are in

the middle of a TV time out here which allows them to repair the ice.

That is Daniel Alfredsson, one of the veterans on this team. He is now

in his 40s. Back in 1994 he was playing his first year of pro hockey

back in Sweden. He said he was watching on the television and he

loved the way that Sweden won on penalty shots at Lily hammer.

Jay Bouwmeester Moines man -- wines one up. He has a beautiful shot. He

is such a big man that when he leans on one it zips off the stake. He has

got better as the tournament goes on and Mike Babcock has gone the door

to him. He played for that all decisive goal against the Americans

in the final -- semifinal. He skates well and shoots well and made a

great play. Everybody expected a shot. Here is Patrice Bergeron. He