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

Good morning. Our hosts Russia have their first

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

beautifully broken. Alongside me in the Ice Cube is

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

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

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

Olympic chances and the venue itself.

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

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

claustrophobic for the teams. It feels open.

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

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

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

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

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

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

realise this is another competition, and it could be

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

Sweden, the current European champions. That is about the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Murdoch. On paper, it should be an easy win

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

tee-lines and hammers. Otherwise known as curling.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

last stone advantage, known as the hammer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

expectation for Great Britain. Scott Andrews is playing second for

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

teams. We are going to see a different end

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

Hopefully write down behind the red Russians stone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

with the intention of giving them Russian citizenship because they did

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

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

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

Russian championships they were prepared to represent Russia and

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

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

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

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

just over Carlton curled for the Russians.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

December. He was just a little bit high on the

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

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

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

our yellow stone is behind the T-line.

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

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

over the last couple of years and Aleksey Stukalskiy has changed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

of pressure for Aleksey Stukalskiy, taking on the responsibility of

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

venue. Small but perfectly formed. It has

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

physical sport in that respect, and maintaining concentration during two

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

together. The Canadians, they picked the teams themselves.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

first and was fairly straightforward. Another perfectly

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

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

his first Olympics. Arkhipov. With a simple hit and

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

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

would hit the other out. Working this pretty hard.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

and that can prevent a double takeout.

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

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

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

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

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

in these early stages. -- a little bit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vancouver, they ended up on the rostrum.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

well for him. We should start to worry when Dave

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

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

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

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

take his hammer, to try for two again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Swedish men. A win here is really important.

The Russians putting on another corner guard, they desperately need

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

centre. You will see the two green lights

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

and that could be the problem for these young lads.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

watching other matches and what is happening.

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

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

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

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

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

Michael Goodfellow brought another excellent shot there.

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

Russian lead shot was a little bit strong.

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

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

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

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

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

storm -- a reasonably good storm De mac storm.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

venue. Sitting two shots. They are, of

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

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

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

moment. This shot is coming up light.

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

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

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

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

are playing third and skip, are not playing well.

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

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

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

them. And we can see that today clearly.

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

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

has probably come a foot or so too far.

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

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

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

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

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

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

saw in the house, rather than the top yellow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the rings. That is a nice shot there. David

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

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

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

the British Olympic Association -- Hugh Chalmers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the moment. Have we still have a nice yellow

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

after five ends. It is good to hear an atmosphere

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

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

feel a lot better now. Other matches, Switzerland playing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

was reading an interesting piece from the Press Center about this

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

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

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

enter athletes apparently. Andrey Drozdov and Stukalskiy have been

together a long time and know each other well.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

watching curling for school -- before school. Ask Jackie

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

play here. They are going to throw a heavy

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

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

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

are the Russians. Scott playing an outturn hit.

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

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

Drozdov might be feeling a little bit better after that previous

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

experience of knowing which shot they should be playing. Sometimes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the moment. He will want to be lying two shots

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

four. They have decided this is the easier

shot. Always good to hear the boys

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

simple and straightforward shot for David Murdoch to hit this yellow

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

yellow shot there. This is potentially a match-winning

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

T. It helps in terms of time on the

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

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

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

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

to the conditions. Another corner shot there from the

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

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

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

has been doing well with his takeouts, struggling with his

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Arkhipov. Greg should still be able to see

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

disaster. Dave is looking for an out-turn

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Britain. That would appear to be the makings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

defending champion was complaining the other day, she thought the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Emma Carrick-Anderson and Matt Chilton.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

compare. Coming up to the tunnel jump. It has

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

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

different event, but still hugely challenging. Course preparation has

been incredible. Merighetti moves into second. 0.68

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

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

Wednesday. Another beautiful slow motion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

there. That is our leader, Francesca

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

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

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

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

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

fourth Olympic Games. Her turn coming shortly.

First up, the young Russian, back over Sheena.

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

downhill athletes. Since then, there has been nobody.

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

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

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

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

sideways. 95 kilometres per hour.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Great Britain. Back into that aerodynamic position

coming into that flat gliding section.

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

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

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

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

World Championships last year. And following that huge crash in

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

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

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

into a low tuck. She has shown encouraging signs in

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

really well but the top part was not as committed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

on falling. She had already shown signs of

exercising caution. And she couldn't hold the turning edge and down she

went, pretty slick underfoot. From then on it was a damage limitation.

She collided with the control gate. I think she is probably all right.

She did the whole turn on the inside ski. With that fall away, she had to

be committed to the right ski. There was no going back from that.

So, taking no further part. If you don't finish the downhill, you

cannot start the slalom. This is the scene at the top as the

race is gathering. A total of 39 due to start. The slalom is due at 3pm

local time, is single run of slalom set by one of the Swiss ski coaches.

The first contender is Salinger -- Fenninger. A big medal hope.

Keeping herself calm. Some, like Bode Miller, he looks like he is on

a Sunday cruise. Just waiting for the course prepared to be complete

following the damage. Next is Lotte Smiseth Sejersted from Norway. She

has an unwelcome weight. It plays havoc with your mind -- unwelcome

wait. These girls are so focused at the start and if you get a little

break, you have two backoff and refocus. She gets the 32nd call. The

ski poles go over the top of the timing wand. She propels herself out

of the gate with a maximum speed. 1755 metres start altitude. 2700

metres is the total course length. Former junior world champion, out of

the gate and on her way and she is in trouble early on. What a shame.

That is just a nightmare for that to happen. We saw Bode Miller clipped a

gate yesterday but not that hard. Not like Lotte Smiseth Sejersted.

She didn't even take off that jump. The same again there. So, a mistake

like that, it can make you think, my goodness, and make you make more

mistakes. Or it can spur you on because you have nothing to lose. A

poor start. Let's see if she can pick it up on the bottom half of the

course. It is still Francesca Marsaglia needed for Italy. Chemmy

Alcott is third for Great Britain. The first stage of the women's super

combined. Attacking the bottom of the course

to make up for that dreadful mistake out of the gate.

She is still half a second back, so not bad down this middle section.

This turn comes up quite quickly and it is a big turn which falls away to

the left. The last couple of gates. Almost certainly treating this as a

downhill training run. First position, remarkable considering the

mess she made at the top. She pushed really hard on the final three

quarters of the course. She lost control of her life -- left pole.

Good recovery to lead the way. That mistakes spurred her own. Other

Christmas is here. He is a bit late. Making a repair to the control

gate. Dominate -- Dominique Gisin is a good downhill skier. A good

jumper. A sensational dart. So clean. She had to take her speed

into bald -- Bolshoi. What a great run so far.

Winding down the window slightly on the tunnel jump. She should

hopefully enjoy this section. There are about seven or eight turns.

Coming out of the sunlight into the shade, that makes it a little bit

tricky. She has come through the Serpentine section. The crowds can

see the racers and get a good idea of the true velocity with which they

travel down these downhill courses. She has not quite done enough. Lotte

Smiseth Sejersted leads, Francesca Marsaglia is second. A strong top

section. Just losing it a little onto the flat. No major problems in

the downhill but I think it is going to be won or lost through forest

drop. It is quite a compression as it goes uphill, but she lands

cleanly on the jump. Carrying a lot of speed. She is 21. She has had

encouraging results, slowly but surely starting to establish herself

within the Norwegian team. She is holding a good line. She lost that a

little bit as she came into the tunnel jump. This left-hander is

going to be a good feeling for them because the Bolshoi traverse, it

feels like it goes on forever. Good flight, solid jump. Committed to

this run. Nice skiing so far from the 21-year-old. Lotte Smiseth

Sejersted leads the way. How close will she be? She's these into

fourth. Happy with the results so far. -- results. The conditions

perfect. Lara Gut is always an exciting prospect. So smooth, she

did not get pushed back on the compression. You do not want to go

too long in the air. Her World Cup form has been sensational. Five wins

so far this season. One in giant slalom. Fantastic skiing. This is

great downhill skiing from Lara Gut. Maybe lost he tends as she had

to struggle back. Lara Gut one of the big hopes for Swiss alpine

skiing. They fully expect her to come home with a handful of medals

and she has started well, she leads the super commode. -- combined. She

is first. She enjoyed that. She is on the back of the ski. She is

delighted with that. Lotte Smiseth Sejersted steps aside as Lara Gut

takes her place. Now we get to the all-rounders. Starting with Anna

Fenninger. She was a junior world champion in super combined. Anna

Fenninger is more than matching Lara Gut. Not quite as strong as the two

Austrian hopes in the slalom, but if you can take a good lead then

anything is possible. She is not as good through Bolshoi traverse.

Getting towards the serious part of the downhill section. Marie-Michele

Gagnon will start at 21. That was a beautiful jump. She did not get

pushed into the hole but it looked as if he was not carrying as much

speed as Lara Gut. She is second. Lara Gut of Switzerland leads Anna

Fenninger of Austria. You sense that Anna Fenninger needed a better

downhill run if she is to challenge in the slalom later. It was the flat

section she did not enjoy. Speed was slipping away. Denise Feierabend, I

am not sure of her downhill capabilities. She is not as happy

with these fast turns. The slalom looks amazing. A little bit more

upgrade, slower off the jump. -- up right. Not bad. A little worried. --

wide. She is struggling, that could have been nasty. The damage is done.

Nearly two seconds slower. You can make a mistake on the speed and you

can get the time back, but on the flat there is nothing you can do.

Making sure of getting the finish and is darting the slalom --

starting. She did well to stay on her feet. It is over for Denise

Feierabend. She did well to finish. She is in tenth. Lucky with the

weather, it was supposed to be cloudy with even a little bit of

missed, there is a little bit of cloud around but it is sunny. Lara

Gut leads the way, Anna Fenninger is second, Lotte Smiseth Sejersted is

third. Good turns, attacking it. Can she make the move forward? Yes. 15th

in the Olympic super combined four years ago. Just getting the road

around a little bit. Good exit, but the damage has been done on a few of

those turns. This is not too bad. She is not a bad slalom skier. An

outside chance of her clawing back this type of death of -- deficit.

This is the only gliding section. More gliding than there was in the

men's. More flight than we have seen from some of the other girls. Lara

Gut's lead looks pretty good at the moment. Ferk is nineth. Chemmy

Alcott in eighth. Hands on the ground, a little bit scrappy, but

you can see from the angle it is deep. -- steep. Laurenne Ross, the

first of the Americans. She might be treating this as a training run. In

2011 during the World Cup run in Canada she had a massive crash, went

headfirst into the safety netting, her helmet got ripped off and she

had 40 stitches in her forehead. She is in trouble. Let us hope she is

OK. That is a shame. A fantastic top section. Let us see what happened.

Her ski pops off. That is devastating.

At least it is not the downhill proper, the think it was being

treated as a training run. The ski probably shouldn't have come off on

that turn, so she will be heading to the skied technicians. -- ski

technicians. The American supporters,

disappointed with what they have seen. But the run Ross will return

midweek to the downhill. Next to go for Sweden, Sara Hector.

Junior world champion in 2011. In the giant slalom, finished ninth in

the World Championships in super combined last February when the

event was held in Austria. Also finished fifth in the one and

only combined this year. She is certainly an outsider. A good chance

of a top five, I would say. Lara put in the enclosure. Italian

is her first language. She speaks French, English.

These big turns. A good edge change. Further off the line than some of

the faster girls. She needs to get forward here. Through that

compression. Getting pitched back a little. That is a sign her speed is

not as great as she would like it to be. Getting bounced around, a wider

line than she would ideally like to ski.

The last Swedish winner of the women's super combined, the

traditional combined, took the gold medal at the lily hammer Olympics in

1994 -- Lillehammer. Into the gliding part. She has her head up.

What we call a rabbit tuck. It is not the best aerodynamic position.

She is opening up and landing wide. She is two seconds behind, I can't

see that matching the top five performance held in January 12 in

Austria. The only super combined that has

been held at top level, to give us a form guide coming into the Winter

Olympic Games. This is a sluggish run. She had a

good, high line. Sara Hector skiing into 12th

position. Lara but still leads the way for Sweden.

Chemmy Alcott is eighth for Great Britain.

This is when things get spicy, a couple of great athletes coming up.

Let us a check on the standings. It is good to see the union Jack the

alongside Chemmy Alcott's name. We do not expect her to turn up for the

slalom. And encouraging training run if that is how she is treating it.

This is the Shadow cam, to show you the difference between Lara Gut at

the back, and Fenninger at the front. But the positions change.

Fenninger tried to take a direct line, to cut the top of the

turn-off. This is the crucial parts, the X it onto Bolshoy where we see

selling the just overtaking. -- we see Fenninger overtaking.

It is not a Russian Christmas is it? No, that is the 6th of January,

isn't it? Tina Maze, a favourite.

Some of the scenes at the top of the course.

Next in the gate, number 16, Nicole Hosp. A terrific all-rounder, she

has had a cracking season. One of the veterans, in her 30s. Showing

some of the form more evident seven years ago. She has been slightly

anonymous for the past few seasons but has bounced back. She has got a

well-deserved Olympic selection, let us see if she can perform today. She

has such a nice touch, so in light on her skis. In my view, one of the

top favourites for the combined today.

She took a silver medal in 2006 in the Olympic slalom. She was smooth

through that section. She has to take the speed out of this gate a

good start for Nicole Hosp for Austria.

Faster than Lara Gut at the first intermediate, but slower at

intermediate number two. It didn't look as committed as it

could be. She will have to attack this bottom section. Coming off the

tunnel jump, it is very straight, no turns at all. Then, she comes into

the gliding section in and out of the sun, she had to get as low as

she can. Gagnon is starting number 21 today.

I am not sure she will be faster than Lara Gut but she is a more

accomplished slalom skier than all three of the leaders, Nicole Hosp,

if she finishes, with three gates to go, will give herself it is an

opportunity heading into the slalom stage of this super combined. She is

fourth, a great position. She can move into the medals from there.

She is such a strong slalom skier but she will be disappointed.

Watching the replay of the run. In places, she looked Luke warm, not as

committed as Lara Gut. She is now the favourite, I would

suggest. At the top, the defending champion

is getting yourself ready to race. Hofl-Riesch was disappointed when

they shaved off part of the course. Next is Tina Maze. Broke all records

last season. Setting the record for the most amount of World Cup points

won in a season. A clutch of medals at the 20 13th alpine skiing World

Championships, crowned as the overall World Cup champion. So far

this season she has made a steady start. Crucially, she has just

clocked her World Cup win of the season in downhill, in Cortina,

under the guidance of a brand-new coach who has just been appointed.

She seems to have found her form with perfect timing right ahead of

the Winter Olympic Games. She has made a promising start. It is

crucial to have faith in the people around her. Tina Maze, with a change

of coach, this is what it has brought. She is trusting her skiing

now. Downhill skiing, alpine skiing, is such a mental game. A great

section so far. World Cup wins last year. We know

she is capable of turning it on in the technical discipline. A full

attacking run in the downhill stage of the super combined. She has the

better of Lara Gut, not by much. It is going to be close. Through this

section we have seen a few of the girls dropping slightly low. A

good, strong high line, fantastic skiing, a little bit of flight. And

aerodynamic tuck. Silver medallist at the last two World Championships.

She poses a serious threat as she goes for gold. Can she lead? Not

quite. Crucially, in slalom terms, she is ahead of Nicole Hosp. She is

in a strong position as she goes for her first Olympic gold. Nicole Hosp

is so strong in slalom. Eight years ago she was winning and is still a

great slalom skier. Nicole Hosp will be delighted with

that performance. Sorry, Tina Maze. Tina Maze, the best all-rounder in

the world at the end of last season. On good form at the start of

her Olympic campaign. She will race in all of the disciplines.

Another great chance for the Austrians. If she gets it right in

downhill. Kirchgasser was second in Austria mid-January. She has to

start well today. She has started well, a strong top section, no sign

of her getting pushed back. A good jump. She has two dives down. She

has lost little bit on the top. She has to do. Kirchgasser,

realistically, has to be within a second of Tina Maze heading into the

slalom stage of the super combined. Drifting away from her slightly.

This is surprising from Kirchgasser, I thought she would enjoy this

downhill. The split, she is more than a second

behind. Starting to shake up nicely for the

conclusion of this super combined. When the first alpine skiing medals

for the women will be distributed later today. Mikel Kirchgasser is

starting to struggle with the demands of this downhill. It looks

like she is skiing for the finish rather than put pressure on the

leaders. A little soft over the tunnel jump. It is pointing run but

she hasn't made any major mistakes. I wonder if the skis aren't running.

It could be a problem with this key preparation. -- the ski preparation.

She will have two have the slalom run of her life to get in amongst

the medals. The position wasn't bad. She was good on the top section. No

major mistakes. A little bit round on the flat but nothing that made

you think, that is a bad run, constantly losing speed.

Lara Gut has a captive audience. Speaking Italian. Multilingual.

Gorgl, watch her go. She knows only one speed. She will attack this.

Look at the start. Pushing and skating. She was still pushing

before she made that first turn. Setting about the downhill with

vigour. She only knows full speed. Always an aggressive skier.

Sometimes to the detriment of her speed, too hard at times on the

snow. She is pushing hard. I think it could be one of her last years,

certainly her last Olympics, so she will be going flat out. A great

exit. To medals for Gorgl at the last

Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, bronze medal in the down, and in the

giant slalom. Seventh in the slalom. Not one of the best slalom skiers

but she can mix it up when it matters. Struggling here.

We used to go to school together. She was a good slalom skier. When

she was young. Then she focused more on speed. She has one -- won this

year. Gorgl finished sixth in the super

combined at the World Championships in 2013. This is not her best. She

is only half a second back on that split. Gorgl has improved. She is

fifth. A good downhill stage of the super combined. She will have to dig

deep into her muscle memory and find those slalom skills this afternoon.

I love those shots with the blue sky in the background.

Next is the defending champion, Maria Hoefl-Riesch waiting at the

top. She sets about the defence of the first of her titles now. She was

third in the World Cup super combined in January. She won the

World Championship title, and is both the Olympic and the world super

combined champion and she is very much one to watch today. That is a

stack of medals behind your name. This is the important first split.

The outside ski is bouncing around. This is not so good around this

section. Not bad in training, sixth. She is a decent slalom

skier. She has halved the deficit. Good gliding. She has such a depth

of experience so she is wide, she is law. She will have filled those

mistakes and she is coming back with a vengeance. This might be good

enough for the top three. A little twitch sideways, will that be

costly? She is fourth. That little mistake on the final stretch cost

her a couple of tenths, but she is in the hunt. Maria Hoefl-Riesch in

fourth. You can see the upper body being twisted. She is happy with

that because she is such a strong slalom skier and she knows she is in

with a big shout. Marie-Michele Gagnon won her first World Cup race

in super combined. She is one to watch. She is a decent downhill

skier and not a bad slalom race. She is standing eightth in the slalom.

She nearly missed the gate. She is going back up the hill. That is

going to be costly. She has been fourth, fifth and sixth in the World

Cup slalom. I think this is going to be too much. She will need a little

bit of luck and some of her competitors to fail if you years to

get in among the medals. The time is slipping away. Without the speed,

there is nothing you can do. Having said that, Maria Hoefl-Riesch clawed

back a few tenths, but it is not going to be for Marie-Michele

Gagnon. She is an excellent all-rounder and she will race in all

the disciplines. She is 15th. She will be disappointed. This was the

mistake. She got very low on the right turn so did not get onto the

right ski early enough. She left the ski behind her so she was in a

vulnerable position. The American flags getting ready. Julia Mancuso

on her way. Silver medallist in super combined the last time in

Vancouver and the silver medallist in downhill. She flies the flag for

the US in terms of alpine and heart Forum has returned just in time. She

had her best spell of racing for a while to weeks ago with three top

ten finishes and she has made a cracking start. She is enjoying this

top part of the downhill and you would think with so much pressure on

her shoulders she might grumble, but not a chance, she loves the big

events. A bit twisted on for -- forest jump. She is doing a fine

job. Excellent speed. Julia Mancuso is faster, excellent skiing. She is

so light on her skis. Such finesse. The Americans starting to cheer. She

has got at by a long way! Julia Mancuso is the new leader. What a

run. A couple of errors, but the rest of it was flawless. She was

largely anonymous for the early part of the season, she went back to the

States and made some adjustments to her equipment and she has continued

that resurgence in form with a brilliant start. She might get

herself a medal today. She does a lot of alternative training. She

trains by the sea, she is in the sea, on the beach. The downhill has

just been let up by the performance of Julia Mancuso. That was so good.

You nailed it. She always does it in the big events. Julia Mancuso was

the slalom champion in 2006. Three Olympic medals to her name. This is

one of the slalom skiers, Sarka Strachova. Under her maiden name she

won the world title in slalom in 2007. She has recently married and

recently undergone a brain operation. Not massively behind. A

superb slalom skier. She was still racing when I was racing and she was

starting to come into her own. Losing a little bit of time on the

way down and I would imagine we will is more of that on the gliding

section. No major mistakes, just a little bit taller, less committed

than the out and out downhill skiers. You really have to stretch

into the holes. Travelling at around 60mph will . Setting up for the

finishing line knowing that the hardest part of the day is almost

done. She will have to come from a long way back in the second run, the

slalom. She will have a sigh of relief to be able to finish the

downhill with the slalom to come. The bit that she enjoys. Julia

Mancuso waits for the USA, Lara Gut is second for Switzerland. It is

Macarena Simari Birkner. Not the commitment, the deep position that

she needs, a higher line, but not a fast line. Part of a trio of

siblings who regularly reads at the World Championships. Her sister and

brother also race. She is not going to be in it for the medals. We can

admire her catsuit. That is one of the best we have ever seen. She is

home and dry. Julia Mancuso leads. She is loving it, lapping up the

amazing energy of the Olympic Games, it is Eastern sessional

filling, difficult to explain how it feels -- a sensational billing. It

is warm, it feels more like April than February. Her mother was a

decent racer as well. She won slalom races in the late 70s and early

80s. It has to set you up for being a champion yourself. Doing a great

job. Strong turns. Carrying speed. A good slalom here, that is her

speciality. Silver medallist in the 2011 World Championships in giant

slalom. Needs to produce a downhill run off some zero and she is not

doing too badly. She is the technical skier. Not so happy down

the gliding section. It is a bit of a scary sensation for a slalom

skier. Mancuso is first, Lara Gut second.

The male audience will like that short. -- shot.

Next ago, for Slovakia, Lara Ganton Rover.

Gatnerova is off to a solid start. 0.63 behind Mancuso and struggling

to hold the end. She was good on the top but a bit of a strange error

coming in to the drop. She put them sideways on the turn before the

critical turn which was a little bit odd and she did not look quite so

comfortable and here she is losing speed all the way down this section.

The top five turns were really strong and then she just lost focus

and concentration a little bit. Julia Mancuso has sent a court --

course report back to the top. But it is vital. Every day it can change

slightly even if it is just more sun or more shade and its softens up a

bit. It is so important to know that. It will be a huge advantage.

Gatnerova is home without incident. The difference between Mancuso and

the third-place is 0.86. That is a decent lead. I do not think we can

rule out her fall right, she is the second down but she is a very strong

slalom singer. -- slalom skier. Leanne Smith is about one fifth

back, that is quite a lot to be back in this top section. It looks as

though the light has gone a bit. The sun is now higher in the sky so that

they looks a bit dark and tricky. It is a second and a half now. She

twisted up a little bit there. Leanne Smith getting the benefit of

the applause from the American crowd who is gathered here. They are still

# still celebrating the excellent run from Julia Mancuso.

Number 28 is from Slovenia. She is pitching back slightly as she comes

out of the steep launch pad section. She has to throw herself

forward and she does not do that. She is coming into the steep section

now. It is not about to turn but a bit wishy-washy on the outside ski.

She has had a pretty good top section. She is low on the line. She

is very low as she comes in to the Traverse. She had a very good start

to the season in Beaver Creek. Since then she has been largely anonymous

but not here. This is still promising. This could just be enough

to propel Stuhec into the top 12 if she finishes this stage cleanly

enough. She is opening up a little bit of that jump but it is not a bad

run at all. She needs to get low and aerodynamic and carry a speed

through the finish. It is very straight and fast through this

section. Mancuso leads the way. Stuhec is just outside of the top

ten, in a lesson. She has done well. A good start to the racing and she

is happy with that. That was possibly the best downhill run of

her career. She will be treating this as a

training run. She was third at Beaver Creek. She was third and

fifth in Lake Louise in the early autumn. She is carrying good speed

here. She has two change quickly and get a good line and carried the

speed onto the Traverse. She stood enjoyed the flatter section towards

the bottom. 4168 and Nadia Fanchini is right up there -- Eleanor

Fanchini. She is having a real crack at this downhill stage. She has got

the wind under the tips of her skis there. She pays the price. She is

more than a second behind all of a sudden. She was a bit upright and a

bit back and not quite as aerodynamic as she would have liked

to be. Now she makes a good move but it was not good enough. She needs to

throw the arms further forward and gets no contact as quickly as she

can. It is unlikely that Julia Mancuso's time will be challenged

now. She is 1.77 seconds down, another reconnaissance mission on

the Olympic downhill course safely completed for Elena Fanchini.

There is one more American to come, another one who will have listened

into the course report given by Julia Mancuso. She is just relaxing

now and watching the remainder of this downhill leg. Stacey Cook from

California. She is away. A big cheer at the finish. There are a few flags

waving and people cheering. Julia Mancuso will be watching on. Stacey

Cook has no form as a slalom skier so this will be a training run for

her. A big jump there, having to make that left turn just as soon as

she re-engages with the snow. One quarter of a second, in touch here

for Stacey Cook. She is low on the line there and a couple of quick

exchanges but not that smooth. Let us see how that affects the time. It

might have done some damage there. She has! She nearly did terminal

damage. She is a DNS. We have not had too many that failed to finish.

She was the sixth quickest in her training runs but no result today.

Let us check on the standings, Julia Mancuso came in late.

Chemmy Alcott is still flying the flag in 15th position for the

British downhill and super-G skier. As we take a look further down the

list we can see there are some DNFs. Chemmy will be really happy

with that run. She has got stronger and stronger through each training

run and you should have won more tomorrow. She is just looking to cut

the time down on each run. That was a great downhill run. It was

definitely what I was hoping for. That was Julia Mancuso. Definitely

what she was hoping for is what we got from that. There are sins --

there are still some of the outsiders to come. It is a

cosmopolitan mix and we have skiers from Andorra, Poland, the Czech

Republic, Hungary, Australia, remain here and Monaco. Some great names

coming up as well. Yes, I am looking forward to some of them! Number 31

is from Andorra. She will be followed by Karolina Chrapek from

Poland. Nervous moments for everybody. There

is now a chance to peer over the top of the ledge which forms this

starting block. Here it is, you literally peer off the edge. It is

not as steep as the men's but it is a proper drop into the first gate.

She is just wrapping her boots tightly around the calf. She is

having it tightened by her coach. You have your little routine that

you do and a little clip of her poles as she puts them over and then

she will be off. Maria Gutierrez from Andorra. I am surprised that

over the years we have not seen anyone come through from Andorra and

make a move. Nobody has really broken through. When you consider

the extent of this skiing available to the Andorra 's. Maria is looking

a bit shaken here as she gets pitched backwards and caught up and

twisted up coming into that first jump. That was a very quick and

gutsy edge but the damage has been done on that very tough section --

top section. We saw Stacey Cook go out just

before her and she got really low onto the Traverse. We did not see

the slow replay but it was game over for Stacey Cook. 56.04 is her split.

Maria Gutierrez is off the pace now. That was big air of that jump,

bigger than we have seen from the runners before. Into the gliding

section now. A good aerodynamic and opening up again. You can see that

she really worked the legs earlier but she is letting all of these

rollers give her air and she is coming out of the tuck very set --

very unsettled. She can see the grandstand is not exactly full today

but we expect it will fill up as the afternoon slalom section

approaches. Maria Gutierrez is warmly welcomed home, they are being

generous to all the races here today. She is 27th on the list at

the moment. It is great to see everybody cheering for all of the

nations. There was nothing worse than being in a country and they

just cheer on their own athletes and there is nothing worse as a racer to