Day 3, Part 1 - 5.00am to 9.00am

:00:40. > :00:51.Good morning. Our hosts Russia have their first

:00:52. > :00:59.gold. Great Britain has its first medal ever on snow, courtesy of

:01:00. > :01:06.Jenny Jones. All is right with the world at least for those two Olympic

:01:07. > :01:12.nations. Restart to the sound of the bagpipes behind me which means only

:01:13. > :01:17.one thing, we are in the smallest of the coastal cluster venues in Sochi.

:01:18. > :01:23.Which could provide Great Britain with two of its greatest gold medal

:01:24. > :01:27.winning chances. Because, on this, day three of the Games, step right

:01:28. > :01:32.up, hurry, hurry, hurry! We're off and rolling in the Roaring Game.

:01:33. > :01:39.The simple beauty of summer on the waters of a Scottish loch. When

:01:40. > :01:50.winter turns water to frosted glass. Beauty comes with a sound

:01:51. > :02:01.track of silence. Out of this silence, this ice, a sport. The

:02:02. > :02:08.harsh broken by the rumble of granite. Like a child of the

:02:09. > :02:20.wilderness, the roaring sport is heard, and then slipped away. Half a

:02:21. > :02:26.century in the Olympic wilderness. But it returned with its soundtrack

:02:27. > :02:35.of silence, the soft sound of granite, the sweeping frenzy of the

:02:36. > :02:51.stone, the crack of precision. Curling. The sport of the silence

:02:52. > :02:54.beautifully broken. Alongside me in the Ice Cube is

:02:55. > :03:00.Jackie Lockhart, a former world champion winning captain, or skip,

:03:01. > :03:07.as they call it curling. And twice an Olympian in Nagano and Vancouver.

:03:08. > :03:13.Great to hear the bagpipes. How do you rate this venue in terms of

:03:14. > :03:16.Olympic chances and the venue itself.

:03:17. > :03:21.This is one of the smallest venues but it feels very comfortable. The

:03:22. > :03:24.audience is a little bit of the playing field which doesn't make it

:03:25. > :03:32.claustrophobic for the teams. It feels open.

:03:33. > :03:35.We start with the men's event. David Murdoch is the skipper of the

:03:36. > :03:43.British team. It is seldom Britain comes into an Olympics Games as gold

:03:44. > :03:47.medal favourite, but we have that with Eve Muirhead. How confident

:03:48. > :03:56.should he feel? She has put a lot of hard work in in

:03:57. > :04:02.preparation to get here. They have lots of medals behind them, current

:04:03. > :04:04.world champions, silver medal in the European Championships. She needs to

:04:05. > :04:12.realise this is another competition, and it could be

:04:13. > :04:18.excellent at the end. You played in Vancouver. She starts against

:04:19. > :04:23.Sweden, the current European champions. That is about the

:04:24. > :04:29.toughest start she could have. Is that a disadvantage or advantage?

:04:30. > :04:35.The hardest start she will have but the best start. Get that game over

:04:36. > :04:40.and done with in the first game. She will come out firing. Sometimes you

:04:41. > :04:44.can be lackadaisical when you are current world champion. She can't

:04:45. > :04:49.afford to do that. She will be pleased it is Sweden in the first

:04:50. > :04:55.game. That is at 10am your time. A lot of you have set your alarm

:04:56. > :05:01.clocks for 5am, very good effort, by the way! You are ready for Dave

:05:02. > :05:08.Maddock against the Russians. What starts does he have -- David

:05:09. > :05:16.Murdoch. On paper, it should be an easy win

:05:17. > :05:20.for our boys. They have said two of the Russian boys are very good, but

:05:21. > :05:24.the other two, they could get mistakes out of them. It should be

:05:25. > :05:31.an easy win, I hope. This used to be considered the

:05:32. > :05:38.domain of the mature player. What is going on? Some of you are seminaked

:05:39. > :05:43.in calendars! They are making the game sexier, for youngsters to join.

:05:44. > :05:51.It is a young man's game, these athletes are training seven days a

:05:52. > :05:58.week, on the ice, in a gym. It is a professional game now, not a hobby.

:05:59. > :06:02.Jackie's hurrying off to join Steve Cram in the commentary box. As we

:06:03. > :06:05.give you a quick refresher on houses, hacks, stones, sweepers,

:06:06. > :06:19.tee-lines and hammers. Otherwise known as curling.

:06:20. > :06:24.Curling originated in 16th century Scotland and appeared in the very

:06:25. > :06:32.first Winter Olympic Games of 1924. Great Britain won gold. Between 1928

:06:33. > :06:37.and 1994, it was not in the Olympic programme but Britain was thankful

:06:38. > :06:43.for this reintroduction in 1998 as the team won gold four years later.

:06:44. > :06:49.She has done it! You will never seek a better stone under greater

:06:50. > :06:53.pressure. The aim of curling is to get one or more stones close to the

:06:54. > :06:57.centre or the house of your opponents and sweeping is a key

:06:58. > :07:02.part. It affects the distance and direction the stone travels in.

:07:03. > :07:08.There are four players in each team, known as a rink, who curled to

:07:09. > :07:16.stones each end. Only one team can score each end and most at matches

:07:17. > :07:19.are over ten ends. Tactics are crucial in particular, pertaining

:07:20. > :07:27.last stone advantage, known as the hammer.

:07:28. > :07:33.Dave Murdoch and his men. Each team has 75 minutes to deliver eight

:07:34. > :07:36.stones per end, for ten ends. They start against the Russians who are

:07:37. > :07:42.making their Olympic debut. We wish them well and, as we do all the

:07:43. > :07:51.teams at the start of the curling events, in Sochi. So, Dave Murdoch.

:07:52. > :07:56.Greg Drummond. Michael Goodfellow. Scott Andrews. Back to Jackie. And

:07:57. > :08:07.hello to Steve Cram. The curling has just got underway as

:08:08. > :08:19.Hazel said. If you nervous, the Russian team have had lots of

:08:20. > :08:24.Cheers. Michael Goodfellow. This is the skipper of the Russian team and

:08:25. > :08:36.usually playing second. If you are new to curling, probably at this

:08:37. > :08:43.time you are a curling fan! The skip will more often than not playing

:08:44. > :08:47.last. This young man is carrying the hopes of the host country, going

:08:48. > :08:54.second. David Murdoch, the skip for Great Britain. We will talk with

:08:55. > :09:00.Jackie about the British men's team. And the selection. We will see each

:09:01. > :09:05.team, nine times in the round robin condition, ten teams here. The

:09:06. > :09:10.Russian men, just to clarify what Jackie was saying, the difference in

:09:11. > :09:14.class. They are here only because they are the host nation, they would

:09:15. > :09:22.not have qualified normally. It gives you the idea for the

:09:23. > :09:31.expectation for Great Britain. Scott Andrews is playing second for

:09:32. > :09:36.Great Britain. I am sure, for the team, they will be relying on David

:09:37. > :09:42.Murdoch's experience. It is so important they get off to a good

:09:43. > :09:48.start. Just trading stones early on, no guards were put up. Britain won

:09:49. > :09:53.their hammer in the drawer before the beginning. There is a draw

:09:54. > :09:59.before the game gets under way. Murdoch was absolutely perfect. The

:10:00. > :10:05.Russian skip was half a metre out, and indication of his nerves early

:10:06. > :10:08.on. The hammer is important, the last stone played at each end. Ten

:10:09. > :10:26.ends if it goes the whole way. If you see the clock in the

:10:27. > :10:33.background, I will try to give you as much information, forgive us if

:10:34. > :10:38.we repeat ourselves. Each team gets 73 minutes to play the whole match.

:10:39. > :10:43.The clock, like a game of chess, where the clock starts when you are

:10:44. > :10:48.in play. What will tend to happen in the early ends, they will play the

:10:49. > :10:53.shots quickly, but then you will see more discussion around the strategy.

:10:54. > :10:58.We hope that won't be required with Great Britain and it doesn't go all

:10:59. > :11:05.the way. If it does, you will see play slowed down a little bit. Just

:11:06. > :11:14.trading stones in the first end. Greg Drummond, playing third for

:11:15. > :11:23.Great Britain. Just with timing, it has taken two and half minutes from

:11:24. > :11:28.presentation, not bad at all! Jackie, there are a lot of nerves

:11:29. > :11:32.down there. If you were watching the drawer to the button. The poor

:11:33. > :11:42.Russian skipper looked incredibly nervous, he wasn't close. I did see

:11:43. > :11:45.David on the button, a fantastic shot. These Russian boys will be

:11:46. > :12:00.pretty nervous. Home country. There was a fair bit of, what is

:12:01. > :12:05.interesting, on the left, you can hear in the crowd. And curling is a

:12:06. > :12:09.new sport to Russia. The Russian women have done well. The Russian

:12:10. > :12:14.men, not the case. They are literally cheering every stone which

:12:15. > :12:26.comes down. Which is good, we want to create some atmosphere here. As

:12:27. > :12:33.long as they don't start to boo. It is great they seem enthusiastic. A

:12:34. > :12:39.fairly straightforward and, quite nice for the players not to play any

:12:40. > :12:44.difficult shots. There has been a lot of talk about the ice and I will

:12:45. > :12:53.let Jackie elaborate. They have had two days of practice. Two sessions

:12:54. > :13:00.to try to get use -- used to be ice. There are two sheets. Just getting

:13:01. > :13:03.used to the conditions in the arena. The first time they have had a crowd

:13:04. > :13:12.in, which affects conditions as well. Yes, I spoke to the ice then

:13:13. > :13:15.the other day, they have tested the ice out in various situations but

:13:16. > :13:21.were not sure how it would be with crowds in here. It is not full to

:13:22. > :13:27.capacity so I don't think it will affect it too much today. The ice is

:13:28. > :13:31.still pretty green which means it is still very new and not swinging as

:13:32. > :13:38.much as it would do in the later stages of the competition. So, they

:13:39. > :13:43.are hoping, once a few Games have got underway, that the ice

:13:44. > :13:53.conditions will move and we will have, hopefully, some forefeet

:13:54. > :14:03.swings. The vice-skip, he plays fourth. A little bit unusual but in

:14:04. > :14:07.some teams the skip, and in the Swedish women's team, who Great

:14:08. > :14:15.Britain are playing, Eve Muirhead, in the second session, their skip is

:14:16. > :14:18.their lead. Fairly young, and still inexperienced Russian team. Great

:14:19. > :14:28.Britain, with the hammer, the last stone of this end.

:14:29. > :14:34.I will let Jackie elaborate on why it is important to retain the

:14:35. > :14:41.hammer, wait until you can score well. They have traded stones.

:14:42. > :14:45.Getting a feel for the ice. Letting the nerves settled down. No school

:14:46. > :14:52.obviously. It is important when you have the hammer, to wait for your

:14:53. > :14:58.opportunity to score. Very much so. You want to score two or more if you

:14:59. > :15:02.have the hammer and was the opposition only to get one when it

:15:03. > :15:08.is their game. I missed the start of the game because I was with Hazel. I

:15:09. > :15:12.am expecting David and his team to come out aggressive and put pressure

:15:13. > :15:21.on the Russian boys. The game seem simple so far.

:15:22. > :15:28.And at least make the attempt to score two or more. There were no

:15:29. > :15:36.attempts at all to put any cards up from either side and it was a case

:15:37. > :15:42.of settling down. There are probably a few more people on the British

:15:43. > :15:45.contingent. Plenty of family members have come out. The men's and women's

:15:46. > :16:06.teams. We are going to see a different end

:16:07. > :16:17.this time. This is the first centre guard put in place by the Russians.

:16:18. > :16:37.Hopefully write down behind the red Russians stone.

:16:38. > :16:50.When we get the chance we will try to show you where we expect stones

:16:51. > :16:54.to go. He looked a little bit nervous, when people were being

:16:55. > :17:00.introduced. You can tell when people want to get on with it. Your first

:17:01. > :17:05.Olympic Games, these guys have been together with Tom Brewster and his

:17:06. > :17:10.team and they have been two major championships and done well, but the

:17:11. > :17:24.Olympics is something a little bit different when it is your first one.

:17:25. > :17:35.They will be nervous. Once they have done one or two stones they will

:17:36. > :17:58.calm down. A nice story and played by the Russian. David asked for a

:17:59. > :18:05.half weight. The skip will indicate to the team. He set the line that he

:18:06. > :18:22.wanted Michael Goodfellow to come down. Not a bad shot will . Some of

:18:23. > :18:33.the coaches were saying this ice is going to be very weight specific.

:18:34. > :18:48.That was a pretty good shot from Michael. A lot of responsibility for

:18:49. > :18:52.Andrey Drozdov. That was an experiment, the fact that the

:18:53. > :19:08.Russian men were going to qualify, the Russians toyed with the idea

:19:09. > :19:12.nearly four years ago of importing a team and they brought over Canadians

:19:13. > :19:17.with the intention of giving them Russian citizenship because they did

:19:18. > :19:23.not have experienced players. They word here for around six months and

:19:24. > :19:29.they put a team together with a couple of young Russian guys but the

:19:30. > :19:36.citizenship idea, they lost interest overnight almost. Having won the

:19:37. > :19:38.Russian championships they were prepared to represent Russia and

:19:39. > :19:44.build towards the Olympic Games and I think overnight a phone call was

:19:45. > :19:52.made saying, we have changed our minds. That was a strange decision

:19:53. > :19:56.that was made many years ago. I am not sure the Canadians were very

:19:57. > :20:18.comfortable with it. Probably did the right thing by not staying. That

:20:19. > :20:33.just over Carlton curled for the Russians.

:20:34. > :20:55.Scott Andrew 's. Such a team game. Working in harmony. They do not want

:20:56. > :21:13.this one to go behind the tea. It just slipped past. They knew the

:21:14. > :21:18.pace was a little bit heavy. Stone placement in the game is critical

:21:19. > :21:42.and that is why communication is key. Now sweeping on this one. Still

:21:43. > :21:54.a little bit of pace. A touch heavy. It was. We have given ourselves a

:21:55. > :22:00.chance here. The coach. We have talked about different systems and

:22:01. > :22:01.how the British system has evolved than perhaps we can talk more about

:22:02. > :22:44.that. Once we get a break. That is a lovely shot. Sitting right

:22:45. > :22:46.on the T-line. Evgeniy Arkhipov, took part in the Europeans in

:22:47. > :23:06.December. He was just a little bit high on the

:23:07. > :23:20.ice and that has given us area lead nice chance. The only trouble is it

:23:21. > :23:29.is sitting behind the T-line. The guys are discussing if they hit that

:23:30. > :23:32.and roll across. We have to be careful because that leaves all of

:23:33. > :23:56.our yellow stone is behind the T-line.

:23:57. > :24:15.That is a lovely executed shot from Greg. We have the hammer. Shaping up

:24:16. > :24:21.nicely. The Russians have moved around this young team on occasion

:24:22. > :24:26.over the last couple of years and Aleksey Stukalskiy has changed

:24:27. > :24:32.position but he has been given the responsibility of playing last. The

:24:33. > :24:38.guys were thinking that one or two of these youngsters are little bit

:24:39. > :24:41.vulnerable in terms of short making and I think they are still wondering

:24:42. > :24:48.if this is the best place for him to play but they have struggled with

:24:49. > :24:53.who should play last. A lot of pressure on the player who plays

:24:54. > :25:00.last. You have to be a certain type of character to be a skip. You have

:25:01. > :25:03.to get back on it if you have had a bad game. This young guy can pull

:25:04. > :25:42.out the shots. Not a bad! We have the hammer here.

:25:43. > :26:28.It is setting up quite nicely. He should see at least all of that

:26:29. > :26:42.stone. They are going to have to work this really hard. Not looking

:26:43. > :26:52.bad. That is OK. Slightly over curled. You heard him saying, the

:26:53. > :26:59.weight came off that. Critical to sweep as hard as they can. Any later

:27:00. > :27:15.and that would have missed completely. For those who are not

:27:16. > :27:28.aficionados, sweeping helps the stone to hold its line. A little bit

:27:29. > :27:38.of pressure for Aleksey Stukalskiy, taking on the responsibility of

:27:39. > :27:47.playing last for his team. The Russians have brought in a

:27:48. > :27:51.Canadian. Many of these teams have brought in coaches from different

:27:52. > :28:13.parts of the world, particularly Canada. He may have edged this a

:28:14. > :28:21.little bit. What they are looking at, the stone on the left-hand side,

:28:22. > :28:39.if they take that out they would take three. It is close. I think

:28:40. > :28:54.Russia still lie second shot. A bread and butter draw shot to take

:28:55. > :28:55.his two. A little repeat of the draw to the button that he made before

:28:56. > :29:28.the match would be to effect here. This looks pretty good. Having to

:29:29. > :29:41.work a little bit to get it. Well swept. 2-2 to Great Britain. The

:29:42. > :29:45.first score on the board. That is following the script. This is a

:29:46. > :29:53.match the Great Britain men have to win. Russia will win some Games,

:29:54. > :30:04.undoubtedly, but it is so important for the British men to get off to a

:30:05. > :30:08.good start. After two ends, things going to plan. This is the smallest

:30:09. > :30:24.venue. Small but perfectly formed. It has

:30:25. > :30:31.been met with universal approval by the curlers. We were talking to the

:30:32. > :30:36.British team. And quotes from most of the other team have been pretty

:30:37. > :30:43.comp entry about the venue, one or two questions about the ice but, as

:30:44. > :30:46.Jackie was explaining, we are expecting that to improve in the

:30:47. > :30:53.week. The ones who have been most positive, funnily enough,

:30:54. > :30:58.particularly the Canadian men. They are suddenly the favourites for the

:30:59. > :31:01.gold medal in the men's condition. Brad Jacobs is the skip. They are

:31:02. > :31:28.not a shy bunch. The boys just want this to land

:31:29. > :31:35.T-high. A perfect shot from Michael. That will help him to settle. Now we

:31:36. > :31:41.can see the Russians are going to take the game on, they have asked

:31:42. > :31:50.for a corner guard. They want this out turn shot to come off the centre

:31:51. > :31:53.line and sit in the wings, but not in the house, and act as a guard so

:31:54. > :32:08.they can pull some stones behind. You were talking about being

:32:09. > :32:11.aggressive and defensive. The game these days, whether or not it is

:32:12. > :32:19.because of fitness, people in the gym, that fitness helping, less so

:32:20. > :32:25.helping technique, it certainly helps in sweeping. It is a very

:32:26. > :32:30.physical sport in that respect, and maintaining concentration during two

:32:31. > :32:36.and a half hours on the ice. The strategy, are we seeing more

:32:37. > :32:41.aggressive Games? The strategy has changed because they have brought in

:32:42. > :32:48.the free zone rule, any of the stones to the house are not allowed

:32:49. > :32:52.to be removed until after the first four stones have been played. That

:32:53. > :32:58.makes the game more aggressive, there stones left in play. Many

:32:59. > :33:05.years ago, they took a stone in and hit out. The game became way too

:33:06. > :33:21.simple to play. This way, there's a lot more action involved in the

:33:22. > :33:38.game. The Russian lead, he would like to catch this yellow.

:33:39. > :33:55.I was going to mention, you concede the hog line is the line in either

:33:56. > :34:00.direction. Any stone in those placed in there before the T9 which goes in

:34:01. > :34:20.the middle of the house, can't be moved. -- T-line. Scott Andrews. He

:34:21. > :34:28.is from Irvine in Ayrshire. I have been there a few times, the Scottish

:34:29. > :34:35.cross-country championships. He is part of this new team. Tom Brewster

:34:36. > :34:40.was skip. We will talk about selections of squads. The Canadians

:34:41. > :34:44.have a cut-throat system, you go to their chairmanships and the team

:34:45. > :34:49.that wins comes to the Olympics. That's how it used to be for Great

:34:50. > :34:53.Britain. Now it is about finding the best players who work together. It

:34:54. > :34:59.is not everyone's idea of the best way. We have two go to the selection

:35:00. > :35:08.policy because we are representing Great Britain. Generally, it will be

:35:09. > :35:12.four or five Scottish participants you will see there because they have

:35:13. > :35:17.more experience in the game, but it doesn't always, the important thing

:35:18. > :35:21.is that the team gelled together, the dynamics. Technically they can

:35:22. > :35:33.be the best players we have but if they do not gelled together -- gel

:35:34. > :35:42.together. The Canadians, they picked the teams themselves.

:35:43. > :35:47.A nice shot there from Scott. It has opened the game up again. But we

:35:48. > :35:52.still see the Russian red stone at that and these boys will try to come

:35:53. > :36:01.out around, in behind that, and use it as a guard. GFX one:

:36:02. > :36:14.-- use it as a guard. TICKER - TRAIL WOMEN'S CURLING LIVE:

:36:15. > :36:25.it travelled a little too far there. Dave will now be forced to remove

:36:26. > :36:35.the guard because that is the shot which will cause him difficulties as

:36:36. > :36:42.it progresses. Greg Drummond playing 100% so far. It is early doors. That

:36:43. > :36:56.first and was fairly straightforward. Another perfectly

:36:57. > :37:04.executed shot. Greg Drummond was 25 just a few days ago, just before we

:37:05. > :37:07.arrived in Sochi. Like the other three, the other two younger men,

:37:08. > :37:27.his first Olympics. Arkhipov. With a simple hit and

:37:28. > :37:36.life. It is critical that this shot does lie in the house. Giving him

:37:37. > :37:41.the opportunity to score a two. Perfect for Great Britain because we

:37:42. > :37:59.would hit the other out. Working this pretty hard.

:38:00. > :38:10.Many hours working in the gym helps with these power sweeps.

:38:11. > :38:17.There has been a lot of talk about the amount of time people are

:38:18. > :38:21.spending at the gym. Eve Muirhead is one who has talked a lot and has

:38:22. > :38:30.been talked about a lot. The Canadian men's team, if you look on

:38:31. > :38:34.their biographies, they list as their hobbies, weightlifting, in the

:38:35. > :38:39.gym. Probably not the game you might have recognised. 20 years ago, that

:38:40. > :38:43.is not the game we would have recognised. But if you want

:38:44. > :38:48.something you have never had, do something you have never done,

:38:49. > :38:56.weightlifting and the gym is used a lot in the sport now.

:38:57. > :39:02.That was a little bit unfortunate for Greg, they wanted to hit and lie

:39:03. > :39:08.and sit right on the front of the Russian red to make it harder for

:39:09. > :39:18.them to remove. This again should be a simple hit and lie for Arkhipov.

:39:19. > :39:30.They are working that hard. It has held its line well. Yes. They were

:39:31. > :39:35.holding that stored -- stone, to keep it as far away as possible from

:39:36. > :39:39.the other red. Always good to have some distance between the stones,

:39:40. > :39:44.and that can prevent a double takeout.

:39:45. > :40:08.He just indicated he would like the same as Greg, to catch this red

:40:09. > :40:09.stone, and roll across. To be closed to the other red on the opposite

:40:10. > :40:31.side of the rings. That is OK. I'm sure he would have

:40:32. > :40:42.liked to have rolled a little bit across. He has. As you say, it is

:40:43. > :40:49.not just playing the opposition, you are playing the ice and little bit

:40:50. > :40:55.in these early stages. -- a little bit.

:40:56. > :41:01.What about those trousers! The Russian red trousers. I think

:41:02. > :41:08.they have taken a leaf out of the Norwegians's book. We can't wait to

:41:09. > :41:13.see the Norwegians later on. Let us say we are in for a surprise! If you

:41:14. > :41:21.are wondering, in Vancouver, the Norwegian men turned up with red,

:41:22. > :41:25.white and blue patterned, shall we describe them, trousers, which were

:41:26. > :41:30.a little bit unusual to say the least, and caused a stir around the

:41:31. > :41:33.world. It got them some attention and they played very well in

:41:34. > :41:43.Vancouver, they ended up on the rostrum.

:41:44. > :41:54.They did. Just caught it there. A lax shopped there from Stukalskiy.

:41:55. > :41:59.-- lax shot. I watched practice yesterday. It is

:42:00. > :42:05.weight dependent on the four foot lines. If you edge the stone back

:42:06. > :42:16.with a little weight, it will take no cars at all. -- no curl.

:42:17. > :42:19.A good shot from Dave Murdoch could put Stukalskiy under pressure. He

:42:20. > :42:29.has lost any chance of taking too here. -- taking two.

:42:30. > :42:39.It will be interesting to see. All smiles. David wears his heart on his

:42:40. > :42:46.sleeve. You know when he has played a bad shot and when things are going

:42:47. > :42:52.well for him. We should start to worry when Dave

:42:53. > :43:00.stops smiling. This should be a simple hit and roll here for

:43:01. > :43:08.Stukalskiy. He doesn't want to take a one. As I said earlier, the game,

:43:09. > :43:14.these boys want to score at least two or more when they have the

:43:15. > :43:19.hammer. So he will want to hit this stone and roll it up the house and

:43:20. > :43:25.take his hammer, to try for two again.

:43:26. > :43:37.So, the school remains 2-0. The crowd is just starting to build up,

:43:38. > :43:42.looking around. We were wondering how many tickets had been sold. It

:43:43. > :43:48.wasn't easy to get any information from those involved in the venue

:43:49. > :43:55.here. Given it is morning here in Sochi, you can see the lower level

:43:56. > :44:02.of the seating is filling up nicely. Capacity is about 3000, I

:44:03. > :44:07.think. Yes, 3000 arena. I counted the seats last week, I didn't have

:44:08. > :44:11.anything to do! It is a temporary arena, unlike some of the

:44:12. > :44:21.spectacular venues here on the park. This one can be moved

:44:22. > :44:25.somewhere. I was reading that one of the coaches involved with the

:44:26. > :44:33.Russian set up saying they need more rinks, to try to create more teams.

:44:34. > :44:38.The Russian women have had lots of publicity. For all sorts of

:44:39. > :44:40.reasons, on and off the ice. They are getting young men to play but it

:44:41. > :45:07.has not been so easy. Another nice shot there from Mr

:45:08. > :45:13.Goodfellow, that is his bread and butter shot, as we say. A lead. He

:45:14. > :45:20.hasn't always played lead, he is adjusting to it well.

:45:21. > :45:28.When do you settle into the position you play? People often move around

:45:29. > :45:34.as youngsters, you might start as the skip in your own team, the glory

:45:35. > :45:40.decision is to play last. In terms of settling down, is that people

:45:41. > :45:47.watching your game and suggesting you might be better at one thing

:45:48. > :45:55.than another? I think you know yourself. I played the lead and then

:45:56. > :46:01.I moved up to second and then I skipped, I played in all the

:46:02. > :46:07.positions. I probably preferred vice or skip. You know the position you

:46:08. > :46:14.want to play in. It takes a special person to be a skip. You have to be

:46:15. > :46:22.a certain kind of character to carry the weight of the world on your

:46:23. > :46:31.shoulders and take the glory when it is present. These guys have been

:46:32. > :46:38.changed about quite a bit in this Olympic couple of seasons and it has

:46:39. > :46:51.not always been comfortable for them. I think they have found their

:46:52. > :46:56.team at the moment. Unlike the woman, who have three tough matches

:46:57. > :47:07.to begin with, against Sweden, the team they have played in the

:47:08. > :47:14.Europeans and the worlds and Canada. The men have an easier start

:47:15. > :47:17.in the sense that they can get two or three wins on the trot. All of

:47:18. > :47:24.the conjecture that has been around the men's team, maybe some of the

:47:25. > :47:30.chattering that has been going on about whether this is the best team,

:47:31. > :47:35.will die down and all of a sudden everything is all smiles and

:47:36. > :47:41.confidence starts to come through. When you get some wins under your

:47:42. > :47:51.belt people forget what has come before. This should be an ideal

:47:52. > :47:56.start. The boys look like they are playing well at the moment. This

:47:57. > :48:06.could be what they need to lift their confidence. They have not had

:48:07. > :48:11.such a brilliant run up to this game. They knew that and they have

:48:12. > :48:28.put the practice in. You have to play the other nine

:48:29. > :48:33.teams and then hopefully there will be a day of tie-breaks to determine

:48:34. > :48:38.the semi-finals, the winners of which go into the gold medal match

:48:39. > :48:47.and the losers lay the drones medal match -- bronze medal. The British

:48:48. > :48:58.men will have a tough one this evening against Sweden. If Canada

:48:59. > :49:04.are not to win the gold medal, people might look towards the

:49:05. > :49:12.Swedish men. A win here is really important.

:49:13. > :49:17.The Russians putting on another corner guard, they desperately need

:49:18. > :49:42.cover if they are going to get two. Greg playing a hit and roll out.

:49:43. > :49:48.Forcing the Russians to hit one of the yellow stones and either sit in

:49:49. > :49:54.front of one or sit behind the other. Chosen to remove the centre

:49:55. > :50:05.yellow and roll in the head the yellow on the corner.

:50:06. > :50:24.Evgeniy Arkhipov playing third. They are laying off this. That was not a

:50:25. > :50:38.great shot from him. They did appear to have taken a lot of ice for that

:50:39. > :50:52.shot and if it has to much -- also much then they gets nothing. The

:50:53. > :50:57.skip makes the call and the scorers decide the success rate of having

:50:58. > :51:04.played that shot so we can then get a percentage rate for each player

:51:05. > :51:11.and unfortunately Arkhipov is operating at 68% so he is struggling

:51:12. > :51:31.and it is so hard if you're the man -- if your third man is off.

:51:32. > :51:52.He needs to get on his game. I think he has laid this a little bit tight.

:51:53. > :52:01.I think they might have over swept that stone. They could have done

:52:02. > :52:14.with getting less of that role behind the yellow. This gives us an

:52:15. > :52:15.opportunity. Dave will be happy to hit this and roll across into the

:52:16. > :52:28.centre. You will see the two green lights

:52:29. > :52:48.which means that he has released the stone that before the hog line. You

:52:49. > :53:06.can see the shot he is thinking about. He will use that stone that

:53:07. > :53:13.has just been put in. Aleksey Stukalskiy wants to hit the yellow

:53:14. > :53:28.and roll across onto the face to the yellow sitting at the Blues are

:53:29. > :53:45.full. -- blue circle. This is a difficult shot.

:53:46. > :54:04.Sweeping heart. That is a very good shot. Aleksey Stukalskiy is almost

:54:05. > :54:16.keeping them in the game at the moment. He is the best of the

:54:17. > :54:24.Russians. That pressure has to tell. If you are hanging on and they are

:54:25. > :54:29.not setting you up well. A skip can pull you out of trouble for perhaps

:54:30. > :54:33.one game but you do not have the consistency to do it game after game

:54:34. > :54:43.and that could be the problem for these young lads.

:54:44. > :54:54.He will want to remove the red and yellow and his own shooter. Once

:54:55. > :55:05.again we are going to see Aleksey Stukalskiy play the simple hit and

:55:06. > :55:21.roll and take his last stone advantage into the next end.

:55:22. > :55:33.Our boys have more control of the ice at the moment. And of their

:55:34. > :56:00.short play, which is very good. Just about. They will carry the

:56:01. > :56:05.hammer into the next end. We have pretty extensive coverage of the

:56:06. > :56:14.curling throughout this week and next week on the red button, we will

:56:15. > :56:28.be on the red button occasionally. On the far side, Canada are for-2

:56:29. > :56:35.down to Germany -- 4-mac-2 down to Germany. Germany I would not say one

:56:36. > :56:43.of the stronger nations here. Interesting. We will keep you

:56:44. > :56:51.updated. All of this affects how these matches go on day one. The

:56:52. > :56:55.ideal scenario is you take care of business yourself but more often

:56:56. > :56:59.than not you will get towards the last round of matches and be

:57:00. > :57:08.watching other matches and what is happening.

:57:09. > :57:18.It will all get very tight towards the middle of next week I am sure.

:57:19. > :57:25.It is impossible to predict how many wins you need. You can get through

:57:26. > :57:29.with five or seven. It depends however body else in the league

:57:30. > :57:39.table is doing as well -- how anybody else. You have to take this

:57:40. > :57:48.one game at a time and many wins is what we are looking for. We just saw

:57:49. > :57:57.Michael Goodfellow brought another excellent shot there.

:57:58. > :58:15.Running on a little. He lives in St Petersburg, he was born there. The

:58:16. > :58:30.Russian lead shot was a little bit strong.

:58:31. > :58:46.The boys will be wanting this to stop on the 12 foot or the eight

:58:47. > :58:55.foot. Sliding on a little bit more than they would have hoped. The

:58:56. > :59:08.curling world still working in in PDO measurements. -- Imperial. How

:59:09. > :59:24.far is eight foot in metres? I have no idea!

:59:25. > :59:39.The boys are working this really hard. That is areas and play good

:59:40. > :00:02.storm -- a reasonably good storm De mac storm.

:00:03. > :00:21.That ended up not too bad a shot. He wanted his throwing stone to roll

:00:22. > :00:41.out and leave it clear. What is the routine when you have an

:00:42. > :00:48.early-morning match? They are allowed to come onto the ice, we

:00:49. > :00:52.arrived about an hour before play started and the Russian men were

:00:53. > :01:04.doing all ups and were here very early. -- warm-ups. Both teams have

:01:05. > :01:08.ten minutes of practice before the condition starts. They need to be

:01:09. > :01:14.here about an hour before the game starts. Half an hour of warming up,

:01:15. > :01:18.getting their legs stretched, their arms and shoulders ready for some

:01:19. > :01:23.big sweeping Games. And then they will come through and watch each

:01:24. > :01:28.other play, just to see how the ice is running. So, preparations, they

:01:29. > :01:40.will have been up early, breakfast, a brisk walk. The village is a 15

:01:41. > :01:43.minute walk from all the venues, I guess, but this is the closest

:01:44. > :02:15.venue. Sitting two shots. They are, of

:02:16. > :02:32.course, T-high. We are now giving our chance. -- ourselves a chance.

:02:33. > :02:36.The Russian skip would love to get a score on the board to settle

:02:37. > :02:40.themselves. It has not gone quite their weight on this end at the

:02:41. > :02:46.moment. This shot is coming up light.

:02:47. > :02:55.And, again, all he has done is added to the cover for Great Britain. He

:02:56. > :03:02.has left it open. So they could, potentially, hit their red into the

:03:03. > :03:07.pack. It is almost a pattern developing. The Russian lead and

:03:08. > :03:18.fourth player are doing OK. It is the skip, Drozdov, and Arkhipov who

:03:19. > :03:23.are playing third and skip, are not playing well.

:03:24. > :03:27.The boys said the other day when we spoke to them, two of the team are

:03:28. > :03:32.reasonably, in fact, very good players, and could pull out shots

:03:33. > :03:35.when necessary. The other two, they definitely will get mistakes from

:03:36. > :03:45.them. And we can see that today clearly.

:03:46. > :03:53.This doesn't want to come further in. The blue circle. That is a nice

:03:54. > :04:00.shot from Greg Drummond. Didn't seem to be finishing there, though. It

:04:01. > :04:07.has probably come a foot or so too far.

:04:08. > :04:18.Just wanted to... To stop in the white rings, it has slipped into the

:04:19. > :04:23.blue. As I said earlier, we are going to see the Russians drive that

:04:24. > :04:30.read shot in the front of the house, into some of these back yellows.

:04:31. > :04:36.Has he got that right? It takes one. Is that going to roll out. It may

:04:37. > :04:56.just hang in, just in the back. That just held the line too much and

:04:57. > :05:01.didn't come in. He would have preferred to get the two yellows we

:05:02. > :05:10.saw in the house, rather than the top yellow.

:05:11. > :05:20.We should see a guard here of red -- from Greg. This time, he will want

:05:21. > :05:38.the stone to stop. Just shy of the house. Or just biting the top.

:05:39. > :05:44.Not too bad a shop but I think the boys would have preferred that to be

:05:45. > :05:52.a foot or so further up. Once again, we will see Russia drive this

:05:53. > :05:57.yellow. Let us see if you can get it right this time. The shot he has

:05:58. > :06:05.called for. Hitting it pretty much on the nose, plenty of weight.

:06:06. > :06:10.As you well. Just about. The guard has gone but we still have those two

:06:11. > :06:23.British stones in there. He just seems to be throwing these

:06:24. > :06:36.rocks are little on the high side. I am not sure whether he is, whether

:06:37. > :06:38.he should be tightening them up or throwing them wide. Those two shots

:06:39. > :06:43.on the high side. We should see Dave play a similar

:06:44. > :07:05.shot to Greg. Alt turn guard -- out turn. You can

:07:06. > :07:07.hear the boys shouting, three, which means it should be pretty close to

:07:08. > :07:18.the rings. That is a nice shot there. David

:07:19. > :07:23.Murdoch has settled in really well in this first match. He is shooting

:07:24. > :07:32.100%. Princess Anne sitting, watching. With a good, strong

:07:33. > :07:40.British contingent. Few charmers, the Scottish curler. Now working for

:07:41. > :07:45.the British Olympic Association -- Hugh Chalmers.

:07:46. > :07:56.When you say a Scottish curler, is there any other type? I know there

:07:57. > :08:00.is an England team! If you are interested in curling, take a look

:08:01. > :08:08.at the website and see where you can have a go nearby where you live. A

:08:09. > :08:17.few more rinks propping up -- popping up. British success at these

:08:18. > :08:23.Olympics Games would be good in driving up interest. It is becoming

:08:24. > :08:28.very much, there are lots of junior competitions. As we look across

:08:29. > :08:37.these teams, you will see a lot of younger members in the national

:08:38. > :08:56.squads. A big shop here for Stukalskiy. -- big shot. That is

:08:57. > :09:02.probably as good as he could do. He wasn't far away from taking all of

:09:03. > :09:04.these shots out. All of these yellows. But that will suffice at

:09:05. > :09:27.the moment. Have we still have a nice yellow

:09:28. > :09:58.tucked in here. They want this to sit. There is a

:09:59. > :10:07.Russian stone at the back. Second shot. Not bad at all. That will do

:10:08. > :10:16.the job nicely. Now, we are forcing the Russian skip to play anywhere in

:10:17. > :10:19.the four foot line and take his one. Textbook stuff is what it should be.

:10:20. > :10:37.Take the two. Force the one. Drozdov and Arkhipov have been

:10:38. > :10:47.struggling. This guy has played three or four pretty good chops. --

:10:48. > :10:58.shots. The line being set for him by his skip.

:10:59. > :11:09.The weight is all-important here, it should be a fairly straightforward

:11:10. > :11:17.shot. I am not sure Alexey has had any draws. It seems a normal shot,

:11:18. > :11:26.the boys are going to have to work that hard. That is one to Russia,

:11:27. > :11:33.and the crowd is going wild. They are on the scoreboard, that is

:11:34. > :11:37.good to see. That is only the one, though. There will be a short break

:11:38. > :11:52.after five ends. It is good to hear an atmosphere

:11:53. > :12:00.being generated. Lots of Russian flags around. Their hopes lie with

:12:01. > :12:02.their women's team but plenty of encouragement for the men. They will

:12:03. > :12:31.feel a lot better now. Other matches, Switzerland playing

:12:32. > :12:37.Sweden, Denmark playing China. Germany - Canada. Germany were

:12:38. > :12:43.leading 4-2. In that fifth end of Canada scored three.

:12:44. > :12:54.So, back on prescription in that match. Quick highlights of these

:12:55. > :13:01.first five ends. The first end was blanked, with a nice draw from David

:13:02. > :13:07.Murdoch. Taking a couple of shots in the second end. He has been playing

:13:08. > :13:16.really well, settled very well, in fact the whole team have.

:13:17. > :13:21.This is the man, Stukalskiy. He has pretty much been keeping his team

:13:22. > :13:28.involved in this match. A nice draw in that fifth end to take the one.

:13:29. > :13:41.He has definitely been keeping his team in the game so far.

:13:42. > :13:50.There, you can see the evidence of what we have been talking about. 93%

:13:51. > :13:55.for Stukalskiy. It is in the middle they are having problems, Drozdov

:13:56. > :14:02.and Arkhipov will have to improve. Particularly Arkhipov. But the

:14:03. > :14:09.skip, playing second, Drozdov. His responsibility, to play his shots,

:14:10. > :14:14.make his shots. If his skip starts to struggle, that affects his

:14:15. > :14:20.confidence. And strategy, you start to worry about your own game, the

:14:21. > :14:25.fact you're not playing your shots. Yes, the coach will be explaining to

:14:26. > :14:32.them here, don't think about anything else. Quite often, think

:14:33. > :14:39.about the next best thing if you don't make the shot. By stark

:14:40. > :14:51.contrast, David Murdoch shooting 100%, Greg Diamond -- Greg Drummond,

:14:52. > :15:01.practically the same. They are playing in weaker team here. Tom

:15:02. > :15:06.Brewster, the alternate. He has been skip to these young lads in the

:15:07. > :15:12.past. His experience, I am sure, valuable to the team. Soren Gran, a

:15:13. > :16:09.few smiles from him. Russia struggling on the draws. I

:16:10. > :16:16.was reading an interesting piece from the Press Center about this

:16:17. > :16:21.team and one of the coaches of the women's team was the one who got

:16:22. > :16:33.this team together. She got was Don Van Stukalskiy -- Andrey Drozdov and

:16:34. > :16:42.Stukalskiy with her son, they were training together as swimmers and

:16:43. > :16:46.enter athletes apparently. Andrey Drozdov and Stukalskiy have been

:16:47. > :17:07.together a long time and know each other well.

:17:08. > :17:25.The centre guard put up by Petr Dron. I have been teasing Jackie

:17:26. > :17:31.about Lott of curlers in the family, but he does not come from a

:17:32. > :17:36.curling family apparently. None of his family play the game but they

:17:37. > :17:44.are avid fans of Michael and they are all here this week. I saw them

:17:45. > :17:54.sitting in the crowd, especially his sister who loves to come and see her

:17:55. > :17:58.brother play. Michael went to Stirling high school and he has

:17:59. > :18:09.received good luck messages from them. Let us know if you are

:18:10. > :18:17.watching curling for school -- before school. Ask Jackie

:18:18. > :18:32.questions. There used to be a magazine called Jackie. I used to

:18:33. > :18:46.buy that. Send in your requests or questions. Send us your tweets. We

:18:47. > :18:53.want to know what you're thinking, enjoying, or what to want to know

:18:54. > :19:23.about -- what you want to know about. Michael wants to freeze on

:19:24. > :19:30.top of the red or yellow. This is what we classify as a game of cat or

:19:31. > :19:44.mouse, there was no need to it the red stone out. I think we will see

:19:45. > :19:49.much more of this as the matches progress and the boys gain

:19:50. > :20:01.confidence. A lot of teams play a very offensive game off lots of

:20:02. > :20:03.stones played. The Russians are discussing what they are going to

:20:04. > :20:14.play here. They are going to throw a heavy

:20:15. > :20:52.weight down on this red. That is probably the best result

:20:53. > :20:59.they could have got from that shot. They were never going to be able to

:21:00. > :21:02.move both of the yellows. The yellow lies first shot but second and third

:21:03. > :21:37.are the Russians. Scott playing an outturn hit.

:21:38. > :21:52.Another nice shot from Team GB. All of these shots, it is so important

:21:53. > :22:01.to get the map or four shots where you think, that was good. Andrey

:22:02. > :22:08.Drozdov might be feeling a little bit better after that previous

:22:09. > :22:18.shops. It will be interesting to see what the coach said to him because

:22:19. > :22:42.he played a much better shot. That is a nice shot. From the -- Andrey

:22:43. > :22:47.Drozdov. They have to make sure they watch out as the Russians are going

:22:48. > :22:57.to play better than they have to keep control of it. They should not

:22:58. > :23:19.panic. They have to try to pick up the two.

:23:20. > :23:24.Looking at Andrey Drozdov, one of the things that has been talked

:23:25. > :23:28.about in terms of the lack of experience of the likes of the

:23:29. > :23:35.Russians is that when you start to get stones in the house, went to be

:23:36. > :23:42.aggressive and when not to be. That is where perhaps these boys lack the

:23:43. > :23:51.experience of knowing which shot they should be playing. Sometimes

:23:52. > :23:59.they will take a long time to decide on shots. They are not having to

:24:00. > :24:03.question themselves too much at the moment but it will be interesting to

:24:04. > :24:12.see what happens as the game goes on. Who takes control? There have

:24:13. > :24:28.been Games where they cannot decide what to play and that is not the

:24:29. > :24:44.best thing for the skip. You are sticking. I do not mind. He has gone

:24:45. > :24:49.back to his initial decision. Chosen to play the hack weight on the red

:24:50. > :25:15.closest to the blue. Critical that they get that shot and

:25:16. > :25:24.still stay in the house. That is a nice shot. Nicely done by Greg

:25:25. > :25:31.Drummond, playing well. They have the hammer and it is not always

:25:32. > :25:35.crucial for the yellow shots to stay in the house, but there is only one

:25:36. > :26:01.little red in the circle. A little bit of discussion from

:26:02. > :26:24.Andrey Drozdov, Stukalskiy has come back down the other end. They want

:26:25. > :26:35.to tap this red two or three feet along he has been struggling a

:26:36. > :26:49.little bit. Just laying off this again. Not bad. Did not quite push

:26:50. > :26:59.it back where he wanted it to. Just a little bit high off the line. That

:27:00. > :27:15.gives Great Britain the opportunity to play a double. The only problem

:27:16. > :27:52.is the double... May catch the yellow on the wings. Low side.

:27:53. > :28:12.Plenty of weight on this, unlucky. That is not that bad. That is going

:28:13. > :28:22.to be easily moved. We still have four. He wants to take the two out

:28:23. > :28:29.and you can see a little bit of frustration. The boys swept hard to

:28:30. > :28:42.try to hold it. The Russian red is sitting shot at

:28:43. > :29:09.the moment. He will want to be lying two shots

:29:10. > :29:20.after others. -- after this. He needs to get this right. Stukalskiy

:29:21. > :29:31.has been good so far. He can afford to get it on the nose. He wants to

:29:32. > :29:44.be sitting first and second shot after he has finished this end.

:29:45. > :29:52.Sweeping really hard. They tried to hold the line and could not quite do

:29:53. > :30:07.it. They did their best. Still just about lying rock -- shot. This is

:30:08. > :30:33.shaping up well for Great Britain. The boys are saying there, you can

:30:34. > :30:44.probably see half of the red stone. They will peck the stone out. It

:30:45. > :30:53.seems a simple shot. They have for other yellows sitting in house. --

:30:54. > :31:03.four. They have decided this is the easier

:31:04. > :31:18.shot. Always good to hear the boys

:31:19. > :31:28.calling. Well played. He has been on top form. David Moore doc -- David

:31:29. > :31:37.Murdoch, in his first match. This is shaping up well. Stukalskiy. What

:31:38. > :31:45.will he do? Maybe hit that, try to sit behind the front stone?

:31:46. > :31:52.This is potentially, it looks like the guys are asking for Stukalskiy

:31:53. > :32:03.just to draw, sit on the face of that yellow sitting on the blue

:32:04. > :32:08.forefoot. -- four foot. They don't necessarily need to. They just want

:32:09. > :32:14.to come in and sit right there, try to make it much harder for David to

:32:15. > :32:32.get a big end here. Once again, Stukalskiy being asked

:32:33. > :32:47.to come up with a shot for his team. They are in a bit of bother here.

:32:48. > :32:54.Asking them to sweep it early. They are working really hard on that. Has

:32:55. > :33:01.it got enough on it? That is actually a world drawn shot.

:33:02. > :33:31.-- well drawn. But I think it should be a pretty

:33:32. > :33:38.simple and straightforward shot for David Murdoch to hit this yellow

:33:39. > :33:46.right onto the back, onto the top of the red. He can see all of his

:33:47. > :33:48.yellow shot there. This is potentially a match-winning

:33:49. > :34:06.end for Great Britain. Yes. Stukalskiy's shot well over Drew the

:34:07. > :34:13.mark -- overdrew. Just watching it. You can hear the

:34:14. > :34:25.instruction. It was nearly five, but it is going to be four. A well

:34:26. > :34:32.executed end from Team GB. That has made things very difficult

:34:33. > :34:37.for the Russians, a 6-1 lead. Four of them in that end. The little

:34:38. > :34:42.discussion going on. There are only four ends to go and it puts them in

:34:43. > :34:48.a difficult position. Excellent from the British team, particularly David

:34:49. > :34:57.Murdoch, the skip, it couldn't be going any better.

:34:58. > :35:03.We have two emphasise, Jackie, it is about the other guys setting the end

:35:04. > :35:08.up, playing their shots. The Russians are struggling in the

:35:09. > :35:16.middle, their second and third. Stukalskiy is doing his best. But

:35:17. > :35:22.there is only so much he can do. They missed those couple of chances,

:35:23. > :35:28.the double takeout, Arkhipov had a chance. They now see themselves in

:35:29. > :35:32.as opposed to what they would have expected, but this is really good

:35:33. > :35:38.for Great Britain. A confidence boosting starts, 6-1.

:35:39. > :35:43.It is. Our guys are going to be what we call running for home or heading

:35:44. > :35:48.for home here. And the Russian boys are going to have to throw

:35:49. > :35:55.everything as well as the kitchen sink, to try to build up some shots

:35:56. > :36:00.at the front. Potentially, they should be playing this end as they

:36:01. > :36:06.would normally do. If they played the shots, they should hopefully

:36:07. > :36:11.pick up a two. Thereafter, the Russians will have to put up lots of

:36:12. > :36:18.guards to make it difficult for the boys. They are playing very well at

:36:19. > :36:22.the moment, and I can't see the Russians stopping us. It would need

:36:23. > :36:29.a couple of big mistakes. The boys are looking solid.

:36:30. > :36:40.Russia, with the hammer now, into the seventh end.

:36:41. > :36:57.He hasn't done a lot wrong, Petr Dron, playing lead.

:36:58. > :37:05.It is nice to actually have the ability to play some nice shots

:37:06. > :37:10.without any pressure. It might not go to the 10th end.

:37:11. > :37:20.Again, we have to be careful. You can never left -- rest on your

:37:21. > :37:29.laurels. Every shot counts. Michael's first shot went behind the

:37:30. > :37:34.T. It helps in terms of time on the

:37:35. > :37:39.ice, in the early part of the competition. I suppose they wouldn't

:37:40. > :37:40.want the Russians to walk off, they want to play as many ends as they

:37:41. > :37:53.can this morning. The point I was trying to make, it

:37:54. > :37:59.would be nice to relax a little bit and just play your shots, get used

:38:00. > :38:11.to the conditions. Another corner shot there from the

:38:12. > :38:16.Russian lead. We are going to see Scott just remove this. Removing

:38:17. > :38:26.these corner guards has to be done, that is the only way... The only way

:38:27. > :38:31.the Russians can get a chance. The first little error we have seen. He

:38:32. > :38:41.has been doing well with his takeouts, struggling with his

:38:42. > :38:46.drawers. -- draws. The first time he hasn't quite nailed it. The curse of

:38:47. > :38:49.the commentator. Every stone, even though you are six up, you cannot

:38:50. > :39:21.take your eye off the ball. They were working really hard. A

:39:22. > :39:27.nice shot there. From Andrey. But, once again, David will ask Scott

:39:28. > :39:38.just to remove this and run himself. Trying to take that as far over the

:39:39. > :39:56.rings as possible. Just keeping the way nice and clear.

:39:57. > :40:02.Drozdov is improving. Maybe he should have got up a little earlier!

:40:03. > :40:04.He was half asleep this morning? He has been getting better, a little

:40:05. > :40:20.late for his team, perhaps. This one seems to be running on,

:40:21. > :40:40.leaving it to stop short. Greg should be able to catch half

:40:41. > :40:57.the top red, and remove them all. What is your thinking, Jackie, on

:40:58. > :41:00.the first game that ends up being a fairly straightforward game and you

:41:01. > :41:05.don't have too played too many big shots, if that turns out this way.

:41:06. > :41:10.And you come up against Sweden which may be a different kettle of fish.

:41:11. > :41:16.That is a good one there. Because, really, if you have come off this

:41:17. > :41:21.which is a basic, simple shot. How are you going to perform, are you

:41:22. > :41:27.going to stand up to the pressure of playing the big teams? Although, I

:41:28. > :41:32.am sure if you ask these guys, they will be happy with a win under the

:41:33. > :41:34.belt. They will know the game plan they will have to come out with this

:41:35. > :41:58.evening, to play them. It's a well executed shot there.

:41:59. > :42:18.Arkhipov. Greg should still be able to see

:42:19. > :42:25.most of that red. To happily remove it. The lead's first shot was

:42:26. > :42:36.perhaps a little bit high. Desperately waiting for this to take

:42:37. > :42:46.some sort of a pole and catch the red in the house -- a pull. Just

:42:47. > :42:55.enough, job done, that took a while. We were saying in training,

:42:56. > :43:02.it turns late. It is knowing how the ice is playing.

:43:03. > :43:09.Yes, the guys when we spoke to them earlier, if you put a little too

:43:10. > :43:14.much weight on it, you don't get the swing, and they are hoping the swing

:43:15. > :43:24.progresses and gets more as the com petition goes on. -- competition.

:43:25. > :43:31.Again, these guys are looking to come right in behind the red shot

:43:32. > :43:37.they have at the front, and use it as some cover. This seems a lot

:43:38. > :43:44.wider line. And still going. Not a good shot.

:43:45. > :43:57.That look he has got now, he almost had it after his hand left the

:43:58. > :44:04.stone. Not been a good morning for young Evgeny Arkhipov. He could have

:44:05. > :44:07.been a little lighter and high in the house. But heavy is just a

:44:08. > :44:20.disaster. Dave is looking for an out-turn

:44:21. > :44:26.draw. We had them saying, they would be happy if it comes out in the

:44:27. > :44:32.house. The crowd are doing their best. Trying to encourage their

:44:33. > :44:39.team. They haven't had much to cheer about. It has all gone Britain's way

:44:40. > :44:54.so far. Dave is really happy here, if he can

:44:55. > :44:58.bring it into the house and force the Russians to take the one. Giving

:44:59. > :45:21.Dave the advantage. A nice shot there, well executed,

:45:22. > :45:41.well communicated. He still has 100% so far on his draws and his

:45:42. > :45:50.takeouts. Stukalskiy, it has been a bit of a struggle, not due to his

:45:51. > :46:07.efforts. The team in front of him are making it difficult for him.

:46:08. > :46:25.Aleksei Stukalskiy with an out-turn freeze to the back yellow. It can be

:46:26. > :46:48.one of the hardest shots, the freeze. It is just going to nick off

:46:49. > :46:57.the front yellow. This is just over curling. They had to have a higher

:46:58. > :47:18.line and bring it to the back yellow. If we guard the yellow, and

:47:19. > :47:32.he has a tough shot... We can be outside, because he cannot play it

:47:33. > :47:41.in. We heard them saying they are going to try to guard their yellow

:47:42. > :47:50.which makes it very difficult for Stukalskiy to get in for his shot.

:47:51. > :48:01.Great Britain lying two at the moment. Trying to protect the

:48:02. > :48:10.position. This could make it really difficult for Stukalskiy to get in.

:48:11. > :48:23.Happy with the line, it is all about the weight. This looks high. They

:48:24. > :48:39.want to be covering their yellow. Pushing really hard. Not quite the

:48:40. > :48:51.place we hoped it would finish. Just enough, they are saying. Really

:48:52. > :49:06.needed to be a complete half a stone on the other side of that line. Can

:49:07. > :49:14.he take those two out? He would struggle to stay in. That could be

:49:15. > :49:46.our saving grace. If he plays the big shot, he is looking to try to

:49:47. > :49:52.get his two. A big rock -- shot. If he catches the top yellow, it hit

:49:53. > :50:09.the red and pushes that out and we steal an end. It is not a disastrous

:50:10. > :50:17.shot that Dave threw, it was just not what he was looking for, but it

:50:18. > :50:34.is doing the business at the moment. Potentially a shot to keep them in

:50:35. > :50:41.the match. If he played it perfect, he might keep them in the game full

:50:42. > :50:51.is Stukalskiy has been keeping them in the game. It gets harder to do it

:50:52. > :51:16.and after end. Stukalskiy tried to take-out the two British stones. It

:51:17. > :51:25.must be close. Really good effort, but just the one for Russia. It was

:51:26. > :51:41.a bit unlucky. He gave that his best chance. The hammer will go to Great

:51:42. > :51:50.Britain with three ends left. Things looking pretty good for Great

:51:51. > :51:52.Britain. That would appear to be the makings

:51:53. > :52:02.of a first victory. If you want to continue to watch

:52:03. > :52:13.that, it is available on the red button. There are five golds up for

:52:14. > :52:16.grabs today. We know it is Monday morning and you have a lot to do to

:52:17. > :52:22.go to work and get the children to school, but if you have a few

:52:23. > :52:27.minutes to share some coverage over your cornflakes, you are most

:52:28. > :52:39.welcome. This is what is on our breakfast menu. She is awfully good,

:52:40. > :52:45.the German expected to be super quick in the super combined event.

:52:46. > :52:56.We have seen David Murdoch for Great Britain, can Eve Muirhead also make

:52:57. > :53:00.a good start? The magic and mayhem of short track speed skating, Jack

:53:01. > :53:06.Whelbourne joins the human vortex in the longest of the individual races,

:53:07. > :53:18.the 1500m and Elise Christie races the 500m. It is unmissable. After

:53:19. > :53:22.the stunning win for Austria in the first of the men's alpine events in

:53:23. > :53:29.the downhill, it is the turn of the women to head to the start gate.

:53:30. > :53:39.They will do so about vertical metres from here -- about 30km from

:53:40. > :53:45.here. It involves a first run of downhill followed by a run through a

:53:46. > :53:57.blizzard of control gates with one run off slalom. It is taking place

:53:58. > :54:06.up in the mountains. We went up to have a course inspection.

:54:07. > :54:13.This is the women's downhill. We are at the most difficult part of the

:54:14. > :54:21.course. What do they need to do? Commitment, you have to dive into

:54:22. > :54:31.this top section. You come over a little like and then you come into

:54:32. > :54:38.this section, three it turns. It is a question of carrying speed towards

:54:39. > :54:44.the finish. Carrying speed from here to the finish, but the section here

:54:45. > :54:54.is the crucial part of the course. Graham Bell is there for us. I am

:54:55. > :54:59.not sure if it was a late night. After Jenny Jones' bronze, can you

:55:00. > :55:11.Diebold any details of the celebrations? -- tell us about. I

:55:12. > :55:16.know that they had a great time. We drove up in the same bus together,

:55:17. > :55:24.it was a bit of a party bus, there was somebody DGN, and everybody was

:55:25. > :55:31.singing and then I had to go to bed because I was up at 7am. I am sure

:55:32. > :55:43.at they had a pretty good time and well-deserved night out. You were

:55:44. > :55:46.always the responsible adults! You had a quick look at the course. The

:55:47. > :55:51.defending champion was complaining the other day, she thought the

:55:52. > :56:00.downhill section of the combined was too slow. Is that true? Compared to

:56:01. > :56:05.the men's course, the women's course is not as tough. If we look back to

:56:06. > :56:10.four years ago the women's course was almost as tough if not tougher

:56:11. > :56:17.than the men. Remember the incredible crash on the last jump

:56:18. > :56:21.where someone flew about 60 metres and exploded in a bowl of equipment

:56:22. > :56:27.and crashed out of the race. She was able to ski in the campaign. This

:56:28. > :56:30.downhill is not as tough so it is going to mean that the slalom

:56:31. > :56:37.section is going to be more important. That is one of the things

:56:38. > :56:42.that is playing on her mind, she is not going to be able to ski out a

:56:43. > :56:49.big enough lead in the downhill to hold off her main rivals, the

:56:50. > :56:56.Austrians. They will be very well in the slalom. This event is designed

:56:57. > :57:02.to unveil the greatest all-rounder in alpine events, those with

:57:03. > :57:05.technical ability and speed. It has changed in terms of the formula for

:57:06. > :57:19.this over the years. Have they. It right? I think so. The federation

:57:20. > :57:25.have a love for the combined. Alpine skiing was a late comer to the

:57:26. > :57:29.Winter Olympics. When it started in 1924 it was Nordic skiing that was

:57:30. > :57:37.their powerhouse and it was the Brits that invented alpine skier.

:57:38. > :57:45.They were allowed one event and it was the combined event so it has

:57:46. > :57:51.been going longer than all of the individual events which came after

:57:52. > :57:58.the war. The combined has held, been cherished, but it is getting more

:57:59. > :58:04.difficult to find people who can ski both disciplines well and what you

:58:05. > :58:11.tend to find is you find skiers who ski well in the slalom and then they

:58:12. > :58:15.do well in downhill and then they when the combined. It is a balancing

:58:16. > :58:22.act. To find a down hell that is tough enough to test them, and a

:58:23. > :58:26.slalom that is going to test them, the slalom being second means it is

:58:27. > :58:36.an advantage for the slalom gears. -- skiers. Chemmy Alcott is going to

:58:37. > :58:43.compete in order to get some practice. When you talk about

:58:44. > :58:49.all-time greats, one of the greatest all-rounders in history, what makes

:58:50. > :58:57.her so strong? She had a great technical base. It is one of the

:58:58. > :59:06.events you do first off. You raise slalom and giant slalom around about

:59:07. > :59:12.tenure is old -- ten years old and you are either a good skier or you

:59:13. > :59:17.are not. People who are used to downhill like myself can get used to

:59:18. > :59:24.a little bit of red force, but good skiers, she is a great technical

:59:25. > :59:28.skier and she switched to downhill so she was good at everything and

:59:29. > :59:35.she can win in slalom. She has not been skiing that well in slalom this

:59:36. > :59:38.year so I think she is going to have a big challenge today so maybe that

:59:39. > :59:46.is why she was inking the downhill was not tough enough. The Austrians

:59:47. > :59:53.could get another medal. We are looking forward to it. It is the

:59:54. > :59:58.first women's alpine events. It is about to get underway. We can join

:59:59. > :00:11.Emma Carrick-Anderson and Matt Chilton.

:00:12. > :00:37.This is a great course, some of the girls are unhappy because they have

:00:38. > :00:44.slowed it down a little. Flying of the devil's spine. Some great names.

:00:45. > :00:52.This left hand turn is super important. Where this race could be

:00:53. > :01:00.won or lost. She has two carried the speed into this traverse. It falls

:01:01. > :01:06.to the left quite strongly. A full-length downhill for the super

:01:07. > :01:13.combined. The first stage, full length downhill. The slalom gets

:01:14. > :01:17.underway at 3pm local time. That is 11am in the UK. Marsaglia is not a

:01:18. > :01:25.great slalom skier so she really needs to put one down in this first

:01:26. > :01:30.speed section, the downhill leg. That is the time we will expect them

:01:31. > :01:36.to clock in this downhill stage. Only the second time it has been the

:01:37. > :01:42.super combined, the more traditional combined, downhill and two runs of

:01:43. > :01:48.slalom took place in the Olympics -- in the Olympics until cheering 2006.

:01:49. > :02:04.It was only in Vancouver when it took place --until Turin 2006.

:02:05. > :02:17.A lovely slow motion shot. The outside ski is miles away from her

:02:18. > :02:24.body. A big edge angle. Two Italians in quick succession,

:02:25. > :02:28.Daniela Merighetti. An out and out downhill specialist. I can't

:02:29. > :02:39.remember if I have ever seen a race, slalom -- seen her race, slalom, in

:02:40. > :02:44.fact. She my -- she may decide to have a try at a medal.

:02:45. > :02:53.Chemmy Alcott is racing at number five. She may decide to have a go on

:02:54. > :03:04.the slalom skis. I think Chemmy is just going to do

:03:05. > :03:10.the downhill part. Because of the quick, tight turns and the

:03:11. > :03:13.pressure, she has decided she can't do the slalom.

:03:14. > :03:17.A beautiful day in the mountains, gorgeous again. If you cloud is in

:03:18. > :03:26.the early part of the morning, barely a breath of wind. Merighetti

:03:27. > :03:29.getting her upper body twisted. You can see how the two Italians

:03:30. > :03:36.compare. Coming up to the tunnel jump. It has

:03:37. > :03:43.split this course, the top part is the technical. The tunnel jump, not

:03:44. > :03:48.flying very far. If you saw the men's event, it looks like a

:03:49. > :03:54.different event, but still hugely challenging. Course preparation has

:03:55. > :04:02.been incredible. Merighetti moves into second. 0.68

:04:03. > :04:06.slower than her compatriot. Another training run complete as far as she

:04:07. > :04:11.is concerned. One to watch in the women's downhill which comes up on

:04:12. > :04:22.Wednesday. Another beautiful slow motion

:04:23. > :04:27.shots. Very steep, 41 degrees. Marianne Kaufmann Abderhalden has

:04:28. > :04:32.been one of the best this season. She had her maiden World Cup

:04:33. > :04:39.downhill win. Round four of the season-long World Cup tour in

:04:40. > :04:43.mid-December. She is one to watch. Probably not today because her

:04:44. > :04:50.slalom skills are limited. But, certainly, when the downhill proper

:04:51. > :04:59.takes place midweek. The names of the course. Launch pad. Devil's

:05:00. > :05:04.spine. Very tricky, she was late in the line, the ski is going

:05:05. > :05:09.sideways. A crucial turn. She had to carry the speed in but she didn't

:05:10. > :05:14.carry anything. Lucky to stay on her feet. She was out of contention

:05:15. > :05:21.there. That is our leader, Francesca

:05:22. > :05:25.Marsaglia. That is where Kaufmann Abderhalden's downhill section ended

:05:26. > :05:36.but she will learn from that. She caught her edge that add further

:05:37. > :05:42.up, not a great mid section. -- her edge further up.

:05:43. > :05:49.We will look forward to seeing Chemmy Alcott, back from injury. She

:05:50. > :05:54.worked desperately hard to be chosen to represent Great Britain in her

:05:55. > :05:57.fourth Olympic Games. Her turn coming shortly.

:05:58. > :06:07.First up, the young Russian, back over Sheena.

:06:08. > :06:11.-- Yakovishina. She Russian women in the late 90s had a couple of decent

:06:12. > :06:24.downhill athletes. Since then, there has been nobody.

:06:25. > :06:32.But there is a big cheer in the finish, the Russians going mad the

:06:33. > :06:40.stands. Flags flying. They will be watching this woman very closely.

:06:41. > :06:45.Not happy through that tricky part, it really falls away. These are not

:06:46. > :06:55.good turns. You can see the time slipping away as the skis go

:06:56. > :07:03.sideways. 95 kilometres per hour.

:07:04. > :07:10.Some of the women are not happy they have shaved off the bottom jump.

:07:11. > :07:17.There is a huge turn before you come into that. Then a big fall away. It

:07:18. > :07:28.will be interesting to see how this run -- this young Russian does in

:07:29. > :07:35.that part. Favourites today include the Canadian who won the only World

:07:36. > :07:42.Cup super combined held this season in January. And we have to look out

:07:43. > :07:55.for the Austrians whose confidence has been boosted by the men's win

:07:56. > :07:59.yesterday. Salinger is one to watch. -- Fenninger.

:08:00. > :08:05.That was not bad. I think she will be pretty happy

:08:06. > :08:10.with that. Home and dry anyway. Chemmy Alcott is next to go for

:08:11. > :08:14.Great Britain. Back into that aerodynamic position

:08:15. > :08:22.coming into that flat gliding section.

:08:23. > :08:28.Lots of noise for the Russian. Chemmy Alcott, in the start gate,

:08:29. > :08:42.for Great Britain. The first British Alpine skier to race at these Games.

:08:43. > :08:46.Chemmy's fiance, Dougie Crawford, did not get selected. She is

:08:47. > :08:53.battling back from another injury, suffered in downhill training at the

:08:54. > :08:59.World Championships last year. And following that huge crash in

:09:00. > :09:03.downhill racing. This is being treated by Alcott as a training

:09:04. > :09:09.run, her third run down the hill so far this week at Rosa Khutor. But

:09:10. > :09:13.she will be going full guns today, taking this seriously. Trying to get

:09:14. > :09:27.into a low tuck. She has shown encouraging signs in

:09:28. > :09:35.Cortina in the Super-G a few weeks ago. Where she scored World Cup

:09:36. > :09:43.points, posting 23rd position there. You can see a little bit of snow

:09:44. > :09:49.spring up. And that turn, to the left. Coming into the final straight

:09:50. > :09:53.towards the finish. The final roller, tucking in for the line,

:09:54. > :10:00.Chemmy Alcott skiing for Great Britain. It is not bad, within a

:10:01. > :10:06.second of the lead. She is happy with that run. Remember, it is a

:10:07. > :10:09.training run from her. We are not expecting her to put on the slalom

:10:10. > :10:13.skis later on. She skied the mid-part of that

:10:14. > :10:22.really well but the top part was not as committed.

:10:23. > :10:27.Celebrating Jenny Jones's bronze medal in the women's snowboard

:10:28. > :10:39.slopestyle yesterday. Next to go, Noelle Barahona. We were

:10:40. > :10:47.discussing Bode Miller, the American's -- American captain.

:10:48. > :10:59.She is struggling through that difficult for the way to the right,

:11:00. > :11:08.and putting them sideways again. Not enjoying this top section. Skiing

:11:09. > :11:14.the top with trepidation. And she is down, sliding away. Let us hope she

:11:15. > :11:22.manages to shield herself from the safety netting. It is very slick

:11:23. > :11:27.there. If you fall on that steep deep 41 degrees pitch, you will keep

:11:28. > :11:32.on falling. She had already shown signs of

:11:33. > :11:38.exercising caution. And she couldn't hold the turning edge and down she

:11:39. > :11:43.went, pretty slick underfoot. From then on it was a damage limitation.

:11:44. > :11:49.She collided with the control gate. I think she is probably all right.

:11:50. > :11:57.She did the whole turn on the inside ski. With that fall away, she had to

:11:58. > :12:07.be committed to the right ski. There was no going back from that.

:12:08. > :12:10.So, taking no further part. If you don't finish the downhill, you

:12:11. > :12:17.cannot start the slalom. This is the scene at the top as the

:12:18. > :12:24.race is gathering. A total of 39 due to start. The slalom is due at 3pm

:12:25. > :12:34.local time, is single run of slalom set by one of the Swiss ski coaches.

:12:35. > :12:52.The first contender is Salinger -- Fenninger. A big medal hope.

:12:53. > :13:10.Keeping herself calm. Some, like Bode Miller, he looks like he is on

:13:11. > :13:18.a Sunday cruise. Just waiting for the course prepared to be complete

:13:19. > :13:25.following the damage. Next is Lotte Smiseth Sejersted from Norway. She

:13:26. > :13:33.has an unwelcome weight. It plays havoc with your mind -- unwelcome

:13:34. > :13:41.wait. These girls are so focused at the start and if you get a little

:13:42. > :13:50.break, you have two backoff and refocus. She gets the 32nd call. The

:13:51. > :14:03.ski poles go over the top of the timing wand. She propels herself out

:14:04. > :14:14.of the gate with a maximum speed. 1755 metres start altitude. 2700

:14:15. > :14:18.metres is the total course length. Former junior world champion, out of

:14:19. > :14:25.the gate and on her way and she is in trouble early on. What a shame.

:14:26. > :14:30.That is just a nightmare for that to happen. We saw Bode Miller clipped a

:14:31. > :14:36.gate yesterday but not that hard. Not like Lotte Smiseth Sejersted.

:14:37. > :14:42.She didn't even take off that jump. The same again there. So, a mistake

:14:43. > :14:48.like that, it can make you think, my goodness, and make you make more

:14:49. > :14:53.mistakes. Or it can spur you on because you have nothing to lose. A

:14:54. > :14:59.poor start. Let's see if she can pick it up on the bottom half of the

:15:00. > :15:07.course. It is still Francesca Marsaglia needed for Italy. Chemmy

:15:08. > :15:10.Alcott is third for Great Britain. The first stage of the women's super

:15:11. > :15:14.combined. Attacking the bottom of the course

:15:15. > :15:22.to make up for that dreadful mistake out of the gate.

:15:23. > :15:31.She is still half a second back, so not bad down this middle section.

:15:32. > :15:48.This turn comes up quite quickly and it is a big turn which falls away to

:15:49. > :15:56.the left. The last couple of gates. Almost certainly treating this as a

:15:57. > :16:01.downhill training run. First position, remarkable considering the

:16:02. > :16:09.mess she made at the top. She pushed really hard on the final three

:16:10. > :16:27.quarters of the course. She lost control of her life -- left pole.

:16:28. > :16:54.Good recovery to lead the way. That mistakes spurred her own. Other

:16:55. > :17:23.Christmas is here. He is a bit late. Making a repair to the control

:17:24. > :17:39.gate. Dominate -- Dominique Gisin is a good downhill skier. A good

:17:40. > :17:55.jumper. A sensational dart. So clean. She had to take her speed

:17:56. > :18:05.into bald -- Bolshoi. What a great run so far.

:18:06. > :18:13.Winding down the window slightly on the tunnel jump. She should

:18:14. > :18:22.hopefully enjoy this section. There are about seven or eight turns.

:18:23. > :18:30.Coming out of the sunlight into the shade, that makes it a little bit

:18:31. > :18:43.tricky. She has come through the Serpentine section. The crowds can

:18:44. > :18:51.see the racers and get a good idea of the true velocity with which they

:18:52. > :19:00.travel down these downhill courses. She has not quite done enough. Lotte

:19:01. > :19:13.Smiseth Sejersted leads, Francesca Marsaglia is second. A strong top

:19:14. > :19:20.section. Just losing it a little onto the flat. No major problems in

:19:21. > :19:44.the downhill but I think it is going to be won or lost through forest

:19:45. > :19:55.drop. It is quite a compression as it goes uphill, but she lands

:19:56. > :20:03.cleanly on the jump. Carrying a lot of speed. She is 21. She has had

:20:04. > :20:13.encouraging results, slowly but surely starting to establish herself

:20:14. > :20:20.within the Norwegian team. She is holding a good line. She lost that a

:20:21. > :20:26.little bit as she came into the tunnel jump. This left-hander is

:20:27. > :20:35.going to be a good feeling for them because the Bolshoi traverse, it

:20:36. > :20:44.feels like it goes on forever. Good flight, solid jump. Committed to

:20:45. > :20:53.this run. Nice skiing so far from the 21-year-old. Lotte Smiseth

:20:54. > :21:15.Sejersted leads the way. How close will she be? She's these into

:21:16. > :21:36.fourth. Happy with the results so far. -- results. The conditions

:21:37. > :21:45.perfect. Lara Gut is always an exciting prospect. So smooth, she

:21:46. > :21:59.did not get pushed back on the compression. You do not want to go

:22:00. > :22:09.too long in the air. Her World Cup form has been sensational. Five wins

:22:10. > :22:27.so far this season. One in giant slalom. Fantastic skiing. This is

:22:28. > :22:40.great downhill skiing from Lara Gut. Maybe lost he tends as she had

:22:41. > :22:45.to struggle back. Lara Gut one of the big hopes for Swiss alpine

:22:46. > :22:50.skiing. They fully expect her to come home with a handful of medals

:22:51. > :23:05.and she has started well, she leads the super commode. -- combined. She

:23:06. > :23:16.is first. She enjoyed that. She is on the back of the ski. She is

:23:17. > :23:26.delighted with that. Lotte Smiseth Sejersted steps aside as Lara Gut

:23:27. > :23:39.takes her place. Now we get to the all-rounders. Starting with Anna

:23:40. > :23:52.Fenninger. She was a junior world champion in super combined. Anna

:23:53. > :24:02.Fenninger is more than matching Lara Gut. Not quite as strong as the two

:24:03. > :24:08.Austrian hopes in the slalom, but if you can take a good lead then

:24:09. > :24:16.anything is possible. She is not as good through Bolshoi traverse.

:24:17. > :24:36.Getting towards the serious part of the downhill section. Marie-Michele

:24:37. > :24:43.Gagnon will start at 21. That was a beautiful jump. She did not get

:24:44. > :24:58.pushed into the hole but it looked as if he was not carrying as much

:24:59. > :25:03.speed as Lara Gut. She is second. Lara Gut of Switzerland leads Anna

:25:04. > :25:06.Fenninger of Austria. You sense that Anna Fenninger needed a better

:25:07. > :25:17.downhill run if she is to challenge in the slalom later. It was the flat

:25:18. > :25:32.section she did not enjoy. Speed was slipping away. Denise Feierabend, I

:25:33. > :25:42.am not sure of her downhill capabilities. She is not as happy

:25:43. > :25:53.with these fast turns. The slalom looks amazing. A little bit more

:25:54. > :26:14.upgrade, slower off the jump. -- up right. Not bad. A little worried. --

:26:15. > :26:25.wide. She is struggling, that could have been nasty. The damage is done.

:26:26. > :26:30.Nearly two seconds slower. You can make a mistake on the speed and you

:26:31. > :26:35.can get the time back, but on the flat there is nothing you can do.

:26:36. > :26:42.Making sure of getting the finish and is darting the slalom --

:26:43. > :26:52.starting. She did well to stay on her feet. It is over for Denise

:26:53. > :27:05.Feierabend. She did well to finish. She is in tenth. Lucky with the

:27:06. > :27:09.weather, it was supposed to be cloudy with even a little bit of

:27:10. > :27:18.missed, there is a little bit of cloud around but it is sunny. Lara

:27:19. > :27:42.Gut leads the way, Anna Fenninger is second, Lotte Smiseth Sejersted is

:27:43. > :27:51.third. Good turns, attacking it. Can she make the move forward? Yes. 15th

:27:52. > :28:02.in the Olympic super combined four years ago. Just getting the road

:28:03. > :28:12.around a little bit. Good exit, but the damage has been done on a few of

:28:13. > :28:20.those turns. This is not too bad. She is not a bad slalom skier. An

:28:21. > :28:31.outside chance of her clawing back this type of death of -- deficit.

:28:32. > :28:39.This is the only gliding section. More gliding than there was in the

:28:40. > :28:48.men's. More flight than we have seen from some of the other girls. Lara

:28:49. > :29:14.Gut's lead looks pretty good at the moment. Ferk is nineth. Chemmy

:29:15. > :29:18.Alcott in eighth. Hands on the ground, a little bit scrappy, but

:29:19. > :29:39.you can see from the angle it is deep. -- steep. Laurenne Ross, the

:29:40. > :29:46.first of the Americans. She might be treating this as a training run. In

:29:47. > :29:49.2011 during the World Cup run in Canada she had a massive crash, went

:29:50. > :29:57.headfirst into the safety netting, her helmet got ripped off and she

:29:58. > :30:07.had 40 stitches in her forehead. She is in trouble. Let us hope she is

:30:08. > :30:16.OK. That is a shame. A fantastic top section. Let us see what happened.

:30:17. > :30:25.Her ski pops off. That is devastating.

:30:26. > :30:32.At least it is not the downhill proper, the think it was being

:30:33. > :30:38.treated as a training run. The ski probably shouldn't have come off on

:30:39. > :30:53.that turn, so she will be heading to the skied technicians. -- ski

:30:54. > :30:55.technicians. The American supporters,

:30:56. > :31:02.disappointed with what they have seen. But the run Ross will return

:31:03. > :31:11.midweek to the downhill. Next to go for Sweden, Sara Hector.

:31:12. > :31:15.Junior world champion in 2011. In the giant slalom, finished ninth in

:31:16. > :31:20.the World Championships in super combined last February when the

:31:21. > :31:25.event was held in Austria. Also finished fifth in the one and

:31:26. > :31:31.only combined this year. She is certainly an outsider. A good chance

:31:32. > :31:38.of a top five, I would say. Lara put in the enclosure. Italian

:31:39. > :31:51.is her first language. She speaks French, English.

:31:52. > :31:54.These big turns. A good edge change. Further off the line than some of

:31:55. > :32:01.the faster girls. She needs to get forward here. Through that

:32:02. > :32:06.compression. Getting pitched back a little. That is a sign her speed is

:32:07. > :32:12.not as great as she would like it to be. Getting bounced around, a wider

:32:13. > :32:15.line than she would ideally like to ski.

:32:16. > :32:21.The last Swedish winner of the women's super combined, the

:32:22. > :32:34.traditional combined, took the gold medal at the lily hammer Olympics in

:32:35. > :32:44.1994 -- Lillehammer. Into the gliding part. She has her head up.

:32:45. > :32:50.What we call a rabbit tuck. It is not the best aerodynamic position.

:32:51. > :32:54.She is opening up and landing wide. She is two seconds behind, I can't

:32:55. > :32:58.see that matching the top five performance held in January 12 in

:32:59. > :33:04.Austria. The only super combined that has

:33:05. > :33:08.been held at top level, to give us a form guide coming into the Winter

:33:09. > :33:10.Olympic Games. This is a sluggish run. She had a

:33:11. > :33:36.good, high line. Sara Hector skiing into 12th

:33:37. > :33:45.position. Lara but still leads the way for Sweden.

:33:46. > :33:50.Chemmy Alcott is eighth for Great Britain.

:33:51. > :33:56.This is when things get spicy, a couple of great athletes coming up.

:33:57. > :34:02.Let us a check on the standings. It is good to see the union Jack the

:34:03. > :34:07.alongside Chemmy Alcott's name. We do not expect her to turn up for the

:34:08. > :34:21.slalom. And encouraging training run if that is how she is treating it.

:34:22. > :34:28.This is the Shadow cam, to show you the difference between Lara Gut at

:34:29. > :34:33.the back, and Fenninger at the front. But the positions change.

:34:34. > :34:38.Fenninger tried to take a direct line, to cut the top of the

:34:39. > :34:48.turn-off. This is the crucial parts, the X it onto Bolshoy where we see

:34:49. > :34:55.selling the just overtaking. -- we see Fenninger overtaking.

:34:56. > :35:03.It is not a Russian Christmas is it? No, that is the 6th of January,

:35:04. > :35:16.isn't it? Tina Maze, a favourite.

:35:17. > :35:26.Some of the scenes at the top of the course.

:35:27. > :35:32.Next in the gate, number 16, Nicole Hosp. A terrific all-rounder, she

:35:33. > :35:37.has had a cracking season. One of the veterans, in her 30s. Showing

:35:38. > :35:42.some of the form more evident seven years ago. She has been slightly

:35:43. > :35:46.anonymous for the past few seasons but has bounced back. She has got a

:35:47. > :35:52.well-deserved Olympic selection, let us see if she can perform today. She

:35:53. > :35:58.has such a nice touch, so in light on her skis. In my view, one of the

:35:59. > :36:02.top favourites for the combined today.

:36:03. > :36:10.She took a silver medal in 2006 in the Olympic slalom. She was smooth

:36:11. > :36:18.through that section. She has to take the speed out of this gate a

:36:19. > :36:22.good start for Nicole Hosp for Austria.

:36:23. > :36:28.Faster than Lara Gut at the first intermediate, but slower at

:36:29. > :36:32.intermediate number two. It didn't look as committed as it

:36:33. > :36:39.could be. She will have to attack this bottom section. Coming off the

:36:40. > :36:44.tunnel jump, it is very straight, no turns at all. Then, she comes into

:36:45. > :36:55.the gliding section in and out of the sun, she had to get as low as

:36:56. > :37:05.she can. Gagnon is starting number 21 today.

:37:06. > :37:12.I am not sure she will be faster than Lara Gut but she is a more

:37:13. > :37:17.accomplished slalom skier than all three of the leaders, Nicole Hosp,

:37:18. > :37:21.if she finishes, with three gates to go, will give herself it is an

:37:22. > :37:25.opportunity heading into the slalom stage of this super combined. She is

:37:26. > :37:31.fourth, a great position. She can move into the medals from there.

:37:32. > :37:38.She is such a strong slalom skier but she will be disappointed.

:37:39. > :37:44.Watching the replay of the run. In places, she looked Luke warm, not as

:37:45. > :37:48.committed as Lara Gut. She is now the favourite, I would

:37:49. > :38:00.suggest. At the top, the defending champion

:38:01. > :38:08.is getting yourself ready to race. Hofl-Riesch was disappointed when

:38:09. > :38:13.they shaved off part of the course. Next is Tina Maze. Broke all records

:38:14. > :38:19.last season. Setting the record for the most amount of World Cup points

:38:20. > :38:24.won in a season. A clutch of medals at the 20 13th alpine skiing World

:38:25. > :38:27.Championships, crowned as the overall World Cup champion. So far

:38:28. > :38:33.this season she has made a steady start. Crucially, she has just

:38:34. > :38:38.clocked her World Cup win of the season in downhill, in Cortina,

:38:39. > :38:42.under the guidance of a brand-new coach who has just been appointed.

:38:43. > :38:46.She seems to have found her form with perfect timing right ahead of

:38:47. > :38:52.the Winter Olympic Games. She has made a promising start. It is

:38:53. > :38:56.crucial to have faith in the people around her. Tina Maze, with a change

:38:57. > :39:03.of coach, this is what it has brought. She is trusting her skiing

:39:04. > :39:08.now. Downhill skiing, alpine skiing, is such a mental game. A great

:39:09. > :39:15.section so far. World Cup wins last year. We know

:39:16. > :39:21.she is capable of turning it on in the technical discipline. A full

:39:22. > :39:26.attacking run in the downhill stage of the super combined. She has the

:39:27. > :39:31.better of Lara Gut, not by much. It is going to be close. Through this

:39:32. > :39:37.section we have seen a few of the girls dropping slightly low. A

:39:38. > :39:44.good, strong high line, fantastic skiing, a little bit of flight. And

:39:45. > :39:49.aerodynamic tuck. Silver medallist at the last two World Championships.

:39:50. > :40:01.She poses a serious threat as she goes for gold. Can she lead? Not

:40:02. > :40:05.quite. Crucially, in slalom terms, she is ahead of Nicole Hosp. She is

:40:06. > :40:14.in a strong position as she goes for her first Olympic gold. Nicole Hosp

:40:15. > :40:20.is so strong in slalom. Eight years ago she was winning and is still a

:40:21. > :40:21.great slalom skier. Nicole Hosp will be delighted with

:40:22. > :40:35.that performance. Sorry, Tina Maze. Tina Maze, the best all-rounder in

:40:36. > :40:40.the world at the end of last season. On good form at the start of

:40:41. > :40:44.her Olympic campaign. She will race in all of the disciplines.

:40:45. > :40:53.Another great chance for the Austrians. If she gets it right in

:40:54. > :40:57.downhill. Kirchgasser was second in Austria mid-January. She has to

:40:58. > :41:03.start well today. She has started well, a strong top section, no sign

:41:04. > :41:09.of her getting pushed back. A good jump. She has two dives down. She

:41:10. > :41:14.has lost little bit on the top. She has to do. Kirchgasser,

:41:15. > :41:21.realistically, has to be within a second of Tina Maze heading into the

:41:22. > :41:26.slalom stage of the super combined. Drifting away from her slightly.

:41:27. > :41:27.This is surprising from Kirchgasser, I thought she would enjoy this

:41:28. > :41:36.downhill. The split, she is more than a second

:41:37. > :41:52.behind. Starting to shake up nicely for the

:41:53. > :41:55.conclusion of this super combined. When the first alpine skiing medals

:41:56. > :42:01.for the women will be distributed later today. Mikel Kirchgasser is

:42:02. > :42:05.starting to struggle with the demands of this downhill. It looks

:42:06. > :42:10.like she is skiing for the finish rather than put pressure on the

:42:11. > :42:15.leaders. A little soft over the tunnel jump. It is pointing run but

:42:16. > :42:20.she hasn't made any major mistakes. I wonder if the skis aren't running.

:42:21. > :42:30.It could be a problem with this key preparation. -- the ski preparation.

:42:31. > :42:37.She will have two have the slalom run of her life to get in amongst

:42:38. > :42:42.the medals. The position wasn't bad. She was good on the top section. No

:42:43. > :42:47.major mistakes. A little bit round on the flat but nothing that made

:42:48. > :42:53.you think, that is a bad run, constantly losing speed.

:42:54. > :43:06.Lara Gut has a captive audience. Speaking Italian. Multilingual.

:43:07. > :43:10.Gorgl, watch her go. She knows only one speed. She will attack this.

:43:11. > :43:17.Look at the start. Pushing and skating. She was still pushing

:43:18. > :43:26.before she made that first turn. Setting about the downhill with

:43:27. > :43:30.vigour. She only knows full speed. Always an aggressive skier.

:43:31. > :43:36.Sometimes to the detriment of her speed, too hard at times on the

:43:37. > :43:43.snow. She is pushing hard. I think it could be one of her last years,

:43:44. > :43:49.certainly her last Olympics, so she will be going flat out. A great

:43:50. > :43:54.exit. To medals for Gorgl at the last

:43:55. > :44:02.Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, bronze medal in the down, and in the

:44:03. > :44:05.giant slalom. Seventh in the slalom. Not one of the best slalom skiers

:44:06. > :44:10.but she can mix it up when it matters. Struggling here.

:44:11. > :44:17.We used to go to school together. She was a good slalom skier. When

:44:18. > :44:24.she was young. Then she focused more on speed. She has one -- won this

:44:25. > :44:38.year. Gorgl finished sixth in the super

:44:39. > :44:49.combined at the World Championships in 2013. This is not her best. She

:44:50. > :44:58.is only half a second back on that split. Gorgl has improved. She is

:44:59. > :45:04.fifth. A good downhill stage of the super combined. She will have to dig

:45:05. > :45:08.deep into her muscle memory and find those slalom skills this afternoon.

:45:09. > :45:17.I love those shots with the blue sky in the background.

:45:18. > :45:29.Next is the defending champion, Maria Hoefl-Riesch waiting at the

:45:30. > :45:37.top. She sets about the defence of the first of her titles now. She was

:45:38. > :45:47.third in the World Cup super combined in January. She won the

:45:48. > :45:51.World Championship title, and is both the Olympic and the world super

:45:52. > :45:59.combined champion and she is very much one to watch today. That is a

:46:00. > :46:08.stack of medals behind your name. This is the important first split.

:46:09. > :46:23.The outside ski is bouncing around. This is not so good around this

:46:24. > :46:37.section. Not bad in training, sixth. She is a decent slalom

:46:38. > :46:47.skier. She has halved the deficit. Good gliding. She has such a depth

:46:48. > :46:52.of experience so she is wide, she is law. She will have filled those

:46:53. > :47:11.mistakes and she is coming back with a vengeance. This might be good

:47:12. > :47:24.enough for the top three. A little twitch sideways, will that be

:47:25. > :47:32.costly? She is fourth. That little mistake on the final stretch cost

:47:33. > :47:41.her a couple of tenths, but she is in the hunt. Maria Hoefl-Riesch in

:47:42. > :47:50.fourth. You can see the upper body being twisted. She is happy with

:47:51. > :48:10.that because she is such a strong slalom skier and she knows she is in

:48:11. > :48:19.with a big shout. Marie-Michele Gagnon won her first World Cup race

:48:20. > :48:30.in super combined. She is one to watch. She is a decent downhill

:48:31. > :48:42.skier and not a bad slalom race. She is standing eightth in the slalom.

:48:43. > :48:55.She nearly missed the gate. She is going back up the hill. That is

:48:56. > :49:05.going to be costly. She has been fourth, fifth and sixth in the World

:49:06. > :49:12.Cup slalom. I think this is going to be too much. She will need a little

:49:13. > :49:22.bit of luck and some of her competitors to fail if you years to

:49:23. > :49:28.get in among the medals. The time is slipping away. Without the speed,

:49:29. > :49:37.there is nothing you can do. Having said that, Maria Hoefl-Riesch clawed

:49:38. > :49:46.back a few tenths, but it is not going to be for Marie-Michele

:49:47. > :49:57.Gagnon. She is an excellent all-rounder and she will race in all

:49:58. > :50:07.the disciplines. She is 15th. She will be disappointed. This was the

:50:08. > :50:15.mistake. She got very low on the right turn so did not get onto the

:50:16. > :50:24.right ski early enough. She left the ski behind her so she was in a

:50:25. > :50:39.vulnerable position. The American flags getting ready. Julia Mancuso

:50:40. > :50:46.on her way. Silver medallist in super combined the last time in

:50:47. > :50:54.Vancouver and the silver medallist in downhill. She flies the flag for

:50:55. > :51:01.the US in terms of alpine and heart Forum has returned just in time. She

:51:02. > :51:05.had her best spell of racing for a while to weeks ago with three top

:51:06. > :51:12.ten finishes and she has made a cracking start. She is enjoying this

:51:13. > :51:16.top part of the downhill and you would think with so much pressure on

:51:17. > :51:36.her shoulders she might grumble, but not a chance, she loves the big

:51:37. > :51:52.events. A bit twisted on for -- forest jump. She is doing a fine

:51:53. > :52:10.job. Excellent speed. Julia Mancuso is faster, excellent skiing. She is

:52:11. > :52:27.so light on her skis. Such finesse. The Americans starting to cheer. She

:52:28. > :52:38.has got at by a long way! Julia Mancuso is the new leader. What a

:52:39. > :52:45.run. A couple of errors, but the rest of it was flawless. She was

:52:46. > :52:49.largely anonymous for the early part of the season, she went back to the

:52:50. > :52:54.States and made some adjustments to her equipment and she has continued

:52:55. > :53:08.that resurgence in form with a brilliant start. She might get

:53:09. > :53:13.herself a medal today. She does a lot of alternative training. She

:53:14. > :53:49.trains by the sea, she is in the sea, on the beach. The downhill has

:53:50. > :54:07.just been let up by the performance of Julia Mancuso. That was so good.

:54:08. > :54:19.You nailed it. She always does it in the big events. Julia Mancuso was

:54:20. > :54:44.the slalom champion in 2006. Three Olympic medals to her name. This is

:54:45. > :54:52.one of the slalom skiers, Sarka Strachova. Under her maiden name she

:54:53. > :55:00.won the world title in slalom in 2007. She has recently married and

:55:01. > :55:14.recently undergone a brain operation. Not massively behind. A

:55:15. > :55:20.superb slalom skier. She was still racing when I was racing and she was

:55:21. > :55:23.starting to come into her own. Losing a little bit of time on the

:55:24. > :55:40.way down and I would imagine we will is more of that on the gliding

:55:41. > :55:43.section. No major mistakes, just a little bit taller, less committed

:55:44. > :56:03.than the out and out downhill skiers. You really have to stretch

:56:04. > :56:15.into the holes. Travelling at around 60mph will . Setting up for the

:56:16. > :56:22.finishing line knowing that the hardest part of the day is almost

:56:23. > :56:32.done. She will have to come from a long way back in the second run, the

:56:33. > :56:37.slalom. She will have a sigh of relief to be able to finish the

:56:38. > :56:49.downhill with the slalom to come. The bit that she enjoys. Julia

:56:50. > :57:29.Mancuso waits for the USA, Lara Gut is second for Switzerland. It is

:57:30. > :57:33.Macarena Simari Birkner. Not the commitment, the deep position that

:57:34. > :57:40.she needs, a higher line, but not a fast line. Part of a trio of

:57:41. > :58:04.siblings who regularly reads at the World Championships. Her sister and

:58:05. > :58:15.brother also race. She is not going to be in it for the medals. We can

:58:16. > :58:36.admire her catsuit. That is one of the best we have ever seen. She is

:58:37. > :58:39.home and dry. Julia Mancuso leads. She is loving it, lapping up the

:58:40. > :58:45.amazing energy of the Olympic Games, it is Eastern sessional

:58:46. > :58:57.filling, difficult to explain how it feels -- a sensational billing. It

:58:58. > :59:14.is warm, it feels more like April than February. Her mother was a

:59:15. > :59:24.decent racer as well. She won slalom races in the late 70s and early

:59:25. > :59:36.80s. It has to set you up for being a champion yourself. Doing a great

:59:37. > :59:44.job. Strong turns. Carrying speed. A good slalom here, that is her

:59:45. > :59:51.speciality. Silver medallist in the 2011 World Championships in giant

:59:52. > :59:58.slalom. Needs to produce a downhill run off some zero and she is not

:59:59. > :00:09.doing too badly. She is the technical skier. Not so happy down

:00:10. > :00:39.the gliding section. It is a bit of a scary sensation for a slalom

:00:40. > :00:49.skier. Mancuso is first, Lara Gut second.

:00:50. > :00:57.The male audience will like that short. -- shot.

:00:58. > :01:20.Next ago, for Slovakia, Lara Ganton Rover.

:01:21. > :01:31.Gatnerova is off to a solid start. 0.63 behind Mancuso and struggling

:01:32. > :01:39.to hold the end. She was good on the top but a bit of a strange error

:01:40. > :01:43.coming in to the drop. She put them sideways on the turn before the

:01:44. > :01:46.critical turn which was a little bit odd and she did not look quite so

:01:47. > :01:51.comfortable and here she is losing speed all the way down this section.

:01:52. > :01:53.The top five turns were really strong and then she just lost focus

:01:54. > :02:10.and concentration a little bit. Julia Mancuso has sent a court --

:02:11. > :02:14.course report back to the top. But it is vital. Every day it can change

:02:15. > :02:18.slightly even if it is just more sun or more shade and its softens up a

:02:19. > :02:31.bit. It is so important to know that. It will be a huge advantage.

:02:32. > :02:42.Gatnerova is home without incident. The difference between Mancuso and

:02:43. > :02:51.the third-place is 0.86. That is a decent lead. I do not think we can

:02:52. > :02:54.rule out her fall right, she is the second down but she is a very strong

:02:55. > :03:26.slalom singer. -- slalom skier. Leanne Smith is about one fifth

:03:27. > :03:31.back, that is quite a lot to be back in this top section. It looks as

:03:32. > :03:33.though the light has gone a bit. The sun is now higher in the sky so that

:03:34. > :03:52.they looks a bit dark and tricky. It is a second and a half now. She

:03:53. > :04:15.twisted up a little bit there. Leanne Smith getting the benefit of

:04:16. > :04:19.the applause from the American crowd who is gathered here. They are still

:04:20. > :04:58.# still celebrating the excellent run from Julia Mancuso.

:04:59. > :05:14.Number 28 is from Slovenia. She is pitching back slightly as she comes

:05:15. > :05:21.out of the steep launch pad section. She has to throw herself

:05:22. > :05:25.forward and she does not do that. She is coming into the steep section

:05:26. > :05:31.now. It is not about to turn but a bit wishy-washy on the outside ski.

:05:32. > :05:38.She has had a pretty good top section. She is low on the line. She

:05:39. > :05:44.is very low as she comes in to the Traverse. She had a very good start

:05:45. > :05:47.to the season in Beaver Creek. Since then she has been largely anonymous

:05:48. > :06:04.but not here. This is still promising. This could just be enough

:06:05. > :06:07.to propel Stuhec into the top 12 if she finishes this stage cleanly

:06:08. > :06:13.enough. She is opening up a little bit of that jump but it is not a bad

:06:14. > :06:16.run at all. She needs to get low and aerodynamic and carry a speed

:06:17. > :06:22.through the finish. It is very straight and fast through this

:06:23. > :06:28.section. Mancuso leads the way. Stuhec is just outside of the top

:06:29. > :06:40.ten, in a lesson. She has done well. A good start to the racing and she

:06:41. > :06:41.is happy with that. That was possibly the best downhill run of

:06:42. > :07:10.her career. She will be treating this as a

:07:11. > :07:15.training run. She was third at Beaver Creek. She was third and

:07:16. > :07:27.fifth in Lake Louise in the early autumn. She is carrying good speed

:07:28. > :07:33.here. She has two change quickly and get a good line and carried the

:07:34. > :07:39.speed onto the Traverse. She stood enjoyed the flatter section towards

:07:40. > :07:46.the bottom. 4168 and Nadia Fanchini is right up there -- Eleanor

:07:47. > :07:50.Fanchini. She is having a real crack at this downhill stage. She has got

:07:51. > :07:57.the wind under the tips of her skis there. She pays the price. She is

:07:58. > :08:01.more than a second behind all of a sudden. She was a bit upright and a

:08:02. > :08:06.bit back and not quite as aerodynamic as she would have liked

:08:07. > :08:10.to be. Now she makes a good move but it was not good enough. She needs to

:08:11. > :08:17.throw the arms further forward and gets no contact as quickly as she

:08:18. > :08:25.can. It is unlikely that Julia Mancuso's time will be challenged

:08:26. > :08:29.now. She is 1.77 seconds down, another reconnaissance mission on

:08:30. > :08:37.the Olympic downhill course safely completed for Elena Fanchini.

:08:38. > :08:41.There is one more American to come, another one who will have listened

:08:42. > :08:49.into the course report given by Julia Mancuso. She is just relaxing

:08:50. > :08:59.now and watching the remainder of this downhill leg. Stacey Cook from

:09:00. > :09:07.California. She is away. A big cheer at the finish. There are a few flags

:09:08. > :09:12.waving and people cheering. Julia Mancuso will be watching on. Stacey

:09:13. > :09:19.Cook has no form as a slalom skier so this will be a training run for

:09:20. > :09:26.her. A big jump there, having to make that left turn just as soon as

:09:27. > :09:31.she re-engages with the snow. One quarter of a second, in touch here

:09:32. > :09:35.for Stacey Cook. She is low on the line there and a couple of quick

:09:36. > :09:40.exchanges but not that smooth. Let us see how that affects the time. It

:09:41. > :09:49.might have done some damage there. She has! She nearly did terminal

:09:50. > :10:01.damage. She is a DNS. We have not had too many that failed to finish.

:10:02. > :10:06.She was the sixth quickest in her training runs but no result today.

:10:07. > :10:22.Let us check on the standings, Julia Mancuso came in late.

:10:23. > :10:30.Chemmy Alcott is still flying the flag in 15th position for the

:10:31. > :10:42.British downhill and super-G skier. As we take a look further down the

:10:43. > :10:52.list we can see there are some DNFs. Chemmy will be really happy

:10:53. > :10:56.with that run. She has got stronger and stronger through each training

:10:57. > :11:05.run and you should have won more tomorrow. She is just looking to cut

:11:06. > :11:09.the time down on each run. That was a great downhill run. It was

:11:10. > :11:16.definitely what I was hoping for. That was Julia Mancuso. Definitely

:11:17. > :11:21.what she was hoping for is what we got from that. There are sins --

:11:22. > :11:25.there are still some of the outsiders to come. It is a

:11:26. > :11:30.cosmopolitan mix and we have skiers from Andorra, Poland, the Czech

:11:31. > :11:38.Republic, Hungary, Australia, remain here and Monaco. Some great names

:11:39. > :11:51.coming up as well. Yes, I am looking forward to some of them! Number 31

:11:52. > :11:52.is from Andorra. She will be followed by Karolina Chrapek from

:11:53. > :12:08.Poland. Nervous moments for everybody. There

:12:09. > :12:13.is now a chance to peer over the top of the ledge which forms this

:12:14. > :12:20.starting block. Here it is, you literally peer off the edge. It is

:12:21. > :12:26.not as steep as the men's but it is a proper drop into the first gate.

:12:27. > :12:30.She is just wrapping her boots tightly around the calf. She is

:12:31. > :12:33.having it tightened by her coach. You have your little routine that

:12:34. > :12:38.you do and a little clip of her poles as she puts them over and then

:12:39. > :12:46.she will be off. Maria Gutierrez from Andorra. I am surprised that

:12:47. > :12:50.over the years we have not seen anyone come through from Andorra and

:12:51. > :12:53.make a move. Nobody has really broken through. When you consider

:12:54. > :12:59.the extent of this skiing available to the Andorra 's. Maria is looking

:13:00. > :13:03.a bit shaken here as she gets pitched backwards and caught up and

:13:04. > :13:09.twisted up coming into that first jump. That was a very quick and

:13:10. > :13:10.gutsy edge but the damage has been done on that very tough section --

:13:11. > :13:20.top section. We saw Stacey Cook go out just

:13:21. > :13:31.before her and she got really low onto the Traverse. We did not see

:13:32. > :13:44.the slow replay but it was game over for Stacey Cook. 56.04 is her split.

:13:45. > :13:48.Maria Gutierrez is off the pace now. That was big air of that jump,

:13:49. > :13:53.bigger than we have seen from the runners before. Into the gliding

:13:54. > :13:59.section now. A good aerodynamic and opening up again. You can see that

:14:00. > :14:03.she really worked the legs earlier but she is letting all of these

:14:04. > :14:12.rollers give her air and she is coming out of the tuck very set --

:14:13. > :14:16.very unsettled. She can see the grandstand is not exactly full today

:14:17. > :14:22.but we expect it will fill up as the afternoon slalom section

:14:23. > :14:25.approaches. Maria Gutierrez is warmly welcomed home, they are being

:14:26. > :14:33.generous to all the races here today. She is 27th on the list at

:14:34. > :14:37.the moment. It is great to see everybody cheering for all of the

:14:38. > :14:40.nations. There was nothing worse than being in a country and they

:14:41. > :14:43.just cheer on their own athletes and there is nothing worse as a racer to

:14:44. > :14:58.come down just to silence. She looks tired. Eight to go. Next up from

:14:59. > :15:02.Poland is Karolina Chrapek. A little tentative out at the start gate. She

:15:03. > :15:12.did not go for the good push that you like to see.

:15:13. > :15:19.She is a little bit tentative on the flat section. She is just looking to

:15:20. > :15:23.ski a good clean line. The starting intervals have been shortened as we

:15:24. > :15:29.approach the end of the start list so we will see the races live out of

:15:30. > :15:39.the starting out and pick them up at about the 1.20 mark. Karolina

:15:40. > :15:48.Chrapek is almost there. Within five seconds of the lead, that is OK.

:15:49. > :15:55.That is very respectable. We are missing out the exciting part of the

:15:56. > :16:00.course, the spine, the steep bit of forest. It looks like they are going

:16:01. > :16:17.to be picking up the skiers as they come onto the flat. Back at the top,

:16:18. > :16:31.this is number 33 of 39 due to start the first stage of this Alpine event

:16:32. > :16:44.for the women. Not bad at all. Clean terms. Klara Krizova is certainly

:16:45. > :16:53.having the form -- certainly does not have the form to give Julia

:16:54. > :16:59.Mancuso... That is very good from Klara Krizova. She skis into 17th

:17:00. > :17:06.position. She is happy with that. Good downhill run from the cheque

:17:07. > :17:11.skier. A chance to move up the rankings as she heads to the slalom

:17:12. > :17:18.stage this afternoon. Just beginning to wind the Windows a little bit.

:17:19. > :17:31.Then making contact with the snow and making diving back into the cup.

:17:32. > :17:38.Anna Berecz from Hungary. Pick her up now further down the course. 1.15

:17:39. > :17:44.mark. Little bit of difference in the time. Five seconds. Quite a

:17:45. > :17:47.hefty chunk. She is also gaining experience, happy to be at the

:17:48. > :17:53.Olympic Games and soaking up the atmosphere, looking to get to the

:17:54. > :18:01.finish cleanly and safely. Not a confident looking flight. Arms wide

:18:02. > :18:09.to her side. Struggling to maintain control. But she has successfully

:18:10. > :18:11.negotiating four fifths of this course and she is 30th at the

:18:12. > :18:29.moment. I am doing it for my grandpa who

:18:30. > :18:41.cannot be here. Julia Mancuso loving it down at the finish. So she

:18:42. > :18:45.should. What a great run from her. Greta Small is the Australian, the

:18:46. > :18:49.youngest competitor in the field today, 18. Her first Olympics,

:18:50. > :19:00.obviously, and a huge moment for her. She will be loving this. Such a

:19:01. > :19:03.brilliant atmosphere. At that -- at my first Games, there was no

:19:04. > :19:11.expectation. She will be enjoying this. That was in 92. It was. You

:19:12. > :19:19.raised the traditional combined. I did. Where did you finish? I was

:19:20. > :19:30.eighth in the slalom. I cannot remember overall. But I remember

:19:31. > :19:36.loving it. Greta Small is 28. The Israeli teenager has finished

:19:37. > :19:41.safely. -- the Australian teenager. She made a big error on the flat

:19:42. > :19:52.otherwise she could have been another 1.5 seconds inside. Four to

:19:53. > :19:56.go. Look at the ski spending. That shows the force going through them

:19:57. > :20:15.because they are rock solid -- bending. Quickly into the top. Good,

:20:16. > :20:23.quick changes. Back into the tucked. Good top section. This is

:20:24. > :20:29.where we looked at this part in inspection. It is really steep and

:20:30. > :20:35.you have got to commit. Commitment was the word here. Edit Miklos doing

:20:36. > :20:39.a pretty good job. She will be more than a second behind at the next

:20:40. > :20:49.split, I would imagine. Just under, in fact. Not as bad as it might have

:20:50. > :20:57.been. Fighting for control. Grappling for control. Just under

:20:58. > :21:07.100 through the speed gun. 99kph. Good terms. Clean and smooth. If

:21:08. > :21:11.Edit Miklos can ski her way into the top 20, that will be something of a

:21:12. > :21:18.result for the Hungary. Almost home now. The crowd is maintaining an

:21:19. > :21:23.interest right the way through to the end of this downhill stage of

:21:24. > :21:31.the super combined. 13th position for Edit Miklos. That is a true for

:21:32. > :21:43.it -- that is a too horrific result. She cannot believe it. -- that is a

:21:44. > :21:50.terrific result. In general, she will be super happy. Three to go in

:21:51. > :22:03.the downhill stage of the Olympic women's's super combined. Number 37,

:22:04. > :22:15.the Slovakian, Kristina Saalova. A tentative start, more so than Edit

:22:16. > :22:21.Miklos. She had a very strong one. Julia Mancuso leads the way. That

:22:22. > :22:32.was a massive flight. Unexpected air time there for Christina slalom --

:22:33. > :22:37.Kristina Saalova. It could be that the course is getting quicker at the

:22:38. > :22:43.top. Some of the later starters taking advantage of extra speed

:22:44. > :22:49.underfoot. She is taking air off these little rollers. Coming in with

:22:50. > :22:56.pretty good speed. We have just seen what is possible from a stark number

:22:57. > :23:04.in the 30s from Edit Miklos who skied into a top 15. C what she can

:23:05. > :23:08.do. It has slipped away from her. That was a terrible line. She is

:23:09. > :23:11.just posturing over the jump. What a shame. Lost a lot on the bottom

:23:12. > :23:23.section. Still, lots of support for the later

:23:24. > :23:32.starters. Kristina Saalova comes through in 30th position. The

:23:33. > :23:39.defending champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch is in faith. Kristina

:23:40. > :23:43.Saalova, when she looks back at the intermediate time, she will be

:23:44. > :23:55.delighted -- Maria Hoefl-Riesch is in fifth. Kristina Saalova was very

:23:56. > :24:00.strong on top. Two to go. This is Alexandra Coletti from Monaco. She

:24:01. > :24:06.has been around for a while. 31 years of age. As we have mentioned

:24:07. > :24:13.before, it is so important to get a good start. That was not such a

:24:14. > :24:17.great start. No one yet apart from Alexandra Coletti has made contact

:24:18. > :24:22.with the safety netting. She seems to be none the worse for her slip

:24:23. > :24:30.slide at the top, minus a ski pole but that will be retrieved. She

:24:31. > :24:35.booted out. A little bit too far over and the clips hit the snow. It

:24:36. > :24:43.happens but it is such a shame. Nothing you can do. There is no

:24:44. > :24:49.coming back. Pride is hurt but nothing else. Her day is done.

:24:50. > :25:15.Halfway there. Just warming up. Smiles all round in team America.

:25:16. > :25:24.Makes up for poor Bode Miller yesterday. So far. Halfway there, as

:25:25. > :25:32.Julia just said. Still the got -- 's dog to complete the slalom run. She

:25:33. > :25:36.has not skied much slalom in the past couple of seasons, but she may

:25:37. > :25:45.have been training slalom in preparation. We have one race still

:25:46. > :25:54.to go. The last on the Hill will be Ania Monica Caill. She will close

:25:55. > :25:59.the downhill stage of this super combined. Slightly unnerving for her

:26:00. > :26:03.because she will have seen Alexandra Coletti's fall from the top. Not

:26:04. > :26:13.ideal when you are going out of the start gate. Looking wobbly. Her mind

:26:14. > :26:23.not quite into it yet. Not much flight over the Devils spine. Very,

:26:24. > :26:29.very late in the line. Had to make a quick edge change. Lucky to make the

:26:30. > :26:38.gate. Time slipping away. Losing speed coming into the slightly flat

:26:39. > :26:44.side hill of Bolshoy to reverse. -- traverse. The sun has definitely

:26:45. > :26:51.gone in which is a shame for these last runners. Overcast now. If it

:26:52. > :26:57.does anything, I think it will rain rather than snow. Temperatures quite

:26:58. > :27:06.high at the moment. Hopefully there is no precipitation. That would

:27:07. > :27:13.dampen the spirits this afternoon. The silver medallist last time out,

:27:14. > :27:19.Julia Mancuso, the champion of the Olympics of 2006 in giant slalom.

:27:20. > :27:23.She loves the big stage. She has shown good form in the build up to

:27:24. > :27:28.the Olympic Games. The weekend in Cortina, her first top ten results

:27:29. > :27:33.for a while. She brings that form to the start of the Olympic Games and

:27:34. > :27:40.she will be last to go in the slalom a little later, looking for her gold

:27:41. > :27:41.medal. The last of the downhill skiers is safely across the line.

:27:42. > :28:03.The Romanian is in 34th position. Julia Mancuso has the quickest time

:28:04. > :28:18.in the downhill stage by just under half a second to Lara Gut. Chemmy

:28:19. > :28:25.Alcott of Great Britain, 16th fastest in the downhill stage.

:28:26. > :28:29.HAZEL IRVINE: The all-important deciding run of slalom will be

:28:30. > :28:36.taking place at 11am. As you heard Julia Mancuso say, halfway there.

:28:37. > :28:40.There was a lot of very good skiers on her tail. I know you are bolting

:28:41. > :28:44.your tea and toast this morning and you are about to dash out the door,

:28:45. > :28:49.but I might throw a spanner in the works because Jenny Jones is on her

:28:50. > :28:52.way to the studio and after capturing everyone's imagination

:28:53. > :28:55.yesterday along with the bronze medal, I do not thing you want to

:28:56. > :29:01.miss this. We will look at an event yesterday. We like watching it. It

:29:02. > :29:04.was a historic first for Great Britain, first-ever medal on snow at

:29:05. > :29:13.the Olympic Winter Games. We have had plenty over the last 90 years on

:29:14. > :29:17.the ice. This lady did it in style, snowboard slopestyle.

:29:18. > :29:24.After the commendation of the men's slopestyle event yesterday, Team GB

:29:25. > :29:29.has double interest today. Aimee Fuller and Jenny Jones take on the

:29:30. > :29:43.world and this fearsome course. Beautiful. Aimee Fuller went big,

:29:44. > :29:49.but just came up short. What a start to her career. It is a great

:29:50. > :29:54.experience. The first time I have ever competed in the Olympics. Able

:29:55. > :29:59.than block for the next one. -- a building block. Jenny Jones showed

:30:00. > :30:10.her experience to get through to the final. She did not know her parents

:30:11. > :30:14.were watching. She is in the final. The veteran Jenny Jones is into the

:30:15. > :30:24.Olympic final. Can she unleash something to open the Team GB

:30:25. > :30:33.account? Nice and solid from Jenny Jones. Absolutely massive. She will

:30:34. > :30:45.have the walk of shame if she slips up. This is the best thing I have

:30:46. > :30:51.ever seen! After all of the slip-ups it was time to get serious for the

:30:52. > :30:58.final run. Aimee Fuller raced up to be in the commentary box. Jenny

:30:59. > :31:05.Jones is currently lying in fit. I will be standing on my seat in a

:31:06. > :31:10.minute. Jenny's experience will come to the fore here. She has been in

:31:11. > :31:15.these high-pressure situations. Nice and solid on the first rail. 50/50.

:31:16. > :31:28.A great rail. Talk about confidence. Doing little

:31:29. > :31:35.tricks. She is coming into the first jump. Yes, beautiful. Solid to the

:31:36. > :31:40.feet. A great grab. It is looking very solid here for Jenny Jones. Is

:31:41. > :31:50.she going for the front nine? Come on, let's see it. Oh, she went for

:31:51. > :31:55.the seven! Solid! Solid! That was laid down very cleanly. That was a

:31:56. > :32:01.very good-looking run. Look at the smile on her face. I am so happy to

:32:02. > :32:06.see her do that. This rail is key. She did it all the way to the end.

:32:07. > :32:13.Everything was really clean here. She is daring the judges to mark her

:32:14. > :32:24.down. Check out the grab on that? Solid. An absolute machine. It was

:32:25. > :32:31.such a clean run. We said that execution and going big would do it.

:32:32. > :32:33.Look at that. Where is this score coming in? Put the entire UK out of

:32:34. > :32:59.their misery. Jenny Jones! Right now, Jenny Jones as the second

:33:00. > :33:09.role is in the gold medal position. She has got 87! Let us be realistic

:33:10. > :33:15.about this. There are a lot of women here who are serious threats to this

:33:16. > :33:23.gold medal position. This is one of them. This is really quite standard

:33:24. > :33:28.at the moment. Jenny Jones's size and execution was key there and the

:33:29. > :33:32.judges have awarded it consistently with the other tricks and runs that

:33:33. > :33:36.we have seen scoring big. One thing it has done is send out a clear

:33:37. > :33:46.message to all of the other competitors in the start gate. Go

:33:47. > :33:52.big. Go big! Goodness! She doesn't even realise she did that! I need to

:33:53. > :33:59.chill out a little bit, that was mental. Jenny Jones may only have

:34:00. > :34:05.been in the number one spot for one minute. There are so many riders

:34:06. > :34:17.trying to land big runs and this was an absolute banger. 87. It is only

:34:18. > :34:18.good enough for silver and Jenny Jones still has a gold medal

:34:19. > :34:32.position. A frontside 720 on the first kicker.

:34:33. > :34:43.Setting up for a second jump. A bit of a wobble on the way in. This is a

:34:44. > :34:50.big run. This is a very big run. That was spectacular. That was

:34:51. > :34:55.fantastic. You have got to say that is first place. It is certainly

:34:56. > :35:05.capable of it. She is looking to better Jenny Jones score of 87.25.

:35:06. > :35:22.92.5. She moves into the gold medal position. Jenny Jones is in silver.

:35:23. > :35:30.She rode onto the box rather than popped. Going for the switch now.

:35:31. > :35:35.That is unreal, that is so technical. It is really nice. The

:35:36. > :35:42.kind of trademark of her riding... Oh, she sat down. She did exactly

:35:43. > :35:50.what she did in the first run. Hearts are racing in the finish

:35:51. > :35:59.area. Jenny Jones makes it again. Huge style on the final kicker.

:36:00. > :36:02.66.25, that is not going to be a medal. Nerves are running very high

:36:03. > :36:15.here. A lot of speed is needed to clear

:36:16. > :36:26.this and then it is simply straight. That was beautiful. Backside five.

:36:27. > :36:33.Massive! This is great. It all comes down to this. Frontside seven. A

:36:34. > :36:39.little hands down. To be fair, that was a belter of a run. 95.25, and a

:36:40. > :36:47.static score from the judges to take Jamie Anderson into the gold medal

:36:48. > :36:49.position. Right now, with one rider to to go, Jenny Jones sits in the

:36:50. > :37:05.bronze medal position. The Austrian. She is riding out

:37:06. > :37:10.normal. 180 over that jump. She is so fluid through the jumps. Into

:37:11. > :37:19.this first one. She is playing it safe. Very smooth.

:37:20. > :37:36.Oh! Are we supposed to do that? Probably not!

:37:37. > :37:45.You are Britain's first Olympic medallist on snow. Oh, my God. It

:37:46. > :37:49.feels amazing, absolutely amazing. I cannot believe it, I cannot believe

:37:50. > :37:54.it. What would you say to your mum and dad? I have got a feeling they

:37:55. > :37:57.are here. I know they are here somewhere so I am going to go and

:37:58. > :38:21.find them. We have found them for you.

:38:22. > :38:34.Oh, you have never ever disappointed us! Never. I you laughing at my mum

:38:35. > :38:39.and dad? My mum is very northern! The more northern the better, I say!

:38:40. > :38:43.Here she is. Jenny Jones, congratulations. Would you like to

:38:44. > :38:50.show everybody the amazing piece of metal. There it is. How heavy is a?

:38:51. > :38:54.It is very heavy actually. It is about half a bag of sugar, the

:38:55. > :39:00.heaviest in Olympic history. There is one around your neck. I will let

:39:01. > :39:06.that drop very carefully. It has been a bit of a whirlwind. Going

:39:07. > :39:09.from the semifinals in the morning to the finals and then realising I

:39:10. > :39:16.had made it onto the podium and then going to the ceremony and then the

:39:17. > :39:19.evening and now I am here! The reaction from back home. What has

:39:20. > :39:26.been your experience of what you have done to the country? I just

:39:27. > :39:30.heard from people back home and I keep getting texts from people

:39:31. > :39:35.crying and celebrating. There is a lot of crying. I guess it was quite

:39:36. > :39:40.tense and exciting final four people. It certainly was. Let us

:39:41. > :39:44.talk about it. Your second run was where you nailed it down. Was there

:39:45. > :39:49.a conscious decision to go back and keep it to the basic elements? We

:39:50. > :39:52.had seen what the judges were thinking, they wanted clean

:39:53. > :39:59.execution. What did you discuss with your coach? We were at the towel

:40:00. > :40:02.after my first run and I just slightly slipped off a rail maybe

:40:03. > :40:07.put my hand down slightly on one of the tricks and then we had to take

:40:08. > :40:11.the decision and it was completely 50/50, did I go for a harder trick

:40:12. > :40:15.or did I try and clean up my run, but not knowing how many more points

:40:16. > :40:21.it would get me. We made a decision together and we stuck with it and

:40:22. > :40:25.luckily it was the right decision. What would have been the other

:40:26. > :40:29.decision? The other option was to try frontside 900 but I do have a

:40:30. > :40:36.tendency to put my hands down when I do that trick and if you notice with

:40:37. > :40:40.another one she landed the first ten that any girl has ever done in the

:40:41. > :40:43.contest and she put her hands down and you saw that she got quite

:40:44. > :40:48.heavily docked for that which I was surprised that but in the end it

:40:49. > :40:52.worked in my favour. Yes, better safe than sorry in the end. I guess

:40:53. > :40:56.it worked out. How much did your experience play a part in this? You

:40:57. > :41:02.are 33 and one of the elder stateswoman of your event, did that

:41:03. > :41:06.play a big part in the decision-making? Yes, I think

:41:07. > :41:11.experience definitely played a part. Staying calm and collected

:41:12. > :41:15.after the semifinal as well. The semifinal was actually more

:41:16. > :41:19.terrifying for me because it was so important I thought to get into a

:41:20. > :41:25.final and once I had made the final there a little bit of relief and I

:41:26. > :41:31.just could go for it, it was about going for it then and bringing out

:41:32. > :41:35.the style and everything I had. And the weight at the bottom was

:41:36. > :41:40.interminable. What was it like for you? I didn't know if this was just

:41:41. > :41:45.me but it felt longer than everybody else. Looking back it obviously was.

:41:46. > :41:51.I think I actually hid behind my snowboard. And then, hiding behind

:41:52. > :41:58.the big reflector at the end was your mum and dad. Why do have such

:41:59. > :42:03.an aversion to having them what you? I do not know, it is ever since I

:42:04. > :42:07.was a little girl with gymnastics and athletics and that the X Games,

:42:08. > :42:11.I don't want to see them because it is just a distraction. I love that

:42:12. > :42:14.they are there but I don't want to know that they are there. They loved

:42:15. > :42:20.it along with everybody else. What was it like going onto the podium?

:42:21. > :42:27.Digit get the really was Asian of what you were doing? -- did you get

:42:28. > :42:35.the realisation of what you had done. When you walk out onto the

:42:36. > :42:43.stage it just... All the people, something just hits you and I just

:42:44. > :42:48.felt very proud to be up there. Was there a point, because you 33 and

:42:49. > :42:52.you have been a trailblazer in this sport for ten years and you have won

:42:53. > :42:56.multiple X Games, was there a little part of you who thought it might be

:42:57. > :43:00.just a little too late for you coming into these games? I think I

:43:01. > :43:06.thought about that back then but once I have decided that I was going

:43:07. > :43:09.for this then I was going for it wholeheartedly. It has been a

:43:10. > :43:16.roller-coaster two years but it has definitely been worth it. I am sure

:43:17. > :43:19.it has. We have had a sneaky peek at some iPhone footage from last night.

:43:20. > :43:24.Tell us what was going on. The first glass of champagne for how long? In

:43:25. > :43:32.four months I haven't had a drink! Oh, look at us! That is Aimee Fuller

:43:33. > :43:38.of course who was in the commentary box. That is not alcohol, that is

:43:39. > :43:49.sheer exhilaration I expect. Yes, I was just enjoying the moment and the

:43:50. > :43:53.music. We love to see it and we love that we have shared it with you and

:43:54. > :43:57.we are sharing the whole experience with you. From what you have seen

:43:58. > :44:00.and heard from the other members of the snowboarding team and the

:44:01. > :44:04.freestyle skiing team, what could this do for the British team? I just

:44:05. > :44:08.think exposing the sport and everybody simply watching it and

:44:09. > :44:14.enjoying not just me doing the riding yesterday but actually Jamie

:44:15. > :44:17.and Billy Morgan who did amazingly the day before, hopefully that has

:44:18. > :44:21.got people hooked and they may be want to go and try it and get in the

:44:22. > :44:29.snow domes and the dry slopes, who knows? I really hope so. What is

:44:30. > :44:33.next for you? For me it is a surf trip. I'm going to have a little

:44:34. > :44:37.break and go surfing for two weeks. Thank you very much. You have given

:44:38. > :44:44.us a fantastic few hours in the studio and 91 years of waiting is

:44:45. > :44:50.finally over. Well done. Great to see you. Thank you for coming in. I

:44:51. > :44:55.am sure that was well worth being late for work for. Jenny Jones,

:44:56. > :45:00.bronze medallist, and making history for Great Britain.

:45:01. > :45:03.Now we have some curling for you. Good news from early on as the men

:45:04. > :45:10.started their event with a win over Russia. At 5am in the morning the

:45:11. > :45:15.trousers that the Russians were wearing would certainly wake you up!

:45:16. > :45:19.At 10am it is the turn of Eve Muirhead who is the Great Britain

:45:20. > :45:26.female skip. This is a team event but when it comes to calling the

:45:27. > :45:29.shots, it is all about Eve. It is rare to find British athletes

:45:30. > :45:36.who will travel to a Winter Olympics not just as contenders, but as

:45:37. > :45:41.favourites. Eve Muirhead and her team won the world title in March

:45:42. > :45:46.and for them it was not a surprise. They are dedicated to be the best.

:45:47. > :45:52.Is it about right now trying to replicate as close as you can a

:45:53. > :45:56.competition environment so you get a chance to practice decision-making

:45:57. > :46:01.as well? Exactly. There are always things we want to change. You do not

:46:02. > :46:07.want to make big changes just before major tournaments. Going in as well

:46:08. > :46:11.champions as well, that must have another impact on the expectation

:46:12. > :46:15.and the other teams must be looking to you guys as the ones to shoot

:46:16. > :46:20.down. There is a big target on our backs. If anyone asked, would you

:46:21. > :46:24.like to go in as well champions or mid-table, you know what you will

:46:25. > :46:28.pick. It is going to be world champions. We know how to deal with

:46:29. > :46:35.the pressure and how to win major tournaments. We are looking forward

:46:36. > :46:40.to it. It is fascinating to see Eve's composure and authority on the

:46:41. > :46:45.ice. She is still only 23 but commands the total respect of her

:46:46. > :46:49.team-mates. She is a great leader. She has a very experienced head for

:46:50. > :46:56.such a young person which is great. She has no fear. We have got every

:46:57. > :47:01.confidence in her because of that. She is great to play with. In

:47:02. > :47:05.general, she is a good all-rounder and she is good at making the

:47:06. > :47:11.pressure shots when she comes to it. I used to skip against Eve. If you

:47:12. > :47:15.cannot join them, -- if you cannot beat them, join them. I joined Eve

:47:16. > :47:23.three years ago and it has gone great. What are you expecting that

:47:24. > :47:26.Sochi? The main thing is to try and treat it like every other

:47:27. > :47:29.competition. We are just going out to play in a championship like we do

:47:30. > :47:34.all the time. At the same tank, it feels like we have the opportunity

:47:35. > :47:39.of a lifetime so we want to make the most of it -- at the same time. Eve

:47:40. > :47:43.and the rest of the teams spend hours training and be hard work has

:47:44. > :47:47.paid off. Their success has proved that. Over the last few years,

:47:48. > :47:51.curling has moved on when it comes to the fitness side of it. If you

:47:52. > :47:57.can imagine the stamina you need, you can be on the ice for up to

:47:58. > :48:03.three hours. You burn a lot of calories. We need to be physically

:48:04. > :48:08.fit. As well, the strength training and conditioning we do, a lot of

:48:09. > :48:11.stability is key. You want to be as consistent with every release and

:48:12. > :48:16.every single shot. All of these little bits add up. Your Olympic

:48:17. > :48:20.experience from Vancouver did not go the way you had it planned, the way

:48:21. > :48:27.you wanted. When I look back, you think, obviously, I did not practice

:48:28. > :48:31.hard enough, train hard enough. Those are things we have stepped up

:48:32. > :48:34.with the new team. It is good for me to know I have three goals behind me

:48:35. > :48:41.willing to put in as much work as each other. -- three girls. We all

:48:42. > :48:45.train as hard as each other and it is good to know we all have the

:48:46. > :48:49.clear goal at the end of the day. They really are written. You have to

:48:50. > :48:55.be to win gold medals at the Olympic Games -- ripped. It is now one of

:48:56. > :49:01.the fastest-growing winter sports in the world. It is all taking place

:49:02. > :49:07.over my shoulder in the Ice Cube Curling Center. It is the smallest

:49:08. > :49:14.of the coastal cluster centres. We also have a chance with the men's

:49:15. > :49:17.team too. Jackie Lockhart is a four-time Olympian. She has been

:49:18. > :49:22.watching the men. They were up against Russia this morning. Have us

:49:23. > :49:28.a quick precis of the match. More comfortable than it sounded? Yeah,

:49:29. > :49:33.it was very comfortable. They played a solid performance. They laid the

:49:34. > :49:39.goods down on the table. It showed in the statistics. They played 89%.

:49:40. > :49:43.Dave Murdoch played 100%. He has to thank his young team below him for

:49:44. > :49:50.that because they are laying out the shops to make it easy for him. Solid

:49:51. > :49:58.performance. Absolutely. They have a big much later today at 3pm British

:49:59. > :50:04.time. They will be playing Sweden. The Swedes have just beaten the

:50:05. > :50:10.Swiss 7-5 this morning. How much more difficult will that be for the

:50:11. > :50:15.GB lads? That definitely will be a test for them. The Russian boys this

:50:16. > :50:19.morning did not really put a lot of pressure on our boys. Dave will be

:50:20. > :50:23.aware that when he plays Sweden tonight he will have to play the a

:50:24. > :50:29.game again that he had this morning. There will be more

:50:30. > :50:36.aggressive play. It is going to be a good game and very close. It sure

:50:37. > :50:42.is. A big moment for Eve Muirhead and the Great Britain women. They

:50:43. > :50:45.have Sweden as well. The double defending Olympic champions. There

:50:46. > :50:51.have been cracking matches between these two size over the last year.

:50:52. > :50:56.In that feature, we saw how incredibly fit the Great Britain

:50:57. > :51:04.team is. Has Eve herself started this or is it part of a process in

:51:05. > :51:09.the sport? I think it has been a part of a process that probably

:51:10. > :51:13.started back two or three years before Vancouver. We were not

:51:14. > :51:18.full-time curlers but that is what they were aiming for. These young

:51:19. > :51:22.girls have had good funding and support to make them full-time. It

:51:23. > :51:27.is really showing and paying off dividends now. They train and

:51:28. > :51:35.practice seven days a week. Fantastic. OK. I think you have got

:51:36. > :51:41.a bit of time for a cup of tea before you are underweight at 10am

:51:42. > :51:50.UK time with Eve Muirhead's first match against the Swedes -- before

:51:51. > :51:59.you are under way. It was 1998 in the Games in Japan when the host

:52:00. > :52:05.nation failed to win a medal on the opening day. Happened here in

:52:06. > :52:17.Russia. It was the speakers dating -- the speed skating who got rush up

:52:18. > :52:20.off the start. It was the team figures stating event and Russia had

:52:21. > :52:30.such a big lead going into it, it was theirs to throw away.

:52:31. > :52:33.Russia were firmly in the driving seat after they delivered another

:52:34. > :52:40.crowd-pleasing rooting for the home fans to win the men's free programme

:52:41. > :52:48.ahead of the 23-year-old Canadian. Next up, the Lady's free programme

:52:49. > :52:53.and two very talented teenagers. Today for America, Gracie Gold.

:52:54. > :52:57.Russia comes with a name like that at the Olympics. Really good

:52:58. > :53:03.athlete, the jumps are strong. She has worked hard on adding the

:53:04. > :53:07.emotion and performance. She will need to do that here because she is

:53:08. > :53:15.going to be the prima ballerina on the ice. This is choice costly --

:53:16. > :53:33.this is Tchaikovsky's sleeping capital B T. -- Sleeping Beauty.

:53:34. > :53:59.The first jump element for Gracie Gold. She has got it.

:54:00. > :54:06.Double axel with the triple toe loop. Very strong combination start

:54:07. > :54:30.therefore Gracie Gold. Triple loop. Lovely combination spin. Looking for

:54:31. > :55:39.level four with that one. A little tight on the landing but

:55:40. > :55:44.made the triple flip work. The second triple planned.

:55:45. > :55:59.There it is. That was much better. Very nice indeed.

:56:00. > :57:36.She will be thrilled with that. What an Olympic debut for this

:57:37. > :57:39.18-year-old. Absolutely no sign of nerves. Only her second year at

:57:40. > :57:45.senior level and what a great decision she made just over a year

:57:46. > :57:51.ago to join Frank, since then she has come on in leaps and bounds. She

:57:52. > :57:56.is standing in the middle of the Olympic rings. She said it was

:57:57. > :58:03.amazing to be here at the Olympics. She says, I have arrived. She was

:58:04. > :58:08.completely focused. Triple toe loop. A little tight on the landing but

:58:09. > :58:23.made it work. Down in the knees, lifting through. Double axel, triple

:58:24. > :58:32.toe loop. Look at that! 129.38, a new season 's best, welcome to the

:58:33. > :58:44.Olympic Games, young Gracie Gold. Here she comes. She is set to become

:58:45. > :58:46.the Russian darling of these games. She proved she is a