Day 3, Part 1 - 5.00am to 9.00am Winter Olympics


Day 3, Part 1 - 5.00am to 9.00am

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Good morning. Our hosts Russia have their first

:00:40.:00:51.

gold. Great Britain has its first medal ever on snow, courtesy of

:00:52.:00:59.

Jenny Jones. All is right with the world at least for those two Olympic

:01:00.:01:06.

nations. Restart to the sound of the bagpipes behind me which means only

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one thing, we are in the smallest of the coastal cluster venues in Sochi.

:01:13.:01:17.

Which could provide Great Britain with two of its greatest gold medal

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winning chances. Because, on this, day three of the Games, step right

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up, hurry, hurry, hurry! We're off and rolling in the Roaring Game.

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The simple beauty of summer on the waters of a Scottish loch. When

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winter turns water to frosted glass. Beauty comes with a sound

:01:40.:01:50.

track of silence. Out of this silence, this ice, a sport. The

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harsh broken by the rumble of granite. Like a child of the

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wilderness, the roaring sport is heard, and then slipped away. Half a

:02:09.:02:20.

century in the Olympic wilderness. But it returned with its soundtrack

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of silence, the soft sound of granite, the sweeping frenzy of the

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stone, the crack of precision. Curling. The sport of the silence

:02:36.:02:51.

beautifully broken. Alongside me in the Ice Cube is

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Jackie Lockhart, a former world champion winning captain, or skip,

:02:55.:03:00.

as they call it curling. And twice an Olympian in Nagano and Vancouver.

:03:01.:03:07.

Great to hear the bagpipes. How do you rate this venue in terms of

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Olympic chances and the venue itself.

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This is one of the smallest venues but it feels very comfortable. The

:03:17.:03:21.

audience is a little bit of the playing field which doesn't make it

:03:22.:03:24.

claustrophobic for the teams. It feels open.

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We start with the men's event. David Murdoch is the skipper of the

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British team. It is seldom Britain comes into an Olympics Games as gold

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medal favourite, but we have that with Eve Muirhead. How confident

:03:44.:03:47.

should he feel? She has put a lot of hard work in in

:03:48.:03:56.

preparation to get here. They have lots of medals behind them, current

:03:57.:04:02.

world champions, silver medal in the European Championships. She needs to

:04:03.:04:04.

realise this is another competition, and it could be

:04:05.:04:12.

excellent at the end. You played in Vancouver. She starts against

:04:13.:04:18.

Sweden, the current European champions. That is about the

:04:19.:04:23.

toughest start she could have. Is that a disadvantage or advantage?

:04:24.:04:29.

The hardest start she will have but the best start. Get that game over

:04:30.:04:35.

and done with in the first game. She will come out firing. Sometimes you

:04:36.:04:40.

can be lackadaisical when you are current world champion. She can't

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afford to do that. She will be pleased it is Sweden in the first

:04:45.:04:49.

game. That is at 10am your time. A lot of you have set your alarm

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clocks for 5am, very good effort, by the way! You are ready for Dave

:04:56.:05:01.

Maddock against the Russians. What starts does he have -- David

:05:02.:05:08.

Murdoch. On paper, it should be an easy win

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for our boys. They have said two of the Russian boys are very good, but

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the other two, they could get mistakes out of them. It should be

:05:21.:05:24.

an easy win, I hope. This used to be considered the

:05:25.:05:31.

domain of the mature player. What is going on? Some of you are seminaked

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in calendars! They are making the game sexier, for youngsters to join.

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It is a young man's game, these athletes are training seven days a

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week, on the ice, in a gym. It is a professional game now, not a hobby.

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Jackie's hurrying off to join Steve Cram in the commentary box. As we

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give you a quick refresher on houses, hacks, stones, sweepers,

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tee-lines and hammers. Otherwise known as curling.

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Curling originated in 16th century Scotland and appeared in the very

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first Winter Olympic Games of 1924. Great Britain won gold. Between 1928

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and 1994, it was not in the Olympic programme but Britain was thankful

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for this reintroduction in 1998 as the team won gold four years later.

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She has done it! You will never seek a better stone under greater

:06:44.:06:49.

pressure. The aim of curling is to get one or more stones close to the

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centre or the house of your opponents and sweeping is a key

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part. It affects the distance and direction the stone travels in.

:06:58.:07:02.

There are four players in each team, known as a rink, who curled to

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stones each end. Only one team can score each end and most at matches

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are over ten ends. Tactics are crucial in particular, pertaining

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last stone advantage, known as the hammer.

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Dave Murdoch and his men. Each team has 75 minutes to deliver eight

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stones per end, for ten ends. They start against the Russians who are

:07:34.:07:36.

making their Olympic debut. We wish them well and, as we do all the

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teams at the start of the curling events, in Sochi. So, Dave Murdoch.

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Greg Drummond. Michael Goodfellow. Scott Andrews. Back to Jackie. And

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hello to Steve Cram. The curling has just got underway as

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Hazel said. If you nervous, the Russian team have had lots of

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Cheers. Michael Goodfellow. This is the skipper of the Russian team and

:08:20.:08:24.

usually playing second. If you are new to curling, probably at this

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time you are a curling fan! The skip will more often than not playing

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last. This young man is carrying the hopes of the host country, going

:08:44.:08:47.

second. David Murdoch, the skip for Great Britain. We will talk with

:08:48.:08:54.

Jackie about the British men's team. And the selection. We will see each

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team, nine times in the round robin condition, ten teams here. The

:09:01.:09:05.

Russian men, just to clarify what Jackie was saying, the difference in

:09:06.:09:10.

class. They are here only because they are the host nation, they would

:09:11.:09:14.

not have qualified normally. It gives you the idea for the

:09:15.:09:22.

expectation for Great Britain. Scott Andrews is playing second for

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Great Britain. I am sure, for the team, they will be relying on David

:09:32.:09:36.

Murdoch's experience. It is so important they get off to a good

:09:37.:09:42.

start. Just trading stones early on, no guards were put up. Britain won

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their hammer in the drawer before the beginning. There is a draw

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before the game gets under way. Murdoch was absolutely perfect. The

:09:54.:09:59.

Russian skip was half a metre out, and indication of his nerves early

:10:00.:10:05.

on. The hammer is important, the last stone played at each end. Ten

:10:06.:10:08.

ends if it goes the whole way. If you see the clock in the

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background, I will try to give you as much information, forgive us if

:10:27.:10:33.

we repeat ourselves. Each team gets 73 minutes to play the whole match.

:10:34.:10:38.

The clock, like a game of chess, where the clock starts when you are

:10:39.:10:43.

in play. What will tend to happen in the early ends, they will play the

:10:44.:10:48.

shots quickly, but then you will see more discussion around the strategy.

:10:49.:10:53.

We hope that won't be required with Great Britain and it doesn't go all

:10:54.:10:58.

the way. If it does, you will see play slowed down a little bit. Just

:10:59.:11:05.

trading stones in the first end. Greg Drummond, playing third for

:11:06.:11:14.

Great Britain. Just with timing, it has taken two and half minutes from

:11:15.:11:23.

presentation, not bad at all! Jackie, there are a lot of nerves

:11:24.:11:28.

down there. If you were watching the drawer to the button. The poor

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Russian skipper looked incredibly nervous, he wasn't close. I did see

:11:33.:11:42.

David on the button, a fantastic shot. These Russian boys will be

:11:43.:11:45.

pretty nervous. Home country. There was a fair bit of, what is

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interesting, on the left, you can hear in the crowd. And curling is a

:12:01.:12:05.

new sport to Russia. The Russian women have done well. The Russian

:12:06.:12:09.

men, not the case. They are literally cheering every stone which

:12:10.:12:14.

comes down. Which is good, we want to create some atmosphere here. As

:12:15.:12:26.

long as they don't start to boo. It is great they seem enthusiastic. A

:12:27.:12:33.

fairly straightforward and, quite nice for the players not to play any

:12:34.:12:39.

difficult shots. There has been a lot of talk about the ice and I will

:12:40.:12:44.

let Jackie elaborate. They have had two days of practice. Two sessions

:12:45.:12:53.

to try to get use -- used to be ice. There are two sheets. Just getting

:12:54.:13:00.

used to the conditions in the arena. The first time they have had a crowd

:13:01.:13:03.

in, which affects conditions as well. Yes, I spoke to the ice then

:13:04.:13:12.

the other day, they have tested the ice out in various situations but

:13:13.:13:15.

were not sure how it would be with crowds in here. It is not full to

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capacity so I don't think it will affect it too much today. The ice is

:13:22.:13:27.

still pretty green which means it is still very new and not swinging as

:13:28.:13:31.

much as it would do in the later stages of the competition. So, they

:13:32.:13:38.

are hoping, once a few Games have got underway, that the ice

:13:39.:13:43.

conditions will move and we will have, hopefully, some forefeet

:13:44.:13:53.

swings. The vice-skip, he plays fourth. A little bit unusual but in

:13:54.:14:03.

some teams the skip, and in the Swedish women's team, who Great

:14:04.:14:07.

Britain are playing, Eve Muirhead, in the second session, their skip is

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their lead. Fairly young, and still inexperienced Russian team. Great

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Britain, with the hammer, the last stone of this end.

:14:19.:14:28.

I will let Jackie elaborate on why it is important to retain the

:14:29.:14:34.

hammer, wait until you can score well. They have traded stones.

:14:35.:14:41.

Getting a feel for the ice. Letting the nerves settled down. No school

:14:42.:14:45.

obviously. It is important when you have the hammer, to wait for your

:14:46.:14:52.

opportunity to score. Very much so. You want to score two or more if you

:14:53.:14:58.

have the hammer and was the opposition only to get one when it

:14:59.:15:02.

is their game. I missed the start of the game because I was with Hazel. I

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am expecting David and his team to come out aggressive and put pressure

:15:09.:15:12.

on the Russian boys. The game seem simple so far.

:15:13.:15:21.

And at least make the attempt to score two or more. There were no

:15:22.:15:28.

attempts at all to put any cards up from either side and it was a case

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of settling down. There are probably a few more people on the British

:15:37.:15:42.

contingent. Plenty of family members have come out. The men's and women's

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teams. We are going to see a different end

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this time. This is the first centre guard put in place by the Russians.

:16:07.:16:17.

Hopefully write down behind the red Russians stone.

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When we get the chance we will try to show you where we expect stones

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to go. He looked a little bit nervous, when people were being

:16:51.:16:54.

introduced. You can tell when people want to get on with it. Your first

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Olympic Games, these guys have been together with Tom Brewster and his

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team and they have been two major championships and done well, but the

:17:06.:17:10.

Olympics is something a little bit different when it is your first one.

:17:11.:17:24.

They will be nervous. Once they have done one or two stones they will

:17:25.:17:35.

calm down. A nice story and played by the Russian. David asked for a

:17:36.:17:58.

half weight. The skip will indicate to the team. He set the line that he

:17:59.:18:05.

wanted Michael Goodfellow to come down. Not a bad shot will . Some of

:18:06.:18:22.

the coaches were saying this ice is going to be very weight specific.

:18:23.:18:33.

That was a pretty good shot from Michael. A lot of responsibility for

:18:34.:18:48.

Andrey Drozdov. That was an experiment, the fact that the

:18:49.:18:52.

Russian men were going to qualify, the Russians toyed with the idea

:18:53.:19:08.

nearly four years ago of importing a team and they brought over Canadians

:19:09.:19:12.

with the intention of giving them Russian citizenship because they did

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not have experienced players. They word here for around six months and

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they put a team together with a couple of young Russian guys but the

:19:24.:19:29.

citizenship idea, they lost interest overnight almost. Having won the

:19:30.:19:36.

Russian championships they were prepared to represent Russia and

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build towards the Olympic Games and I think overnight a phone call was

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made saying, we have changed our minds. That was a strange decision

:19:45.:19:52.

that was made many years ago. I am not sure the Canadians were very

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comfortable with it. Probably did the right thing by not staying. That

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just over Carlton curled for the Russians.

:20:19.:20:33.

Scott Andrew 's. Such a team game. Working in harmony. They do not want

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this one to go behind the tea. It just slipped past. They knew the

:20:56.:21:13.

pace was a little bit heavy. Stone placement in the game is critical

:21:14.:21:18.

and that is why communication is key. Now sweeping on this one. Still

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a little bit of pace. A touch heavy. It was. We have given ourselves a

:21:43.:21:54.

chance here. The coach. We have talked about different systems and

:21:55.:22:00.

how the British system has evolved than perhaps we can talk more about

:22:01.:22:01.

that. Once we get a break. That is a lovely shot. Sitting right

:22:02.:22:44.

on the T-line. Evgeniy Arkhipov, took part in the Europeans in

:22:45.:22:46.

December. He was just a little bit high on the

:22:47.:23:06.

ice and that has given us area lead nice chance. The only trouble is it

:23:07.:23:20.

is sitting behind the T-line. The guys are discussing if they hit that

:23:21.:23:29.

and roll across. We have to be careful because that leaves all of

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our yellow stone is behind the T-line.

:23:33.:23:56.

That is a lovely executed shot from Greg. We have the hammer. Shaping up

:23:57.:24:15.

nicely. The Russians have moved around this young team on occasion

:24:16.:24:21.

over the last couple of years and Aleksey Stukalskiy has changed

:24:22.:24:26.

position but he has been given the responsibility of playing last. The

:24:27.:24:32.

guys were thinking that one or two of these youngsters are little bit

:24:33.:24:38.

vulnerable in terms of short making and I think they are still wondering

:24:39.:24:41.

if this is the best place for him to play but they have struggled with

:24:42.:24:48.

who should play last. A lot of pressure on the player who plays

:24:49.:24:53.

last. You have to be a certain type of character to be a skip. You have

:24:54.:25:00.

to get back on it if you have had a bad game. This young guy can pull

:25:01.:25:03.

out the shots. Not a bad! We have the hammer here.

:25:04.:25:42.

It is setting up quite nicely. He should see at least all of that

:25:43.:26:28.

stone. They are going to have to work this really hard. Not looking

:26:29.:26:42.

bad. That is OK. Slightly over curled. You heard him saying, the

:26:43.:26:52.

weight came off that. Critical to sweep as hard as they can. Any later

:26:53.:26:59.

and that would have missed completely. For those who are not

:27:00.:27:15.

aficionados, sweeping helps the stone to hold its line. A little bit

:27:16.:27:28.

of pressure for Aleksey Stukalskiy, taking on the responsibility of

:27:29.:27:38.

playing last for his team. The Russians have brought in a

:27:39.:27:47.

Canadian. Many of these teams have brought in coaches from different

:27:48.:27:51.

parts of the world, particularly Canada. He may have edged this a

:27:52.:28:13.

little bit. What they are looking at, the stone on the left-hand side,

:28:14.:28:21.

if they take that out they would take three. It is close. I think

:28:22.:28:39.

Russia still lie second shot. A bread and butter draw shot to take

:28:40.:28:54.

his two. A little repeat of the draw to the button that he made before

:28:55.:28:55.

the match would be to effect here. This looks pretty good. Having to

:28:56.:29:28.

work a little bit to get it. Well swept. 2-2 to Great Britain. The

:29:29.:29:41.

first score on the board. That is following the script. This is a

:29:42.:29:45.

match the Great Britain men have to win. Russia will win some Games,

:29:46.:29:53.

undoubtedly, but it is so important for the British men to get off to a

:29:54.:30:04.

good start. After two ends, things going to plan. This is the smallest

:30:05.:30:08.

venue. Small but perfectly formed. It has

:30:09.:30:24.

been met with universal approval by the curlers. We were talking to the

:30:25.:30:31.

British team. And quotes from most of the other team have been pretty

:30:32.:30:36.

comp entry about the venue, one or two questions about the ice but, as

:30:37.:30:43.

Jackie was explaining, we are expecting that to improve in the

:30:44.:30:46.

week. The ones who have been most positive, funnily enough,

:30:47.:30:53.

particularly the Canadian men. They are suddenly the favourites for the

:30:54.:30:58.

gold medal in the men's condition. Brad Jacobs is the skip. They are

:30:59.:31:01.

not a shy bunch. The boys just want this to land

:31:02.:31:28.

T-high. A perfect shot from Michael. That will help him to settle. Now we

:31:29.:31:35.

can see the Russians are going to take the game on, they have asked

:31:36.:31:41.

for a corner guard. They want this out turn shot to come off the centre

:31:42.:31:50.

line and sit in the wings, but not in the house, and act as a guard so

:31:51.:31:53.

they can pull some stones behind. You were talking about being

:31:54.:32:08.

aggressive and defensive. The game these days, whether or not it is

:32:09.:32:11.

because of fitness, people in the gym, that fitness helping, less so

:32:12.:32:19.

helping technique, it certainly helps in sweeping. It is a very

:32:20.:32:25.

physical sport in that respect, and maintaining concentration during two

:32:26.:32:30.

and a half hours on the ice. The strategy, are we seeing more

:32:31.:32:36.

aggressive Games? The strategy has changed because they have brought in

:32:37.:32:41.

the free zone rule, any of the stones to the house are not allowed

:32:42.:32:48.

to be removed until after the first four stones have been played. That

:32:49.:32:52.

makes the game more aggressive, there stones left in play. Many

:32:53.:32:58.

years ago, they took a stone in and hit out. The game became way too

:32:59.:33:05.

simple to play. This way, there's a lot more action involved in the

:33:06.:33:21.

game. The Russian lead, he would like to catch this yellow.

:33:22.:33:38.

I was going to mention, you concede the hog line is the line in either

:33:39.:33:55.

direction. Any stone in those placed in there before the T9 which goes in

:33:56.:34:00.

the middle of the house, can't be moved. -- T-line. Scott Andrews. He

:34:01.:34:20.

is from Irvine in Ayrshire. I have been there a few times, the Scottish

:34:21.:34:28.

cross-country championships. He is part of this new team. Tom Brewster

:34:29.:34:35.

was skip. We will talk about selections of squads. The Canadians

:34:36.:34:40.

have a cut-throat system, you go to their chairmanships and the team

:34:41.:34:44.

that wins comes to the Olympics. That's how it used to be for Great

:34:45.:34:49.

Britain. Now it is about finding the best players who work together. It

:34:50.:34:53.

is not everyone's idea of the best way. We have two go to the selection

:34:54.:34:59.

policy because we are representing Great Britain. Generally, it will be

:35:00.:35:08.

four or five Scottish participants you will see there because they have

:35:09.:35:12.

more experience in the game, but it doesn't always, the important thing

:35:13.:35:17.

is that the team gelled together, the dynamics. Technically they can

:35:18.:35:21.

be the best players we have but if they do not gelled together -- gel

:35:22.:35:33.

together. The Canadians, they picked the teams themselves.

:35:34.:35:42.

A nice shot there from Scott. It has opened the game up again. But we

:35:43.:35:47.

still see the Russian red stone at that and these boys will try to come

:35:48.:35:52.

out around, in behind that, and use it as a guard. GFX one:

:35:53.:36:01.

-- use it as a guard. TICKER - TRAIL WOMEN'S CURLING LIVE:

:36:02.:36:14.

it travelled a little too far there. Dave will now be forced to remove

:36:15.:36:25.

the guard because that is the shot which will cause him difficulties as

:36:26.:36:35.

it progresses. Greg Drummond playing 100% so far. It is early doors. That

:36:36.:36:42.

first and was fairly straightforward. Another perfectly

:36:43.:36:56.

executed shot. Greg Drummond was 25 just a few days ago, just before we

:36:57.:37:04.

arrived in Sochi. Like the other three, the other two younger men,

:37:05.:37:07.

his first Olympics. Arkhipov. With a simple hit and

:37:08.:37:27.

life. It is critical that this shot does lie in the house. Giving him

:37:28.:37:36.

the opportunity to score a two. Perfect for Great Britain because we

:37:37.:37:41.

would hit the other out. Working this pretty hard.

:37:42.:37:59.

Many hours working in the gym helps with these power sweeps.

:38:00.:38:10.

There has been a lot of talk about the amount of time people are

:38:11.:38:17.

spending at the gym. Eve Muirhead is one who has talked a lot and has

:38:18.:38:21.

been talked about a lot. The Canadian men's team, if you look on

:38:22.:38:30.

their biographies, they list as their hobbies, weightlifting, in the

:38:31.:38:34.

gym. Probably not the game you might have recognised. 20 years ago, that

:38:35.:38:39.

is not the game we would have recognised. But if you want

:38:40.:38:43.

something you have never had, do something you have never done,

:38:44.:38:48.

weightlifting and the gym is used a lot in the sport now.

:38:49.:38:56.

That was a little bit unfortunate for Greg, they wanted to hit and lie

:38:57.:39:02.

and sit right on the front of the Russian red to make it harder for

:39:03.:39:08.

them to remove. This again should be a simple hit and lie for Arkhipov.

:39:09.:39:18.

They are working that hard. It has held its line well. Yes. They were

:39:19.:39:30.

holding that stored -- stone, to keep it as far away as possible from

:39:31.:39:35.

the other red. Always good to have some distance between the stones,

:39:36.:39:39.

and that can prevent a double takeout.

:39:40.:39:44.

He just indicated he would like the same as Greg, to catch this red

:39:45.:40:08.

stone, and roll across. To be closed to the other red on the opposite

:40:09.:40:09.

side of the rings. That is OK. I'm sure he would have

:40:10.:40:31.

liked to have rolled a little bit across. He has. As you say, it is

:40:32.:40:42.

not just playing the opposition, you are playing the ice and little bit

:40:43.:40:49.

in these early stages. -- a little bit.

:40:50.:40:55.

What about those trousers! The Russian red trousers. I think

:40:56.:41:01.

they have taken a leaf out of the Norwegians's book. We can't wait to

:41:02.:41:08.

see the Norwegians later on. Let us say we are in for a surprise! If you

:41:09.:41:13.

are wondering, in Vancouver, the Norwegian men turned up with red,

:41:14.:41:21.

white and blue patterned, shall we describe them, trousers, which were

:41:22.:41:25.

a little bit unusual to say the least, and caused a stir around the

:41:26.:41:30.

world. It got them some attention and they played very well in

:41:31.:41:33.

Vancouver, they ended up on the rostrum.

:41:34.:41:43.

They did. Just caught it there. A lax shopped there from Stukalskiy.

:41:44.:41:54.

-- lax shot. I watched practice yesterday. It is

:41:55.:41:59.

weight dependent on the four foot lines. If you edge the stone back

:42:00.:42:05.

with a little weight, it will take no cars at all. -- no curl.

:42:06.:42:16.

A good shot from Dave Murdoch could put Stukalskiy under pressure. He

:42:17.:42:19.

has lost any chance of taking too here. -- taking two.

:42:20.:42:29.

It will be interesting to see. All smiles. David wears his heart on his

:42:30.:42:39.

sleeve. You know when he has played a bad shot and when things are going

:42:40.:42:46.

well for him. We should start to worry when Dave

:42:47.:42:52.

stops smiling. This should be a simple hit and roll here for

:42:53.:43:00.

Stukalskiy. He doesn't want to take a one. As I said earlier, the game,

:43:01.:43:08.

these boys want to score at least two or more when they have the

:43:09.:43:14.

hammer. So he will want to hit this stone and roll it up the house and

:43:15.:43:19.

take his hammer, to try for two again.

:43:20.:43:25.

So, the school remains 2-0. The crowd is just starting to build up,

:43:26.:43:37.

looking around. We were wondering how many tickets had been sold. It

:43:38.:43:42.

wasn't easy to get any information from those involved in the venue

:43:43.:43:48.

here. Given it is morning here in Sochi, you can see the lower level

:43:49.:43:55.

of the seating is filling up nicely. Capacity is about 3000, I

:43:56.:44:02.

think. Yes, 3000 arena. I counted the seats last week, I didn't have

:44:03.:44:07.

anything to do! It is a temporary arena, unlike some of the

:44:08.:44:11.

spectacular venues here on the park. This one can be moved

:44:12.:44:21.

somewhere. I was reading that one of the coaches involved with the

:44:22.:44:25.

Russian set up saying they need more rinks, to try to create more teams.

:44:26.:44:33.

The Russian women have had lots of publicity. For all sorts of

:44:34.:44:38.

reasons, on and off the ice. They are getting young men to play but it

:44:39.:44:40.

has not been so easy. Another nice shot there from Mr

:44:41.:45:07.

Goodfellow, that is his bread and butter shot, as we say. A lead. He

:45:08.:45:13.

hasn't always played lead, he is adjusting to it well.

:45:14.:45:20.

When do you settle into the position you play? People often move around

:45:21.:45:28.

as youngsters, you might start as the skip in your own team, the glory

:45:29.:45:34.

decision is to play last. In terms of settling down, is that people

:45:35.:45:40.

watching your game and suggesting you might be better at one thing

:45:41.:45:47.

than another? I think you know yourself. I played the lead and then

:45:48.:45:55.

I moved up to second and then I skipped, I played in all the

:45:56.:46:01.

positions. I probably preferred vice or skip. You know the position you

:46:02.:46:07.

want to play in. It takes a special person to be a skip. You have to be

:46:08.:46:14.

a certain kind of character to carry the weight of the world on your

:46:15.:46:22.

shoulders and take the glory when it is present. These guys have been

:46:23.:46:31.

changed about quite a bit in this Olympic couple of seasons and it has

:46:32.:46:38.

not always been comfortable for them. I think they have found their

:46:39.:46:51.

team at the moment. Unlike the woman, who have three tough matches

:46:52.:46:56.

to begin with, against Sweden, the team they have played in the

:46:57.:47:07.

Europeans and the worlds and Canada. The men have an easier start

:47:08.:47:14.

in the sense that they can get two or three wins on the trot. All of

:47:15.:47:17.

the conjecture that has been around the men's team, maybe some of the

:47:18.:47:24.

chattering that has been going on about whether this is the best team,

:47:25.:47:30.

will die down and all of a sudden everything is all smiles and

:47:31.:47:35.

confidence starts to come through. When you get some wins under your

:47:36.:47:41.

belt people forget what has come before. This should be an ideal

:47:42.:47:51.

start. The boys look like they are playing well at the moment. This

:47:52.:47:56.

could be what they need to lift their confidence. They have not had

:47:57.:48:06.

such a brilliant run up to this game. They knew that and they have

:48:07.:48:11.

put the practice in. You have to play the other nine

:48:12.:48:28.

teams and then hopefully there will be a day of tie-breaks to determine

:48:29.:48:33.

the semi-finals, the winners of which go into the gold medal match

:48:34.:48:38.

and the losers lay the drones medal match -- bronze medal. The British

:48:39.:48:47.

men will have a tough one this evening against Sweden. If Canada

:48:48.:48:58.

are not to win the gold medal, people might look towards the

:48:59.:49:04.

Swedish men. A win here is really important.

:49:05.:49:12.

The Russians putting on another corner guard, they desperately need

:49:13.:49:17.

cover if they are going to get two. Greg playing a hit and roll out.

:49:18.:49:42.

Forcing the Russians to hit one of the yellow stones and either sit in

:49:43.:49:48.

front of one or sit behind the other. Chosen to remove the centre

:49:49.:49:54.

yellow and roll in the head the yellow on the corner.

:49:55.:50:05.

Evgeniy Arkhipov playing third. They are laying off this. That was not a

:50:06.:50:24.

great shot from him. They did appear to have taken a lot of ice for that

:50:25.:50:38.

shot and if it has to much -- also much then they gets nothing. The

:50:39.:50:52.

skip makes the call and the scorers decide the success rate of having

:50:53.:50:57.

played that shot so we can then get a percentage rate for each player

:50:58.:51:04.

and unfortunately Arkhipov is operating at 68% so he is struggling

:51:05.:51:11.

and it is so hard if you're the man -- if your third man is off.

:51:12.:51:31.

He needs to get on his game. I think he has laid this a little bit tight.

:51:32.:51:52.

I think they might have over swept that stone. They could have done

:51:53.:52:01.

with getting less of that role behind the yellow. This gives us an

:52:02.:52:14.

opportunity. Dave will be happy to hit this and roll across into the

:52:15.:52:15.

centre. You will see the two green lights

:52:16.:52:28.

which means that he has released the stone that before the hog line. You

:52:29.:52:48.

can see the shot he is thinking about. He will use that stone that

:52:49.:53:06.

has just been put in. Aleksey Stukalskiy wants to hit the yellow

:53:07.:53:13.

and roll across onto the face to the yellow sitting at the Blues are

:53:14.:53:28.

full. -- blue circle. This is a difficult shot.

:53:29.:53:45.

Sweeping heart. That is a very good shot. Aleksey Stukalskiy is almost

:53:46.:54:04.

keeping them in the game at the moment. He is the best of the

:54:05.:54:16.

Russians. That pressure has to tell. If you are hanging on and they are

:54:17.:54:24.

not setting you up well. A skip can pull you out of trouble for perhaps

:54:25.:54:29.

one game but you do not have the consistency to do it game after game

:54:30.:54:33.

and that could be the problem for these young lads.

:54:34.:54:43.

He will want to remove the red and yellow and his own shooter. Once

:54:44.:54:54.

again we are going to see Aleksey Stukalskiy play the simple hit and

:54:55.:55:05.

roll and take his last stone advantage into the next end.

:55:06.:55:21.

Our boys have more control of the ice at the moment. And of their

:55:22.:55:33.

short play, which is very good. Just about. They will carry the

:55:34.:56:00.

hammer into the next end. We have pretty extensive coverage of the

:56:01.:56:05.

curling throughout this week and next week on the red button, we will

:56:06.:56:14.

be on the red button occasionally. On the far side, Canada are for-2

:56:15.:56:28.

down to Germany -- 4-mac-2 down to Germany. Germany I would not say one

:56:29.:56:35.

of the stronger nations here. Interesting. We will keep you

:56:36.:56:43.

updated. All of this affects how these matches go on day one. The

:56:44.:56:51.

ideal scenario is you take care of business yourself but more often

:56:52.:56:55.

than not you will get towards the last round of matches and be

:56:56.:56:59.

watching other matches and what is happening.

:57:00.:57:08.

It will all get very tight towards the middle of next week I am sure.

:57:09.:57:18.

It is impossible to predict how many wins you need. You can get through

:57:19.:57:25.

with five or seven. It depends however body else in the league

:57:26.:57:29.

table is doing as well -- how anybody else. You have to take this

:57:30.:57:39.

one game at a time and many wins is what we are looking for. We just saw

:57:40.:57:48.

Michael Goodfellow brought another excellent shot there.

:57:49.:57:57.

Running on a little. He lives in St Petersburg, he was born there. The

:57:58.:58:15.

Russian lead shot was a little bit strong.

:58:16.:58:30.

The boys will be wanting this to stop on the 12 foot or the eight

:58:31.:58:46.

foot. Sliding on a little bit more than they would have hoped. The

:58:47.:58:55.

curling world still working in in PDO measurements. -- Imperial. How

:58:56.:59:08.

far is eight foot in metres? I have no idea!

:59:09.:59:24.

The boys are working this really hard. That is areas and play good

:59:25.:59:39.

storm -- a reasonably good storm De mac storm.

:59:40.:00:02.

That ended up not too bad a shot. He wanted his throwing stone to roll

:00:03.:00:21.

out and leave it clear. What is the routine when you have an

:00:22.:00:41.

early-morning match? They are allowed to come onto the ice, we

:00:42.:00:48.

arrived about an hour before play started and the Russian men were

:00:49.:00:52.

doing all ups and were here very early. -- warm-ups. Both teams have

:00:53.:01:04.

ten minutes of practice before the condition starts. They need to be

:01:05.:01:08.

here about an hour before the game starts. Half an hour of warming up,

:01:09.:01:14.

getting their legs stretched, their arms and shoulders ready for some

:01:15.:01:18.

big sweeping Games. And then they will come through and watch each

:01:19.:01:23.

other play, just to see how the ice is running. So, preparations, they

:01:24.:01:28.

will have been up early, breakfast, a brisk walk. The village is a 15

:01:29.:01:40.

minute walk from all the venues, I guess, but this is the closest

:01:41.:01:43.

venue. Sitting two shots. They are, of

:01:44.:02:15.

course, T-high. We are now giving our chance. -- ourselves a chance.

:02:16.:02:32.

The Russian skip would love to get a score on the board to settle

:02:33.:02:36.

themselves. It has not gone quite their weight on this end at the

:02:37.:02:40.

moment. This shot is coming up light.

:02:41.:02:46.

And, again, all he has done is added to the cover for Great Britain. He

:02:47.:02:55.

has left it open. So they could, potentially, hit their red into the

:02:56.:03:02.

pack. It is almost a pattern developing. The Russian lead and

:03:03.:03:07.

fourth player are doing OK. It is the skip, Drozdov, and Arkhipov who

:03:08.:03:18.

are playing third and skip, are not playing well.

:03:19.:03:23.

The boys said the other day when we spoke to them, two of the team are

:03:24.:03:27.

reasonably, in fact, very good players, and could pull out shots

:03:28.:03:32.

when necessary. The other two, they definitely will get mistakes from

:03:33.:03:35.

them. And we can see that today clearly.

:03:36.:03:45.

This doesn't want to come further in. The blue circle. That is a nice

:03:46.:03:53.

shot from Greg Drummond. Didn't seem to be finishing there, though. It

:03:54.:04:00.

has probably come a foot or so too far.

:04:01.:04:07.

Just wanted to... To stop in the white rings, it has slipped into the

:04:08.:04:18.

blue. As I said earlier, we are going to see the Russians drive that

:04:19.:04:23.

read shot in the front of the house, into some of these back yellows.

:04:24.:04:30.

Has he got that right? It takes one. Is that going to roll out. It may

:04:31.:04:36.

just hang in, just in the back. That just held the line too much and

:04:37.:04:56.

didn't come in. He would have preferred to get the two yellows we

:04:57.:05:01.

saw in the house, rather than the top yellow.

:05:02.:05:10.

We should see a guard here of red -- from Greg. This time, he will want

:05:11.:05:20.

the stone to stop. Just shy of the house. Or just biting the top.

:05:21.:05:38.

Not too bad a shop but I think the boys would have preferred that to be

:05:39.:05:44.

a foot or so further up. Once again, we will see Russia drive this

:05:45.:05:52.

yellow. Let us see if you can get it right this time. The shot he has

:05:53.:05:57.

called for. Hitting it pretty much on the nose, plenty of weight.

:05:58.:06:05.

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

:06:06.:06:10.

British stones in there. He just seems to be throwing these

:06:11.:06:23.

rocks are little on the high side. I am not sure whether he is, whether

:06:24.:06:36.

he should be tightening them up or throwing them wide. Those two shots

:06:37.:06:38.

on the high side. We should see Dave play a similar

:06:39.:06:43.

shot to Greg. Alt turn guard -- out turn. You can

:06:44.:07:05.

hear the boys shouting, three, which means it should be pretty close to

:07:06.:07:07.

the rings. That is a nice shot there. David

:07:08.:07:18.

Murdoch has settled in really well in this first match. He is shooting

:07:19.:07:23.

100%. Princess Anne sitting, watching. With a good, strong

:07:24.:07:32.

British contingent. Few charmers, the Scottish curler. Now working for

:07:33.:07:40.

the British Olympic Association -- Hugh Chalmers.

:07:41.:07:45.

When you say a Scottish curler, is there any other type? I know there

:07:46.:07:56.

is an England team! If you are interested in curling, take a look

:07:57.:08:00.

at the website and see where you can have a go nearby where you live. A

:08:01.:08:08.

few more rinks propping up -- popping up. British success at these

:08:09.:08:17.

Olympics Games would be good in driving up interest. It is becoming

:08:18.:08:23.

very much, there are lots of junior competitions. As we look across

:08:24.:08:28.

these teams, you will see a lot of younger members in the national

:08:29.:08:37.

squads. A big shop here for Stukalskiy. -- big shot. That is

:08:38.:08:56.

probably as good as he could do. He wasn't far away from taking all of

:08:57.:09:02.

these shots out. All of these yellows. But that will suffice at

:09:03.:09:04.

the moment. Have we still have a nice yellow

:09:05.:09:27.

tucked in here. They want this to sit. There is a

:09:28.:09:58.

Russian stone at the back. Second shot. Not bad at all. That will do

:09:59.:10:07.

the job nicely. Now, we are forcing the Russian skip to play anywhere in

:10:08.:10:16.

the four foot line and take his one. Textbook stuff is what it should be.

:10:17.:10:19.

Take the two. Force the one. Drozdov and Arkhipov have been

:10:20.:10:37.

struggling. This guy has played three or four pretty good chops. --

:10:38.:10:47.

shots. The line being set for him by his skip.

:10:48.:10:58.

The weight is all-important here, it should be a fairly straightforward

:10:59.:11:09.

shot. I am not sure Alexey has had any draws. It seems a normal shot,

:11:10.:11:17.

the boys are going to have to work that hard. That is one to Russia,

:11:18.:11:26.

and the crowd is going wild. They are on the scoreboard, that is

:11:27.:11:33.

good to see. That is only the one, though. There will be a short break

:11:34.:11:37.

after five ends. It is good to hear an atmosphere

:11:38.:11:52.

being generated. Lots of Russian flags around. Their hopes lie with

:11:53.:12:00.

their women's team but plenty of encouragement for the men. They will

:12:01.:12:02.

feel a lot better now. Other matches, Switzerland playing

:12:03.:12:31.

Sweden, Denmark playing China. Germany - Canada. Germany were

:12:32.:12:37.

leading 4-2. In that fifth end of Canada scored three.

:12:38.:12:43.

So, back on prescription in that match. Quick highlights of these

:12:44.:12:54.

first five ends. The first end was blanked, with a nice draw from David

:12:55.:13:01.

Murdoch. Taking a couple of shots in the second end. He has been playing

:13:02.:13:07.

really well, settled very well, in fact the whole team have.

:13:08.:13:16.

This is the man, Stukalskiy. He has pretty much been keeping his team

:13:17.:13:21.

involved in this match. A nice draw in that fifth end to take the one.

:13:22.:13:28.

He has definitely been keeping his team in the game so far.

:13:29.:13:41.

There, you can see the evidence of what we have been talking about. 93%

:13:42.:13:50.

for Stukalskiy. It is in the middle they are having problems, Drozdov

:13:51.:13:55.

and Arkhipov will have to improve. Particularly Arkhipov. But the

:13:56.:14:02.

skip, playing second, Drozdov. His responsibility, to play his shots,

:14:03.:14:09.

make his shots. If his skip starts to struggle, that affects his

:14:10.:14:14.

confidence. And strategy, you start to worry about your own game, the

:14:15.:14:20.

fact you're not playing your shots. Yes, the coach will be explaining to

:14:21.:14:25.

them here, don't think about anything else. Quite often, think

:14:26.:14:32.

about the next best thing if you don't make the shot. By stark

:14:33.:14:39.

contrast, David Murdoch shooting 100%, Greg Diamond -- Greg Drummond,

:14:40.:14:51.

practically the same. They are playing in weaker team here. Tom

:14:52.:15:01.

Brewster, the alternate. He has been skip to these young lads in the

:15:02.:15:06.

past. His experience, I am sure, valuable to the team. Soren Gran, a

:15:07.:15:12.

few smiles from him. Russia struggling on the draws. I

:15:13.:16:09.

was reading an interesting piece from the Press Center about this

:16:10.:16:16.

team and one of the coaches of the women's team was the one who got

:16:17.:16:21.

this team together. She got was Don Van Stukalskiy -- Andrey Drozdov and

:16:22.:16:33.

Stukalskiy with her son, they were training together as swimmers and

:16:34.:16:42.

enter athletes apparently. Andrey Drozdov and Stukalskiy have been

:16:43.:16:46.

together a long time and know each other well.

:16:47.:17:07.

The centre guard put up by Petr Dron. I have been teasing Jackie

:17:08.:17:25.

about Lott of curlers in the family, but he does not come from a

:17:26.:17:31.

curling family apparently. None of his family play the game but they

:17:32.:17:36.

are avid fans of Michael and they are all here this week. I saw them

:17:37.:17:44.

sitting in the crowd, especially his sister who loves to come and see her

:17:45.:17:54.

brother play. Michael went to Stirling high school and he has

:17:55.:17:58.

received good luck messages from them. Let us know if you are

:17:59.:18:09.

watching curling for school -- before school. Ask Jackie

:18:10.:18:17.

questions. There used to be a magazine called Jackie. I used to

:18:18.:18:32.

buy that. Send in your requests or questions. Send us your tweets. We

:18:33.:18:46.

want to know what you're thinking, enjoying, or what to want to know

:18:47.:18:53.

about -- what you want to know about. Michael wants to freeze on

:18:54.:19:23.

top of the red or yellow. This is what we classify as a game of cat or

:19:24.:19:30.

mouse, there was no need to it the red stone out. I think we will see

:19:31.:19:44.

much more of this as the matches progress and the boys gain

:19:45.:19:49.

confidence. A lot of teams play a very offensive game off lots of

:19:50.:20:01.

stones played. The Russians are discussing what they are going to

:20:02.:20:03.

play here. They are going to throw a heavy

:20:04.:20:14.

weight down on this red. That is probably the best result

:20:15.:20:52.

they could have got from that shot. They were never going to be able to

:20:53.:20:59.

move both of the yellows. The yellow lies first shot but second and third

:21:00.:21:02.

are the Russians. Scott playing an outturn hit.

:21:03.:21:37.

Another nice shot from Team GB. All of these shots, it is so important

:21:38.:21:52.

to get the map or four shots where you think, that was good. Andrey

:21:53.:22:01.

Drozdov might be feeling a little bit better after that previous

:22:02.:22:08.

shops. It will be interesting to see what the coach said to him because

:22:09.:22:18.

he played a much better shot. That is a nice shot. From the -- Andrey

:22:19.:22:42.

Drozdov. They have to make sure they watch out as the Russians are going

:22:43.:22:47.

to play better than they have to keep control of it. They should not

:22:48.:22:57.

panic. They have to try to pick up the two.

:22:58.:23:19.

Looking at Andrey Drozdov, one of the things that has been talked

:23:20.:23:24.

about in terms of the lack of experience of the likes of the

:23:25.:23:28.

Russians is that when you start to get stones in the house, went to be

:23:29.:23:35.

aggressive and when not to be. That is where perhaps these boys lack the

:23:36.:23:42.

experience of knowing which shot they should be playing. Sometimes

:23:43.:23:51.

they will take a long time to decide on shots. They are not having to

:23:52.:23:59.

question themselves too much at the moment but it will be interesting to

:24:00.:24:03.

see what happens as the game goes on. Who takes control? There have

:24:04.:24:12.

been Games where they cannot decide what to play and that is not the

:24:13.:24:28.

best thing for the skip. You are sticking. I do not mind. He has gone

:24:29.:24:44.

back to his initial decision. Chosen to play the hack weight on the red

:24:45.:24:49.

closest to the blue. Critical that they get that shot and

:24:50.:25:15.

still stay in the house. That is a nice shot. Nicely done by Greg

:25:16.:25:24.

Drummond, playing well. They have the hammer and it is not always

:25:25.:25:31.

crucial for the yellow shots to stay in the house, but there is only one

:25:32.:25:35.

little red in the circle. A little bit of discussion from

:25:36.:26:01.

Andrey Drozdov, Stukalskiy has come back down the other end. They want

:26:02.:26:24.

to tap this red two or three feet along he has been struggling a

:26:25.:26:35.

little bit. Just laying off this again. Not bad. Did not quite push

:26:36.:26:49.

it back where he wanted it to. Just a little bit high off the line. That

:26:50.:26:59.

gives Great Britain the opportunity to play a double. The only problem

:27:00.:27:15.

is the double... May catch the yellow on the wings. Low side.

:27:16.:27:52.

Plenty of weight on this, unlucky. That is not that bad. That is going

:27:53.:28:12.

to be easily moved. We still have four. He wants to take the two out

:28:13.:28:22.

and you can see a little bit of frustration. The boys swept hard to

:28:23.:28:29.

try to hold it. The Russian red is sitting shot at

:28:30.:28:42.

the moment. He will want to be lying two shots

:28:43.:29:09.

after others. -- after this. He needs to get this right. Stukalskiy

:29:10.:29:20.

has been good so far. He can afford to get it on the nose. He wants to

:29:21.:29:31.

be sitting first and second shot after he has finished this end.

:29:32.:29:44.

Sweeping really hard. They tried to hold the line and could not quite do

:29:45.:29:52.

it. They did their best. Still just about lying rock -- shot. This is

:29:53.:30:07.

shaping up well for Great Britain. The boys are saying there, you can

:30:08.:30:33.

probably see half of the red stone. They will peck the stone out. It

:30:34.:30:44.

seems a simple shot. They have for other yellows sitting in house. --

:30:45.:30:53.

four. They have decided this is the easier

:30:54.:31:03.

shot. Always good to hear the boys

:31:04.:31:18.

calling. Well played. He has been on top form. David Moore doc -- David

:31:19.:31:28.

Murdoch, in his first match. This is shaping up well. Stukalskiy. What

:31:29.:31:37.

will he do? Maybe hit that, try to sit behind the front stone?

:31:38.:31:45.

This is potentially, it looks like the guys are asking for Stukalskiy

:31:46.:31:52.

just to draw, sit on the face of that yellow sitting on the blue

:31:53.:32:03.

forefoot. -- four foot. They don't necessarily need to. They just want

:32:04.:32:08.

to come in and sit right there, try to make it much harder for David to

:32:09.:32:14.

get a big end here. Once again, Stukalskiy being asked

:32:15.:32:32.

to come up with a shot for his team. They are in a bit of bother here.

:32:33.:32:47.

Asking them to sweep it early. They are working really hard on that. Has

:32:48.:32:54.

it got enough on it? That is actually a world drawn shot.

:32:55.:33:01.

-- well drawn. But I think it should be a pretty

:33:02.:33:31.

simple and straightforward shot for David Murdoch to hit this yellow

:33:32.:33:38.

right onto the back, onto the top of the red. He can see all of his

:33:39.:33:46.

yellow shot there. This is potentially a match-winning

:33:47.:33:48.

end for Great Britain. Yes. Stukalskiy's shot well over Drew the

:33:49.:34:06.

mark -- overdrew. Just watching it. You can hear the

:34:07.:34:13.

instruction. It was nearly five, but it is going to be four. A well

:34:14.:34:25.

executed end from Team GB. That has made things very difficult

:34:26.:34:32.

for the Russians, a 6-1 lead. Four of them in that end. The little

:34:33.:34:37.

discussion going on. There are only four ends to go and it puts them in

:34:38.:34:42.

a difficult position. Excellent from the British team, particularly David

:34:43.:34:48.

Murdoch, the skip, it couldn't be going any better.

:34:49.:34:57.

We have two emphasise, Jackie, it is about the other guys setting the end

:34:58.:35:03.

up, playing their shots. The Russians are struggling in the

:35:04.:35:08.

middle, their second and third. Stukalskiy is doing his best. But

:35:09.:35:16.

there is only so much he can do. They missed those couple of chances,

:35:17.:35:22.

the double takeout, Arkhipov had a chance. They now see themselves in

:35:23.:35:28.

as opposed to what they would have expected, but this is really good

:35:29.:35:32.

for Great Britain. A confidence boosting starts, 6-1.

:35:33.:35:38.

It is. Our guys are going to be what we call running for home or heading

:35:39.:35:43.

for home here. And the Russian boys are going to have to throw

:35:44.:35:48.

everything as well as the kitchen sink, to try to build up some shots

:35:49.:35:55.

at the front. Potentially, they should be playing this end as they

:35:56.:36:00.

would normally do. If they played the shots, they should hopefully

:36:01.:36:06.

pick up a two. Thereafter, the Russians will have to put up lots of

:36:07.:36:11.

guards to make it difficult for the boys. They are playing very well at

:36:12.:36:18.

the moment, and I can't see the Russians stopping us. It would need

:36:19.:36:22.

a couple of big mistakes. The boys are looking solid.

:36:23.:36:29.

Russia, with the hammer now, into the seventh end.

:36:30.:36:40.

He hasn't done a lot wrong, Petr Dron, playing lead.

:36:41.:36:57.

It is nice to actually have the ability to play some nice shots

:36:58.:37:05.

without any pressure. It might not go to the 10th end.

:37:06.:37:10.

Again, we have to be careful. You can never left -- rest on your

:37:11.:37:20.

laurels. Every shot counts. Michael's first shot went behind the

:37:21.:37:29.

T. It helps in terms of time on the

:37:30.:37:34.

ice, in the early part of the competition. I suppose they wouldn't

:37:35.:37:39.

want the Russians to walk off, they want to play as many ends as they

:37:40.:37:40.

can this morning. The point I was trying to make, it

:37:41.:37:53.

would be nice to relax a little bit and just play your shots, get used

:37:54.:37:59.

to the conditions. Another corner shot there from the

:38:00.:38:11.

Russian lead. We are going to see Scott just remove this. Removing

:38:12.:38:16.

these corner guards has to be done, that is the only way... The only way

:38:17.:38:26.

the Russians can get a chance. The first little error we have seen. He

:38:27.:38:31.

has been doing well with his takeouts, struggling with his

:38:32.:38:41.

drawers. -- draws. The first time he hasn't quite nailed it. The curse of

:38:42.:38:46.

the commentator. Every stone, even though you are six up, you cannot

:38:47.:38:49.

take your eye off the ball. They were working really hard. A

:38:50.:39:21.

nice shot there. From Andrey. But, once again, David will ask Scott

:39:22.:39:27.

just to remove this and run himself. Trying to take that as far over the

:39:28.:39:38.

rings as possible. Just keeping the way nice and clear.

:39:39.:39:56.

Drozdov is improving. Maybe he should have got up a little earlier!

:39:57.:40:02.

He was half asleep this morning? He has been getting better, a little

:40:03.:40:04.

late for his team, perhaps. This one seems to be running on,

:40:05.:40:20.

leaving it to stop short. Greg should be able to catch half

:40:21.:40:40.

the top red, and remove them all. What is your thinking, Jackie, on

:40:41.:40:57.

the first game that ends up being a fairly straightforward game and you

:40:58.:41:00.

don't have too played too many big shots, if that turns out this way.

:41:01.:41:05.

And you come up against Sweden which may be a different kettle of fish.

:41:06.:41:10.

That is a good one there. Because, really, if you have come off this

:41:11.:41:16.

which is a basic, simple shot. How are you going to perform, are you

:41:17.:41:21.

going to stand up to the pressure of playing the big teams? Although, I

:41:22.:41:27.

am sure if you ask these guys, they will be happy with a win under the

:41:28.:41:32.

belt. They will know the game plan they will have to come out with this

:41:33.:41:34.

evening, to play them. It's a well executed shot there.

:41:35.:41:58.

Arkhipov. Greg should still be able to see

:41:59.:42:18.

most of that red. To happily remove it. The lead's first shot was

:42:19.:42:25.

perhaps a little bit high. Desperately waiting for this to take

:42:26.:42:36.

some sort of a pole and catch the red in the house -- a pull. Just

:42:37.:42:46.

enough, job done, that took a while. We were saying in training,

:42:47.:42:55.

it turns late. It is knowing how the ice is playing.

:42:56.:43:02.

Yes, the guys when we spoke to them earlier, if you put a little too

:43:03.:43:09.

much weight on it, you don't get the swing, and they are hoping the swing

:43:10.:43:14.

progresses and gets more as the com petition goes on. -- competition.

:43:15.:43:24.

Again, these guys are looking to come right in behind the red shot

:43:25.:43:31.

they have at the front, and use it as some cover. This seems a lot

:43:32.:43:37.

wider line. And still going. Not a good shot.

:43:38.:43:44.

That look he has got now, he almost had it after his hand left the

:43:45.:43:57.

stone. Not been a good morning for young Evgeny Arkhipov. He could have

:43:58.:44:04.

been a little lighter and high in the house. But heavy is just a

:44:05.:44:07.

disaster. Dave is looking for an out-turn

:44:08.:44:20.

draw. We had them saying, they would be happy if it comes out in the

:44:21.:44:26.

house. The crowd are doing their best. Trying to encourage their

:44:27.:44:32.

team. They haven't had much to cheer about. It has all gone Britain's way

:44:33.:44:39.

so far. Dave is really happy here, if he can

:44:40.:44:54.

bring it into the house and force the Russians to take the one. Giving

:44:55.:44:58.

Dave the advantage. A nice shot there, well executed,

:44:59.:45:21.

well communicated. He still has 100% so far on his draws and his

:45:22.:45:41.

takeouts. Stukalskiy, it has been a bit of a struggle, not due to his

:45:42.:45:50.

efforts. The team in front of him are making it difficult for him.

:45:51.:46:07.

Aleksei Stukalskiy with an out-turn freeze to the back yellow. It can be

:46:08.:46:25.

one of the hardest shots, the freeze. It is just going to nick off

:46:26.:46:48.

the front yellow. This is just over curling. They had to have a higher

:46:49.:46:57.

line and bring it to the back yellow. If we guard the yellow, and

:46:58.:47:18.

he has a tough shot... We can be outside, because he cannot play it

:47:19.:47:32.

in. We heard them saying they are going to try to guard their yellow

:47:33.:47:41.

which makes it very difficult for Stukalskiy to get in for his shot.

:47:42.:47:50.

Great Britain lying two at the moment. Trying to protect the

:47:51.:48:01.

position. This could make it really difficult for Stukalskiy to get in.

:48:02.:48:10.

Happy with the line, it is all about the weight. This looks high. They

:48:11.:48:23.

want to be covering their yellow. Pushing really hard. Not quite the

:48:24.:48:39.

place we hoped it would finish. Just enough, they are saying. Really

:48:40.:48:51.

needed to be a complete half a stone on the other side of that line. Can

:48:52.:49:06.

he take those two out? He would struggle to stay in. That could be

:49:07.:49:14.

our saving grace. If he plays the big shot, he is looking to try to

:49:15.:49:46.

get his two. A big rock -- shot. If he catches the top yellow, it hit

:49:47.:49:52.

the red and pushes that out and we steal an end. It is not a disastrous

:49:53.:50:09.

shot that Dave threw, it was just not what he was looking for, but it

:50:10.:50:17.

is doing the business at the moment. Potentially a shot to keep them in

:50:18.:50:34.

the match. If he played it perfect, he might keep them in the game full

:50:35.:50:41.

is Stukalskiy has been keeping them in the game. It gets harder to do it

:50:42.:50:51.

and after end. Stukalskiy tried to take-out the two British stones. It

:50:52.:51:16.

must be close. Really good effort, but just the one for Russia. It was

:51:17.:51:25.

a bit unlucky. He gave that his best chance. The hammer will go to Great

:51:26.:51:41.

Britain with three ends left. Things looking pretty good for Great

:51:42.:51:50.

Britain. That would appear to be the makings

:51:51.:51:52.

of a first victory. If you want to continue to watch

:51:53.:52:02.

that, it is available on the red button. There are five golds up for

:52:03.:52:13.

grabs today. We know it is Monday morning and you have a lot to do to

:52:14.:52:16.

go to work and get the children to school, but if you have a few

:52:17.:52:22.

minutes to share some coverage over your cornflakes, you are most

:52:23.:52:27.

welcome. This is what is on our breakfast menu. She is awfully good,

:52:28.:52:39.

the German expected to be super quick in the super combined event.

:52:40.:52:45.

We have seen David Murdoch for Great Britain, can Eve Muirhead also make

:52:46.:52:56.

a good start? The magic and mayhem of short track speed skating, Jack

:52:57.:53:00.

Whelbourne joins the human vortex in the longest of the individual races,

:53:01.:53:06.

the 1500m and Elise Christie races the 500m. It is unmissable. After

:53:07.:53:18.

the stunning win for Austria in the first of the men's alpine events in

:53:19.:53:22.

the downhill, it is the turn of the women to head to the start gate.

:53:23.:53:29.

They will do so about vertical metres from here -- about 30km from

:53:30.:53:39.

here. It involves a first run of downhill followed by a run through a

:53:40.:53:45.

blizzard of control gates with one run off slalom. It is taking place

:53:46.:53:57.

up in the mountains. We went up to have a course inspection.

:53:58.:54:06.

This is the women's downhill. We are at the most difficult part of the

:54:07.:54:13.

course. What do they need to do? Commitment, you have to dive into

:54:14.:54:21.

this top section. You come over a little like and then you come into

:54:22.:54:31.

this section, three it turns. It is a question of carrying speed towards

:54:32.:54:38.

the finish. Carrying speed from here to the finish, but the section here

:54:39.:54:44.

is the crucial part of the course. Graham Bell is there for us. I am

:54:45.:54:54.

not sure if it was a late night. After Jenny Jones' bronze, can you

:54:55.:54:59.

Diebold any details of the celebrations? -- tell us about. I

:55:00.:55:11.

know that they had a great time. We drove up in the same bus together,

:55:12.:55:16.

it was a bit of a party bus, there was somebody DGN, and everybody was

:55:17.:55:24.

singing and then I had to go to bed because I was up at 7am. I am sure

:55:25.:55:31.

at they had a pretty good time and well-deserved night out. You were

:55:32.:55:43.

always the responsible adults! You had a quick look at the course. The

:55:44.:55:46.

defending champion was complaining the other day, she thought the

:55:47.:55:51.

downhill section of the combined was too slow. Is that true? Compared to

:55:52.:56:00.

the men's course, the women's course is not as tough. If we look back to

:56:01.:56:05.

four years ago the women's course was almost as tough if not tougher

:56:06.:56:10.

than the men. Remember the incredible crash on the last jump

:56:11.:56:17.

where someone flew about 60 metres and exploded in a bowl of equipment

:56:18.:56:21.

and crashed out of the race. She was able to ski in the campaign. This

:56:22.:56:27.

downhill is not as tough so it is going to mean that the slalom

:56:28.:56:30.

section is going to be more important. That is one of the things

:56:31.:56:37.

that is playing on her mind, she is not going to be able to ski out a

:56:38.:56:42.

big enough lead in the downhill to hold off her main rivals, the

:56:43.:56:49.

Austrians. They will be very well in the slalom. This event is designed

:56:50.:56:56.

to unveil the greatest all-rounder in alpine events, those with

:56:57.:57:02.

technical ability and speed. It has changed in terms of the formula for

:57:03.:57:05.

this over the years. Have they. It right? I think so. The federation

:57:06.:57:19.

have a love for the combined. Alpine skiing was a late comer to the

:57:20.:57:25.

Winter Olympics. When it started in 1924 it was Nordic skiing that was

:57:26.:57:29.

their powerhouse and it was the Brits that invented alpine skier.

:57:30.:57:37.

They were allowed one event and it was the combined event so it has

:57:38.:57:45.

been going longer than all of the individual events which came after

:57:46.:57:51.

the war. The combined has held, been cherished, but it is getting more

:57:52.:57:58.

difficult to find people who can ski both disciplines well and what you

:57:59.:58:04.

tend to find is you find skiers who ski well in the slalom and then they

:58:05.:58:11.

do well in downhill and then they when the combined. It is a balancing

:58:12.:58:15.

act. To find a down hell that is tough enough to test them, and a

:58:16.:58:22.

slalom that is going to test them, the slalom being second means it is

:58:23.:58:26.

an advantage for the slalom gears. -- skiers. Chemmy Alcott is going to

:58:27.:58:36.

compete in order to get some practice. When you talk about

:58:37.:58:43.

all-time greats, one of the greatest all-rounders in history, what makes

:58:44.:58:49.

her so strong? She had a great technical base. It is one of the

:58:50.:58:57.

events you do first off. You raise slalom and giant slalom around about

:58:58.:59:06.

tenure is old -- ten years old and you are either a good skier or you

:59:07.:59:12.

are not. People who are used to downhill like myself can get used to

:59:13.:59:17.

a little bit of red force, but good skiers, she is a great technical

:59:18.:59:24.

skier and she switched to downhill so she was good at everything and

:59:25.:59:28.

she can win in slalom. She has not been skiing that well in slalom this

:59:29.:59:35.

year so I think she is going to have a big challenge today so maybe that

:59:36.:59:38.

is why she was inking the downhill was not tough enough. The Austrians

:59:39.:59:46.

could get another medal. We are looking forward to it. It is the

:59:47.:59:53.

first women's alpine events. It is about to get underway. We can join

:59:54.:59:58.

Emma Carrick-Anderson and Matt Chilton.

:59:59.:00:11.

This is a great course, some of the girls are unhappy because they have

:00:12.:00:37.

slowed it down a little. Flying of the devil's spine. Some great names.

:00:38.:00:44.

This left hand turn is super important. Where this race could be

:00:45.:00:52.

won or lost. She has two carried the speed into this traverse. It falls

:00:53.:01:00.

to the left quite strongly. A full-length downhill for the super

:01:01.:01:06.

combined. The first stage, full length downhill. The slalom gets

:01:07.:01:13.

underway at 3pm local time. That is 11am in the UK. Marsaglia is not a

:01:14.:01:17.

great slalom skier so she really needs to put one down in this first

:01:18.:01:25.

speed section, the downhill leg. That is the time we will expect them

:01:26.:01:30.

to clock in this downhill stage. Only the second time it has been the

:01:31.:01:36.

super combined, the more traditional combined, downhill and two runs of

:01:37.:01:42.

slalom took place in the Olympics -- in the Olympics until cheering 2006.

:01:43.:01:48.

It was only in Vancouver when it took place --until Turin 2006.

:01:49.:02:04.

A lovely slow motion shot. The outside ski is miles away from her

:02:05.:02:17.

body. A big edge angle. Two Italians in quick succession,

:02:18.:02:24.

Daniela Merighetti. An out and out downhill specialist. I can't

:02:25.:02:28.

remember if I have ever seen a race, slalom -- seen her race, slalom, in

:02:29.:02:39.

fact. She my -- she may decide to have a try at a medal.

:02:40.:02:44.

Chemmy Alcott is racing at number five. She may decide to have a go on

:02:45.:02:53.

the slalom skis. I think Chemmy is just going to do

:02:54.:03:04.

the downhill part. Because of the quick, tight turns and the

:03:05.:03:10.

pressure, she has decided she can't do the slalom.

:03:11.:03:13.

A beautiful day in the mountains, gorgeous again. If you cloud is in

:03:14.:03:17.

the early part of the morning, barely a breath of wind. Merighetti

:03:18.:03:26.

getting her upper body twisted. You can see how the two Italians

:03:27.:03:29.

compare. Coming up to the tunnel jump. It has

:03:30.:03:36.

split this course, the top part is the technical. The tunnel jump, not

:03:37.:03:43.

flying very far. If you saw the men's event, it looks like a

:03:44.:03:48.

different event, but still hugely challenging. Course preparation has

:03:49.:03:54.

been incredible. Merighetti moves into second. 0.68

:03:55.:04:02.

slower than her compatriot. Another training run complete as far as she

:04:03.:04:06.

is concerned. One to watch in the women's downhill which comes up on

:04:07.:04:11.

Wednesday. Another beautiful slow motion

:04:12.:04:22.

shots. Very steep, 41 degrees. Marianne Kaufmann Abderhalden has

:04:23.:04:27.

been one of the best this season. She had her maiden World Cup

:04:28.:04:32.

downhill win. Round four of the season-long World Cup tour in

:04:33.:04:39.

mid-December. She is one to watch. Probably not today because her

:04:40.:04:43.

slalom skills are limited. But, certainly, when the downhill proper

:04:44.:04:50.

takes place midweek. The names of the course. Launch pad. Devil's

:04:51.:04:59.

spine. Very tricky, she was late in the line, the ski is going

:05:00.:05:04.

sideways. A crucial turn. She had to carry the speed in but she didn't

:05:05.:05:09.

carry anything. Lucky to stay on her feet. She was out of contention

:05:10.:05:14.

there. That is our leader, Francesca

:05:15.:05:21.

Marsaglia. That is where Kaufmann Abderhalden's downhill section ended

:05:22.:05:25.

but she will learn from that. She caught her edge that add further

:05:26.:05:36.

up, not a great mid section. -- her edge further up.

:05:37.:05:42.

We will look forward to seeing Chemmy Alcott, back from injury. She

:05:43.:05:49.

worked desperately hard to be chosen to represent Great Britain in her

:05:50.:05:54.

fourth Olympic Games. Her turn coming shortly.

:05:55.:05:57.

First up, the young Russian, back over Sheena.

:05:58.:06:07.

-- Yakovishina. She Russian women in the late 90s had a couple of decent

:06:08.:06:11.

downhill athletes. Since then, there has been nobody.

:06:12.:06:24.

But there is a big cheer in the finish, the Russians going mad the

:06:25.:06:32.

stands. Flags flying. They will be watching this woman very closely.

:06:33.:06:40.

Not happy through that tricky part, it really falls away. These are not

:06:41.:06:45.

good turns. You can see the time slipping away as the skis go

:06:46.:06:55.

sideways. 95 kilometres per hour.

:06:56.:07:03.

Some of the women are not happy they have shaved off the bottom jump.

:07:04.:07:10.

There is a huge turn before you come into that. Then a big fall away. It

:07:11.:07:17.

will be interesting to see how this run -- this young Russian does in

:07:18.:07:28.

that part. Favourites today include the Canadian who won the only World

:07:29.:07:35.

Cup super combined held this season in January. And we have to look out

:07:36.:07:42.

for the Austrians whose confidence has been boosted by the men's win

:07:43.:07:55.

yesterday. Salinger is one to watch. -- Fenninger.

:07:56.:07:59.

That was not bad. I think she will be pretty happy

:08:00.:08:05.

with that. Home and dry anyway. Chemmy Alcott is next to go for

:08:06.:08:10.

Great Britain. Back into that aerodynamic position

:08:11.:08:14.

coming into that flat gliding section.

:08:15.:08:22.

Lots of noise for the Russian. Chemmy Alcott, in the start gate,

:08:23.:08:28.

for Great Britain. The first British Alpine skier to race at these Games.

:08:29.:08:42.

Chemmy's fiance, Dougie Crawford, did not get selected. She is

:08:43.:08:46.

battling back from another injury, suffered in downhill training at the

:08:47.:08:53.

World Championships last year. And following that huge crash in

:08:54.:08:59.

downhill racing. This is being treated by Alcott as a training

:09:00.:09:03.

run, her third run down the hill so far this week at Rosa Khutor. But

:09:04.:09:09.

she will be going full guns today, taking this seriously. Trying to get

:09:10.:09:13.

into a low tuck. She has shown encouraging signs in

:09:14.:09:27.

Cortina in the Super-G a few weeks ago. Where she scored World Cup

:09:28.:09:35.

points, posting 23rd position there. You can see a little bit of snow

:09:36.:09:43.

spring up. And that turn, to the left. Coming into the final straight

:09:44.:09:49.

towards the finish. The final roller, tucking in for the line,

:09:50.:09:53.

Chemmy Alcott skiing for Great Britain. It is not bad, within a

:09:54.:10:00.

second of the lead. She is happy with that run. Remember, it is a

:10:01.:10:06.

training run from her. We are not expecting her to put on the slalom

:10:07.:10:09.

skis later on. She skied the mid-part of that

:10:10.:10:13.

really well but the top part was not as committed.

:10:14.:10:22.

Celebrating Jenny Jones's bronze medal in the women's snowboard

:10:23.:10:27.

slopestyle yesterday. Next to go, Noelle Barahona. We were

:10:28.:10:39.

discussing Bode Miller, the American's -- American captain.

:10:40.:10:47.

She is struggling through that difficult for the way to the right,

:10:48.:10:59.

and putting them sideways again. Not enjoying this top section. Skiing

:11:00.:11:08.

the top with trepidation. And she is down, sliding away. Let us hope she

:11:09.:11:14.

manages to shield herself from the safety netting. It is very slick

:11:15.:11:22.

there. If you fall on that steep deep 41 degrees pitch, you will keep

:11:23.:11:27.

on falling. She had already shown signs of

:11:28.:11:32.

exercising caution. And she couldn't hold the turning edge and down she

:11:33.:11:38.

went, pretty slick underfoot. From then on it was a damage limitation.

:11:39.:11:43.

She collided with the control gate. I think she is probably all right.

:11:44.:11:49.

She did the whole turn on the inside ski. With that fall away, she had to

:11:50.:11:57.

be committed to the right ski. There was no going back from that.

:11:58.:12:07.

So, taking no further part. If you don't finish the downhill, you

:12:08.:12:10.

cannot start the slalom. This is the scene at the top as the

:12:11.:12:17.

race is gathering. A total of 39 due to start. The slalom is due at 3pm

:12:18.:12:24.

local time, is single run of slalom set by one of the Swiss ski coaches.

:12:25.:12:34.

The first contender is Salinger -- Fenninger. A big medal hope.

:12:35.:12:52.

Keeping herself calm. Some, like Bode Miller, he looks like he is on

:12:53.:13:10.

a Sunday cruise. Just waiting for the course prepared to be complete

:13:11.:13:18.

following the damage. Next is Lotte Smiseth Sejersted from Norway. She

:13:19.:13:25.

has an unwelcome weight. It plays havoc with your mind -- unwelcome

:13:26.:13:33.

wait. These girls are so focused at the start and if you get a little

:13:34.:13:41.

break, you have two backoff and refocus. She gets the 32nd call. The

:13:42.:13:50.

ski poles go over the top of the timing wand. She propels herself out

:13:51.:14:03.

of the gate with a maximum speed. 1755 metres start altitude. 2700

:14:04.:14:14.

metres is the total course length. Former junior world champion, out of

:14:15.:14:18.

the gate and on her way and she is in trouble early on. What a shame.

:14:19.:14:25.

That is just a nightmare for that to happen. We saw Bode Miller clipped a

:14:26.:14:30.

gate yesterday but not that hard. Not like Lotte Smiseth Sejersted.

:14:31.:14:36.

She didn't even take off that jump. The same again there. So, a mistake

:14:37.:14:42.

like that, it can make you think, my goodness, and make you make more

:14:43.:14:48.

mistakes. Or it can spur you on because you have nothing to lose. A

:14:49.:14:53.

poor start. Let's see if she can pick it up on the bottom half of the

:14:54.:14:59.

course. It is still Francesca Marsaglia needed for Italy. Chemmy

:15:00.:15:07.

Alcott is third for Great Britain. The first stage of the women's super

:15:08.:15:10.

combined. Attacking the bottom of the course

:15:11.:15:14.

to make up for that dreadful mistake out of the gate.

:15:15.:15:22.

She is still half a second back, so not bad down this middle section.

:15:23.:15:31.

This turn comes up quite quickly and it is a big turn which falls away to

:15:32.:15:48.

the left. The last couple of gates. Almost certainly treating this as a

:15:49.:15:56.

downhill training run. First position, remarkable considering the

:15:57.:16:01.

mess she made at the top. She pushed really hard on the final three

:16:02.:16:09.

quarters of the course. She lost control of her life -- left pole.

:16:10.:16:27.

Good recovery to lead the way. That mistakes spurred her own. Other

:16:28.:16:54.

Christmas is here. He is a bit late. Making a repair to the control

:16:55.:17:23.

gate. Dominate -- Dominique Gisin is a good downhill skier. A good

:17:24.:17:39.

jumper. A sensational dart. So clean. She had to take her speed

:17:40.:17:55.

into bald -- Bolshoi. What a great run so far.

:17:56.:18:05.

Winding down the window slightly on the tunnel jump. She should

:18:06.:18:13.

hopefully enjoy this section. There are about seven or eight turns.

:18:14.:18:22.

Coming out of the sunlight into the shade, that makes it a little bit

:18:23.:18:30.

tricky. She has come through the Serpentine section. The crowds can

:18:31.:18:43.

see the racers and get a good idea of the true velocity with which they

:18:44.:18:51.

travel down these downhill courses. She has not quite done enough. Lotte

:18:52.:19:00.

Smiseth Sejersted leads, Francesca Marsaglia is second. A strong top

:19:01.:19:13.

section. Just losing it a little onto the flat. No major problems in

:19:14.:19:20.

the downhill but I think it is going to be won or lost through forest

:19:21.:19:44.

drop. It is quite a compression as it goes uphill, but she lands

:19:45.:19:55.

cleanly on the jump. Carrying a lot of speed. She is 21. She has had

:19:56.:20:03.

encouraging results, slowly but surely starting to establish herself

:20:04.:20:13.

within the Norwegian team. She is holding a good line. She lost that a

:20:14.:20:20.

little bit as she came into the tunnel jump. This left-hander is

:20:21.:20:26.

going to be a good feeling for them because the Bolshoi traverse, it

:20:27.:20:35.

feels like it goes on forever. Good flight, solid jump. Committed to

:20:36.:20:44.

this run. Nice skiing so far from the 21-year-old. Lotte Smiseth

:20:45.:20:53.

Sejersted leads the way. How close will she be? She's these into

:20:54.:21:15.

fourth. Happy with the results so far. -- results. The conditions

:21:16.:21:36.

perfect. Lara Gut is always an exciting prospect. So smooth, she

:21:37.:21:45.

did not get pushed back on the compression. You do not want to go

:21:46.:21:59.

too long in the air. Her World Cup form has been sensational. Five wins

:22:00.:22:09.

so far this season. One in giant slalom. Fantastic skiing. This is

:22:10.:22:27.

great downhill skiing from Lara Gut. Maybe lost he tends as she had

:22:28.:22:40.

to struggle back. Lara Gut one of the big hopes for Swiss alpine

:22:41.:22:45.

skiing. They fully expect her to come home with a handful of medals

:22:46.:22:50.

and she has started well, she leads the super commode. -- combined. She

:22:51.:23:05.

is first. She enjoyed that. She is on the back of the ski. She is

:23:06.:23:16.

delighted with that. Lotte Smiseth Sejersted steps aside as Lara Gut

:23:17.:23:26.

takes her place. Now we get to the all-rounders. Starting with Anna

:23:27.:23:39.

Fenninger. She was a junior world champion in super combined. Anna

:23:40.:23:52.

Fenninger is more than matching Lara Gut. Not quite as strong as the two

:23:53.:24:02.

Austrian hopes in the slalom, but if you can take a good lead then

:24:03.:24:08.

anything is possible. She is not as good through Bolshoi traverse.

:24:09.:24:16.

Getting towards the serious part of the downhill section. Marie-Michele

:24:17.:24:36.

Gagnon will start at 21. That was a beautiful jump. She did not get

:24:37.:24:43.

pushed into the hole but it looked as if he was not carrying as much

:24:44.:24:58.

speed as Lara Gut. She is second. Lara Gut of Switzerland leads Anna

:24:59.:25:03.

Fenninger of Austria. You sense that Anna Fenninger needed a better

:25:04.:25:06.

downhill run if she is to challenge in the slalom later. It was the flat

:25:07.:25:17.

section she did not enjoy. Speed was slipping away. Denise Feierabend, I

:25:18.:25:32.

am not sure of her downhill capabilities. She is not as happy

:25:33.:25:42.

with these fast turns. The slalom looks amazing. A little bit more

:25:43.:25:53.

upgrade, slower off the jump. -- up right. Not bad. A little worried. --

:25:54.:26:14.

wide. She is struggling, that could have been nasty. The damage is done.

:26:15.:26:25.

Nearly two seconds slower. You can make a mistake on the speed and you

:26:26.:26:30.

can get the time back, but on the flat there is nothing you can do.

:26:31.:26:35.

Making sure of getting the finish and is darting the slalom --

:26:36.:26:42.

starting. She did well to stay on her feet. It is over for Denise

:26:43.:26:52.

Feierabend. She did well to finish. She is in tenth. Lucky with the

:26:53.:27:05.

weather, it was supposed to be cloudy with even a little bit of

:27:06.:27:09.

missed, there is a little bit of cloud around but it is sunny. Lara

:27:10.:27:18.

Gut leads the way, Anna Fenninger is second, Lotte Smiseth Sejersted is

:27:19.:27:42.

third. Good turns, attacking it. Can she make the move forward? Yes. 15th

:27:43.:27:51.

in the Olympic super combined four years ago. Just getting the road

:27:52.:28:02.

around a little bit. Good exit, but the damage has been done on a few of

:28:03.:28:12.

those turns. This is not too bad. She is not a bad slalom skier. An

:28:13.:28:20.

outside chance of her clawing back this type of death of -- deficit.

:28:21.:28:31.

This is the only gliding section. More gliding than there was in the

:28:32.:28:39.

men's. More flight than we have seen from some of the other girls. Lara

:28:40.:28:48.

Gut's lead looks pretty good at the moment. Ferk is nineth. Chemmy

:28:49.:29:14.

Alcott in eighth. Hands on the ground, a little bit scrappy, but

:29:15.:29:18.

you can see from the angle it is deep. -- steep. Laurenne Ross, the

:29:19.:29:39.

first of the Americans. She might be treating this as a training run. In

:29:40.:29:46.

2011 during the World Cup run in Canada she had a massive crash, went

:29:47.:29:49.

headfirst into the safety netting, her helmet got ripped off and she

:29:50.:29:57.

had 40 stitches in her forehead. She is in trouble. Let us hope she is

:29:58.:30:07.

OK. That is a shame. A fantastic top section. Let us see what happened.

:30:08.:30:16.

Her ski pops off. That is devastating.

:30:17.:30:25.

At least it is not the downhill proper, the think it was being

:30:26.:30:32.

treated as a training run. The ski probably shouldn't have come off on

:30:33.:30:38.

that turn, so she will be heading to the skied technicians. -- ski

:30:39.:30:53.

technicians. The American supporters,

:30:54.:30:55.

disappointed with what they have seen. But the run Ross will return

:30:56.:31:02.

midweek to the downhill. Next to go for Sweden, Sara Hector.

:31:03.:31:11.

Junior world champion in 2011. In the giant slalom, finished ninth in

:31:12.:31:15.

the World Championships in super combined last February when the

:31:16.:31:20.

event was held in Austria. Also finished fifth in the one and

:31:21.:31:25.

only combined this year. She is certainly an outsider. A good chance

:31:26.:31:31.

of a top five, I would say. Lara put in the enclosure. Italian

:31:32.:31:38.

is her first language. She speaks French, English.

:31:39.:31:51.

These big turns. A good edge change. Further off the line than some of

:31:52.:31:54.

the faster girls. She needs to get forward here. Through that

:31:55.:32:01.

compression. Getting pitched back a little. That is a sign her speed is

:32:02.:32:06.

not as great as she would like it to be. Getting bounced around, a wider

:32:07.:32:12.

line than she would ideally like to ski.

:32:13.:32:15.

The last Swedish winner of the women's super combined, the

:32:16.:32:21.

traditional combined, took the gold medal at the lily hammer Olympics in

:32:22.:32:34.

1994 -- Lillehammer. Into the gliding part. She has her head up.

:32:35.:32:44.

What we call a rabbit tuck. It is not the best aerodynamic position.

:32:45.:32:50.

She is opening up and landing wide. She is two seconds behind, I can't

:32:51.:32:54.

see that matching the top five performance held in January 12 in

:32:55.:32:58.

Austria. The only super combined that has

:32:59.:33:04.

been held at top level, to give us a form guide coming into the Winter

:33:05.:33:08.

Olympic Games. This is a sluggish run. She had a

:33:09.:33:10.

good, high line. Sara Hector skiing into 12th

:33:11.:33:36.

position. Lara but still leads the way for Sweden.

:33:37.:33:45.

Chemmy Alcott is eighth for Great Britain.

:33:46.:33:50.

This is when things get spicy, a couple of great athletes coming up.

:33:51.:33:56.

Let us a check on the standings. It is good to see the union Jack the

:33:57.:34:02.

alongside Chemmy Alcott's name. We do not expect her to turn up for the

:34:03.:34:07.

slalom. And encouraging training run if that is how she is treating it.

:34:08.:34:21.

This is the Shadow cam, to show you the difference between Lara Gut at

:34:22.:34:28.

the back, and Fenninger at the front. But the positions change.

:34:29.:34:33.

Fenninger tried to take a direct line, to cut the top of the

:34:34.:34:38.

turn-off. This is the crucial parts, the X it onto Bolshoy where we see

:34:39.:34:48.

selling the just overtaking. -- we see Fenninger overtaking.

:34:49.:34:55.

It is not a Russian Christmas is it? No, that is the 6th of January,

:34:56.:35:03.

isn't it? Tina Maze, a favourite.

:35:04.:35:16.

Some of the scenes at the top of the course.

:35:17.:35:26.

Next in the gate, number 16, Nicole Hosp. A terrific all-rounder, she

:35:27.:35:32.

has had a cracking season. One of the veterans, in her 30s. Showing

:35:33.:35:37.

some of the form more evident seven years ago. She has been slightly

:35:38.:35:42.

anonymous for the past few seasons but has bounced back. She has got a

:35:43.:35:46.

well-deserved Olympic selection, let us see if she can perform today. She

:35:47.:35:52.

has such a nice touch, so in light on her skis. In my view, one of the

:35:53.:35:58.

top favourites for the combined today.

:35:59.:36:02.

She took a silver medal in 2006 in the Olympic slalom. She was smooth

:36:03.:36:10.

through that section. She has to take the speed out of this gate a

:36:11.:36:18.

good start for Nicole Hosp for Austria.

:36:19.:36:22.

Faster than Lara Gut at the first intermediate, but slower at

:36:23.:36:28.

intermediate number two. It didn't look as committed as it

:36:29.:36:32.

could be. She will have to attack this bottom section. Coming off the

:36:33.:36:39.

tunnel jump, it is very straight, no turns at all. Then, she comes into

:36:40.:36:44.

the gliding section in and out of the sun, she had to get as low as

:36:45.:36:55.

she can. Gagnon is starting number 21 today.

:36:56.:37:05.

I am not sure she will be faster than Lara Gut but she is a more

:37:06.:37:12.

accomplished slalom skier than all three of the leaders, Nicole Hosp,

:37:13.:37:17.

if she finishes, with three gates to go, will give herself it is an

:37:18.:37:21.

opportunity heading into the slalom stage of this super combined. She is

:37:22.:37:25.

fourth, a great position. She can move into the medals from there.

:37:26.:37:31.

She is such a strong slalom skier but she will be disappointed.

:37:32.:37:38.

Watching the replay of the run. In places, she looked Luke warm, not as

:37:39.:37:44.

committed as Lara Gut. She is now the favourite, I would

:37:45.:37:48.

suggest. At the top, the defending champion

:37:49.:38:00.

is getting yourself ready to race. Hofl-Riesch was disappointed when

:38:01.:38:08.

they shaved off part of the course. Next is Tina Maze. Broke all records

:38:09.:38:13.

last season. Setting the record for the most amount of World Cup points

:38:14.:38:19.

won in a season. A clutch of medals at the 20 13th alpine skiing World

:38:20.:38:24.

Championships, crowned as the overall World Cup champion. So far

:38:25.:38:27.

this season she has made a steady start. Crucially, she has just

:38:28.:38:33.

clocked her World Cup win of the season in downhill, in Cortina,

:38:34.:38:38.

under the guidance of a brand-new coach who has just been appointed.

:38:39.:38:42.

She seems to have found her form with perfect timing right ahead of

:38:43.:38:46.

the Winter Olympic Games. She has made a promising start. It is

:38:47.:38:52.

crucial to have faith in the people around her. Tina Maze, with a change

:38:53.:38:56.

of coach, this is what it has brought. She is trusting her skiing

:38:57.:39:03.

now. Downhill skiing, alpine skiing, is such a mental game. A great

:39:04.:39:08.

section so far. World Cup wins last year. We know

:39:09.:39:15.

she is capable of turning it on in the technical discipline. A full

:39:16.:39:21.

attacking run in the downhill stage of the super combined. She has the

:39:22.:39:26.

better of Lara Gut, not by much. It is going to be close. Through this

:39:27.:39:31.

section we have seen a few of the girls dropping slightly low. A

:39:32.:39:37.

good, strong high line, fantastic skiing, a little bit of flight. And

:39:38.:39:44.

aerodynamic tuck. Silver medallist at the last two World Championships.

:39:45.:39:49.

She poses a serious threat as she goes for gold. Can she lead? Not

:39:50.:40:01.

quite. Crucially, in slalom terms, she is ahead of Nicole Hosp. She is

:40:02.:40:05.

in a strong position as she goes for her first Olympic gold. Nicole Hosp

:40:06.:40:14.

is so strong in slalom. Eight years ago she was winning and is still a

:40:15.:40:20.

great slalom skier. Nicole Hosp will be delighted with

:40:21.:40:21.

that performance. Sorry, Tina Maze. Tina Maze, the best all-rounder in

:40:22.:40:35.

the world at the end of last season. On good form at the start of

:40:36.:40:40.

her Olympic campaign. She will race in all of the disciplines.

:40:41.:40:44.

Another great chance for the Austrians. If she gets it right in

:40:45.:40:53.

downhill. Kirchgasser was second in Austria mid-January. She has to

:40:54.:40:57.

start well today. She has started well, a strong top section, no sign

:40:58.:41:03.

of her getting pushed back. A good jump. She has two dives down. She

:41:04.:41:09.

has lost little bit on the top. She has to do. Kirchgasser,

:41:10.:41:14.

realistically, has to be within a second of Tina Maze heading into the

:41:15.:41:21.

slalom stage of the super combined. Drifting away from her slightly.

:41:22.:41:26.

This is surprising from Kirchgasser, I thought she would enjoy this

:41:27.:41:27.

downhill. The split, she is more than a second

:41:28.:41:36.

behind. Starting to shake up nicely for the

:41:37.:41:52.

conclusion of this super combined. When the first alpine skiing medals

:41:53.:41:55.

for the women will be distributed later today. Mikel Kirchgasser is

:41:56.:42:01.

starting to struggle with the demands of this downhill. It looks

:42:02.:42:05.

like she is skiing for the finish rather than put pressure on the

:42:06.:42:10.

leaders. A little soft over the tunnel jump. It is pointing run but

:42:11.:42:15.

she hasn't made any major mistakes. I wonder if the skis aren't running.

:42:16.:42:20.

It could be a problem with this key preparation. -- the ski preparation.

:42:21.:42:30.

She will have two have the slalom run of her life to get in amongst

:42:31.:42:37.

the medals. The position wasn't bad. She was good on the top section. No

:42:38.:42:42.

major mistakes. A little bit round on the flat but nothing that made

:42:43.:42:47.

you think, that is a bad run, constantly losing speed.

:42:48.:42:53.

Lara Gut has a captive audience. Speaking Italian. Multilingual.

:42:54.:43:06.

Gorgl, watch her go. She knows only one speed. She will attack this.

:43:07.:43:10.

Look at the start. Pushing and skating. She was still pushing

:43:11.:43:17.

before she made that first turn. Setting about the downhill with

:43:18.:43:26.

vigour. She only knows full speed. Always an aggressive skier.

:43:27.:43:30.

Sometimes to the detriment of her speed, too hard at times on the

:43:31.:43:36.

snow. She is pushing hard. I think it could be one of her last years,

:43:37.:43:43.

certainly her last Olympics, so she will be going flat out. A great

:43:44.:43:49.

exit. To medals for Gorgl at the last

:43:50.:43:54.

Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, bronze medal in the down, and in the

:43:55.:44:02.

giant slalom. Seventh in the slalom. Not one of the best slalom skiers

:44:03.:44:05.

but she can mix it up when it matters. Struggling here.

:44:06.:44:10.

We used to go to school together. She was a good slalom skier. When

:44:11.:44:17.

she was young. Then she focused more on speed. She has one -- won this

:44:18.:44:24.

year. Gorgl finished sixth in the super

:44:25.:44:38.

combined at the World Championships in 2013. This is not her best. She

:44:39.:44:49.

is only half a second back on that split. Gorgl has improved. She is

:44:50.:44:58.

fifth. A good downhill stage of the super combined. She will have to dig

:44:59.:45:04.

deep into her muscle memory and find those slalom skills this afternoon.

:45:05.:45:08.

I love those shots with the blue sky in the background.

:45:09.:45:17.

Next is the defending champion, Maria Hoefl-Riesch waiting at the

:45:18.:45:29.

top. She sets about the defence of the first of her titles now. She was

:45:30.:45:37.

third in the World Cup super combined in January. She won the

:45:38.:45:47.

World Championship title, and is both the Olympic and the world super

:45:48.:45:51.

combined champion and she is very much one to watch today. That is a

:45:52.:45:59.

stack of medals behind your name. This is the important first split.

:46:00.:46:08.

The outside ski is bouncing around. This is not so good around this

:46:09.:46:23.

section. Not bad in training, sixth. She is a decent slalom

:46:24.:46:37.

skier. She has halved the deficit. Good gliding. She has such a depth

:46:38.:46:47.

of experience so she is wide, she is law. She will have filled those

:46:48.:46:52.

mistakes and she is coming back with a vengeance. This might be good

:46:53.:47:11.

enough for the top three. A little twitch sideways, will that be

:47:12.:47:24.

costly? She is fourth. That little mistake on the final stretch cost

:47:25.:47:32.

her a couple of tenths, but she is in the hunt. Maria Hoefl-Riesch in

:47:33.:47:41.

fourth. You can see the upper body being twisted. She is happy with

:47:42.:47:50.

that because she is such a strong slalom skier and she knows she is in

:47:51.:48:10.

with a big shout. Marie-Michele Gagnon won her first World Cup race

:48:11.:48:19.

in super combined. She is one to watch. She is a decent downhill

:48:20.:48:30.

skier and not a bad slalom race. She is standing eightth in the slalom.

:48:31.:48:42.

She nearly missed the gate. She is going back up the hill. That is

:48:43.:48:55.

going to be costly. She has been fourth, fifth and sixth in the World

:48:56.:49:05.

Cup slalom. I think this is going to be too much. She will need a little

:49:06.:49:12.

bit of luck and some of her competitors to fail if you years to

:49:13.:49:22.

get in among the medals. The time is slipping away. Without the speed,

:49:23.:49:28.

there is nothing you can do. Having said that, Maria Hoefl-Riesch clawed

:49:29.:49:37.

back a few tenths, but it is not going to be for Marie-Michele

:49:38.:49:46.

Gagnon. She is an excellent all-rounder and she will race in all

:49:47.:49:57.

the disciplines. She is 15th. She will be disappointed. This was the

:49:58.:50:07.

mistake. She got very low on the right turn so did not get onto the

:50:08.:50:15.

right ski early enough. She left the ski behind her so she was in a

:50:16.:50:24.

vulnerable position. The American flags getting ready. Julia Mancuso

:50:25.:50:39.

on her way. Silver medallist in super combined the last time in

:50:40.:50:46.

Vancouver and the silver medallist in downhill. She flies the flag for

:50:47.:50:54.

the US in terms of alpine and heart Forum has returned just in time. She

:50:55.:51:01.

had her best spell of racing for a while to weeks ago with three top

:51:02.:51:05.

ten finishes and she has made a cracking start. She is enjoying this

:51:06.:51:12.

top part of the downhill and you would think with so much pressure on

:51:13.:51:16.

her shoulders she might grumble, but not a chance, she loves the big

:51:17.:51:36.

events. A bit twisted on for -- forest jump. She is doing a fine

:51:37.:51:52.

job. Excellent speed. Julia Mancuso is faster, excellent skiing. She is

:51:53.:52:10.

so light on her skis. Such finesse. The Americans starting to cheer. She

:52:11.:52:27.

has got at by a long way! Julia Mancuso is the new leader. What a

:52:28.:52:38.

run. A couple of errors, but the rest of it was flawless. She was

:52:39.:52:45.

largely anonymous for the early part of the season, she went back to the

:52:46.:52:49.

States and made some adjustments to her equipment and she has continued

:52:50.:52:54.

that resurgence in form with a brilliant start. She might get

:52:55.:53:08.

herself a medal today. She does a lot of alternative training. She

:53:09.:53:13.

trains by the sea, she is in the sea, on the beach. The downhill has

:53:14.:53:49.

just been let up by the performance of Julia Mancuso. That was so good.

:53:50.:54:07.

You nailed it. She always does it in the big events. Julia Mancuso was

:54:08.:54:19.

the slalom champion in 2006. Three Olympic medals to her name. This is

:54:20.:54:44.

one of the slalom skiers, Sarka Strachova. Under her maiden name she

:54:45.:54:52.

won the world title in slalom in 2007. She has recently married and

:54:53.:55:00.

recently undergone a brain operation. Not massively behind. A

:55:01.:55:14.

superb slalom skier. She was still racing when I was racing and she was

:55:15.:55:20.

starting to come into her own. Losing a little bit of time on the

:55:21.:55:23.

way down and I would imagine we will is more of that on the gliding

:55:24.:55:40.

section. No major mistakes, just a little bit taller, less committed

:55:41.:55:43.

than the out and out downhill skiers. You really have to stretch

:55:44.:56:03.

into the holes. Travelling at around 60mph will . Setting up for the

:56:04.:56:15.

finishing line knowing that the hardest part of the day is almost

:56:16.:56:22.

done. She will have to come from a long way back in the second run, the

:56:23.:56:32.

slalom. She will have a sigh of relief to be able to finish the

:56:33.:56:37.

downhill with the slalom to come. The bit that she enjoys. Julia

:56:38.:56:49.

Mancuso waits for the USA, Lara Gut is second for Switzerland. It is

:56:50.:57:29.

Macarena Simari Birkner. Not the commitment, the deep position that

:57:30.:57:33.

she needs, a higher line, but not a fast line. Part of a trio of

:57:34.:57:40.

siblings who regularly reads at the World Championships. Her sister and

:57:41.:58:04.

brother also race. She is not going to be in it for the medals. We can

:58:05.:58:15.

admire her catsuit. That is one of the best we have ever seen. She is

:58:16.:58:36.

home and dry. Julia Mancuso leads. She is loving it, lapping up the

:58:37.:58:39.

amazing energy of the Olympic Games, it is Eastern sessional

:58:40.:58:45.

filling, difficult to explain how it feels -- a sensational billing. It

:58:46.:58:57.

is warm, it feels more like April than February. Her mother was a

:58:58.:59:14.

decent racer as well. She won slalom races in the late 70s and early

:59:15.:59:24.

80s. It has to set you up for being a champion yourself. Doing a great

:59:25.:59:36.

job. Strong turns. Carrying speed. A good slalom here, that is her

:59:37.:59:44.

speciality. Silver medallist in the 2011 World Championships in giant

:59:45.:59:51.

slalom. Needs to produce a downhill run off some zero and she is not

:59:52.:59:58.

doing too badly. She is the technical skier. Not so happy down

:59:59.:00:09.

the gliding section. It is a bit of a scary sensation for a slalom

:00:10.:00:39.

skier. Mancuso is first, Lara Gut second.

:00:40.:00:49.

The male audience will like that short. -- shot.

:00:50.:00:57.

Next ago, for Slovakia, Lara Ganton Rover.

:00:58.:01:20.

Gatnerova is off to a solid start. 0.63 behind Mancuso and struggling

:01:21.:01:31.

to hold the end. She was good on the top but a bit of a strange error

:01:32.:01:39.

coming in to the drop. She put them sideways on the turn before the

:01:40.:01:43.

critical turn which was a little bit odd and she did not look quite so

:01:44.:01:46.

comfortable and here she is losing speed all the way down this section.

:01:47.:01:51.

The top five turns were really strong and then she just lost focus

:01:52.:01:53.

and concentration a little bit. Julia Mancuso has sent a court --

:01:54.:02:10.

course report back to the top. But it is vital. Every day it can change

:02:11.:02:14.

slightly even if it is just more sun or more shade and its softens up a

:02:15.:02:18.

bit. It is so important to know that. It will be a huge advantage.

:02:19.:02:31.

Gatnerova is home without incident. The difference between Mancuso and

:02:32.:02:42.

the third-place is 0.86. That is a decent lead. I do not think we can

:02:43.:02:51.

rule out her fall right, she is the second down but she is a very strong

:02:52.:02:54.

slalom singer. -- slalom skier. Leanne Smith is about one fifth

:02:55.:03:26.

back, that is quite a lot to be back in this top section. It looks as

:03:27.:03:31.

though the light has gone a bit. The sun is now higher in the sky so that

:03:32.:03:33.

they looks a bit dark and tricky. It is a second and a half now. She

:03:34.:03:52.

twisted up a little bit there. Leanne Smith getting the benefit of

:03:53.:04:15.

the applause from the American crowd who is gathered here. They are still

:04:16.:04:19.

# still celebrating the excellent run from Julia Mancuso.

:04:20.:04:58.

Number 28 is from Slovenia. She is pitching back slightly as she comes

:04:59.:05:14.

out of the steep launch pad section. She has to throw herself

:05:15.:05:21.

forward and she does not do that. She is coming into the steep section

:05:22.:05:25.

now. It is not about to turn but a bit wishy-washy on the outside ski.

:05:26.:05:31.

She has had a pretty good top section. She is low on the line. She

:05:32.:05:38.

is very low as she comes in to the Traverse. She had a very good start

:05:39.:05:44.

to the season in Beaver Creek. Since then she has been largely anonymous

:05:45.:05:47.

but not here. This is still promising. This could just be enough

:05:48.:06:04.

to propel Stuhec into the top 12 if she finishes this stage cleanly

:06:05.:06:07.

enough. She is opening up a little bit of that jump but it is not a bad

:06:08.:06:13.

run at all. She needs to get low and aerodynamic and carry a speed

:06:14.:06:16.

through the finish. It is very straight and fast through this

:06:17.:06:22.

section. Mancuso leads the way. Stuhec is just outside of the top

:06:23.:06:28.

ten, in a lesson. She has done well. A good start to the racing and she

:06:29.:06:40.

is happy with that. That was possibly the best downhill run of

:06:41.:06:41.

her career. She will be treating this as a

:06:42.:07:10.

training run. She was third at Beaver Creek. She was third and

:07:11.:07:15.

fifth in Lake Louise in the early autumn. She is carrying good speed

:07:16.:07:27.

here. She has two change quickly and get a good line and carried the

:07:28.:07:33.

speed onto the Traverse. She stood enjoyed the flatter section towards

:07:34.:07:39.

the bottom. 4168 and Nadia Fanchini is right up there -- Eleanor

:07:40.:07:46.

Fanchini. She is having a real crack at this downhill stage. She has got

:07:47.:07:50.

the wind under the tips of her skis there. She pays the price. She is

:07:51.:07:57.

more than a second behind all of a sudden. She was a bit upright and a

:07:58.:08:01.

bit back and not quite as aerodynamic as she would have liked

:08:02.:08:06.

to be. Now she makes a good move but it was not good enough. She needs to

:08:07.:08:10.

throw the arms further forward and gets no contact as quickly as she

:08:11.:08:17.

can. It is unlikely that Julia Mancuso's time will be challenged

:08:18.:08:25.

now. She is 1.77 seconds down, another reconnaissance mission on

:08:26.:08:29.

the Olympic downhill course safely completed for Elena Fanchini.

:08:30.:08:37.

There is one more American to come, another one who will have listened

:08:38.:08:41.

into the course report given by Julia Mancuso. She is just relaxing

:08:42.:08:49.

now and watching the remainder of this downhill leg. Stacey Cook from

:08:50.:08:59.

California. She is away. A big cheer at the finish. There are a few flags

:09:00.:09:07.

waving and people cheering. Julia Mancuso will be watching on. Stacey

:09:08.:09:12.

Cook has no form as a slalom skier so this will be a training run for

:09:13.:09:19.

her. A big jump there, having to make that left turn just as soon as

:09:20.:09:26.

she re-engages with the snow. One quarter of a second, in touch here

:09:27.:09:31.

for Stacey Cook. She is low on the line there and a couple of quick

:09:32.:09:35.

exchanges but not that smooth. Let us see how that affects the time. It

:09:36.:09:40.

might have done some damage there. She has! She nearly did terminal

:09:41.:09:49.

damage. She is a DNS. We have not had too many that failed to finish.

:09:50.:10:01.

She was the sixth quickest in her training runs but no result today.

:10:02.:10:06.

Let us check on the standings, Julia Mancuso came in late.

:10:07.:10:22.

Chemmy Alcott is still flying the flag in 15th position for the

:10:23.:10:30.

British downhill and super-G skier. As we take a look further down the

:10:31.:10:42.

list we can see there are some DNFs. Chemmy will be really happy

:10:43.:10:52.

with that run. She has got stronger and stronger through each training

:10:53.:10:56.

run and you should have won more tomorrow. She is just looking to cut

:10:57.:11:05.

the time down on each run. That was a great downhill run. It was

:11:06.:11:09.

definitely what I was hoping for. That was Julia Mancuso. Definitely

:11:10.:11:16.

what she was hoping for is what we got from that. There are sins --

:11:17.:11:21.

there are still some of the outsiders to come. It is a

:11:22.:11:25.

cosmopolitan mix and we have skiers from Andorra, Poland, the Czech

:11:26.:11:30.

Republic, Hungary, Australia, remain here and Monaco. Some great names

:11:31.:11:38.

coming up as well. Yes, I am looking forward to some of them! Number 31

:11:39.:11:51.

is from Andorra. She will be followed by Karolina Chrapek from

:11:52.:11:52.

Poland. Nervous moments for everybody. There

:11:53.:12:08.

is now a chance to peer over the top of the ledge which forms this

:12:09.:12:13.

starting block. Here it is, you literally peer off the edge. It is

:12:14.:12:20.

not as steep as the men's but it is a proper drop into the first gate.

:12:21.:12:26.

She is just wrapping her boots tightly around the calf. She is

:12:27.:12:30.

having it tightened by her coach. You have your little routine that

:12:31.:12:33.

you do and a little clip of her poles as she puts them over and then

:12:34.:12:38.

she will be off. Maria Gutierrez from Andorra. I am surprised that

:12:39.:12:46.

over the years we have not seen anyone come through from Andorra and

:12:47.:12:50.

make a move. Nobody has really broken through. When you consider

:12:51.:12:53.

the extent of this skiing available to the Andorra 's. Maria is looking

:12:54.:12:59.

a bit shaken here as she gets pitched backwards and caught up and

:13:00.:13:03.

twisted up coming into that first jump. That was a very quick and

:13:04.:13:09.

gutsy edge but the damage has been done on that very tough section --

:13:10.:13:10.

top section. We saw Stacey Cook go out just

:13:11.:13:20.

before her and she got really low onto the Traverse. We did not see

:13:21.:13:31.

the slow replay but it was game over for Stacey Cook. 56.04 is her split.

:13:32.:13:44.

Maria Gutierrez is off the pace now. That was big air of that jump,

:13:45.:13:48.

bigger than we have seen from the runners before. Into the gliding

:13:49.:13:53.

section now. A good aerodynamic and opening up again. You can see that

:13:54.:13:59.

she really worked the legs earlier but she is letting all of these

:14:00.:14:03.

rollers give her air and she is coming out of the tuck very set --

:14:04.:14:12.

very unsettled. She can see the grandstand is not exactly full today

:14:13.:14:16.

but we expect it will fill up as the afternoon slalom section

:14:17.:14:22.

approaches. Maria Gutierrez is warmly welcomed home, they are being

:14:23.:14:25.

generous to all the races here today. She is 27th on the list at

:14:26.:14:33.

the moment. It is great to see everybody cheering for all of the

:14:34.:14:37.

nations. There was nothing worse than being in a country and they

:14:38.:14:40.

just cheer on their own athletes and there is nothing worse as a racer to

:14:41.:14:43.

come down just to silence. She looks tired. Eight to go. Next up from

:14:44.:14:58.

Poland is Karolina Chrapek. A little tentative out at the start gate. She

:14:59.:15:02.

did not go for the good push that you like to see.

:15:03.:15:12.

She is a little bit tentative on the flat section. She is just looking to

:15:13.:15:19.

ski a good clean line. The starting intervals have been shortened as we

:15:20.:15:23.

approach the end of the start list so we will see the races live out of

:15:24.:15:29.

the starting out and pick them up at about the 1.20 mark. Karolina

:15:30.:15:39.

Chrapek is almost there. Within five seconds of the lead, that is OK.

:15:40.:15:48.

That is very respectable. We are missing out the exciting part of the

:15:49.:15:55.

course, the spine, the steep bit of forest. It looks like they are going

:15:56.:16:00.

to be picking up the skiers as they come onto the flat. Back at the top,

:16:01.:16:17.

this is number 33 of 39 due to start the first stage of this Alpine event

:16:18.:16:31.

for the women. Not bad at all. Clean terms. Klara Krizova is certainly

:16:32.:16:44.

having the form -- certainly does not have the form to give Julia

:16:45.:16:53.

Mancuso... That is very good from Klara Krizova. She skis into 17th

:16:54.:16:59.

position. She is happy with that. Good downhill run from the cheque

:17:00.:17:06.

skier. A chance to move up the rankings as she heads to the slalom

:17:07.:17:11.

stage this afternoon. Just beginning to wind the Windows a little bit.

:17:12.:17:18.

Then making contact with the snow and making diving back into the cup.

:17:19.:17:31.

Anna Berecz from Hungary. Pick her up now further down the course. 1.15

:17:32.:17:38.

mark. Little bit of difference in the time. Five seconds. Quite a

:17:39.:17:44.

hefty chunk. She is also gaining experience, happy to be at the

:17:45.:17:47.

Olympic Games and soaking up the atmosphere, looking to get to the

:17:48.:17:53.

finish cleanly and safely. Not a confident looking flight. Arms wide

:17:54.:18:01.

to her side. Struggling to maintain control. But she has successfully

:18:02.:18:09.

negotiating four fifths of this course and she is 30th at the

:18:10.:18:11.

moment. I am doing it for my grandpa who

:18:12.:18:29.

cannot be here. Julia Mancuso loving it down at the finish. So she

:18:30.:18:41.

should. What a great run from her. Greta Small is the Australian, the

:18:42.:18:45.

youngest competitor in the field today, 18. Her first Olympics,

:18:46.:18:49.

obviously, and a huge moment for her. She will be loving this. Such a

:18:50.:19:00.

brilliant atmosphere. At that -- at my first Games, there was no

:19:01.:19:03.

expectation. She will be enjoying this. That was in 92. It was. You

:19:04.:19:11.

raised the traditional combined. I did. Where did you finish? I was

:19:12.:19:19.

eighth in the slalom. I cannot remember overall. But I remember

:19:20.:19:30.

loving it. Greta Small is 28. The Israeli teenager has finished

:19:31.:19:36.

safely. -- the Australian teenager. She made a big error on the flat

:19:37.:19:41.

otherwise she could have been another 1.5 seconds inside. Four to

:19:42.:19:52.

go. Look at the ski spending. That shows the force going through them

:19:53.:19:56.

because they are rock solid -- bending. Quickly into the top. Good,

:19:57.:20:15.

quick changes. Back into the tucked. Good top section. This is

:20:16.:20:23.

where we looked at this part in inspection. It is really steep and

:20:24.:20:29.

you have got to commit. Commitment was the word here. Edit Miklos doing

:20:30.:20:35.

a pretty good job. She will be more than a second behind at the next

:20:36.:20:39.

split, I would imagine. Just under, in fact. Not as bad as it might have

:20:40.:20:49.

been. Fighting for control. Grappling for control. Just under

:20:50.:20:57.

100 through the speed gun. 99kph. Good terms. Clean and smooth. If

:20:58.:21:07.

Edit Miklos can ski her way into the top 20, that will be something of a

:21:08.:21:11.

result for the Hungary. Almost home now. The crowd is maintaining an

:21:12.:21:18.

interest right the way through to the end of this downhill stage of

:21:19.:21:23.

the super combined. 13th position for Edit Miklos. That is a true for

:21:24.:21:31.

it -- that is a too horrific result. She cannot believe it. -- that is a

:21:32.:21:43.

terrific result. In general, she will be super happy. Three to go in

:21:44.:21:50.

the downhill stage of the Olympic women's's super combined. Number 37,

:21:51.:22:03.

the Slovakian, Kristina Saalova. A tentative start, more so than Edit

:22:04.:22:15.

Miklos. She had a very strong one. Julia Mancuso leads the way. That

:22:16.:22:21.

was a massive flight. Unexpected air time there for Christina slalom --

:22:22.:22:32.

Kristina Saalova. It could be that the course is getting quicker at the

:22:33.:22:37.

top. Some of the later starters taking advantage of extra speed

:22:38.:22:43.

underfoot. She is taking air off these little rollers. Coming in with

:22:44.:22:49.

pretty good speed. We have just seen what is possible from a stark number

:22:50.:22:56.

in the 30s from Edit Miklos who skied into a top 15. C what she can

:22:57.:23:04.

do. It has slipped away from her. That was a terrible line. She is

:23:05.:23:08.

just posturing over the jump. What a shame. Lost a lot on the bottom

:23:09.:23:11.

section. Still, lots of support for the later

:23:12.:23:23.

starters. Kristina Saalova comes through in 30th position. The

:23:24.:23:32.

defending champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch is in faith. Kristina

:23:33.:23:39.

Saalova, when she looks back at the intermediate time, she will be

:23:40.:23:43.

delighted -- Maria Hoefl-Riesch is in fifth. Kristina Saalova was very

:23:44.:23:55.

strong on top. Two to go. This is Alexandra Coletti from Monaco. She

:23:56.:24:00.

has been around for a while. 31 years of age. As we have mentioned

:24:01.:24:06.

before, it is so important to get a good start. That was not such a

:24:07.:24:13.

great start. No one yet apart from Alexandra Coletti has made contact

:24:14.:24:17.

with the safety netting. She seems to be none the worse for her slip

:24:18.:24:22.

slide at the top, minus a ski pole but that will be retrieved. She

:24:23.:24:30.

booted out. A little bit too far over and the clips hit the snow. It

:24:31.:24:35.

happens but it is such a shame. Nothing you can do. There is no

:24:36.:24:43.

coming back. Pride is hurt but nothing else. Her day is done.

:24:44.:24:49.

Halfway there. Just warming up. Smiles all round in team America.

:24:50.:25:15.

Makes up for poor Bode Miller yesterday. So far. Halfway there, as

:25:16.:25:24.

Julia just said. Still the got -- 's dog to complete the slalom run. She

:25:25.:25:32.

has not skied much slalom in the past couple of seasons, but she may

:25:33.:25:36.

have been training slalom in preparation. We have one race still

:25:37.:25:45.

to go. The last on the Hill will be Ania Monica Caill. She will close

:25:46.:25:54.

the downhill stage of this super combined. Slightly unnerving for her

:25:55.:25:59.

because she will have seen Alexandra Coletti's fall from the top. Not

:26:00.:26:03.

ideal when you are going out of the start gate. Looking wobbly. Her mind

:26:04.:26:13.

not quite into it yet. Not much flight over the Devils spine. Very,

:26:14.:26:23.

very late in the line. Had to make a quick edge change. Lucky to make the

:26:24.:26:29.

gate. Time slipping away. Losing speed coming into the slightly flat

:26:30.:26:38.

side hill of Bolshoy to reverse. -- traverse. The sun has definitely

:26:39.:26:44.

gone in which is a shame for these last runners. Overcast now. If it

:26:45.:26:51.

does anything, I think it will rain rather than snow. Temperatures quite

:26:52.:26:57.

high at the moment. Hopefully there is no precipitation. That would

:26:58.:27:06.

dampen the spirits this afternoon. The silver medallist last time out,

:27:07.:27:13.

Julia Mancuso, the champion of the Olympics of 2006 in giant slalom.

:27:14.:27:19.

She loves the big stage. She has shown good form in the build up to

:27:20.:27:23.

the Olympic Games. The weekend in Cortina, her first top ten results

:27:24.:27:28.

for a while. She brings that form to the start of the Olympic Games and

:27:29.:27:33.

she will be last to go in the slalom a little later, looking for her gold

:27:34.:27:40.

medal. The last of the downhill skiers is safely across the line.

:27:41.:27:41.

The Romanian is in 34th position. Julia Mancuso has the quickest time

:27:42.:28:03.

in the downhill stage by just under half a second to Lara Gut. Chemmy

:28:04.:28:18.

Alcott of Great Britain, 16th fastest in the downhill stage.

:28:19.:28:25.

HAZEL IRVINE: The all-important deciding run of slalom will be

:28:26.:28:29.

taking place at 11am. As you heard Julia Mancuso say, halfway there.

:28:30.:28:36.

There was a lot of very good skiers on her tail. I know you are bolting

:28:37.:28:40.

your tea and toast this morning and you are about to dash out the door,

:28:41.:28:44.

but I might throw a spanner in the works because Jenny Jones is on her

:28:45.:28:49.

way to the studio and after capturing everyone's imagination

:28:50.:28:52.

yesterday along with the bronze medal, I do not thing you want to

:28:53.:28:55.

miss this. We will look at an event yesterday. We like watching it. It

:28:56.:29:01.

was a historic first for Great Britain, first-ever medal on snow at

:29:02.:29:04.

the Olympic Winter Games. We have had plenty over the last 90 years on

:29:05.:29:13.

the ice. This lady did it in style, snowboard slopestyle.

:29:14.:29:17.

After the commendation of the men's slopestyle event yesterday, Team GB

:29:18.:29:24.

has double interest today. Aimee Fuller and Jenny Jones take on the

:29:25.:29:29.

world and this fearsome course. Beautiful. Aimee Fuller went big,

:29:30.:29:43.

but just came up short. What a start to her career. It is a great

:29:44.:29:49.

experience. The first time I have ever competed in the Olympics. Able

:29:50.:29:54.

than block for the next one. -- a building block. Jenny Jones showed

:29:55.:29:59.

her experience to get through to the final. She did not know her parents

:30:00.:30:10.

were watching. She is in the final. The veteran Jenny Jones is into the

:30:11.:30:14.

Olympic final. Can she unleash something to open the Team GB

:30:15.:30:24.

account? Nice and solid from Jenny Jones. Absolutely massive. She will

:30:25.:30:33.

have the walk of shame if she slips up. This is the best thing I have

:30:34.:30:45.

ever seen! After all of the slip-ups it was time to get serious for the

:30:46.:30:51.

final run. Aimee Fuller raced up to be in the commentary box. Jenny

:30:52.:30:58.

Jones is currently lying in fit. I will be standing on my seat in a

:30:59.:31:05.

minute. Jenny's experience will come to the fore here. She has been in

:31:06.:31:10.

these high-pressure situations. Nice and solid on the first rail. 50/50.

:31:11.:31:15.

A great rail. Talk about confidence. Doing little

:31:16.:31:28.

tricks. She is coming into the first jump. Yes, beautiful. Solid to the

:31:29.:31:35.

feet. A great grab. It is looking very solid here for Jenny Jones. Is

:31:36.:31:40.

she going for the front nine? Come on, let's see it. Oh, she went for

:31:41.:31:50.

the seven! Solid! Solid! That was laid down very cleanly. That was a

:31:51.:31:55.

very good-looking run. Look at the smile on her face. I am so happy to

:31:56.:32:01.

see her do that. This rail is key. She did it all the way to the end.

:32:02.:32:06.

Everything was really clean here. She is daring the judges to mark her

:32:07.:32:13.

down. Check out the grab on that? Solid. An absolute machine. It was

:32:14.:32:24.

such a clean run. We said that execution and going big would do it.

:32:25.:32:31.

Look at that. Where is this score coming in? Put the entire UK out of

:32:32.:32:33.

their misery. Jenny Jones! Right now, Jenny Jones as the second

:32:34.:32:59.

role is in the gold medal position. She has got 87! Let us be realistic

:33:00.:33:09.

about this. There are a lot of women here who are serious threats to this

:33:10.:33:15.

gold medal position. This is one of them. This is really quite standard

:33:16.:33:23.

at the moment. Jenny Jones's size and execution was key there and the

:33:24.:33:28.

judges have awarded it consistently with the other tricks and runs that

:33:29.:33:32.

we have seen scoring big. One thing it has done is send out a clear

:33:33.:33:36.

message to all of the other competitors in the start gate. Go

:33:37.:33:46.

big. Go big! Goodness! She doesn't even realise she did that! I need to

:33:47.:33:52.

chill out a little bit, that was mental. Jenny Jones may only have

:33:53.:33:59.

been in the number one spot for one minute. There are so many riders

:34:00.:34:05.

trying to land big runs and this was an absolute banger. 87. It is only

:34:06.:34:17.

good enough for silver and Jenny Jones still has a gold medal

:34:18.:34:18.

position. A frontside 720 on the first kicker.

:34:19.:34:32.

Setting up for a second jump. A bit of a wobble on the way in. This is a

:34:33.:34:43.

big run. This is a very big run. That was spectacular. That was

:34:44.:34:50.

fantastic. You have got to say that is first place. It is certainly

:34:51.:34:55.

capable of it. She is looking to better Jenny Jones score of 87.25.

:34:56.:35:05.

92.5. She moves into the gold medal position. Jenny Jones is in silver.

:35:06.:35:22.

She rode onto the box rather than popped. Going for the switch now.

:35:23.:35:30.

That is unreal, that is so technical. It is really nice. The

:35:31.:35:35.

kind of trademark of her riding... Oh, she sat down. She did exactly

:35:36.:35:42.

what she did in the first run. Hearts are racing in the finish

:35:43.:35:50.

area. Jenny Jones makes it again. Huge style on the final kicker.

:35:51.:35:59.

66.25, that is not going to be a medal. Nerves are running very high

:36:00.:36:02.

here. A lot of speed is needed to clear

:36:03.:36:15.

this and then it is simply straight. That was beautiful. Backside five.

:36:16.:36:26.

Massive! This is great. It all comes down to this. Frontside seven. A

:36:27.:36:33.

little hands down. To be fair, that was a belter of a run. 95.25, and a

:36:34.:36:39.

static score from the judges to take Jamie Anderson into the gold medal

:36:40.:36:47.

position. Right now, with one rider to to go, Jenny Jones sits in the

:36:48.:36:49.

bronze medal position. The Austrian. She is riding out

:36:50.:37:05.

normal. 180 over that jump. She is so fluid through the jumps. Into

:37:06.:37:10.

this first one. She is playing it safe. Very smooth.

:37:11.:37:19.

Oh! Are we supposed to do that? Probably not!

:37:20.:37:36.

You are Britain's first Olympic medallist on snow. Oh, my God. It

:37:37.:37:45.

feels amazing, absolutely amazing. I cannot believe it, I cannot believe

:37:46.:37:49.

it. What would you say to your mum and dad? I have got a feeling they

:37:50.:37:54.

are here. I know they are here somewhere so I am going to go and

:37:55.:37:57.

find them. We have found them for you.

:37:58.:38:21.

Oh, you have never ever disappointed us! Never. I you laughing at my mum

:38:22.:38:34.

and dad? My mum is very northern! The more northern the better, I say!

:38:35.:38:39.

Here she is. Jenny Jones, congratulations. Would you like to

:38:40.:38:43.

show everybody the amazing piece of metal. There it is. How heavy is a?

:38:44.:38:50.

It is very heavy actually. It is about half a bag of sugar, the

:38:51.:38:54.

heaviest in Olympic history. There is one around your neck. I will let

:38:55.:39:00.

that drop very carefully. It has been a bit of a whirlwind. Going

:39:01.:39:06.

from the semifinals in the morning to the finals and then realising I

:39:07.:39:09.

had made it onto the podium and then going to the ceremony and then the

:39:10.:39:16.

evening and now I am here! The reaction from back home. What has

:39:17.:39:19.

been your experience of what you have done to the country? I just

:39:20.:39:26.

heard from people back home and I keep getting texts from people

:39:27.:39:30.

crying and celebrating. There is a lot of crying. I guess it was quite

:39:31.:39:35.

tense and exciting final four people. It certainly was. Let us

:39:36.:39:40.

talk about it. Your second run was where you nailed it down. Was there

:39:41.:39:44.

a conscious decision to go back and keep it to the basic elements? We

:39:45.:39:49.

had seen what the judges were thinking, they wanted clean

:39:50.:39:52.

execution. What did you discuss with your coach? We were at the towel

:39:53.:39:59.

after my first run and I just slightly slipped off a rail maybe

:40:00.:40:02.

put my hand down slightly on one of the tricks and then we had to take

:40:03.:40:07.

the decision and it was completely 50/50, did I go for a harder trick

:40:08.:40:11.

or did I try and clean up my run, but not knowing how many more points

:40:12.:40:15.

it would get me. We made a decision together and we stuck with it and

:40:16.:40:21.

luckily it was the right decision. What would have been the other

:40:22.:40:25.

decision? The other option was to try frontside 900 but I do have a

:40:26.:40:29.

tendency to put my hands down when I do that trick and if you notice with

:40:30.:40:36.

another one she landed the first ten that any girl has ever done in the

:40:37.:40:40.

contest and she put her hands down and you saw that she got quite

:40:41.:40:43.

heavily docked for that which I was surprised that but in the end it

:40:44.:40:48.

worked in my favour. Yes, better safe than sorry in the end. I guess

:40:49.:40:52.

it worked out. How much did your experience play a part in this? You

:40:53.:40:56.

are 33 and one of the elder stateswoman of your event, did that

:40:57.:41:02.

play a big part in the decision-making? Yes, I think

:41:03.:41:06.

experience definitely played a part. Staying calm and collected

:41:07.:41:11.

after the semifinal as well. The semifinal was actually more

:41:12.:41:15.

terrifying for me because it was so important I thought to get into a

:41:16.:41:19.

final and once I had made the final there a little bit of relief and I

:41:20.:41:25.

just could go for it, it was about going for it then and bringing out

:41:26.:41:31.

the style and everything I had. And the weight at the bottom was

:41:32.:41:35.

interminable. What was it like for you? I didn't know if this was just

:41:36.:41:40.

me but it felt longer than everybody else. Looking back it obviously was.

:41:41.:41:45.

I think I actually hid behind my snowboard. And then, hiding behind

:41:46.:41:51.

the big reflector at the end was your mum and dad. Why do have such

:41:52.:41:58.

an aversion to having them what you? I do not know, it is ever since I

:41:59.:42:03.

was a little girl with gymnastics and athletics and that the X Games,

:42:04.:42:07.

I don't want to see them because it is just a distraction. I love that

:42:08.:42:11.

they are there but I don't want to know that they are there. They loved

:42:12.:42:14.

it along with everybody else. What was it like going onto the podium?

:42:15.:42:20.

Digit get the really was Asian of what you were doing? -- did you get

:42:21.:42:27.

the realisation of what you had done. When you walk out onto the

:42:28.:42:35.

stage it just... All the people, something just hits you and I just

:42:36.:42:43.

felt very proud to be up there. Was there a point, because you 33 and

:42:44.:42:48.

you have been a trailblazer in this sport for ten years and you have won

:42:49.:42:52.

multiple X Games, was there a little part of you who thought it might be

:42:53.:42:56.

just a little too late for you coming into these games? I think I

:42:57.:43:00.

thought about that back then but once I have decided that I was going

:43:01.:43:06.

for this then I was going for it wholeheartedly. It has been a

:43:07.:43:09.

roller-coaster two years but it has definitely been worth it. I am sure

:43:10.:43:16.

it has. We have had a sneaky peek at some iPhone footage from last night.

:43:17.:43:19.

Tell us what was going on. The first glass of champagne for how long? In

:43:20.:43:24.

four months I haven't had a drink! Oh, look at us! That is Aimee Fuller

:43:25.:43:32.

of course who was in the commentary box. That is not alcohol, that is

:43:33.:43:38.

sheer exhilaration I expect. Yes, I was just enjoying the moment and the

:43:39.:43:49.

music. We love to see it and we love that we have shared it with you and

:43:50.:43:53.

we are sharing the whole experience with you. From what you have seen

:43:54.:43:57.

and heard from the other members of the snowboarding team and the

:43:58.:44:00.

freestyle skiing team, what could this do for the British team? I just

:44:01.:44:04.

think exposing the sport and everybody simply watching it and

:44:05.:44:08.

enjoying not just me doing the riding yesterday but actually Jamie

:44:09.:44:14.

and Billy Morgan who did amazingly the day before, hopefully that has

:44:15.:44:17.

got people hooked and they may be want to go and try it and get in the

:44:18.:44:21.

snow domes and the dry slopes, who knows? I really hope so. What is

:44:22.:44:29.

next for you? For me it is a surf trip. I'm going to have a little

:44:30.:44:33.

break and go surfing for two weeks. Thank you very much. You have given

:44:34.:44:37.

us a fantastic few hours in the studio and 91 years of waiting is

:44:38.:44:44.

finally over. Well done. Great to see you. Thank you for coming in. I

:44:45.:44:50.

am sure that was well worth being late for work for. Jenny Jones,

:44:51.:44:55.

bronze medallist, and making history for Great Britain.

:44:56.:45:00.

Now we have some curling for you. Good news from early on as the men

:45:01.:45:03.

started their event with a win over Russia. At 5am in the morning the

:45:04.:45:10.

trousers that the Russians were wearing would certainly wake you up!

:45:11.:45:15.

At 10am it is the turn of Eve Muirhead who is the Great Britain

:45:16.:45:19.

female skip. This is a team event but when it comes to calling the

:45:20.:45:26.

shots, it is all about Eve. It is rare to find British athletes

:45:27.:45:29.

who will travel to a Winter Olympics not just as contenders, but as

:45:30.:45:36.

favourites. Eve Muirhead and her team won the world title in March

:45:37.:45:41.

and for them it was not a surprise. They are dedicated to be the best.

:45:42.:45:46.

Is it about right now trying to replicate as close as you can a

:45:47.:45:52.

competition environment so you get a chance to practice decision-making

:45:53.:45:56.

as well? Exactly. There are always things we want to change. You do not

:45:57.:46:01.

want to make big changes just before major tournaments. Going in as well

:46:02.:46:07.

champions as well, that must have another impact on the expectation

:46:08.:46:11.

and the other teams must be looking to you guys as the ones to shoot

:46:12.:46:15.

down. There is a big target on our backs. If anyone asked, would you

:46:16.:46:20.

like to go in as well champions or mid-table, you know what you will

:46:21.:46:24.

pick. It is going to be world champions. We know how to deal with

:46:25.:46:28.

the pressure and how to win major tournaments. We are looking forward

:46:29.:46:35.

to it. It is fascinating to see Eve's composure and authority on the

:46:36.:46:40.

ice. She is still only 23 but commands the total respect of her

:46:41.:46:45.

team-mates. She is a great leader. She has a very experienced head for

:46:46.:46:49.

such a young person which is great. She has no fear. We have got every

:46:50.:46:56.

confidence in her because of that. She is great to play with. In

:46:57.:47:01.

general, she is a good all-rounder and she is good at making the

:47:02.:47:05.

pressure shots when she comes to it. I used to skip against Eve. If you

:47:06.:47:11.

cannot join them, -- if you cannot beat them, join them. I joined Eve

:47:12.:47:15.

three years ago and it has gone great. What are you expecting that

:47:16.:47:23.

Sochi? The main thing is to try and treat it like every other

:47:24.:47:26.

competition. We are just going out to play in a championship like we do

:47:27.:47:29.

all the time. At the same tank, it feels like we have the opportunity

:47:30.:47:34.

of a lifetime so we want to make the most of it -- at the same time. Eve

:47:35.:47:39.

and the rest of the teams spend hours training and be hard work has

:47:40.:47:43.

paid off. Their success has proved that. Over the last few years,

:47:44.:47:47.

curling has moved on when it comes to the fitness side of it. If you

:47:48.:47:51.

can imagine the stamina you need, you can be on the ice for up to

:47:52.:47:57.

three hours. You burn a lot of calories. We need to be physically

:47:58.:48:03.

fit. As well, the strength training and conditioning we do, a lot of

:48:04.:48:08.

stability is key. You want to be as consistent with every release and

:48:09.:48:11.

every single shot. All of these little bits add up. Your Olympic

:48:12.:48:16.

experience from Vancouver did not go the way you had it planned, the way

:48:17.:48:20.

you wanted. When I look back, you think, obviously, I did not practice

:48:21.:48:27.

hard enough, train hard enough. Those are things we have stepped up

:48:28.:48:31.

with the new team. It is good for me to know I have three goals behind me

:48:32.:48:34.

willing to put in as much work as each other. -- three girls. We all

:48:35.:48:41.

train as hard as each other and it is good to know we all have the

:48:42.:48:45.

clear goal at the end of the day. They really are written. You have to

:48:46.:48:49.

be to win gold medals at the Olympic Games -- ripped. It is now one of

:48:50.:48:55.

the fastest-growing winter sports in the world. It is all taking place

:48:56.:49:01.

over my shoulder in the Ice Cube Curling Center. It is the smallest

:49:02.:49:07.

of the coastal cluster centres. We also have a chance with the men's

:49:08.:49:14.

team too. Jackie Lockhart is a four-time Olympian. She has been

:49:15.:49:17.

watching the men. They were up against Russia this morning. Have us

:49:18.:49:22.

a quick precis of the match. More comfortable than it sounded? Yeah,

:49:23.:49:28.

it was very comfortable. They played a solid performance. They laid the

:49:29.:49:33.

goods down on the table. It showed in the statistics. They played 89%.

:49:34.:49:39.

Dave Murdoch played 100%. He has to thank his young team below him for

:49:40.:49:43.

that because they are laying out the shops to make it easy for him. Solid

:49:44.:49:50.

performance. Absolutely. They have a big much later today at 3pm British

:49:51.:49:58.

time. They will be playing Sweden. The Swedes have just beaten the

:49:59.:50:04.

Swiss 7-5 this morning. How much more difficult will that be for the

:50:05.:50:10.

GB lads? That definitely will be a test for them. The Russian boys this

:50:11.:50:15.

morning did not really put a lot of pressure on our boys. Dave will be

:50:16.:50:19.

aware that when he plays Sweden tonight he will have to play the a

:50:20.:50:23.

game again that he had this morning. There will be more

:50:24.:50:29.

aggressive play. It is going to be a good game and very close. It sure

:50:30.:50:36.

is. A big moment for Eve Muirhead and the Great Britain women. They

:50:37.:50:42.

have Sweden as well. The double defending Olympic champions. There

:50:43.:50:45.

have been cracking matches between these two size over the last year.

:50:46.:50:51.

In that feature, we saw how incredibly fit the Great Britain

:50:52.:50:56.

team is. Has Eve herself started this or is it part of a process in

:50:57.:51:04.

the sport? I think it has been a part of a process that probably

:51:05.:51:09.

started back two or three years before Vancouver. We were not

:51:10.:51:13.

full-time curlers but that is what they were aiming for. These young

:51:14.:51:18.

girls have had good funding and support to make them full-time. It

:51:19.:51:22.

is really showing and paying off dividends now. They train and

:51:23.:51:27.

practice seven days a week. Fantastic. OK. I think you have got

:51:28.:51:35.

a bit of time for a cup of tea before you are underweight at 10am

:51:36.:51:41.

UK time with Eve Muirhead's first match against the Swedes -- before

:51:42.:51:50.

you are under way. It was 1998 in the Games in Japan when the host

:51:51.:51:59.

nation failed to win a medal on the opening day. Happened here in

:52:00.:52:05.

Russia. It was the speakers dating -- the speed skating who got rush up

:52:06.:52:17.

off the start. It was the team figures stating event and Russia had

:52:18.:52:20.

such a big lead going into it, it was theirs to throw away.

:52:21.:52:30.

Russia were firmly in the driving seat after they delivered another

:52:31.:52:33.

crowd-pleasing rooting for the home fans to win the men's free programme

:52:34.:52:40.

ahead of the 23-year-old Canadian. Next up, the Lady's free programme

:52:41.:52:48.

and two very talented teenagers. Today for America, Gracie Gold.

:52:49.:52:53.

Russia comes with a name like that at the Olympics. Really good

:52:54.:52:57.

athlete, the jumps are strong. She has worked hard on adding the

:52:58.:53:03.

emotion and performance. She will need to do that here because she is

:53:04.:53:07.

going to be the prima ballerina on the ice. This is choice costly --

:53:08.:53:15.

this is Tchaikovsky's sleeping capital B T. -- Sleeping Beauty.

:53:16.:53:33.

The first jump element for Gracie Gold. She has got it.

:53:34.:53:59.

Double axel with the triple toe loop. Very strong combination start

:54:00.:54:06.

therefore Gracie Gold. Triple loop. Lovely combination spin. Looking for

:54:07.:54:30.

level four with that one. A little tight on the landing but

:54:31.:55:39.

made the triple flip work. The second triple planned.

:55:40.:55:44.

There it is. That was much better. Very nice indeed.

:55:45.:55:59.

She will be thrilled with that. What an Olympic debut for this

:56:00.:57:36.

18-year-old. Absolutely no sign of nerves. Only her second year at

:57:37.:57:39.

senior level and what a great decision she made just over a year

:57:40.:57:45.

ago to join Frank, since then she has come on in leaps and bounds. She

:57:46.:57:51.

is standing in the middle of the Olympic rings. She said it was

:57:52.:57:56.

amazing to be here at the Olympics. She says, I have arrived. She was

:57:57.:58:03.

completely focused. Triple toe loop. A little tight on the landing but

:58:04.:58:08.

made it work. Down in the knees, lifting through. Double axel, triple

:58:09.:58:23.

toe loop. Look at that! 129.38, a new season 's best, welcome to the

:58:24.:58:32.

Olympic Games, young Gracie Gold. Here she comes. She is set to become

:58:33.:58:44.

the Russian darling of these games. She proved she is a

:58:45.:58:46.

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