Day 2, Part 1 - 6.00am to 9.00am Winter Olympics

Good morning. Early start for you on a Sunday, isn't it? And we're sure

it'll be well worth it today on this second day of competition here in

Sochi. Today is when the Winter Games' old order crashes head on

with the new, as the dazzling debut sport of snowboard slopestyle shares

the gold medal billing with the perhaps the grandest occasion of

them all - Alpine skiing's men's downhill.

This is one of the busiest days of the Games, with eight gold medals up

for grabs, and you're going to see two of them won before the morning

is out here on BBC Two. So, get the bacon butties on, plenty of coffee.

And if that doesn't wake you up, then this lot will.

Norway's man mountain, big Axel Lund Svindal, is going to to throw off

the mountain today in search of his nation's first ever gold in men's

downhill. But will it be Miller's time? The

USA's Bode Miller wants to cap his five Games Olympic career with the

blue riband title. It's the one that's always got away from him.

But remarkably, it's the gold that's always got away for Canada. Could

Eric Guay be the man to finally put that right this morning?

And after an uber cool debut for snowboard slopestyle yesterday,

Great Britain's Jenny Jones is in the mix in the women's event this

morning. As is Australia's Torah Bright. She's a halfpipe specialist,

but has a crack at snowboarding history this morning. Can she be the

first woman to win multiple Olympic snowboard titles?

So, two events at the opposite event of the Winter Olympic spectrum.

One's been a thrill-ride for only the bravest of the brave. The

other's a young winter upstart that's making heads turn in its

first games. Social media is going absolutely nuts. We are going to see

the women's vent this morning. -- event. Men's downhill live at seven

this morning. Women's snowboard slopestyle semifinal live around

6.30. And yes, you'll see both. And they're taking place virtually side

by side, up in the Caucauses, in the same valley, and also, virtually

side by side up there in the Rhosa Khutor resort. Ed Leigh's at Extreme

Park and Graham Bell's at the bottom of the downhill course at the Alpine

centre. You can virtually see one another's courses. Graham, we will

start with you. Graham first, I don't think we've seen a downhill

course with such risk potential since the Nagano games, when Hermann

Maier and a bunch of others went careering off it.What makes this one

so tough? It is very steep at the top. Very

technical. Lots of terrain, which saps the energy of the legs. When

you come past the mid-station and go off the trunk -- trampoline, they

have used the water injection bar. It is like an ice rink. Very

difficult conditions. That is what makes this course is so tough.

Yesterday I described downhill as the grandad and slopestyle as the

truculent teenager. I can actually see the finish of the slopestyle

quite clearly from here. Good morning, Ed. What a fantastic debut

for Eurosport yesterday -- for a slopestyle yesterday. What has been

the reaction there? Well, I think a lot of people were overwhelmed. The

riders in slopestyle have not had the benefit of halfpipe. This is

totally new. All of them being bombarded with social media. Lots of

media attention from the mainstream. Family and friends

congratulating them on a fantastic spectacle. It was a love in.

Everybody felt the love yesterday. When you think about the competition

yesterday, what will the women learn about the men yesterday? Our

perspective from the commentary booth was that they were marking

really highly further big jumps. A lot of the riders... The women will

be more cautious. They will build up slowly. I think they have seen that

while there is pressure for a medal, it is the Olympic experience that

counts. I hope that liberates a few of them to lead down the runs they

are capable of Rather than playing it safe. What are the physical

qualities of some of these writers? They may it look so fantastically

easy in the air. What needs to be strongest? Where do they have to

work on and off the snow? You have hit the two big ones. You need

overall fitness. But it is more explosive power. It is not so much

about stamina. The take-off, were all of the hard work is done for the

aerial manoeuvres, all comms from course training. It is a mix of

strong legs and strong stomachs. We have got Jenny Jones, we have got

Aimee Fuller in there. Aimee Fuller is superstitious. She is the younger

of the two. I know she sleeps in her competition bid before she competes.

Jenny Jones has been dreaming of a debut in the Olympics for a long

time. Our best days behind her? -- are her best days behind her? It is

a difficult one. Jenny will forgive me. She is in snowboard slopestyle

terms nearing Jurassic. 33 is very old. But she has worked so hard over

the last two years. She has made this her goal to write here. I did a

core strength warm up with her back in September. It was just a warm up

for 15 minutes. It was ridiculous. I was nowhere near close to keeping up

with her. She is fit. Her big obstacle to raise confidence. If she

can overcome that, this could be her day. She will possibly be in the top

five. Right now it is slightly overcast. Her experience really

comes to the fore when experience -- conditions are not perfect. Some who

prefer sunny conditions may struggle. Jenny's muscle memory is

going to help under slightly diminished conditions. That is one

slight advantage. We are going to let you prepare. Enjoy it. We will

keep our fingers crossed for Jenny and four Aimee Fuller. Jenny has

been on the scene for such a long time. She is three times a former --

and X Games gold medallist. The woman stood behind me in the

yellow jacket is Jenny Jones. For the last ten years she has dominated

slopestyle snowboarding. Her discipline is not part of the Winter

Olympics. But that changes in Sochi. This is one of the qualifying events

and she is currently in first place. Jenny eventually finished second at

the event in New Zealand, behind American Jamie Anderson, one of the

favourites for gold. That result all but secured her place in the British

Olympic team. Afterwards, I took for lunch. Being in the New Zealand back

country, it took some time to get there. No one really knows who you

are on a mainstream level the way that people know who Eddie Edwards

is. I am not comparing you! I don't know if I mind that. These days when

you look at people more well known in sport, I feel like they get a

hard time sometimes. I don't know how much I mind that. Do you find

that now you are an Olympian, people's ideas of what you do have

changed. --? Matt Frei think my parents had that blip along time ago

when they thought, are you doing well? There were quite upset. They

were like, why is nobody talking about you? You have just won the X

Games. Then it gradually sunk in. Now it is coming to this bit, they

are so involved in it, they can understand. They notice I'm getting

more attention. You made them hide in a bush at the X Games. Are you

going to do the same to them in Sochi? I said to them, do what you

want to do but don't tell me what you are doing and don't let me see

you! I love them to bits. It is nothing to do with them. It is how I

have always operated. Jenny's preparations stumbled when she

suffered concussion in December. She has recovered and is back on track

in time for the games. In your mind, are you letting yourself visualise

the Olympics? No. One event at a time. Just trying really hard to

remember why I like snowboarding. It is enjoying the tricks. If I am

still doing that, then I am still wanting to show off those new tricks

in a way and I still want to compete. It feels like you have got

so many barriers up now to protect yourself and keep yourself in the

right space. Whether it happens or not, at the end of the journey you

can say you have done your best? There is always stuff you don't see

on the day. I kept enjoying myself as much as I could, I did the physio

etc. If it doesn't come off on the day, I am still going to look back

at my career as well and be like, there are so many things I did

achieve that I am proud of. You have your feet firmly planted on the

ground. You don't leave the mountain thinking, I am Jenny Jones, Olympian

snowboarder. You can't do that! We wish Jenny all the best. And of

course Aimee Fuller. They will be going in the semifinals in 15

minutes. We are turning our attention to the event at seven

o'clock in the company of one of Britain's longest serving Olympians.

Emma Carrick-Anderson. Cracked the top ten, remember very well, in

1992. Great to see you. This is the day that gets the juices flowing?

This is good to be so exciting. It is a fantastic downhill. It is going

to be a great day. In terms of what you have seen, you have been sliding

on that course with Graham Bell, it is a brute? An absolute brute. You

have got to be to buy them -- toboggan at the start. It is going

to be amazing. I remember the mornings of Graham's course run from

Ski Sunday. It was always a bit heart in mouth. We all heaved a big

sigh of relief when he got down the bottom. You try doing this with a

handy cam and no ski poles. This is one of his best works. Check this

out. Just looking out at the start gate

is intimidating. Let's have a look at it. Pushing out hard, it is

already quite rough and bumpy. This is called the toboggan. You

have to come out high at this turn for the steepest and fastest part of

the course. We are diving down the valley now. Good speed down here.

46%. A little bit wide. Headed towards the big plan, these

big sweeping turns. Lots of terrain. Wow. That is an insane start to the

men's downhill. Now you have got the toughest part of the course coming

up. Over the Russian trampoline, massive flight. It is really icy.

Really bumpy. It is going to be hard on the ski. Onto the section called

big pan. Eight sweeping terms with lots of rollers, lots of Touraine.

They have used the water injection bar. It makes it really rough and

bumpy and I see. Just run wide on that turn. So easy. -- it is so icy.

My legs are burning. I still have the two biggest jumps on the course

come. First is right over their. See how rough and bumpy the snow is. It

does not give you a chance to relax. Site of the finish. Plucking towards

the line. -- tucking. That is one of the most testing downhill courses I

have ever skied. That is tough. I have seen him do a lot of these. I

would detect from that, very rarely has he been nervous. You were

nervous, weren't you? Definitely nervous at the start. This course is

particularly nerve wracking. One person 's reaction was, I am never

going to let my sons do downhill skiing. I made a mistake as I went

down the valley, it is 46 degrees not 46%. It is 103 degrees. It is

steeper snow. I was doing about 70mph. If we are campaigning degrees

of difficulty, how does it compare to some of the toughest courses? It

is up there with one of the toughest downhill courses that these racers

have skied this season, Borneo, Kitzbuhel. I think this course is

probably tougher than Kitzbuhel. It is certainly up there. It is as

difficult as I have skied that I can think of. I go back a long way! We

will not go into that. We talked about Emma having three boys. You

would not let them do it? I made a mental note they would never have a

pair of downhill skis. Use liked. -- you slipped. They want to make it

fair for everybody so they always water it. There might have watered

the middle bit, almost too much. It is flatter but it is so icy, it is

like an ice rink on its side. You are trying to get an edge and it is

extremely bumpy. You have also come of the biggest jump. Street into a

big right-hander and it is sheet ice. It is not as long as two

minutes 30, but in terms of the effort required, will it feel like

that? It will be physically and mentally exhausting. They have to

focus 110%. Their legs will be screaming by halfway down. I wonder

if it is the course for risk-takers. There is no one better than body

Miller, the man who has been fastest in two of the three training runs.

He has been out because of a training injury.

He is not conventional. Five Olympic medals. His results have been far

from standard. He is an gold medal position in the campaign. He grew up

in New Hampshire, from home-school to a scholarship at the main ski

racing Academy. His style has never been orthodox. He is never going to

finish on one ski! For years the US ski team was not for him. He has

never told the line and he has not always loved up to expectations.

That is three out of the Mack disappointments. He is not a poster

boy. After ten years of racing he was expected to fade away, injury

and life took its toll. His brother died as a result of the motorcycle

accident. For the party animal, marriage was not foreseen. She is

area lead a fickle women in a lot of ways but she is amazing -- he really

difficult woman. A fifth Olympics was not expected, but Miller follows

his own mindful is. He has had a lot to deal with in his

skiing life and his personal life. When we talk about Miller, is he the

man to beat? Showing fantastic form on the course. He has shown great

form in the training runs. He loves it when it is rough and bumpy, the

more dangerous the better he skis. Kitzbuhel was a great example. The

first course inspection, how do you like this? This is proper downhill.

Then he said some choice words I cannot repeat. In Kitzbuhel he made

a mistake and he did not win the race. He was on the podium in third

place. The most disappointed I have seen him on a podium. As long as he

can put a clean run down error free I think he is the favourite to win.

He said some interesting things, talking about if you are not totally

focused this course can kill you. He looked a little shaken when his

team-mate is get a serious crash. Do things like that breed self-doubt?

Can you top yourself into being scared? The way he looks at it is

that when it gets tough everybody else gets hurt and therefore you do

better. If everyone else is scared you are going to do better --

everybody else gets scared. The harder you can make it, the better I

am going to ski. As long as he stays clean and does not make any big

mistakes, he could be in first place. The trouble is he takes so

many risks and he skis on the edge all the time. He does not let off.

He will go to 100% from top to bottom which makes him so exciting

to watch. That is why we have loved watching him over the last ten years

or so. Aksel Lund Svindal is not really in the same league when it

comes to taking risks but he has had a lot of rewards in his time. He has

been most consistent in the downhill all season and he is trying to win

this for the first time for the Norwegians who have never won this

title. Do you feel you are turning into a

true downhill skier? There are no true all-rounders that do every

eventful for the last couple of years I have been doing race after

race on the podium. I would rather have that going than be fifth. The

top when we were there a couple of years ago was released deep and it

was narrow but they have changed that because it did not time notes

to be great -- really steep. Possibly the biggest jump we have

had. It is flat and then it drops away. You are going straight out and

then you go straight and you start falling, it is almost scary. The

challenges it can get warm and it can get soft and that is when it

slows down. You have to be prepared. Looking back at Vancouver you came

away with a full house, but that did not make you the most successful

Norwegian athlete. Do you feel like a second-class citizen when you go

to Norway? There are some sports while Norway is by far the

dominant, I do not care about that. I am happy for them and I am happy

for the nation. As an alpine skier if you get three gold medals at an

Olympic Games that is world history. It is hard to compare from sport to

spot so better not. If you go into Sochi as favourite, who will win? It

has been a while. 1988. It does not matter. What has happened has

happened. It is all about what is going to happen. You have to be

prepared for anything. What comes comes. Could it be axed ill lunch

then dial's day? They have never won this. They have incredible skiers

but it is the one that has eluded them. He is not a risk taker, he is

a very good technical skier, he is a good glider and I think Miller might

have theirs. Who else might it be? My money is on Matthias Mayer. He

won the second training run. He is one to watch. His father won an

Olympic medal in 1988. They would love that because the Austrian men

did not win a single gold last time round. Not a single medal. Almost

unheard of in the Austrian team. Plenty more to see, we are sharing

the billing with the women's snowboard slopestyle. It is the

semi-finals with Aimee Fuller and Jenny Jones getting geared up. There

are the live pictures from the X-treme Park.

The course is bathing in gentle sunlight. It is a big morning for

the women. Good morning. A big day. Finals, medals. We saw in the men's

that literally anything can happen. All of these riders will have

watched their male counterparts if the dead -- yesterday. How much

camaraderie that was well have said those ladies -- there was will have

set those ladies three a little bit. Some of the riders dropped

their runs. It just goes to show the pressure of the Olympics.

Qualifying, semi-finals, the standard was ridiculous, landing

everything, it was like a computer game. Suddenly in the finals people

were dropping tracks. Max Parrott, one of the most consistent, went

down, not on an easy trick, but something he has done very

consistently. Also Mark McMorris. I do not think the pressure will

bypass the girls. Hopefully they can rise to it. Ty Walker got a one for

riding through the course. At the team captains meeting, she injured

herself in practice. They said, will she starred if you just rides

through the course to secure her place in the semifinals. She has got

a bruised heel and she has injected with cortisone. She will do her best

to write. First into these jumps this morning. It is a little bit

flat. The girls will take a lot of confidence out of these blue lines.

They will have their goggles with low light lenses. This is a great

run. What a run. A really, really nice start from the young American

after such a disappointing qualifiers where she was not

prepared to get airborne with the bruised heel. She has now manage the

lovely backside 720. She missed the grab. Look at that! Really strong

hamstrings. Look how stoked she is. That is awesome. She cannot believe

it. She is a bit of an unknown quantity. She comes out of Colorado.

Famous for the snow park. The peak eight. She is a classic product of

that terrain park. This is the angle I really like. You get good

prospective of how fast they are travelling. Very few of the women

opting for that smaller side. Shelly Gotlieb from New Zealand. One of the

older riders. A lovely run through the skinny

double kink rail. A lovely locked in front board on the down box. Yes, a

regular rider coming out of New Zealand. Backwards into the first

jump. Lovely Switch 540. Didn't quite get the grab. A big

backflip! And she has held onto it. That is the run Shelly Gotlieb

wanted to put down. I think that is a finals standard score. At 33 years

of age you have got to say she is one of the veterans in this event.

Especially in slopestyle. We are going to ignore social convention

here. Jenny Jones is 33 as well. These women are so experienced. And

I think I'm a day like today it is not as perfect as conditions were

yesterday. We have got the blue lines on the landing. Good

definition. But it plays in your mind. Yes, and the muscle memory the

older girls have... The mist grab cost there. It is all about clean

and precise and precision. That doesn't even make sense! Next in,

Cheryl Maas. We have lost Marika Annie as well. -- Merika Enne. She

shook hands in frustration there. Super nice! Beautiful frontside 360.

She just over Cook said. She leaves it in the than just a fraction too

long. She is annoyed with herself. Rightly so. That is a trick she can

do in her sleep. She slipped off the down rail a little bit too early.

She is a bit of a rail technician. She is a product of the indoor

slopes in the Netherlands. It is a big slope. A style masterclass from

Cheryl Maas. Get the front foot higher than the back foot. She

overcook sits lightly. She is suffering from the same condition

that affected Maxence Parrot and Sebastien Toutant yesterday. Hair

Olympic slopestyle fate hanging in the balance of her second run. The

British coaches. She is saying sorry for waking everybody up at home!

Nice gap to the down rail. Onto the box. Clean through those first two

elements. Switching to the first kick. The cab under Flip was really

nice. Really solid landing. So close! She said to me yesterday that

she was just going to go for the double backflip. Well, if you want

to mix it in the finals, you have got to do the big tricks. And the

double backflip is a big trick. Is it going to be a frontside 360? I

would say 720. That is what she said. It is her first Olympics. We

will see her in the next Olympics without a doubt. She is just

enjoying it, and rightly so. And Nan and grandad are here. How radical is

that? Smack --! Put yourself in that position. You were dropping ten

metres onto an icy landing and you're just starting to commit your

second backflip. She got massive applause from all of the crowd. The

Russians appreciating that. Aimee Fuller currently in third. Silje

Norendal is the form rider coming into this. She won the last major

event for women in Colorado. Oh, no. Silje Norendal, you have got to

say... She has maintained her speed. She has just not settle. She was not

settled in qualifying. And she has not managed to shake out the nerves,

seemingly, in the semifinals. Yes, she crashed on the backside 540.

That really damaged. The Norwegian Scots star less sandbagged into the

medals position. -- Staale Sandbech. She got a gold medal in X

Games a couple of weeks ago. She beat all of these girls here. She

knows she can do it. The only difference is that the jobs here are

bitter. They are all on a par with the last jump at X Games, I think.

So, the Norwegians, again, we looked at these -- this field and we knew

the semifinals were stacked. We have seen two of the big names you would

expect to see in the top four, Cheryl Maas and Silje Norendal,

struggling to put a decent score down. Only Ty Walker and Shelly

Gotlieb with clean runs so far. Life back to the top. Sina Candrian,

Switzerland. Taking the same line as Aimee Fuller

stop a very simple line through the second element. But solid. That

enables them to keep their speed into the big jumps. Beautiful

frontside 360. She styled the rotation all the way through.

Backside 360. I wonder if CNET Candian has just thought, I am

really taking this one. -- Sina Candrian. The frontside 720 there

was absolutely perfect. We talk about perfection. What the judges

are looking for on these spins, you have got to get your protractor out.

The girls have got to do a full rotation. The board has got to land

going absolutely straight down the slope. That will get the juices of

the execution judges flowing. This is good. She has only done 90

degrees of the rotation but she leaves the board behind. She put it

down nice and straight. That was the frontside seven. She will be able to

upgrade to business class on the way home with those air miles. That is

great from the Swiss girl. A clear sign that if you take it easy, just

put a rundown, the basic tricks to down through the first two, let it

go on the third. Jessika Jenson from the United States. How good would it

be to get a woman's one and two. This skill from Idaho has got a lot

to do. She has got semifinals to get through first. The Americans have

got the luxury. Having Jamie Anderson, easily the world's best

slopestyle River, they can use the other couple of spots they have got

to really kind of blood new young talent and give them Olympic

experience. A great run over the jumps. Well held. She held onto

that. The heel edge on the top of that would have been disasters. A

good score. A good score will not Aimee Fuller out of the top three. I

don't think she will be expecting to stay there. We are running in

reverse order from the qualification scores. Jessika Jenson smack bang in

the middle of the pack. We have got 15 riders of winning. She nearly put

that into the front seat. There were a few mistakes out -- in there if we

are picking hairs. Splitting hairs. That as well! That will do. Second

place for Jessika Jenson. Six riders still to go. They all scored higher

in the qualifiers. Stefi Luxton. It remains to be seen whether her

countrywoman, Christy Prior, has recovered from her slamming

training. -- slam in training. Going through the down rail kink. Quite a

strong showing from the New Zealand girls. Really strong. They have

developed a really strong freestyle programme. It was almost like she

did not have forward lean. It shows how I say this course is. -- icy.

You have little or no control when it is icy. She is going to need her

second run. Probably as good a time as any to dive old what we know

about Jenny Jones and her family. She is incredibly nervous about

having anyone watching her. I have filmed her a number of times and if

you put a camera in her face she does not like it. She likes to stay

as anonymous as possible. She does realise this is the Olympics,

doesn't she? I think she does. After she won her first gold medal, she

went to the second Games and her mum and dad wanted to go and watch her

but she asked them to watch from the hotel. They hid and revealed

themselves at the right moment. As long as everyone promises not to

tell her, I can reveal that they are hiding in the stands today. Please

do not tell her! They do not have to shabby a park in Canada. That was

not really how she wanted to is art, sliding off the first. Nice style.

Coming in for words. -- forwards. She is OK. She was so lucky. Look at

the look on her face. She has literally treated death. She fell on

a training run at the World Cup and suffered a dislocated and fractured

wrist. She has no gloves on. I wonder if her parents now. I love no

gloves. That is the equivalent of putting your head inside a lion's

mouth. You just cheated death. There goes one of your lives. After

dislocating and braking a wrist, her natural instinct will be not to put

her hand down. That was insane! I almost swallowed my heart. Rebecca

Torr, another Kiwi. The front board just slipping off a little early.

Backside 180 off the canon. A wobble on the way in. Crazy warble. Her

stands looks a little bit wide. She did not look in control at any

stage. Disappointing for heart. -- for her. There are four of the

brothers. Jackson did not make it, but the other three brothers are

here. I was speculating last night that after the sisters got gold and

silver, the brothers might be speaking to them about how to get

three siblings on the podium. Those lines we were talking about

yesterday, they will help them to spot the landings. It almost looks

like a powder turn. That is no powder anywhere near those I -- I

icy landings. Sarka Pancochova was close. If she can tidy up her run,

she will get a top ten finish. 50-50 180. Frontside 180. A lot of speed

into the first jump. She used the canon jump in her qualifiers. She is

going really steady. Putting out a marker score. Lovely. She sat on top

of that. She got that he'll wrap using the back and to grab the

board. That was a good run and going big which we saw the judges

rewarding the men for. They rewarded the more technical grabs. If you're

going to grab between your feet, you have to put a bit of style into

that. Straightening the front leg. Get the tail grab. It is a bit of a

stretch for heart. She is in the final. A difficult grab and plenty

on those jumps. Next is Jenny Jones. She learnt on the dry slopes, she

found it very natural as a gymnast. She is competing for a place in the

finals at the Olympics slopestyle. 23 years of age, she is Britain's

most successful snowboarder ever. A little bit sketchy, but she tidied

that up. It is looking very icy for the girls. These 60. This is good.

She holds onto that, that was massive! That was as big as we saw

any of the men go yesterday. That is coming on switch. One of the harder

tricks you will see from the girls. We know that Jenny is very

calculated. She has that beautiful 540. Then the two 360s. Here is the

frontside 360. That was huge. How she stole that at these 60 --

stalled at 360, that was experience. She opened her shoulders out,

enjoying the score. She goes into third place. That is the end of the

first run of the semi-finals. The second run will be coming up

live on the red button. We have other business in the same part of

the mountain because if you have set your alarm for the men's downhill

you are just in time. here it comes. This could be

crucial. The conditions are not really going to change that much but

some of the guys have chosen later numbers, perhaps hoping that it will

chop up a fraction. The best 15 have been allowed to pick a number

anywhere between eight and 22. Matthias Mayer is that number 11.

Bode Miller has chosen 15. The defending champion has opted for a

much later start. He is 27. That is an interesting choice. Perhaps he

just wants to keep things interesting right to the end. He is

one for the big events. He has not been super-strong but a win a few

weeks ago was outstanding. We are hoping it could be an outstanding

race. The memories of the course are imprinted on their minds. Who will

be next to claim the gold? It is downhill day. It is long,

tough, hard, icy, demanding. The toughest course these athletes have

faced this season. We hear that the competition is delayed. I do not

know why that is. The weather should not be a factor. The man in charge

of it all is actually retiring at the end of this season. I cannot see

any fog or clouds. I cannot see any reason for us to have a delay. We

are just looking for information as to why we have got a delayed start.

Rescheduled to 11:15am. It has been put back 15 minutes. I cannot see a

reason why. Unless there has been an incident with one of the four

runners. -- four runners. It might just be that their late

getting going. They have not been particularly punctual in the

training runs either. Just making sure that everything is clear that

the blue line is down by the side of the course. You do not really want

to be starting 15 minutes late. No, especially with everything else

competing for attention. The slopestyle over the valley. That has

achieved a lot of attention. We need to get cracking. I can confirm they

are now saying that the men's downhill start is rescheduled to

11:15am. Another 15 minutes to wait. No reason given. Maybe they are

unhappy with the snow conditions on a certain part of the course and

they want to do some work. And maybe there has been a delay. We did have

a static shot before we came on air of a stationary gondola. It could be

that one of the lifts bringing the racers to the top of the course has

broken down. I am looking up the mountain to see if I can see any of

the ski lifts. They are working now. Ten minutes ago there was a nice

shot of a stationary gondola. We assume some of the racers have been

held up on their way to the top of the course. They will not be

particularly happy. OK, while we wait for the unexplained delay to

expire and for the race to get under way, will head back to the studio.

That is the first surprise. Not underway for another 15 minutes.

There have been very many surprises in this event over the years. Let's

remind you of one or two of them. Who might come out of the blue this

time liked idiot far goal last time? There is a lump sum of the men to

watch. -- like some of the men to watch.

Downhill is the blue riband event. There is no Usain Bolt. The last

time a favourite won the downhill was 1988. One man hoping to change

all that is Aksel Lund Svindal al. -- Aksel Lund Svindal. Standing in

his way will be a strong North American challenge, led by the

maverick American Bode Miller. The results of the Canadian, Erik Guay.

The Canadians didn't win a medal four years ago on home snow and Erik

Guay will be looking to rectify that. You cannot rule out the Alpine

nations. The Austrians normally so strong are in trouble. They have

lost their leading skier, Hannes Reichelt. They are having to look to

youngsters like Max Franz and Matias Meyer. The Swiss are in the

ascendancy. Their Olympic champion is back on form. And they have a new

start. Patrick Young. -- Patrick Wang.

Never write off the French. They have produced surprise winners in

the past. One thing is for sure, this may be the blue riband event

but picking a winner is almost as tough as the course itself.

It is extremely difficult to predict the winner. That is why we love it.

Your favourite memory of men's downhill? I think it was four years

ago. Didier Defago. Four years before that. They are all

brilliant, aren't they? It is such an exciting event. Every win is so

special. We here it is a gondola problem. The transportation to the

top of the mountain has slowed them up. That is the last thing these

guys need? Yes it is. You have your race morning planned out in your

head. A delay like that can really play havoc. These guys are so

experienced. They will manage the time well but it is an extra 15

minutes you don't want. We're talking about some of the on --

nonobvious candidates. For you, if there is an ace in the pack that we

may not have perhaps considered, who would it be? Matias Meyer. Very

strong. Peter Fill, very strong. Carlo Janka. As Bode Miller said,

this course has got teeth from top to bottom. It is Nally and it is

ready to grab you at any point. It is about who is prepared to put it

on the line. Is not just a question of these men getting to the top of

the mountain and throwing themselves offered. They have been up since the

crack of dawn? Yes, the morning is important. You will get up early. A

slalom skier will go out and do some short sprints. Then you go up, you

have your inspection. They have had now four inspections. They will go

through the course. They are physically slipping the course, the

sheet ice course. They will go through any parts they may have had

training -- problems in. I watched yesterday's training and nobody

skied it perfect line. That is what they will do. They will then go to

the restaurant or take some time-out, maybe chat with friends.

Everybody has a different way of psyching themselves up. Then they

will go to the top. On a day like today they will be stuck in the

gondola. There is only one man in the history of British Alpine skiing

that has gone through this test more often than a certain Graham Bell.

Five times he put himself through this. This is Graham's story.

Ski racing was pretty much my life from ten years old until I retired

when I was 32. It really did run through my entire life and it still

does. The reason why we skied for the first time was we went up to the

Cairngorms, my mum saw the ski lifts. It coincided with moving to

Scotland. I was five and Martin was six. I have come across a man who

used to instil fear into me when I was a child. My first coach will

stop very good to see you again. I remember you when you were a little

boy like that with a snotty nose and so on. Martin was probably the

biggest influence on my ski racing. Having an older brother that was

incredibly talented at skiing made a massive difference to me. I don't

want to be unfair to you, but Martin was technically better than you. I

agree. I don't think he had quite the will to win. You are more, you

wanted to win. It didn't matter how you skied. Being British you run the

risk of being a bit of a laughing stock. The Austrians, the Swiss, you

have got the mountains, how can you be a ski race -- racer? -- you have

got no mountains. The Austrians would have a support team of two

cultures for one athlete. We weren't two or three athletes to one coach.

The years I spent racing from 1982 until 1988, I reckon I probably had

a service man for less than half the time. It was important for us to

learn how to prepare our own skis. I am still doing it now. Any free time

we had was massively busy. When you know that your competitors are

arresting up, you are down in the ski room, filing your ages, waxing

your skis. -- edges. I was pretty punchy as a kid. Whenever there was

a reaction like, you cannot ski race, you are rubbish, it would

always be met with a fairly aggressive response from me. We were

at a massive disadvantage when we started. We were adrift -- just

trying to see if we could make an impression on the World Cup circuit.

It was Martin that got the breakthrough. Martin was my biggest

ally and my biggest rival. My biggest rival in training,

certainly. But my biggest ally in competition. I always figured that

if Martin skied well, then that positive effect would rub off on me.

My way of psyching myself up was to get really, really aggressive before

the start. Scared out of my wits have the time. But you could turn

that fear into anger and aggression and think of all the times that

anybody has ever put you down and said that British people cannot ski

race. That just drives the flames of aggression. You put your sticks up

and you are ready to go. Nobody is going to stop you.

And the snotty nosed kid grew up to be a five-time Olympian. Now in the

commentary box with Matt Chilton. Obviously Graham, when faced with a

15 minute delay like that, how would you have coped with that? You just

put your mental preparation is on hold because you are trying to be in

the ride is only going to the start gate. Downhill racers are used to

this. If it is not the weather holding them up, it is a racer

crashing in front of them. The worst situation is when you pull into the

start gate and you are about to go and the start referee will shout,

start, stop. That effectively means somebody has crashed in front of

you. The way they run these races, there is a small window of stopping

you before you go out of the start gate. That is why they have a yellow

flag system. You are very keen to not go out if you are stopped. You

have basically got to must come back down and build yourself back up

mentally. If they know the length of time they have to deal with, which

they do, they will just reset their preparations. They will get ready to

go. I well remember from my Ski Sunday day is going up to the top

and watching these men putting themselves through the mental

preparations, going into a zone, remembering the course, going

through the course in their memories. That will be put to very

good use now as we see the first racer in the gate. Second time

lucky, guys. It is all yours. It is time for the downhill racers

to do battle with this mighty Russian bear of a mountain. It is

ready to show its claws and its teeth at every turn. The 2014 men's

Olympic downhill. Steven Nyman opens the show. Straight down to work. It

is tough from the very start. Steven Nyman is a massive man. Technically

perhaps not the best, but he has this size and the strength to carry

this course. Overcast conditions today, which means that visibility

is poor. Much poorer than it was for the training runs. As he came round,

and went into the compression turn, he let his hip run out, he did not

keep Moline going and that sent him almost onto one ski. A little bit

tentative on the Traverse. He can judge and anticipate the changes in

terrain. The next major obstacle is the Bear's Brow. A little mistake

landing off Bear's Brow. A little bumpy. That is where his team-mates

had the problem in training. He has had a bit of a shocker here.

Visibility is getting a little bit better. That is more than three

seconds slower than Bode Miller's quickest time in training. No medals

today for Steven Nyman. He was lucky to stay on his feet. Two or three

big mistakes on that run and that is where the time slipped away. I think

he knows that will not be good enough. Jan Hudec's family escaped

from Czechoslovakia and went to Italy and West Germany and settled

in Canada and here he is 30 years on racing in the Olympic downhill on

Russian snow. He has had problems with his back all season. I would

expect him to be ahead of Steven Nyman unless he makes any mistakes.

No problems for Jan Hudec. His arms are high, his body is open, the

advantage is just over half a second. OK so far. It was that

roller that got out Steven Nyman before him. Skiing for first

position but with visibility improving all the time I do not

think it will be good enough for a medal. Barely able to muster the

strength to bring himself to a stop. The best Canadian chance possibly

comes from Erik Guay. Carlo Janka made a mistake. He won a gold medal

four years ago for Switzerland in giant slalom and since then he has

been foully anonymous but shown a few stains of return -- been fairly

anonymous but shown it a few signs of return. He has shown signs that

he is coming back into form and he is lucky that he has drawn a number

in the top seven because these guys are in the second 15 of the world

ranking list. He is lucky to start early. He could pull out a

QuickTime. He is faster than Jan Hudec so far. He just holds onto the

landing. That was close to being a nightmare. He just stayed on his

feet. It is a fine line between letting this these run -- letting

the skis run and taking a longer line. He did not cut the speed. He

will ski into gold medal position. Carlo Janka leads the way for

Switzerland. That would have put him second fastest to Bode Miller in the

training run. He got stuck between his skis. We saw that invite groover

with the woman four years ago that might in -- in Vancouver four years

ago with the women. Carlo Janka leads the way for Switzerland. Let

us see how the Spaniard gets on, Ferran Terra. He has done will be at

the top. The Spanish are good technical skiers so I expect him to

do well on the first part of the course. It is this section here, he

did not set the rotation, rotational separation he needed in that turn.

He has not had a good midsection. He is fighting for grip. He is off

balance. Dangerously. Two more jumps to negotiate. That was massive. He

was winding down the window with his left arm all the way. The lead is

the reservoir for the snowmaking facilities. He has to negotiate the

final date downright gate -- the final gate. A few shaky moments. The

noise level is rising because the only Russian in the race, Alexander

Glebov, is about to run. He wants to take this on this morning. A good

addresses start. The reason why you hit the gate is you want to ski the

shortest line possible down the mountain. It is not just about being

fast, if you ski a short line your time will be quicker. This is the

section work Carlo Janka was very good. If you rotate into the turn,

your hip all run out over your ski and cause your ski to skid and not

carve. He is courageous in his approach but he lacks the experience

and calibre of the finest and oldest of the downhill skiers. Miller and

Svindal in the 30s -- their 30s. He is the only Russian in the race and

he has done well. With this training facility they have got the Russians

could start to produce some alpine skiers. They did have some downhill

skiers in the 80s they were getting results. It shows how warm you get

on the downhill course. You can stand there for about five minutes

just wearing your thermal layer underneath. Benjamin Thomsen away

for Canada. He skied really will two years ago but last season he had a

Willie poor year -- really poor. He really had a great run in Kitzbuhel

to get to the Olympics. Not a bad drop section, a little late, he is

struggling to hold his line. This section where it is water injected

and icy, if you make any mistakes, because the gradient is not as

steep, the time will slip away from you. A sudden change of direction,

mid-flight, as he adjusted his skis for the landing. Getting bounced

around by the Olympic downhill course. His speed is 134kph. He is

certainly going for it. That puts Benjamin Thomsen into silver medal

position for the moment. He picked up on Carlo Janka. He got wide on

the line. Two years ago when they ran the test event that was where

the race was won and lost and it is going to be the same today. Travis

Ganong said yesterday he hoped that number seven would be a lucky number

for him. I am not sure about the white suits. It is not what Bode

Miller would have chosen, I do not imagine. He got a huge amount of

height, springing up as if he was taking off from a trampoline. That

is a better turn around the big left-hander. So much pressure. He

has to stay on line. Carlo Janka leading the way for Switzerland.

Benjamin Thomsen in second. Travis Ganong is having a solid run. He is

fully engaged with the course. Good run so far. This! Travis Ganong has

picked up. Showing excellent speed in the middle part of the course. He

will put pressure on Carlo Janka. He is first! Travis Ganong goes into

gold medal position by seven hundredths of a second. Carlo Janka

goes into second and Benjamin Thomsen into third. Excellent run by

Travis Ganong of the USA. It was not aiding -- it was not an error-free

run. It is a question of who can limit the losses and generate the

most speed. Kjetil Jansrud. He took a silver behind Carlo Janka in the

giant slalom. I expect him to be faster through

big pan. To pick up speed. Standing on his right ski, not pressurising

the outside ski. Another mistake over that role. Remember that Travis

Ganong was faster on the bottom third of the course.

Fast across the snow. Stamps on the left ski. Visibility getting better

all the time. You can see a definite shadow across the hill as the sun

starts to shine. Still in touch, still in the hunt for a provisional

first position. Kjetil Jansrud of Norway. He skis into top spot. He

moves into gold medal position for Norway. Kjetil Jansrud made some

mistakes in the big pan section, which will describe -- beside this

race. Not as many mistakes as this man-made, and is the difference. You

have got to look at the line of the bare's bow jump.

Max Franz on his way. The first of the quartet of Austrians. This means

more to the Austrian nation than any other country on earth, the men's

downhill title. The last winner for Austria was Fritz Strobel in 2002.

Hannes Reichelt has been a big loss for the Austrians. Out of the

Olympics. Max Franz is a little bit reckless. He could be a very, very

great skier. But he just has not managed to develop that maturity

yet. He is outside the blue line. That will cost him speed. Kjetil

Jansrud leads for Norway. Travis Ganong second for the USA. Carlo

Janka third. Just turned back slightly there. I cannot see Max

Franz picking up on Kjetil Jansrud. He is nearly a full second off the

pace. Quite tight at the top. Max Franz toxin for the line. He will

not challenge Kjetil Jansrud. He is in fourth position. Three more

chances for the Austrians to come. Werner Heel, the next to go. The

first of the Italians. Mattias Meyer will be the first of the Austrians.

Werner Heel, number ten for Italy. You never know what you are going to

get with him. Let's see how he deals with the first part of the course.

He made a clean start. Lots of movement with the upper body. Will

he be fast on this hill? The Italian downhill team is made up of races --

races from the part of Italy that still speaks Germany. It was part of

Austria prior to the First World War. The Italians are a team apart

from the technical team, made up of Italian speakers. Very good

technical skiers. They have a very strong team. Christof Innerhofer has

the ability to ski very fast. Werner Heel is just under half a second

slower. He has been drifting away from Chatterley answered's time. --

Kjetil Jansrud. Werner Heel spent too much time in

the air there possibly. When you have got a big job like that you

have to weigh up how much you stand up before the jump to absorb it and

how far do you fly, and which one will cost you the most time. Werner

Heel is fifth stop Kjetil Jansrud leads, Travis Ganong is second.

Carlo Janka in bronze medal position at the moment for Switzerland.

Matias Meyer, the exciting young Austrian, is next to go. He set the

fastest time in Friday's training run. -- Mattias Maher. Number 11. He

pushes and skates out of the start. A little bit wide in the line and

had to set the edges hard. He is a great technical skier. I would say

he has probably got the best chance