Day 3, Part 4 Winter Olympics

Hello and welcome back to Sochi. We are going straight back to the

killing because Team GB's skipper, Dave Murdoch, won their opening

match this morning against Russia. They are now locked in a very tight

match with the reigning world champions, Sweden. Here are Steve

Cram and Jackie Lockhart with commentary.

That was a good shot from Niklas Edin. Great Britain are in a bit of

trouble. Sweden with the last stone. Every chance of picking up three

here. Dave's demeanour looks a little bit slow at the minute but if

he lifts a double here, then it only leaves a two and that is not a huge

disaster at this stage of the game. He really needs to lift a double

here. He just said, let's make this. He really would not want to lose

three here. Like you said earlier, Steve, the three was a turning point

for Sweden in the game earlier today. It lifted the whole

demeanour. They continued to play very well after that. It must be

close. That'll do. That wasn't the intended shot but he will take it. I

think his face says that. Take the difference, that is what he

said. A fairly straightforward shot here, for the Swedish skipper. They

should be able to come in here and have a two shot lead at the halfway

point. He hasn't missed much, Niklas Edin.

And not that one either. So, two shots for Sweden and Great Britain

baby will not think that is too bad. They have probably played more

wayward shots than the Swedish team but this was always going to be a

tight match. You don't want to let them get away from you. At the

halfway point, and of course Britain will take the hammer in the sixth

end, it is a two shot lead to Sweden.

, they have a break, a technical break, which means we will have a

dip out of it. Hello. This is rather lovely. This is where the torch is

and quite often, you get a fountain display going on here, to music. At

the moment, you can see the Olympic rings in the water. Behind me, that

is the stage where we saw Jenny Jones getting her bronze medal

yesterday. Hello. That's rather sweet, isn't it? The crowd is

getting bigger as the days go on. The winter and Biggs will not be the

only thing is staged in Sochi this year. In October, there will be the

first-ever Russian Grand Prix. It will come through the streets and

the Park. I am sure we will have coverage of that in October. Right,

let us dip into the various different venues on the third day of

the winter and pics. We will be bringing you men's moguls later.

Canada other favourites there. Let's catch up with the women's luge.

Germany are strong contenders. We are about 60 miles outside of the

main venue, high up in the mountains, already for the women's

loos. -- luge. The outright favourite is sliding

second. Baturina goes for Russia at the

first attempt. Not to be confused with the famous Russian gymnast who

is a few years younger. A big, powerful woman, 73 kilogrammes.

That's important on this track. Around the corner. Up the hill she

goes, to corner six. Six or seven degree incline there. Out of six.

Down the hill to seven. Back up the hill, through into nine. A little

kick there. And here is the fastest part of the track. That's in terms

of gaining speed and acceleration. 127kph. 11 to 14. And a big hit

there. A terrible start for Baturina. Not good at all. Going

around. 121kph. That really killed her speed. This girl was fancied for

a medal. I doubt she'll get one off that 51.263. She finished fourth in

the European championships this year, but of course the big three

Germans weren't there, so it's not so much you can read into that. The

Russian coach is there. Oh, no. She is hoping to keep herself together

for the second run. Geisenberger hoping to win they are first Olympic

gold medal. Geisenberger goes. Certainly, she will be looking for a

fast start here and she has got it. A tremendous start there from

Geisenberger. This is half the reason why she's the reigning world

champion and overall World Cup champion. She has won seven out of

eight races this season. She's looked almost flawless. The only

place she was beat, where Huefner was on home ground. She is the

German champion. She's up. Wow. What will she hit through the final

clock? You'll soon find out, because she is coming down to the final

corner now. Any minute now, and absolutely perfect for Geisenberger.

49.891. That's the first time anybody has slid under 50 seconds

here. Absolutely superb. We'll look again at the start. Fastest starter

in the world. She has broken the start record. That was held by Huef

negotiation r. That was beat -- Huefner. That was beaten there.

There's her coach, who has had a huge influence on her. Ivanova

finished fourth at the Olympic Games and some people say it's the worst

position to be in. Second in the world championships this season. She

has been going well in training as well. Not bad. Good athlete,

Ivanova. Still only 22. She won the European championships a couple of

seasons ago. That's when everybody really knew how impressive she was.

She backed that up with that fourth in the Olympic Games. She's had more

practice on this ice than anybody else. Oh, no an ugly hit from 11

down to 14. There go Ivanova's chance of putting any pressure on

Geisenberger. She virtually hit in the same place. She comes through in

50. .457. That's a pretty good position. She's second out of

Geisenberger. She didn't take a correction and again the Russian

coaches have to watch one of their favoured athletes. Huefner, finished

first in the Games in 2010. Third in 2006. Absolutely superb record in

the Games. Four times the world champion. She can be a contender if

this is her day. This is looking good. 3.909, the

second-fastest starter of all time. Her track start record was taken

away by Geisenberger. She couldn't quite take it back then, but it's a

solid start. The one thing we have seen from training is she has

struggled with her confidence and she's been out the top ten a couple

of times in training. We'll get a good idea in the next minute exactly

how she's going here. It's going a whole lot better than training, but

still the Olympic champion is a long way down on her junior compatriot.

Nobody has been over 130 yet. It's not particularly fast. Huefner is in

second place. 50.393 for Huefner. Ivanova, the dangerous Russian in

third. Erin ham Lynn. Erin Hamlin. A little bit of a glitz there. --

glitch there. I wonder if we have seen the top ten? Hamlin, I'm sure

she'll have something to say about that. She is the 2009 world

champion. He was phenomenal on home ice then. She is a small woman. She

doesn't carry a huge amount of momentum. That's her one problem on

this track. With three uphill sections, five to six and then ten

to 11 and then 14 to 15, there's one of the uphills. She can't afford to

make any mistakes on the sections, or she has no gravity to help her.

She holds a wonderful position. Feet together. Now if she holds this pace

up she'll be third or fourth, or somewhere close. It's going to be

tight. In second place. My goodness, that is fabulous. Well done Erin

Hamlin. I tell you what, we have just about seen every major player

in women's luge come down now and Geisenberger still almost half a

second ahead of the rest of the world. The Americans celebrating

that run from Hamlin and she's in second place behind Geisenberger and

Huefner is in third. The second rub of the -- run of the luge starts

later. If you've got any questions about the luge or moguls or curling,

which is where we are going now, just use the hashtag and we'll try

to answer as many queries as we can. So, back to the ice cube and let's

see how Team GB are getting on against Sweden in the company of

three-times Olympic curling winner, Jackie Lockhart and Steve Cram.

Quite often, some of the boys are not finishing and once it taked the

break -- takes the break, you're really on a hiding to nothing. These

guys can sweep really, really well. Very good. Always poised and ready

to jump at the skip's instructions. Greg Drummond has to clear that

front red. With the hope of trying to get one of the reds in the house

and he just missed. That's been the story the last three or four ends,

just missing or clipping guards. Just missing out. They always knew

this game was going to be a tester for them and they have been -

there's been a lot of questions asked of them. It hasn't been Luther

roRs that have been -- Luther roRs they've -- huge errors that they've

been making. It highlights the fact that the

men's competition is tough. It's tight. There are enough teams in

here that can beat anyone else on their day. You can't afford to keep

missing and if you're going to miss, you are going to have to play

against Sweden or Canada or United States or Norway, you've got to be -

OK everyone makes the odd mistake, but you've got to be consistent.

Sebastian there. A little bit disappointed with that. That just

finished across the other side of the line. That will allow Greg to

see most of it and hopefully take it out. A couple of inches was all that

was needed. He keeps saying that, and we thought it would finish

harder and pull in a little more. It would have been ideal if it had.

There's too much on the left or he will jam it on to the back red. I

think Kraupp's annoyed at the shot he played last time. He's not happy

with himself. They do dovetail together well, these two.

Just slightly overthrew that, but not great. What he has done is he

has pushed that and just caught it and pushed it back behind the T

line. I think that gives us an opportunity we can come up and sit

on top of that. A freeze is one of the hardest shots in the book, I

think. You have to land right sitting bang in front. You don't

want to move it at all or have space between it, because then the boys

can throw a big weight at it and split them out. If they're jammed

close together it's very difficult for the opposition to move. He needs

- the start of both matches, the last draw, he's hit it right there

with the right weight and it's exactly the sort of shot he needs to

play. This is might be the one he has got the feel for.

Sweepers here, they have to judge what weight it needs to get there.

As you said, he has drawn that button several times. It's a nice

shot. We've watched him do that three or four times today. The last

one is the one that determines who has the hammer at the beginning, but

it can also figure on later on when we get to tie-breaks and so on.

That's stone may have slightly overcurled. It may have been better

to have been a little bit to the left there of the picture. He'll

throw a big weight at this and it should hit the yellow out across the

left. It remains 4-2 to Sweden. It's good

to see them smiling and accepting that the chance didn't arise there.

That shot he played was a really good shot, an inch or two... That is

the game of curling. These guys can throw such heavyweight at that. In

the girls game, that might have been a secure shop. The boys can play

really accurate takeout weights. They can take the stones out of the

house. That's 20 kilograms of granite which needs a bit of weight

behind it at times. Still, a tight game here.

Canada pulled themselves back into the match against Switzerland. Now

it is 3-2 against Switzerland. And Denmark have pulled them back, 6-5

against Russia. That will be ideal. Once again, we

will ask our team to play the corner guards and will try once again to

set up an end for a two. This one is just going to slide in.

The curse of the commentator there. To be fair, he has been pretty

accurate so far. This does give us the chance to push that Redstone

through. -- red stone. Teams can often be caught out these

shots. The crucial point of this stone is you keep your running

Yellowstone in the field of play. -- yellow stone. This one seems to be

curling. I was going to say, that is curling too much.

I suppose, if this end were to be blank, you could almost start again

into the eighth. You could try and limit into the ninth. Maybe that is

the way they are thinking. They will try and do what they can in the

sand. Every end you go -- that goes by, you try and get two but it

doesn't happen. They have two at some point but some

pressure on. We have seen one or two, I wouldn't even call them

wayward shots, but they've not done that enough to the Swedish back end.

No, they haven't really tested them. No. We haven't really tested them

because we have been caught out with the lines of the stones. They have

either braked big-time or have not braked at all. We have just replaced

the corner guards there. A little area -- error therefrom

Sebastian Kraupp. This gives that Apple opportunity -- this gives us

an opportunity. He inadvertently left that one out

them. Let's see what Greg Drummond can do. This one seems to be sitting

a little bit high. Just not quite coming off the shots,

are they? We needed to be on the inside of that one. That was

unfortunate. We've set up a double. There is an option here, rolling

across to the back yellow on the right-hand side of your picture.

We have seen Sebastian Kraupp's previous shot. He made a little bit

of a mistake. But each time, he has corrected himself. Will he do it

again this time? Indeed. Just like that. And that is

the mark of a good player, isn't it? Don't let shots bother you.

He has certainly made up for his disappointment on the first shot

there. We have a chance here. Greg can still play a draw, come around

the red they have at the front. We really need this to catch the draw.

The boys are going to work this hard, take it as far as they can.

That is a nice shot. Well drawn. Greg is chatting to David about what

he is finding, a little bit of a struggle to get his weight right.

You've got to come out here and... This is their second match and

despite how everything went this morning, you come out tonight and

struggle... That has missed. Yet, Niklas Edin slightly over through

that. They seem to be struggling with some of the stones. Stones can

change during the end. The guys practice, they play with two that

are very similar, that run very similar. There must be a difference

today, when they've come out to play. You heard them say they are

doing different things. Another part of the game that you have to learn.

Another chance for us here to actually get to.

This would be a great time for Dave Murdoch to find his touch. He wants

it to stop at the back of the effort. I think it looks like it is

going to be heavy. That's a disappointment there. That is a

fairly straightforward shot as well, isn't it? You did want it at the

back gate and you've got all of that 8-foot to play with but he needed to

lie second shot there. If he was to get any chance of trying to score

his two here. The disappointing thing is the way this end is going,

he could be forced to take is one. I was going to ask. He could take the

one this time. Without question, Niklas Edin is going to have three

shots and Dave is going to be forced to take is one. It will give the

hammer to Sweden at the eighth end. He has had that one foot in his

pocket so they shouldn't be too concerned that there are three other

red stones in the house but the annoying thing is, he is not scoring

his two. He is one down and has given Niklas Edin the opportunity to

have the hammer at the eighth end. He will still be one ahead.

We have seen him do this, as we mentioned Dave a few moments ago,

three or four times today. -- as we mentioned a few moments ago.

Britain take the one. Not quite what the doctor ordered. It is a 4-3 game

to Sweden. Running out of ends. Trying to take the two. There hasn't

been too much cheering from the British contingent. To be fair, they

are vastly outnumbered. It's not quite full. It's half full. There's

more people in this afternoon than this evening. Still plenty of noise

out there. There has been good play from

Sweden, but the odd little mistake here and there from Great Britain.

It's allowed them to just stay in control. We spoke about the stones

there with Greg making a comment about the number four wasn't doing

what it was expected to do. The sheet has eight yellow stones and

eight red and they're numbered one to eight. Part of the statisticgy of

the game before playing on this game is to match the stones. You don't

potentially from to play them in that order, but you can play them in

any other you want. The stones stay on the sheet. They don't move. You

can play with different stones on every sheet and these are

international curling stones that travel the world. A little mistake

there. Mark Goodfellow just travelling a little too far.

1.5 million is wanted for the makers of the stones, you could buy that,

Jackie? I'll put my offer in next week! Apart from granite, what else

is there for your 1.5 million? There's not much sunshine in

Scotland. You can say that, I can't. We haven't had much wind or rain

here, have we? No, perfect, sunny weather. It's been quite warm

outside. I believe rain is on the way, though. So, Michael Goodfellow

playing a nice centre guard there. To make up for the first shot.

Viktor being asked to come around behind this one.

That looks a pretty good shot. It's not quite getting there, but almost.

They'll be happy to leave that. It's at the top of the T. It becomes

better for us if they push those stones behind the T, because then it

gives us something to come and rest against, and it's hard for them to

remove them then. Scott's going to have to go wide

here. He needs to come around behind both of these. The boys waiting for

the break of this stone. -- the brake of this stone. That one didn't

look like it was coming in, but did at the end. Had to work hard on it.

They'll clear the front. I think his tactic will be to keep it simple and

straightforward. They're leading and they've got the hammer. He knows

that he really needs to keep that open, because he can score and go

either two or three ahead of Great Britain.

We are, however, in the tier, so there's two more ends to play.

They want this to stop half-way on the centre line.

Niklas just checking with the team what they want. They're going to tap

the yellow out and forget about the centre guard.

This is a tricky line that sometimes doesn't take the pull. They'll be

quite happy that's rolled. It's into the wing and it's not really a

danger to them. Dave just going to ignore the reds and still try to go

in behind them. He's looking to try to make something happen here. They

don't want to make it too easy for Edin, so they have to keep trying to

put a little bit of pressure and make them play their shots.

I came down here last night. I'm not sure if it's got the weight. They're

going to have to work this hard. He need to keep that coming in, and

they were spot on where they thought it would come to. It's a pity.

Greg's certainly had a great morning this morning and started pretty well

this evening. Just the last couple of ends. I heard him saying at the

last one, he's struggling with the stones and seeing how they'll react,

but this looks pretty good. That's better. That's a nice shot there.

They had to leave that to the very end, in order to get the little roll

they were looking for. He played a nice half-weight there.

I wouldn't want to wish ill of any of the opponents, but Great Britain

could do with a little bit of a break here somewhere, to take

advantage. I'm lost for words. That was a great

shot. It was. It doesn't make our end any easier. No. These two

particularly I think have played particularly well and they've got -

they've got a stranglehold on this. Still only one shot in it, but with

the experience they have and the way they're playing it's making David

Murdoch's job very, very difficult indeed.

83%. That's on the take-outs. David is # 6 on the take -- 86 on the

take-outs, but Niklas has played 88 and Murdoch is 84, so there's not a

huge difference there. There's only one shot in it. It may feel like

it's more, but it's only 4 - 3. They don't want to catch the red in

the house there. Just died. A difficult shot. They wanted to

sweep that, but it was sitting high and it may have caught the red in

the house, but by the time it left, they had just dug in. Again, if

Niklas hits that out, he's sitting all on the top of the 12 foot and

Dave's either got to take a big, big chance and come right around behind

them or he may have to try to shift some granite. And remove two or

three. I always get the feeling that Edin,

these are the situations he loves. He's almost looking at - he should

keep it simple here. They're in a very good position.

He should really be trying to make David Murdoch's job as difficult as

possible. I didn't quite hear what he said, so he's coming back down. A

little bit of indecision here. If only we could speak Swedish. If

only! What do you think the options are? I

think what he's saying is if he hits that yellow and comes in between the

two stones then maybe give David Murdoch a good target to draw

around? Yep. Correct, because if he hits the yellow and rolls, it means

that they want -- roles it -- rolls, it means they want to keep them

together and Dave has the opportunity to come around and

Niklas can't use the reds because the anning of -- angle of them are

sitting all wrong. You could play big weight here and

spread them out a little, rather than keeping them close together.

Wouldn't you think that would be, given the situation they're in,

don't give them a chance and don't give Britain the option. Yeah. They

don't want to lose a one here, though. It may look easier that

there's only one yell lo and he has to -- yellow and he has to hit it

out, but so easy to steal if David can draw right around in behind

them. He's played a reasonable amount of

weight here. It makes it harder for David to come

round. I guess that is good communication, they spoke about

that. If they didn't play enough weight there. He was so worried, he

had a look. Have they called a time-out? The coach gets the minute

to get down to the ice. This really will be a do or die

shot. At 4-3 down, two more ends after

this. If there is any way they can give away just one, that would be a

massive result. He is saying thank you very much for calling me.

You can touch the red little bit. You know the ice and the speed. The

one good thing was he is a sweet but he was speaking in a rich and we can

understand what he is saying. Ashley is Swedish and he was speaking in

Swedish. It sounds to me like damage limitation.

This is a big shot here for David Murdoch.

They are actually just going to play the draw, the same as they played

this first shot. Working hard, is it going to get past? I think he just

touched the top red. Maybe a fraction. Still a reasonably

difficult shot to move. He will have to play. Need a closer look at that.

Is it lying shot? He just had a look. He may choose to

fire his red shot onto it. It must be for enough back. I cannot see the

angle properly. It is tucked in behind that. He has to be forced to

use his stone to promote it. Not taking much time to think about

this. The chance to score well here for Sweden. They seem to be happy

with this. Absolutely. That was a good shot from the Swedish skipper.

An opportunity arose, and so often the he delivered.

If it was getting to be a big call for Britain to come back, they are

only one behind, now they are five behind, 8-3. To ends to go. It is a

big call. Asking them to score a five here.

Obviously it is very similar with what happened with Sweden this

morning. They have always been in control here. Even though it was

fairly even at the beginning, you have all us felt it was Sweden's

game to lose. -- always felt. I don't think the boys should feel too

disappointed. They are not throwing dreadfully badly. Sometimes they are

just not getting the break. They have come up against the Swedish

team playing well. They have come out here tonight and played well.

One or two shots that didn't go as planned. Niklas Edin, I can't

remember him playing a poor shot. The one thing that Sebastien has

done, he has pulled out a second shot at has been a cracker. And made

up for his first shot. Just throwing these shots through the house, they

don't need them at all. I suppose, if you'd looked at the

draw, day one, Russia, Sweden, of when and a loss, most people would

say that is what you expect. It would be nice to win both.

Much like the game this morning the girls had it was always good to be a

difficult game. It just quite hasn't gone our way. I don't think the boys

will be too disappointed from this. It has been difficult for them, they

have had to deal with some difficult stones. They have been swapping

their stones about so they haven't been happy with them.

Some of the games on the other sheets are very tight. Russia and

Denmark are 7-7. They are playing in the eighth here. Canada three,

Switzerland four. USA and Norway, Norway seven, USA four. They are

playing the ninth. Without taking anything from our

game the Canadians are playing in the next sheet and I am surprised

they haven't come out started firing in this competition. I think we face

them, not sure when. I am just checking. Not until Saturday. Let's

hope they haven't settled into their game too much by then.

It has been a mixed day. Probably the man, when they go back to the

village tonight, we'll look back and will be the happier of the British

teams. The women's team philosophical about their defeat

against Sweden. Very early stages. Unlikely you are going to win every

match. The red hot favourites in the men's event, Canada, struggling in

both their matches. They make about on top but they have got right

battle on with Switzerland this evening. Just going through the

motions, really. This ninth end. This shot has to be in the house.

The Swedish team will run us out the stones.

The Russian crowds really enjoying the Russia Denmark game. The game of

two halves, it is now 7-7. All to play for.

Nice try to get round that guard. He isn't going to be bothered if he

hits the shot in the house or out of it. Just had to remove one of these.

He has got half an eye on the next sheet. Switzerland. He will not be

too disappointed with what he is seeing.

At 8-3, would you have shaken hands, walked off? I think I might have

done. It is a big ask to take a five of them. Or is it just about takes a

more shots, use this as some practice? -- take some more shots.

They might have half an eye on that match going on the next sheet, the

Swedish team. They start the day with two victories, they may well be

the only team to do so. Norway and USA playing, their first match.

Russia had a defeat to Great Britain earlier on.

Another nice shot. Almost showing off, that is!

They have played Sweden on numerous occasions, no each other very well,

the skips in particular. -- they know each other.

I guess he thought if he could take his two and head down the last end

to steal. He has the draw weight in his pocket, he still has. He will

sit nicely on that back shot. These kind of shots will give them

confidence. We may not win this game, I can still play the shots.

I think he will be reasonably happy with the way he is playing. It is

just a hasn't been set up particularly well, the odd mistake.

David Murdoch will be fairly comfortable with how he has been

playing. He played very well this morning. I hope so. If they go away

and analyse this game, it sees the ice hasn't been kind to them tonight

and neither have the stones. That will not happen in every game they

play. They will look hard at this sheet, and the stones on it,

probably have some nights practice and check again for any future games

on this sheet. Here we go again, a nice drawings from David Murdoch.

And that is it, shaking hands. The boys only have one more game, and

that is against the USA. An unfortunate end to the day, but I

think they would be quite happy with a one in one. The important thing

was to win against Russia. They did that. It was always going to be

tough against Sweden. I cannot say they didn't have their

opportunities, like when they got it to 2-2. But this man, the sort of

form he was in, would always be difficult to beat. They are

absolutely one of the strongest teams. Sweden with a fairly

comfortable win for them. David Murdoch and the team have been

out on the ice since 5am your time, so add in the Ice Cube, we have had

the commentary team, lots of people getting involved. Lots of tweets

coming in, people posting photographs of them doing their gym

workouts while watching the curling. And a question for you, Jackie, this

is from Nick, why do they not have men versus women? Surely it makes no

difference what gender you are? The question, Jackie, if you did not

hear it, why do they not have men versus women, there are some mixed

games now, some mixed doubles? There was an attempt to bring in mixed

doubles to the Olympics, there was a trial, but it got thrown out. They

do not play men against women in these competitions. Maybe they

should. The men can throw a heavier rock than the women. That is not to

say that we couldn't beat them nine times, eight times out of ten. But

the guys are pretty good with a weight control. Claire, I read a

story that they have some mixed competition, and one man through the

rock so fast, the women could not keep up to sweeping the stone,

whether or not he did it deliberately or not, so it is

popular enough, it is just if we will see it in major competitions.

Steve and Jackie, how much should we read into that result? What were

your reflections are watching Team GB and David Murdoch in action? I do

not think we should read too much into it, the boys are disappointed

they did not get a win out of that, but it was a game of fractions,

these rubs were going the wrong way, and we heard the boys speaking about

the ice and the stone, so it wasn't playing in their favour. The stones

were not running the way they wanted them to, so I am sure they will

analyse the stones they are playing with, I do not think they will want

to play with that again, they would be disappointed, but not too

disappointed. They have won when, one loss, so I am sure they would

want to have one win under their belt. The important thing, Claire,

they have all been here before, David Murdoch certainly, he knows it

is a long, drawn-out competition, and there are days when it doesn't

go your way, and it is all about how you react to that. We have Canada

and Switzerland behind us, you would not expect Canada to be beaten, but

they are struggling here, and they have struggled today, they are meant

to be the hot favourites. As they are having a bad day today, you have

to accept that you are going to also. If they bounced back, what do

you anticipate in terms of the game against Germany tomorrow? If they

are going to get through, there are certain matches that they have to

win, and we would have to say Germany would be one of them. If you

look at the game on paper, Richard be easy for us, it is not the

strongest ever German team, but they have to be careful how they play. --

it should be easy for us. I think they can take a lot from tonight,

they were shooting in the 80s, so they cannot be disappointed with

that. They just need to have their a game tomorrow and it would be

another win on the cards for them. Brilliant. I will let you go, you

had such a long day. Great commentary from you both, makes it

absolutely intriguing, and curling gets better the longer you watch it.

It is very exciting, I was there today, when rush hour on the eyes,

the crowd goes on, it is like being at a football match. -- when Russia

are on the ice. Let's take a look at today's headlines. Staying with

curling, not an ideal start for Eve Muirhead's which is set up, they had

a defeat against Sweden, but there is a long way to go. Germany's

slalom skills saw them retain the super combined title. They were

fifth following the downhill, but a superb slalom run enabled goals, and

Austria took silver with the USA winning the bronze medal. The second

set of twins ever to win an Olympic medal in the same event at Winter

Olympics, gold for this team in a clean sweep for the dominant Dutch.

And here in the Olympic Park, we're going to take a wander around and

find a legend of short track speed skating, because when it was first

introduced as a demonstration event in Calgary in 1988, this man, do not

walk away! This man won two gold medals, hello, Wilf O'Reilly,

looking very smart! Tell me how you got involved in short track speed

skating, because before you, there wasn't exactly a British tradition

of it. I started at the age of six or seven and I did it for a few

years, and then I thought, this is maybe not the sport for me, and then

fortunately, the Birmingham or halt at the Birmingham ice rink and I

took up short track speed skating. What was Calgary like as an

experience for you? It was amazing. It was the first time we had the

Olympic plaza, and the red thousands of people standing in front of me,

and by medal was presented, even though it was a demonstration sport,

my medal was presented after Tomba won the gold, but it'd make a big

difference between the two, even though it was a demonstration

sport. And there I am! As ugly as ever! And you inspired Nicky Gooch,

and he has inspired the strongest team ever. Yes, and the sports

director was telling me that they have it in 14 ice rinks around the

UK, and you can learn to skate in 14 ice rinks, go along to your local

ice rink. If there is any sport that you would really like to try out,

then go to the BBC's website, you can find out where and how you can

get involved. Let's have a look at the youngest member of the British

team in action, this was Jack Whelbourne earlier today.

They are away. Seven skaters in the final, you do not want to get stuck

at the back. It is important for Jack Whelbourne in fourth place at

the moment, to not get too far behind in this group of seven

skaters. Charles Hamelin already at the business end, he does not win to

get caught up in any of the accident. -- does not want to. Jack

Whelbourne is in fourth place at the moment. In classic style, sitting

right behind. The pace is surprisingly slow at the moment.

Jack needs to make sure he does not get stuck at the back. Big moves by

China, and JR Celski in first spot at the moment. The head of the race,

the USA, it immediately changes again. Coming through, it is the 29

euros Canadian. Five to go. Charles Hamelin looking very comfortable.

Making a move now. Jack Whelbourne has gone down! Jack Whelbourne of

Great Britain has gone down! That was because of the move by Victor

An. In second position, China. Charles Hamelin, China, then Victor

An of Russia in third place. Charles Hamelin up the front. The Canadian,

Charles Hamelin takes it! Victor An is second! China in third place. Or

was it Victor An second? Charles Hamelin gets the gold-medal.

Brilliant skating by Charles Hamelin to win the 1500 metres. His third

gold-medal in the Olympics. What a skate that was. Celebrating already.

Very interesting to see. I think Jack Whelbourne could be entered.

Jack, you are limping, tell us what happened? I took a tumble, I am

twisted my ankle a little bit, but hopefully I can come back and do the

other two businesses. I would be OK, no matter what happens, I have two

other Olympic distances to skate, I will give it a go. You were at your

best until that point? Yes, that was the best I raised, some of those

guys that we were against to get to that final, they could be on the

podium now, and maybe I could have been on the podium myself, but I

came out here trying to get into an A final, and I have done that, so I

am pleased. It must be so frustrating, because that lack the

block went and rear foot, and rear foot, Edu twisted ankle. Anything

can happen, can't it? Yes, it has been a very interesting events, and

in the final, anything can happen, like we keep saying, but you can run

it again, and I am pretty sure there would be a different result, so, I

am not unhappy with it. If anything, I'm really happy, I got a

British record in my first race with a win under my belt, and I am now 26

in the world after that final. We will see you later in the week.

Well done. An amazing record from Jack. He

skated a fabulous heat, the very first heat, he won it, we thought,

it looks very, very good indeed. You had to look at that fall to see what

happens. Yes, one of the other races, they knocked the black

marker, and he put his right skate on edge, and it looked like he

twisted his ankle, it looks like he edged is located at, I have spoken

to steward, he said it is not broken a fractured, very badly sprained,

they just have to wait to see if he can take part in the remaining two

events. You know exactly how that feels, because you went to the

Olympics and you had two crashes. Yes, I broke a piece that by blade,

and one of the things that short track speed skater 's do, over the

years, they become rough and tumble, ready for an ox and

bruises, that kind of thing, and I'm sure Jack will be back as strong as

he can be today. If it is a severe spring, the start will require a lot

of explosive energy at the start, but for the 1000 metres, he would be

there. This is Charles Hamelin getting his gold-medal for Canada,

and Canada looking very good so far in the Winter Olympics. Here, they

had a one, two in the women's moguls, they have won the short

track speed skating, we will be showing you the men's moguls live

later on. Now, Jacques Botes my girlfriend is Elise Christie and she

skating in three different events, today was the 500 metres. -- now

Jack's girlfriend is Elise Christie. Let us see her in

qualification for the 500. Elise Christie on the outside. She

will have to make a smart move to qualify. She is up to third place.

The top to go through. Good skating by the Russian. The Russian has come

straight through. Elise Christie cannot get through at the moment.

The 16-year-old Russian in second spot. And here comes Elise

Christie. She takes it on the line. What a cool delivery by Elise

Christie. She showed the way. A superb skate. And to go around the

outside, keep the call, keep her head, and managed to come through

clearly. Here is the result. The performance director will be wrapped

with that. We move onto heat three. Good start right on the front by the

Italian. Former bronze medal winner in the Junior Championships. Look at

the speed, she has distanced herself from the rest. The Dutch skater, the

European champion, is coming through. She will skate along track

1500 as well. It is still the Italian. Call move the. Gilmartin of

Great Britain. She gets second. Great Britain putting two skaters

through into the next round. CLARE BALDING: Charlotte Gilmartin

gets through as well. The draw is random in those

qualifying heat and they both got the outside.

Two of the Canadian girls got draw number one. Being random, very

peculiar. Now it is on time. The fastest skater will draw number two.

The third fastest number three. The slowest skater gets the most

disadvantaged Lane, number four. How oppressed were you with Elise

Christie? She was known for a long time being a front runner, she is

looking like she is deliberately practising overtaking in

competition. 500 metres isn't her best distance. She started on the

outside, normally she would have panicked. I have seen her at

Vancouver and other world clubs where she panics and things she

cannot get past. She kept her calm, came around the outside. She won the

race quite convincingly and it is nice she is able to do this new

tactic. And what about Charlotte Gilmartin? So exciting to have

another skater in there. Presumably they could help each other if they

are in the same semifinal. The director was really happy. She

is now in the top 16. The top 16 skaters of the world, an amazing

feat. Brilliant adult to you. Just getting

a few spots of rain. -- brilliant to talk to you. The other thing that

was exciting yesterday was the medals Plaza because for the first

time with a British athlete in is no competition, we had won on the

podium, Jenny Jones. Short track speed skating anything can happen,

the same is true in her sport. Let's catch up with the day in the life of

a bronze medallist, the day after the night before.

Jenny Jones! Here is the bronze medal, many congratulations. It is

very heavy, and it is round my neck. A fantastic performance for British

snowboarding. We were all in it together last night, but everybody

else is in bed. That is history making right there.

Joining us now is bronze medallist, Jenny Jones. Huge congratulations.

How are you? Just hearing that made me well up. Was I shouting? Jenny

joins -- Jenny Jones joins us now. I am wishing I slept a little bit more

now. Do you know the papers this morning? Every single one. I know we

have got to let you go, thank you so much, congratulations. It has to be

tenuous links to Jenny Jones. Hello X commission Mark -- hello! Olympic

bronze medallist, how does that sound? It sounds very nice.

Congratulations, how lovely to meet you. We were all going mad. We want

to see you having a dance. Amy is a maniac. 19 years of waiting. Great

to see you, thank you for coming in. That is such a nice piece. She is so

lovely. It was interesting yesterday for her medals ceremony, John Eley

and some of the other short track speed skating came down to watch it.

As an athlete how much does it affect you when a team member wins a

medal early on? Tremendously. He carried the flag in the opening

ceremony, that must have been an amazing moment for him, it certainly

was for me. I was at the press conference. They are not talking

about winning medals, they are talking about managing the

processes. I gave him compliments the way they are managing the

process. A very small team. First time they are here without a relay

men's team. The whole spirit, they are really getting together and

supporting one another. Are you getting hopeful we could see

something special? Elise Christie could get a medal in

all three distances. Jack was very unlucky today. The first day of

short track speed skating. Anything can happen.

It is thrilling to watch, lovely to hear your expertise. We will head

back to the ice cube where David Murdoch and his great Britain team

were defeated by Sweden. Let's get their reaction. -- Great Britain.

It was always going to be a tough game against Sweden.

Still missing a lot of shots, they are world champions for a reason.

Didn't put enough pressure on them. Chatting with Jackie, we were

looking about, I heard you saying it was different to playing on that

side. We just weren't sharp enough, picking up a few different stones.

It turned at the eighth end, he is renowned for coming in with big

shots and picked up for their and that was very much it. We can have

had to put pressure and go for it. We had a half decent and going, the

third player played a pretty good run double to kill the end. We

played the good work with our last but it was always going to need

something special. It was a defeat but it hasn't been a bad start. The

guys were playing pretty well, great this morning. Sweden certainly hit

their shots tonight but all in all, not too bad a first day.

We need to take the positives. A fairly good day, a good victory this

morning on fresh eyes. The sooner we went quite precise enough tonight #

obviously. Your name is? John Humphrys. Your

specialist subject? Curling. How many ends of cloning will be played

in the slot you Winter Olympics? Pass.

You can join the conversation and catch up with the action again

tomorrow morning from 7am. David Murdoch and his men back in action

against Germany at 10pm and Eve Muirhead's team take on the USA at

3pm. Next up, a crash course in bumpy jumpy. .

The men's moguls final is coming up soon but we will catch up on what

happened in the 12.5 kilometre sprint. There is only one sport in

which you would call it a sprint and that is biathlon. And going for

Winter Olympics history was Ole Einar Bjorndalen, following his

sprint gold on Saturday he was aiming for a record 13th Winter

Olympics medal could he do it? Let's find out.

What an incredible effort, 94 World Cup wins. He was 40 in January for

the way he goes, one second advantage over Landertinger. We have

got a total of 23 men starting in the first minute. We always reckon

if you are within the margin you have a chance of taking the victory.

Second shoot, prone position. Leguellec first to strike.

Landertinger is clear. Bjorndalen on his feet, throwing one wide. Is that

going to cost Bjorndalen a medal? It may take a bit of pressure. He is

going to drop down the order. Martin Fourcade sandwiched in between

Landertinger, starting to get away a little bit is Leguellec. The race

leader goes down. Look how much time he will lose. The lead of 20 metres

thrown away. Where is the mistake? It is very soft snow. Underneath the

soft snow it is quite icy. That is what happened. You saw the skis

juddering. France in lane one. Landertinger of Austria in lane two.

Landertinger at the world champion in 2009, he knows how to deal with

the pressure situations. Advantage Austria. Landertinger, one more to

go. He misses. And so now an opportunity for the others to get

back in that leading group. Is from Shipulin. The pressure is building.

It is building on the third shoot. Moravec goes clear. Some of that

advantage has been eaten away. Martin Fourcade leading.

Landertinger in second. Moravec has been caught. He is joined by the

group behind. The German is having a good run indeed. Crucial moment. He

has won world titles that Martin Fourcade has never won an Olympic

title. He could be 20 seconds away from securing it. Five out of five

and he should be safe. Landertinger needs to get shot away. This is the

hardest shot of all for Martin Fourcade. That traditional

celebration, a little bit cheeky, perhaps, but he has seen

Landertinger has missed the first two. He is on his way to his first

gold. Not so many French flags in the crowd tonight but it doesn't

matter, there will be millions watching in France. This man is a

superhero, the World Cup leader, the World Cup champion last year.

Tonight he becomes, for the first time, the Olympic champion and that

traditional dismount from Martin Fourcade, 33 .40 8.6, his winning

time. Ondrej Moravec has shown tonight. France with two medals.

Beatrix, what a staggering ski, from 14 figures up into third. We are now

going to see the very best of Martin Fourcade. He missed one target but

he did nothing else wrong. This is the medals table as it stands, and

out in front, the Netherlands. Canada in second place. Great

Britain in 18th place with the won bronze medal and we hope, more to

come. These are all of the crowds coming

out of the curling, it is all very exciting. We are heading up the

mountains now, we will take a check on the women's luge, we saw Germany

were the fastest, sandwiched in between was Erin Hamlin from the

USA. Let's go to Colin Bryce and Steve

Dickinson. Erin Hamlin, she is in the silver

medal position. She start journey on the second run. She is one up on Kim

McRae. This is the aggregate of four bronze, this is just the second run.

Staying clear, going well. Driving down between the two uprights.

1.27.6, a good time. A good slide by Erin Hamlin. She is

coming down a little bit high, but 50.276, that is a very good result.

0.287 of a second away from Kim McRae. Stopping a domination that

was rained by the Germans in the World Cup. She could well be the

first North American to get an Olympic medal. Tatjana Hufner was in

third place after round one, she was in second for a while, but that was

overtaken by Erin Hamlin. Exactly the same spot as she was four years

ago. She was giving out 407 seconds to Erin Hamlin, she is now in the

lead by about two hundredths hundredths of a second.

She recovered from a nasty back injury last season, did not train

well at all. She seems to be pulling it out here. Olympics begins proper.

A similar speed to Erin Hamlin. That is good. Coming out of 11. Almost

nothing in this. Slightly slower than Erin Hamlin, this will be tied

on the line. That is it. 50.187, very good indeed. She is now lying

in fourth place. 50.187, that is excellent. That is her fastest time

so far. That is one of the fastest times this track is overseen will

stop she very much lies like a champion. She has not been doing

well in training, it was horrible, people were writing a rough, but

here she is, she has gone into the league. Now, Natalie Geisenberger,

the superstar of the last 24 hours, when she remained the superstar

after this event? She was certainly in the lead by, what, five

hundredths of a second? She has a massive margin on the rest

of the world. She would be over half a second because of this super quick

start. She did not gain anything. There was a bit of a mistake in that

steer. You see an adjustment with her hips, she was not happy. She has

got her act back together. She has come through 11 perfectly.

She had -- head on. In the lead over the reigning Olympic champion.

Fractionally below 85 mph. Wasn't quite as perfect as her first run.

You can see from the Times, the track is getting a bit quicker as it

gets colder. She went a bit slower there, and so she should, she had

such a big lead, it would be foolish to really hit off the top of the

hill. Being conservative was the right move, and a bit of an

adjustment to steer when things went wrong. She is three quarters of a

second ahead of the rest of the world, a monstrous margin with two

more runs to go. We will get more on that tomorrow,

the remainder of that. It is lovely down here, lots of people stopping

for photographs with the Olympic flame. Lots of people stopping to

see if they can take a photograph of our shopping trolley! It is getting

many, many admirers! This is my floor manager, Matt, my general

manager! He has made all of this luck lovely. Even CBS, the

broadcaster CBS, they came by to see where they can get one! It is

setting a trend! We are very proud of it! We will be very, very soon

going off to watch the men's moguls, but first, let us find out

the many ways in which you can enjoy the Winter Olympics on the BBC.

What all the excitement of the Winter Olympics with BBC sport. We

are showing every sport live from Sochi. We have up to six streams of

live sport showing across your devices. You will be in full control

of all of the action from the Winter Olympics. Check out our live update

and catch up on any action that you have missed on the BBC iPlayer, so

you can share in all of the drama were ever you are. The Winter

Olympics, across the BBC. It is more advanced than it ever has

been, but you can take it with you and watch it where ever you are.

People had been watching the curling in the gym, that gets the motivated!

Every single athlete at the Winter Olympics is unbelievably fit and one

of the sport in which we have been most successful is skeleton. Amy

Williams won the gold medal in Vancouver, before that, Shelley

Rudman took a silver medal, so far, Lizzy Yarnold is fastest in training

for the skeleton which takes place this week. Shelley Rudman to see

also, tears are Winter Olympics story. -- here is Shelley with her

Olympic story. Hello! Lovely to see you!

We have been really, really lucky. We have had great family support

from both sets of parents and grandparents. Everybody is really

supportive of us as a unit. What is an average day like? We get up in

the morning, we get everybody ready, we go to the track, Ella is looked

after by the grandparents, and then she gets home tutored. Who does the

home tutoring? I do. The school has been great, they give me the weekly

plans, today, they are doing the life cycle of the frog, and Allah is

here doing the life cycle of the frog. Does it ever make you feel

guilty, coming away here, to achieve what you want to achieve and the

rest of the family? No, it is great, she is so dynamic, everybody

jokes about how dynamic she is, but she was probably the most

knowledgeable six-year-old in skeleton that you can get. The first

time it happened, we thought, oh, how good is this, she really watches

what we do! She knows all of the terminology, all of the other

athletes, they are on high five terms with her, they are all joking,

and she just absorbs it, really. That was a big one! From your side,

lots of athletes that I know, if they have breaks between training

sessions, they are just crashed out, as a mother, do you not get that at

all? When I was a full-time athlete and just training, I got bored, now

I do the school run, then go straight to the gym, and that my

work-out, and these days, I can fitted physio, I can work out

training, then I had to go and do the school run again, and then I

have to do the food shop and just keep life operating and the house

all organised. Thanks to athletes like Shelley, Great Britain is one

of the leading nations when it comes to skeleton. The pressure is on in

Sochi. At the moment, there is a lot of pressure on me to come back with

goals, but I am really happy with my silver Olympic medal, and the main

focus for me is to try to perform as best as I can, but I am really happy

with my silver Olympic medal, and the main focus for me is to try to

perform as best as I can, but I'm more open minded going. I really

wanted to target some medals. I thought, the fact that I was a

mother, that is really, really cool. I thought, how cool would it be for

Ella to see her mum compete at an Olympics, and that is a big

motivator also. And just for my family, to do something to make them

feel really proud. I race for that, more than any thing. They must be so

proud. I really hope so. Shelley Rudman this year with her

husband and her daughter. We're heading off now to the freestyle

skiing, it is the men's moguls, and four years ago, we saw a man from

Canada who really delivered when it mattered on home soil. Is this and

night when a Canadian really wins a gold on home soil? ! Alexandre

Bilodeau is on his way. Nothing wrong with this! A backflip!

Magnificent! He has raised the bar! Canada's first ever gold medal on

home soil. Alexandre Bilodeau is the Olympic champion.

He was the headline maker four years ago, his strongest competition could

come from his own team-mate, Mikhail Kingsbury, let's get all of the

commentary from Matt Chilton. Welcome back to the final instalment

of the men's moguls, they had been whittled down from the original

group of 30 who were attempting to qualify. In the first round all 20

go, the next stage, the best trial progress, and then the best of six

go forwards towards the medals. It has been a cracking moguls Olympics

so far for the Olympics. We have Alexandre Bilodeau and now Mikael

Kingsbury, the first man to go is Per Spett, and out and out

entertainer. You can probably tell. He is a man to man. He is ready to

go. First out in the first round of the Olympic final, figures, Per

Spett. The backflip, the iron cross, goes to work in the middle part of

the chorus. This is solid, nothing wrong with this. He looks like he is

skating with nothing to lose here, Per Spett. In control as he

approaches the second kicker and launchers that Superman front slip,

the signature move of his. He is on the pace time and he will score well

on the time points. 25% of the mark for the time, 25% for the turns, 25%

for the era, and 50% from the turns. His turns were shaky at times but

not too bad. Flying forward, tucking in. The front flip. Tough move, well

executed by the Swede. There are two Swedish competitors in a contest.

21.81. Not bad at all. The first man on the Hill sets the target.

Benjamin Cavet was born in the South of England. He lived in Sussex until

he was ten, moved to France following his family, his dad, a ski

instructor, decided to take up French nationality because of the

facilities and training on offer. The French Englishman. First

kicker. Backflip with two lateral twist. Now he is motoring. He is

growing in confidence. He wants to make the final. This is brilliant

skiing. An excellent jump off the second kicker. That will be the new

league. No wonder the French coach is celebrating. Much to enjoy their

four Benjamin Cavet. I think he got three twists in their

which makes it a corked 1080, clearly raising the bar. That will

score him high on the aerial marks, that is 25% of the score. There he

goes off the bottom jump, looking for three again. Beautiful aerial

manoeuvres from Benjamin Cavet of France, the only Frenchman in the

final. They looked after for with the way things have gone. He has put

down a cracker, 22.97. He leads the way, gold medal position for the

moment. He needs to score a place in the top 12 to advance to the next

round. The medals will be decided by the best six. Anything can happen.

Next man, Nobuyuki Nishi, the 28-year-old. Here is his first jump.

This is where he gets his work done, in the middle part of the course.

Nothing wrong with this, so far. He just needs to maintain control. He

blasts through the central part of the course. Slight tug towards the

end, didn't straighten it out completely, but landed it safely.

The standard is very high in these early stages.

Nice start, just slightly tail heavy on landing. Look at these terms.

High-definition Slo Mo shots. -- slow motion shots.

Japanese coaches are really enjoying what they are seeing so far. 21.73,

third place. First round of the men's moguls

finals continues. Benjamin Cavet leads. Next up it is Ludvig

Fjallstrom. Nicely landed. He is tearing through the bumps here.

Getting his deeds on top rather than between them. Plenty of creativity.

Backflip iron cross. 2013 junior world champion. Making his mark at

senior level now. 20 years of age. The second Swedish competitors to

go. Per Spett is in second. He needs to finish in the top 12 to

progress to the second round of this final. Wonderful shots here.

Thankfully the bumps have softened since the women's competition,

allowing the skiers to blast through them and pick up excellent speed.

The landing is forming part of the scores coming in. 19.83. He is in

fourth. He will have to hope for a bit of luck if he is going to become

part of the dozen that will progress. Lots of noise for the

first of the three Russians, Aleksey Pavlenko, the 18-year-old from Saint

Petersburg. Goes down on the left, high, big. Just a slight loss of

balance, a couple of bumps. Nice compact movement. He skis on

through, nice work. First of the Russians. Two more to come. He is

the youngest at just 18. He seems to have saved his best for

his arrival on the Olympic stage. Touched his knees on the backflip.

Straight back into the rhythm. One too little twitches away from the

shape and form their, but OK. Skis crossed, plenty to enjoy. The

Russian coach is smiling. Pavlenko is into fourth position. The crowd

don't like that much but it is OK. Then Cavet leads. -- Benjamin Cavet.

The Russian attempt continues with Andrey Volkov. IP goes all stop

round he goes. Full twisting back somersault, nicely landed. He is

following from Mogul to Mogul. He goes for a big jump of the second

kicker. Lands its sweetly. He is outside the pace time. Everything

else seemed to fall into place. Nice, straight, true for his flight

there. Took off early, he spun twice through. 720 platter lift. --

laterally. The Russians struggling at the moment, fourth and fifth.

Doesn't think that is good enough, it might not be. Only 12 of the 20

go into the next round. This is Pavel Kolmakov from Kazakhstan, only

17. The youngest man in the contest tonight. A full twisting back

somersault, nicely landed. This is OK, coming down the central part of

the course. Coming down the middle, plenty of turns. Front flip. That is

the signature move of Per Spett. The landing wasn't as solid as he would

have liked. He might get penalised tidy aerial judges. Let's have a

look at the top jump. The landing there was OK. The turns were pretty

solid. Just a few too many to slow him down. No real mistakes, apart

from maybe this landing here. This is the second jump. Just got bounced

slightly forward, over rotated. Benjamin Cavet the leader. He has

gone into second place. That might be good enough to see him through to

the top does, through to the second round. Ben Cavet lease for France.

Kazakhstan, second. Per Spett third for Sweden. Jimi Salonen from

Finland. Skiing at the Olympic Winter games for the first time. Off

to a positive start. We follow him on the cable camera at the side of

the course. He prepares to control himself for the second jump.

Slightly tail heavy with his backside of the tales of his skis on

landing but the judges will be pleased to see the extra element.

The hand going down to grab the skis, through the rotational phase.

Not bad at all. Started with the backflip iron cross. London was OK.

-- his landing was OK. Got the grab in, right hand going down and

clinging into this key. -- the ski. Good second jump. Pretty good all

round. He just sat down over his ski. He is in seventh place. Ben

Cavet leads for France, Pavel Kolmakov second, Per Spett for

Sweden third. Jae-woo Choi from career. -- Korea.

The 19-year-old out of the ledge at the top of the course, into his

rhythm. That is a good jump, landed it sweetly. Plenty of rotation is

going on. He is at the extreme right hand edge of the course. He needs to

be careful but he has obviously picked out a good line. Final jump,

high, floating, sweet landing. Good run. Within the pace time of 25.46.

There was plenty to enjoy here. Good landing. Just slightly off-kilter.

For a couple of the terms he was a passenger over the ends of his skis.

Fabulous in these super slow motion shots. Possibly enough to take the

lead away from Ben Cavet, possibly not. It was good enough for second

place. 22.11. Ben Cavet leads for France, Jae-woo Choi, second. ,

called -- parable, golf. Patrick Deneen is next. He bounced

back with a brilliant second run. Here he goes. This is where he will

motor, consistently the fastest man on the time in these top-level

events. He is really moving through here. Second jump. The rights the

just left his control for a nanosecond on landing. Wasn't for

long. Might just affect his school. I don't think it will be good enough

for the lead which belongs to Ben Cavet. After a good start, that's

landing was good at the top. Looking for the next bump to continue the

read them. There are nine turns. This is the part of the course where

the contest is won and lost. Just went off to the side slightly. He

will pay the price for that. It would be a good score, worthy of a

top five. It is second for Patrick Deneen. Getting better all the time.

Back to the top, coming thick and fast, this is Matt Graham, the

fourth at the world championship, just missed a medal. 19 years of

age. Matt Graham on his way, the first of two Australians, he will be

followed by Brodie Summers. His first jump. The landing was pretty

solid. Look at him riding the moguls. Straight back. Beautiful,

calm upper body movement. Ripping it up here. Final jump, backflip, sweet

landing, across the line and inside the pace time. Pretty solid

all-round. The Australians will be happy with what they have seen. The

standards tonight is incredible. We have yet to see the best in the

world. None of the Canadians have gone yet. We have got the big guns,

Mikael Kingsbury and Alexandre Bilodeau to go. We've got the best

of the Russians to come also. That is great, a great shot, high above

the ski slope, holding that iron cross as long as he dares to the

backflip. What is the score for Matt Graham? It is good enough for

second. Then Cabot holds onto the lead. -- Ben Cavett holds onto the

lead. The second Aussie is ready to go,

Brodie Summers is 20, from Perth. Off he goes. A gentleman with his

ski Poles, sets up to the first kicker and a twisting back

somersault. A good landing. Starting to warm up there, Brodie Summers.

The Australian, Matt Graham, his compatriot, holding second place.

The second jump. A bit tail heavy. His backside dropped onto the tale

of his skis. He had to come back upright, and that's landing with

count against him for sure. Let's look back at the first jump.

Twisting back somersault. Lovely turns. Floating from

bumper-to-bumper. Patches on the knees just to help the judges with

their deliberations. And in iron cross thrown into that rotation at

the end, but that is the landing that would have let him down, and he

might just have a nervous wait to see if he is in the top dozen skiers

heading into the second phase of the final. He is in seventh place at the

moment, he will have to hope for some luck to go his way. And for

some misfortune to head the rest of the skiers unfold tonight. Bradley

Wilson, the second American involved. The last American to win

the title, the only American to win the title, Jonny Moseley, 1998 in

Nagano. Here goes Bradley Wilson, the younger brother of the 2010

Olympic bronze medallist. He went way too big and way too ambitious,

and going, fur potentially, a court ten of that first kicker. His chance

has gone. -- going for potentially a court ten of the first kicker. That

is unlucky for Bradley Wilson. The 21-year-old from park city, fourth

in the overall World Cup standings at the end of last season. His

Olympics will come to a close now. The standard is much too high to get

away with a big mistake like that. Going for three lateral spins and

over the tales of his skis, too far over, crash, bang.

Second jump, the damage was already done by then.

Just a formality to wait for this course to come through, and he would

be at the bottom of the pile. -- wait for his scores to come

through. His family are here, and clearly disappointed for the way

that things worked out for Bradley Wilson tonight, the younger of the

Wilson brothers. Byron Wilson was the medallist in 2010.

Dmitriy Reiherd is next ago. His third Olympic Games. He is ready to

go. He gets the count. The timing beeps as he pushes over the starting

legend goes for the first jump. He lands securely enough and now he

goes to work. He opens the throttle and his knees do their stuff between

the bumps. Solid turns from top to bottom. Has he got around on that

second jump? Just done well to settle up the landing, but the

aerial manoeuvre was pretty solid. The Kazakhstan team are here to

support Dmitriy Reiherd. There are other competitors here, there are

other competitor is Pavel Kolmakov. Can they get two entry to the next

stage of the final? Good turns. So, how have the judges gone for the

score with Dmitriy Reiherd? They have given in top spot. The

difference of opinion between the aerial judges, and he moves into

first position ahead of Benjamin Cavet.

Philippe Marquis is up next from Canada. His brother finished fourth

at the last Olympic Winter games. A twisting back somersault, that was

beautifully executed. Look at his knees, thumping away. Philippe

Marquis is skiing like a dream. Second manoeuvre, it is a good one,

not sure he can fully engage with that, but he is happy with his run.

Very much on top of his game. The time as good as well. Under 25

seconds, so within the pace time, which is 25.46. Canada still have

three to come, and Philippe Marquis has really, really raise the bar.

Delighted with how that went, and you can see some of the highlights.

The Canadians have a wonderful history in freestyle aerials. That

could be worth Philippe Marquis has got that skill to pull off such a

beautiful, full twisting back somersault. This is the second

manoeuvre. Starting to move his body through. Did not quite make the grab

to add to the degree of difficulty, but director that is good enough.

Fabulous skiing. Fast, aggressive, and first! Philippe Marquis news to

the top of the pile, Dmitriy Reiherd is second, Benjamin Cavet is third.

Five left to come. Here we go. Kicks off with a full

twisting back somersault and lands nicely. Look at him go, racing

through the moguls. The 22-year-old from Canada, beautiful skiing,

looking to match Philippe Marquis. Sets up the final jump. 1080 attempt

again and lands its weekly. Just outside of the pace time. Slows down

a fraction before launching that massive second jump. Happy with the

result. He has that a good fan club year. Solid of the first kicker with

a full twisting back somersault. Exquisite at times, good enough to

possibly take the lead away from Philippe Marquis. Slowed himself

down a fraction beforehand. A beautiful 1080 in the end. And just

not a perfect landing, but surely, top three. Possibly first position,

second position! He will progress to the next stage. He will be part of

the big 12 moving through. A good night with the Canadians. A great

Olympic venue this, for them. Sho Endo is the next person to go.

Seventh in Vancouver four years ago. The score to beat is 24.32. Sho

Endo, struggling with the first few turns, that wasn't so clever. He

will really need to make the most of the money turns at the centre of

this course. Sho Endo, trying to make up for the early mistake, not

often you see them make a mistake before the first kicker and he has

to make sure of this final jump. He puts it down and skis home. He is

not celebrating. I think he knows that that first mistake before the

first kicker might just kick him out. Let us see. There was much too

enjoyed, but things did not go to plan coming out at the start. Into a

snowplough briefly before he took off on the first kicker. Then he had

them sideways. The turns of the central part of his run, they were

good for the most part. And here is the final jump.

A double cork with a solid landing. Sho Endo waiting for his scores, how

heavy Willie BP Miller is? -- will he be penalised? He is on the cusp

at the moment. He would have to hope, it is a big hope. He would

have to hope that one of the last few fails to finish. Now, the big

Dave, Alexandr Smyshlyaev. Into the first few turns. Full twisting back

somersault. Explosive action from Alexandr Smyshlyaev. The second

kicker coming. He has to have control. He goes for the region 's

double grab and skis home in a time of 25.14, within the pace time. Nice

work. Should be enough to see him through to the next phase of the

final. Alexandr Smyshlyaev. The other Russians are off the pace

so he might be the only representative if this was good

enough for a top five finish and a guarantee of moving forward. Look at

that, got the grab on both skis, wonderful ability. That will stretch

your hamstrings. He is looking to be 24.32. He leads the way. Counts for

nothing at the moment, the scores will be scrapped, start fresh campus

in round two of the final. That has moved the standard up a few notches

and brought great excitement to the crowd. Alexandr Smyshlyaev leads the

way. Mikael Kingsbury is next to go. World champion followed by the big

champion. He has also won three of the six world cups that have taken

place. Bilodeau has taken the other three. Smooth and sweet from the

Kyle Kingsbury of Canada, 21 years of age. -- ILM 's brief.

He lands sweetly again. He is ranked as the best in the world. At the end

of last season. Just trails his great rival Alex Bilodeau in the

World Cup stand coming into this Olympic Games. Look at the

concentration on his face. Fully focused with the clear lenses in his

goggles. He tucks his body into Ray Tate, makes sure he gets the lateral

twist. -- in two rotate. He has got third. Final man on the hill in the

first round here, Alex Bilodeau. 26-year-old Olympic champion. No one

has ever successfully defended an Olympics bumps title since it was

introduced into the Olympic programme in Albertville. Nobody has

ever done it twice in a row. Bilodeau hoping to break that record

now. And become the first man to successfully win two in a row but it

will not happen with that sort of form. He will have to make up for

that. He has recovered his balance and poise. He has got to go big. It

is big. The landing is better. The damage might have been done but it

might still be enough for a place in the top 12 two advanced to the next

round. Reputation goes a long way in these parts. -- to advance. Getting

those lateral twist in. He starts to spot the landing but over rotate. --

rotates. Surfing his way out of trouble through the slush. More

problems. The judges might just penalised him. It will be dreadful

if we lost the defending champion here. Surely they will give him the

benefit of the doubt. He will continue, he is in eighth place. A

fresh canvas heading into the second round. He will have to learn from

that mistake, I am sure he will, he has got all the experience. What a

start to the final of the men's moguls as the cause workers do their

stuff, smoothing out the kickers. -- course workers. Alexandr Smyshlyaev

leads the way. These ones will join the next two names on the second

page. They will be the men advancing to the second round. Pavel Kolmakov

and pears wept. We will get to see the mountain man from Sweden go

again. -- Per Spett. CLARE BALDING: Graham Bell is there watching the

men's moguls and a couple of things I must ask about. Tell me the story

about Ben Cavet and why he is competing for France rather than

Great Britain? It is a difficult situation. It is

happening more and more. Because we don't really have a programme

funding moguls, we don't have a programme funding alpine either, it

means when kids are growing up in France or in America, they have got

to make a choice as to which nation they actually go with. A lot of the

time they are better off if they can going with the nation they are

growing up with. We are seeing a classic case now. A classic case of

the skier who has grown up in France and is racing for France, because

they are the nation that have supported him and unless we can get

a system in place where we can identify these guys when they are

early and identify talent early, we will not be able to pick up on that

and we will lose them to other nations. My brother has a daughter

in North America, she may end up racing for the Americans.

The other thing I wanted to ask about, we are just looking at Ben

Cavet now in action, Alex Bilodeau, is he lucky to have made it through?

When he made the mistake he really put the pedal down and absolutely

let it rip between the two kickers. That was what boosted his core

back-up. His group three by the skin of his teeth. The scores are all

wiped out. -- he scraped through. Just a bit of first one nervous in

the final. What sort of pressure does this

skiing put on your body, particularly your knees? Can it be

only done by youngsters? Surprisingly there are people who do

manage to keep their bodies in shape and continue to do it but a lot of

knees and lower back, you need good core strength. It takes an awful lot

of hand and lower back, you need good core strength. It takes an

awful lot of handing on the body. Not something for me to be going up

and doing. I do think either of us could do

that. I couldn't, because I don't ski well enough. Alex Bilodeau says

he wants to move on in life after these Olympics. He has named this as

his retirement year and says he has other goals he wants to achieve.

He is raining Olympian bash he is the reigning Olympic champion. His

protege watching him compete in Vancouver, he upped the bar, and

Alex Bilodeau has had a hard job of taking on Kingsbury and catching him

up. He has caught him up this year. There have been six World Cup races.

The victories have all been shared between the two Canadians. Bilodeau

is on the ascendancy so it should be interesting when we get to the

final. And having the Russian in their will add to a bit of an must

fear in the finish area. -- a bit of atmosphere. You can pick up an

injury very easily. We have got the men's Slopestyle skiing, not. --

coming up. Jamie has had a nasty crash in training, we don't know the

state of his injury. Fingers crossed we can work some magic.

We can hopefully get him training and get him safely through to

compete on Thursday. And Katie Summerhayes, she is

competing tomorrow. She in good shape?

She is in good shape, looking forward to it, raring to go.

Encouraged by the performance of Jenny Jones, she was at the finish

area watching, jumping up and down with delight. Great to watch her

competing tomorrow. She will be starting early doors so if you fancy

turning on for the qualifying it will be early in the morning back in

the UK. He would go, my personal favourite,

Per Spett going first. A little mistake before the first

kicker but he made the most of his time in the. Here he comes, the

mountain man who spends the off-season down a mine ironing for

iron ore -- mining for iron ore. His Olympic Games and is right here. He

pulls off the trademark Superman front flip to keep the crowds happy.

He realised he was losing control. First to go in the first round of

the final. He held his place in the top 12, but he will go no further.

First jump, backflip iron cross with a grab in front of the toe piece

landing on his left ski. Suddenly was a passenger, caught out by one

of these ruts. They have been on the course in numbers softening the

landing area trying to keep the course as fair as possible. He was

still able to produce his trademark signature jump. Superman with a

front flip, but it is over now. Only six goes through and he will not be

one of them. 13.47. That leads the way for the

moment, but not for long, I am sure. Pavel Kolmakov from Kazakhstan, the

17-year-old, what a competition he has had so far. He is on his way,

performing way beyond anything we have seen at World Cup level

throughout the season. Looking for a place in the final six. Heavy

landing. Right under his feet. Managed to pick himself back-up.

Here we go. These terms are pretty solid, he is working hard. -- turns.

Superman front flip. Good enough to take the lead. How long he will hold

it depends on what the others have up their sleeve. Some of them will

have held something in reserve for this next round. Heavy landing.

A huge workrate in the middle part of the course. Round he went. Second

jump. Good enough for the lead. It will not be a very big score though.

He needs a lots of luck to go any further. Jae-woo Choi is next.

Really exciting to watch. Final adjustments. He is ready to

ski. He hopes it isn't the last time. He needs to cruise through

here, get it right. Two lateral turns. Got himself in a bit of

trouble. He is out of the course and out of the contest. That is an awful

long way to come to be eliminated at this stage. His skis got crossed

shortly after he has settled into the rhythm of the bumps after the

first kicker, puts down a lovely jump to showboat at the end of the

run. He skied out of the course so he will be disqualified. That is

where it ends. Started pretty well with the mistake in the first run

approaching the first kicker. Better this time. The first jump was landed

pretty solidly. Then got his ski tips crossed for a split second. The

right ski went off on its own. He was losing control and balance. A

few injuries during the course of qualification. Big crashes. He

decided self preservation was the order of the day and decided to put

on the brakes. It is over for him. Pavel Kolmakov second, , I beg your

pardon, he leads. We will head back to the top. Now, Patrick Deneen,

bronze medallist previously. Regularly the fastest man from top

to bottom. Let us see what he has got here. Looking for a top six. The

first rotation, beautifully done. Now, his knees are going to work,

pumping them like pistons, driving through the turns. Very little from

side to side. The backflip with an iron cross and the speed is a

men's. 24 dead, that is the second and a half quicker than the pace

time. He is regularly the fastest man from top to bottom, and in the

meantime, goodness knows how many turn to put in. This is his first

court 720, a little bit scruffy. The turns were great. Leading position

at the moment for Patrick Deneen. How big with his lead be? -- will

his lead be? That might be enough to see him through to the final six, he

will have to see what happens with the rest of them. Four down, a ago.

Patrick Deneen is in the lead, Pavel Kolmakov in second, purse better

still hanging in there, but it will not last for a long, I believe.

Alexandre Bilodeau, starting uncharacteristically earlier for

him. -- early frame. First few turns are solid, a beautiful landing this

time. Nothing wrong with this from Alexandre Bilodeau, the Canadian who

trains away from the Canadian team. He has made a mass of one turn, that

is all. He gets a grab on the tail of his skis, did beautiful run from

Alexandre Bilodeau, and starting to move up through big ears. Much

happier with that run down the run he had ten minutes ago when he was

really in trouble. This is the first jump, rotating laterally. Looking

further landing. It was good this time. That is where it went wrong in

the first run. One little diversion, one little mistake, but it was

pretty solid throughout. Should be good enough for first second as he

went through the big iron cross and attempted grab. 23.32 to beat. If he

is better than that, he would be leading the way, and that is what he

has got. Alexandre Bilodeau is back in the game, and he is in the lead,

Patrick Dineen second. -- Patrick Deneen.

Here is the last Australian standing. Matt Graham, getting a bit

of a run-up the start. Looking for some speed of the lead and right at

the outer ledge of the course which is ten metres ride. -- wide. Ripping

through these moguls, he prefers this line on the left. He floats it

round, landed perfectly, and excellent run again from Matt

Graham. Skiing so consistently here tonight. Just 19 years of age. Just

missed a medal last winter in Norway at the world Championships. Much too

enjoyed. Silhouetted against the night sky, wonderful shots of the

slushy bombs exploding with the pressure of the skis carving

through. Matt Graham has given himself a real chance of moving

through with the rest of the best six to the final-round, to the medal

ski off here. It is third, Alexandre Bilodeau leads, Patrick Deneen is

second. Here is the Englishman who races for France who skis for

France, Benjamin Cavet. He is from the south of England. The only

Frenchman in the contest, and he is on his way. Benjamin Cavet, skiing

for France here. First aerial, it is a good one. Soft and sweet on the

landing, and this is her he has done his best. So relaxed. Did not start

the contest well tonight. He bounced back with a brilliant second run.

The second kicker is coming, he has got down! Baking some turns, it is

slow on the clock, but otherwise, it is beautiful. He is above the pace

time. Where will Benjamin Cavet's score

put him? Five left to come after the Frenchman. The coach liked it. It

was pretty solid from top to bottom. The top three beckons here.

Surely, the top three for Benjamin Cavet. No, it is a top four. Just a

funeral best moments on the way down. Per Spett is the man on the

cusp again, he is in sixth place. We have four men latched to come, so

only Alexandre Bilodeau and Patrick Deneen are guaranteed a place in the

final six of the moment. Some nervous skiers at the bottom of the

course as we look at the next of the skiers from Kazakhstan, and Dmitriy

Reiherd. This is good, the knees and the skis

absolutely ripping through here. The second jump, pulling off the big

one. He banks a feud turns and he crosses the line in 24.71, well

inside the pace. -- he banks of U-turns.

Supporters and fellow members of the Kazakhstan team, the crowd is

strangely quiet apart from the Kazakhstan supporters. They are

saving their noise for Alexandr Smyshlyaev, the last Russian to go

in this round of 12. Half will go through with a shot at the medal,

the other half will have to watch from the sidelines. A cork 720 to

finish. Beautiful skiing from Dmitriy Reiherd who have gone into

second position. That puts guaranteed into the top six through

to the final phase, Alexandre Bilodeau leads, Patrick Deneen is in

third. Gagnon is ready to go now, the

22-year-old from Quebec. He is ready to ski. Exciting, he explodes in,

and inventive skier. A full twisted back somersault and beautifully

floated with wonderful form in the air and a perfect landing. Look at

him carving it up here, destructive, beautiful skiing from Gagnon. Over

the final kicker and gets the landing, one of the best of the

night from Gagnon. The Canadians are live here tonight. Alexandre

Bilodeau leads, Gagnon might just move ahead of him, and they are

still waiting for Kingsbury and is Philippe Marquis yet to come.

Kingsbury, Philippe Marquis and Alexandr Smyshlyaev the last three

left to go. Facilitating the rapid rotation is all the way through. A

big degree of difficulty with these aerial manoeuvrings. So, that might

just be the new leader, let us see what the judges make of it, yes,

first position! If it stays like that, he will be last to go in the

final-round with a scorer of 24.16. The Canadians are still looking for

a clean sweep your tonight, they still have got two to come, and here

is the next one. Mikael Kingsbury. He is ready to go. The 21-year-old,

second in the World Cup standings, the world champion, three World Cup

wins this season, and going big on the first jump and a perfect

landing. Look at his back, it is rock-solid and steady and his

shoulders are barely moving, and his head is just focused forward and it

is all happening with his hands and below the waist. Barely a movement

out of the perfect moguls skiing. Textbook, beautiful skiing from

Mikael Kingsbury. He might just raise the bar again, and maybe we

will have a Canadian one, and maybe we will have a Canadian one, two,

three at the end of this penultimate round of the final. The score to

beat is 21.46, I imagine he would be in the top three with that. I

imagine Dmitriy Reiherd will be knocked down a place. This is where

the work really counts. Everything above the waist is just solid and

relaxed and stable. I think that is good enough for a good position --

first position. With just Philippe Marquis and Alexandr Smyshlyaev to

come, Kingsbury is in the lead. Getting better and better. Kingsbury

is in the lead, Gagnon second, Alexandre Bilodeau was in third.

Another comedian coming, Philippe Marquis. -- another Canadian.

Wonderful depth of talent within the men and women's moguls skiing in the

Canadian cop, and here goes. A full, twisting back somersault. A little

wild at times, he is certainly pushing the limits here. The limits

of control, the limits of speed. Philippe Marquis, ripping it up, the

final jump, Roti goes! A solid landing, will that be enough with

the top six? The Canadians holding first, second, third. At the moment,

Kazakhstan have fourth. The Australian is the man waiting

nervously now, he could be pushed out of the final by this performance

from Philippe Marquis. It wasn't perfect, but it was fast and it was

loose. A little bit to lose at times. The Canadians everywhere,

first, second and third, will they have four of the final six

contenders? In which case, they will be guaranteed a medal. Fingers

crossed. Fingers crossed Philippe Marquis and they are taking their

time to collate his score and he is not going any further. He has not

quite done enough. It was a little bit too loose for the judges. And

relief format Graham who hold fonts to sixth position. -- relief for

Matt Graham. And finally, it is the Russian, Alexandr Smyshlyaev. He has

been waiting patiently at the top. So, it is still Matt Graham who is

on the cusp of progressing and going for a medal or watching from the

sidelines, it depends on what Alexandr Smyshlyaev can produce

here. The noise level is rising at the foot of the course as he comes

off the ledge. He makes the first of the terms and floating around a

full, twisting back somersault. The Tranter starting to work and this is

good scheme from the Russian. It is good enough. No mistakes so far. If

he nailed the final jump, he would be going forward. Great skiing for

the Russian. I am not sure it is good enough to take away the lead

from Kingsbury. But surely, we will see the Russian through to the top

six and skiing for a chance of a medal here tonight. Kingsbury is in

the lead, Gagnon second, Alexandre Bilodeau was in third. Matt Graham

is not safe in sixth position, you could be dislodged by Alexander