Day 6, Part 2 Winter Olympics

Good afternoon and welcome back to Sochi and to the Iceberg Skating

Palace. Yesterday this was an arena for beauty, elegance and grace.

Today it has been transformed into a race track and the Winter Olympics

version of the fast and the furious. There is a fall, they have all gone!

And he will be the Olympic gold medallist! It is a race track that

is going to have a Brit in the final. If you were watching earlier,

you will know that Elise Christie has won through to the final of the

women's 500 metres final, the first woman to do so. If she were to win a

medal, she would be the first Briton to do so. Her best event is the 1000

metres. This is how she got through. Three Chinese skaters against Elise

Christie and it is the first two that will go through. Not a

particularly good start from Christie. There is a fall. One

skater has gone already, one of the big favourites. Elise Christie is

looking very good indeed. She is tapping the rhythm out and this will

be very hard. She is fully inspired as we are into the back straight.

She has put the other two to the sword. Within a lap of getting

through to the final. Christie, she runs through to the line. She may

finish second, but that is good enough to see her into the final.

There is the result confirmed. We are waiting to see if Christie can

make her way to the final. She is in brilliant shape, let's find out more

about a 23-year-old Scot who might be about to get a lot more famous.

Elise Christie, British Short track. To be top of the game, you need to

sacrifice everything. Just before the race, I was thinking about

things that could go wrong, things that could happen. Putting a lot of

pressure on myself for those things not to happen. I was becoming a bit

panicky. It is easier to get rid of the pressure and think, I haven't

done it before. I have never won an Olympic medal, I have never been in

an Olympic final, so anything I can do above quarterfinal level is going

to be an achievement. Everyone is saying that I am a medal hope. But I

could fall over in the first round and that could be my Olympics over.

Unfortunately not always the strongest people win.

Yes, Elise Christie in the final of the women's 500 metres. The first

British woman to make a short track final. Were she to win a medal, it

would be the first British woman to do that. The B final will be up

shortly, for the athletes who finished third and fourth. A slight

delay at the moment. How exciting is this, how big a moment for short

track? How big a moment? It is absolutely massive. We have been

speculating. Nicky Gooch got himself a bronze medal a long time ago in

Albertville. In fact, Lillehammer in 1994. He actually got through to the

final of the 1000 as well but he got disqualified. For the lady speed

skating, it is sensational. This event made its inception in

Albertville in 1992. When you look through the results, which have been

dominated by America, Canada and China, a bog area got this over in

Salt Lake City and Torino. -- a Bulgarian got the silver. And

Fontana has got a bronze. But they are the only intruders and Elise

Christie has a big chance. Not only that, she has done a superb lane

draw in that final. The start position of three. I am going to

call her for a medal, absolutely. So am I, I would like to get a medal.

Four skaters in the podium contest and we will be rooting for the 23

old from Livingston in Scotland. -- 23-year-old. Last year she was

ranked number one in the 1000, she hasn't had a great season this year.

Crashes and one or two problems but I think that has played into her

hands because she has put her form together and hasn't been the

pressure on her, if she had come here as number one in the 1000. What

has also been good and well-balanced is the way the team have been

handling the processes going into these games. They are introducing

the skaters to the line, ready for the B final. Called to the line

first is Liu of China, the overall winner of the World Cup for 2012.

Alongside home will be St-Gelais who won the silver in this event at the

last Olympics. She also got a silver in the relay. Alongside her will be

Ter Mors, 24 years old from the Netherlands. The current European

champion. Completing the line-up here in the minor final will be,

just 20 years of age, also from China, second overall in the World

Cup contest that has just finished. They are called to the start, this

is the minor final for the classification places from fifth to

eighth. We are away, no. , right on the front is Liu of China. -- there

were no false starts. A gap to St-Gelais, the Canadian. As they

come around here, it is Liu of China who is leading. Second is Ter Mors,

the European champion. This is where it gets critical with one and a half

laps to go. There is no change at the front. Liu of China from Ter

Mors of the Netherlands. It looks like Ter Mors might try to get

through to the front. But no, that is how it finishes. The wind goes to

Liu who finishes fifth in the competition -- the win goes to.

There you can see how important the lane position is. In lane number one

she has the shortest run, and the Chinese skater really used that to

her advantage. St-Gelais in second place, really being squeezed I Ter

Mors and the Chinese girl on the inside. Coming out of the last

turn, going to the line, it might be that the Chinese skater on the

outside... Yes, Fan has come through and pushed Ter Mors out of second

place. A 124 China in the B final. With the Dutch data, Ter Mors in

third. -- the Dutch skater. Now, then, stand-by the excitement. There

is Elise Christie, already waiting for the call to the line. This is

going to be some contest, there will be no charitable hand-outs. We are

getting near to the dice on the ice for the three podium positions. From

what I have seen from Elise Christie, she is in the form of her

life and she will attack this with unbridled passion. She wants a

medal. They are waiting for the call to the line. First of all it will be

the 21-year-old Korean who got two bronze medals in Vancouver. She is

going to get enhanced now. As a matter of fact her brother is also

skating here. She is waiting to put her helmet on and. On the inside. It

is Park Seung-Hi of Korea. Right alongside her, representing Italy,

will be the bronze medal winner at this event four years ago, and she

got bronze in the relay into Reno, Arianna Fontana of Italy. A former

European champion -- in Turin. Andrew presenting Great Britain, 23

years of age, former world ranked number one for the 1000, Elise

Christie. And completing the line-up here for China is Jianrou Li.

They are calming their nerves. Christie is getting ready to embrace

the challenge. She is teeing herself up for a tilt at a podium position.

For an half laps of the Iceberg Skating Palace. -- four and a half

laps. Elise Christie needs to get a good start. We are away first time.

No, we are not. Full art. I thought they were going to let them go. -- a

false start. Who was culpable? I think it was the Korean skater, Park

Seung-Hi. In lane number one, you can just see her moving. Yes, the

adrenaline rush... The nerves are twitching now. All of the skaters

are only allowed one. The -- allowed one false start. Christie looks

relaxed and calm. She has just had a warning. For the second time of

asking, the ladies 500 metres... And away cleanly this time. And Park

Seung-Hi of Korea gets the front position. Fontana has been

overhauled. They have gone down, they have all gone down, there is

only one skater left standing, Li Jianrou of China. Now they are

skating for the medals, Christie is in second place. She comes storming

through, she will try to claim the silver medal. She was being chased

by Fontana of Italy. The win will go to Li Jianrou of China. Fontana has

almost bridged out to Christie as they come around for the silver and

bronze medals. The gold medal goes to Li Jianrou. Elise Christie,

coming up to the line, she takes the silver medal. History has been made

here. We wait to see what result will stand but it was a great skate

by Kirsty, she recovered, she got up off the eyes and finished in second.

-- great skate by Christie. The question is, what is going to happen

to Elise Christie, she charged down the inside. It was a battle between

Fontana and Christie. She was just talking to Nicky Gooch, the coach.

Do you think that decision will stand? It will be very tight indeed.

We hope the result is going to stand. It is on the board. I really

fear the worst. We can see it again. The start was clean, coming out of

that first bend. Christie charges down the inside. There was not an

awful lot of room. Crashed straight into Fontana. You think Christie

could end fourth? I think she may receive a penalty which would be

such a shame. She is skating so well. Park Seung-Hi from Korea, I

don't think they touched her. I think Christie's hand might have

caught the left side. Marginal, surely, it looked as though she went

down of her own volition. Quickly recovered and went down again. I

don't think Fontana and Christie touched her. But Li Jianrou, they

were ceremonial laps of honour for her. All of the coaches on the side

protest in. The Italians feel like they have been completely penalised.

The electronic scoreboard in front of us, it is not confirmed on the

screen yet, it is showing that Christie has been penalised and

placed fourth. There it is, how sad is that? Ariana Fontana elevates

herself one place higher than Vancouver. I think the sport needs

to review its rules and regulations for instances like this. When

something happens so early on in the race, it makes the end result of the

race not really badly. You are absolutely right there. Well, such

disappointment. History has been made, of course, because Elise

Christie is the first British ladies' skater ever since the

event's inception in 1992 to make it into a final. Discussions going on

with Nicky Gooch. He is questioning it, but the referee's decision is

final. The decision has been made but sometimes it is nice if the

coach has an understanding of why something has happened. I said at

the top of the commentary that Christie would attack it with

unbridled passion and I also said there would be no charitable

hand-outs. Rather sadly, there is no charity there and that collision has

been assessed and looked at and the upshot of it is is Christie has been

penalised and sadly, after finishing second, she has had to settle for

fourth place. I suppose if we can draw anything from it, her former

sensational and she looks to me to be in the unequivocal form of her

life. When she moves on to a greater distance, 1,000m, her speciality,

she must be in with an incredibly good chance of getting a medal.

Absolutely. The whole build-up to these Olympic Games, she has been so

relaxed, you even mentioned it on the start line, and I am concerned

she may have panicked a little bit. There was still four laps of the

race to go. Yes, a great disappointment. We thought at least

Elise Christie would be on the podium with that silver medal but,

rather sadly, she has been penalised. So the official result is

the gold medal going to Li Jianrou of China, the silver going to

Arianna Fontana of Italy and the bronze going to Park Seung-Hi. And

sadly, Elise Christie, having to settle for fourth. I think we will

still hear a lot more about Elise Christie in the next two events.

JONATHAN EDWARDS: Massive disappointment for Elise Christie.

We have just seen the British disappointment for Elise Christie.

We have just seen short track skating teams filing past with glum

looks on their faces. We had a great view from here and it did look like

she had no track to go on and it probably was the right decision, but

nonetheless, a great disappointment. But not her strongest event, she

looks in great nick in the 1,000m and we will hear from her when she

has recovered from disappointment. Now a slight change of atmosphere

and pace, we after the Ice Cube, the curling, Dave Murdoch are against

the US, in the last and, Steve Cram and Jackie standing by -- in the

last end. STEVE CRAM: A really difficult

situation for the Americans. They had been in this situation all

afternoon. Party their own fold, partly their own strategy and shot

execution, but by and large, good play from Great Britain. Dave

Murdoch and his team have responded really well right from the off,

controlled this all the way through. So although America have the last

stone in this end, not many options here. Even if they manage to take

one here as they move into the last, the hammer would be back with Great

Britain. JACKIE LOCKHART: yes, John Schuster

shaking his head, not sure what to play. He is trying to get the two

out of this, but at the moment, I am not seeing it happen -- wrote John

Shuster. They finally made their mind up after a lot of discussion.

They could have done with some of that earlier today, but you can tell

just by the look on John Shuster's face, he doesn't have a lot of faith

in the ability to rescue this situation. I think he's just going

to hit some of the shots and roll into what he the pocket. -- what he

calls. Just looks like he isn't playing with any conviction, like he

doesn't think they can rescue this. He was hoping to sit in front of the

two red stones. Sir David will sit in front on his own two, he has

another one on the back as well. Just almost sitting left of Greg

Drummond's brush there would be a fantastic shot. Whatever the

outcome, as long as he removes this, he will be forcing the USA to

only try and get one. They will go down the last two up. He has called

the guys off and then back on. A bit straight. On and off, on and off, it

must have been close, but they needed to let it come a little bit

more. Well, he can take one here. Yes, if we think positively about

this, at the end of the day, the outcome is you have forced the one

and in any other match committee would be quite happy you had forced

your opposition into a one and Yuko into the final end -- and you go

into the final end with the hammer. A slightly forlorn situation. If he

takes the one, Mohammed transfers to Great Britain in the final end

coming up -- the hammer transfers. So just the one to the USA. And that

is about as much they could have hoped for in the end. Not even a

glimmer of a smile. He knows that although that has reduced the

deficit by one, it really hasn't changed the situation in the match.

Great Britain on top since the very beginning and after nine ends, still

a two shot lead with the last stone advantage in the last. They jumped

out to a three shot lead when America had the hammer in the first

three ends, didn't use it at all. The USA didn't score until the

fourth and even then, they just gave one up. A hello to the Russian

crowds. They haven't had a lot to cheer. The Russian men on the sheet,

right over the far side from the one we are playing on, they are

currently 6-3 down to Switzerland and Switzerland needed that win.

European champions, lost to Great Britain, of course, last night. The

winds are getting crucial for all team -- the victories are getting

crucial for all teams. Canada are currently leading against Denmark

and a real ding-dong battle between Norway and Sweden on the sheet next

to this match here. We just need Britain to finish this

off now. It doesn't even cross. Another error. To be honest, their

lead is the one who hasn't been that bad, but even he is finding it

difficult to come into this with any real enthusiasm in the last end. I

can't believe they have been like this, their demeanour has been

terrible. OK, so they went three down in the first three ends, but at

halfway, they went out of the match at all. We said it earlier, like

they are almost here for a holiday and not actually to win a medal. I

have not really been impressed by their demeanour or their outlook

here today. I am sure they haven't been, but they just don't give the

impression that this means a lot to them.

This one really has to stop out of the house. That is OK. So, I would

quite like to give a little shout out to the people back home, I have

been asked to emphasise that I have all week being encouraging people to

go onto the trycurling website to find their Locust, and I am hearing

there are not many in the South -- to find their local ones. That is in

Sheffield. That might be south to you, it is in the North of England!

I am in Aberdeen. We have been hearing this from other countries,

the opportunities that the Olympics offers with the sports, particularly

in Asia, where the sport is grown quickly. Great Britain's women, they

beat China today and they play against Japan and Korea next, the

sports are really growing there and it would be nice to see more people

playing back home. So Dave Murdoch asking Scott Andrews to remove this

stone from the front of the house. So just no mistakes here, you have

the last stone advantage to take the guards away. Doesn't matter if they

don't score at all in this end, they are leading and nothing silly, just

concentrate each shot and, seriously, almost half-hearted

efforts, and I'm not trying to be overly critical, but they seemed to

give this match up almost if not after the fifth end, then certainly

the last two or three. They have just played too many push-ups. I

think you would agree, Jackie -- to many who poor shots. Not playing to

their strengths. Yes, I would reiterate that. Not taking anything

away from the team of Great Britain, these boys have been performing very

well and look like they will be just building up to full strength in time

for, hopefully, matches at a later stage. Just saw a broom described it

there by Jeff Isaacson, I don't know if it was a fit of pique, but he has

gone then the other end -- a broom discarded. He has picked up another,

so maybe he wasn't happy with the brush. I think he has been sliding

with that brush all the game I think once you start sliding with the

brush, you must use that brush all the time. He will sweep with the

pad. Quite a lot of the teams do that.

So once more, Dave Murdoch will ask Greg Drummond to take this guard

away. You get the feeling he is loving this. If you look at the

stats, Goodfellow today, 90%, Scott Andrews 94%, Greg Drummond, 90%.

They can rip the skip, he is only 81%! That is great shooting. We are

going to give Dave the benefit of the doubt here. Often, they will be

left with the more technical shots. Sometimes you get a four and other

times a complete zero. It might not be the most exciting game to in --

the most exciting end to the game, but the hard work was done early.

Like yesterday, they got a stranglehold in the match. It was

tougher against Switzerland, they had to concentrate until the very

end and Sven Michel, the Swiss skip, did his best to disrupt them until

the very end. It has not been in evidence from John Shuster, the

American skip. He has tried a couple of things, but not enough. It will

be significant, all of the results this afternoon. Canada, the gold

medal favourites, hot favourites in the men's competition, are in a real

tussle with Denmark six. Canada do have the hammer, though. -- 6-6. I

think a lot of eyes in the arena are accepting that this is over. We will

be very happy with this performance from the British men. Almost going

through the motions here. Yes, USA are kind of running out of stones

here. Dave is probably going to clear the front one which will leave

Shuster with no other option to bring it in the house. I expect Dave

to ping one of them out and finish of this game. We have seen a couple

of odd things happen. I keep mentioning the Russian skip, all she

had to do was put a stone into an empty house to tie the match, she

sent it all the way through. Funnier things have happened. I think David

needs to apply himself here. That is good... I thought it was going to be

a disaster... That is it because there is only one stone left for the

OSA. It will be a great victory and a dominant victory for Great

Britain. -- one stone left for the USA. It has put them into a strong

standing, four wins from five matches. America, never in this.

They had a hammer to begin with, they did not use it at all. Britain

jumped to a lead and from then it was a case of controlling the match,

which they did superbly well. All of them playing top-class curling. And

never gave the Americans a chance of getting back into it.

So, David Murdoch, all smiles and why not? Great Britain winning 5-3

against the USA. David Murdoch and his boys

progressing nicely to what we hope will be the final stages and a tilt

at the medals. We just saw a tilt at the medals in the women's 500 metres

short track, in the Iceberg Skating Palace. Elise Christie skater

Brindley to get to the final. However -- brilliantly. However, it

did not quite work out the way that she hoped and planned. She came down

the straight, she looked for a gap which really was not there. As a

result she was disqualified. She picked herself up but there was no

medal for Elise Christie and no medal for Team GB. Afterwards she

spoke to Jason Mohammad. medal for Team GB. Afterwards she

spoke to Jason Hard lines, everybody has their own opinion of what

happened. What happened from your viewpoint? It was chaos. I knew that

the Chinese girl would try to come at the end so I didn't want to be

doing the attacking. I had the speed, I moved up. Unfortunately the

girl hit me off my feet and that meant I hate everyone else as I went

down. It is how it goes, it is a 50-50 call and the referee made his

decision. My opinion is different but everyone will have different

opinions. That is the way short track is. You saw the gap and you

went for it? There was a little gap, I knew I had more speed at that

point and I had to use it when I had it because I didn't want to be in

third. I used my instinct and unfortunately I am regretting that,

wishing I sat in front and took a medal. I went for the win and that

is the way it went. You got back up, you are in silver medal position, I

think you had that in your hands for about three minutes I made it. When

you went to your coach, did you think you would be penalised? No...

I thought she had hit me. I was not sure whether it was going to go my

Way or hers. Short track is always a 50-50 chance. I didn't think it was

going to be me but it was and you have to respect the referee's

decision. In your heart, do you think it was the wrong decision? I

haven't watched it, I can't really comment. During the race I thought I

was in front. It always looks different to how it feels. I don't

really want to comment but I respect the decision and I can't change

that. You have done so well to get here and in the build-up you looked

so relaxed and focused. Skating so beautifully. I was really relaxed

today, just with it not being my main event. When I made the final I

was just happy and relaxed and chilled out. If it was the 1000

metres you would probably have seen a different skater. Unfortunately,

short track, can't do anything about it. What did Nicky say to you? When

he watched the video he didn't think I should have been penalised. But

everyone has a different opinion. You have the 1000 and 1500 to go.

Yes, I will use the next day to get my head back together and then go

for it. The whole of the country is behind you, I am sure you have every

sympathy. Hard lines today. What Jason said is right, the whole

country is behind her. The 1500 is our best chance, she is the reigning

European champion. She showed a she is in medal form, she is in

fantastic condition. Lizzy Yarnold is our best chance of the gold medal

and it will come up at the Sanki Sliding Center.

Who better to give us the inside track than the defending champion,

BBC's Amy Williams? Here we are at the Sanki Sliding

Center. It is a track that is 1500 metres long, 17 corners. It has been

made beautifully, it is the best track I have ever seen. This start

is beautiful. It is long and flat. The athletes will have to decide the

crucial point when to load onto their sled. It is designed for the

Russians because they are very good starters, especially in the men's

field. The push is really important, and to continue that

through the first few corners. You don't want to lose any time you just

want to keep the power from the start. As of corner five, this is

where the technical bit of the track starts. We have three uphill

sections in this track which are really unique, no other track has

had that before. One of them comes out of this corner. You don't notice

it when the athletes go down how steep this is, but you notice it and

if they are lying on the ice, they will see the uphill. It is important

they don't move around on their sled because they will be skidding. If

you hit a wall here, you are wasting a lot of time. Pretty steep on the

way down here, a 19% drop out of the seventh corner. A big corner, Number

ten, four .5 it is really hard to see what the

corner looks like. This is corner 12 and 13. Into 14. Vital, the athletes

will probably take a clip on the left to align themselves but four

corners left. Keep that speed. Precision is vital, aerodynamics is

really important. Exit 17, finish line just there. Hopefully, if

everything has gone to plan, you will get over in a Rudiger time for

the bit as a technical track, it is beautiful, the ice is wonderful and

I have high hopes for the Team GB medal winners.

As easy as that, not! I saw that Mark Cavendish tweeted saying how

impressed he was at the speed. If he is impressed, you know it is very

fast. If you were not up early this month, this is what happened in the

first and second runs. COMMENTATORS: We don't know what

sort of shape Pikus-Pace is in. Her training has been spasmodic to say

the least but she is a former world champion, fourth in the last Olympic

Games, she can slide. Amy, you were a great starter in your time. There

is a chance to make it up down the track, especially with the uphill

sections. Yes, she will be ready happy. Rumours that she has been ill

so she has only been on the track a few times. So far a solid looking

run. A tiny skid in the tricky section. The exit of nine through to

ten. You don't have quite as much control as the lugers. You have got

to get that position right and get your sled set up perfectly. She has

had a few skids, it is a bit out of control. I think she will be more

nervous than the others from the lack of training runs. She set the

target and she will be pleased with that, it is a track record to start

off with so the ice must be in tremendous condition. The ice is

amazing, this track is the best I have ever seen. British spectators

might be wondering who Elisabeth Yarnold is. She has been around for

a few years, she has already won a world championship. She has already

won four World Cups and now she is going for Olympic gold. She won the

World Cup season after this powers dark, that is Truman does. It is

even quicker than the old record. Yarnold has powered it. Nothing

conservative. She has given it all. Her form is perfect. Heads down,

shoulders down, feet together, so much more aerodynamic and so far,

clean lines. Out of seven through eight. Over a quarter of a second up

on her number one rival, this is unbelievable. Unbelievable from

Lizzy, she has nailed her training, she has so much confidence and you

can see that through here, perfect. She lost a bit of time through 11 to

14, she is still over two tenths up. Two tenths in the lead and 58.86 to

beat. She has done it by a quarter of a second. 58.43, another track

record. This competition has got off to a blistering start. She was going

to be happy with that, she took a clip above corner 11, it is an

uphill sections that is an area that could have lost her time. The tap is

probably better in skeleton than trying to make a steer. Shelley

Rudman, the best-known of British lied is at the moment, she has been

around for quite some time -- best-known of British sliders. She

gets a silver medal in 2006. Here we go. She starts her Olympic campaign

here. She gets away well. Anything close to 5.10 will be good. She is

only given away the best part of two tenths. We know that this is a long

track and it gives someone of Shelley's experience the time to

reel back in Yarnold. She doesn't have the momentum from that start,

she will have the ready work it down the bottom. Between corners five and

15 is the re-technical part, you have got to nail those lines, that

is where you will get the speed to carry on -- the really technical

part. She has struggled in these uphill sections in training but she

is looking good so far. Through 14, backed up the hill, she took a clip.

She will have lost some speed and she will not trouble Yarnold now.

Shelley Rudman is coming through, and just finishing in third place.

She is behind Pikus-Pace. It was a disappointing run for Shelley

Rudman. She took the same clip out of corner 11 but it affected her

more, she was pinged across onto the other side of the wall and that

would have slowed her down. Lizzy Yarnold leading, Nikitina in second

and Pikus-Pace in third. It is a Briton who lives. Shelley Rudman of

Great Britain, supported ably by her husband. Usually a good starter. And

this time, she has started well. You can see she is already doing little

head movements, bringing her down into the first corner correctly.

Shelley has an advantage over Flock of just 100th of a second. Let me

bring in Amy Williams, former team-mate and Olympic gold

medallist. Shelley has just lost a little bit there to Flock out of the

start. A little bit. Shelley is getting better and better every run,

she is leading the track more and you only get a limited amount of

time on it. We never know, the ice conditions could be slowing as

well. Yes, she has gone ahead by a hundredth of a second. Can't afford

a mistake there. She is keeping clean lines in these parts and she

has corrected the mistake. She is learning with every single run. And

she has improved. Seven hundredths of a second, absolutely superb by

Shelley Rudman. That means she stays in exactly the same place for the

time being. That is great for Shelley, you never want to be

shifting down positions, you always want to be creeping up, so she will

be really happy with that. Pica -- Pikus-Pace third at the moment. This

is one of the athletes that will be pressuring Yarnold for the gold

medal. She is not a brilliant starter but she is so big and

powerful and has such good aerodynamic form. She has gone

behind Uhlaender by three hundredths. It is by how much she

extends away that is the question. She and Lizzy Yarnold very similar

sliders, lying with the weight behind them. Obviously, being the

bigger, heavier girl if you take and Cora Tapp, you will slow down more

quickly, but so far, a really good run -- a knock or a tap. Still up.

Accelerating down the last part of the track. This is genetic. --

dramatic. Pikus-Pace ran well. She brought back a quarter of a second

through the final two bands. She flies through the air brilliantly,

the fastest top speed we have seen so far. One athlete to go, the aim,

another track record. Gets down in the perfect driving position and she

goes. And is she going to break the track record? Not quite, but you can

see the advantage she has over Pikus-Pace already, over four

tenths. She annihilated the start up Pikus-Pace. -- the start of. Over

half a second after bend too. Perfect lines here, strong and

aerodynamic. They do a lot of work in wind tunnels are affecting that

position. So far, this is an unbelievable run. The best run we

have had so far, but can she keep it up? Ahead of everybody at the

moment, that is brilliant. As long as she doesn't take a big hit. A

little tap there, she may lose a few fractions, but no more than a tenth

of a second. Half a second upcoming to the line. No point for four ahead

-- zero point 0.44 ahead of anyone else in the

world. Shelley Rudman is in 11th place, she moved up one place. My

goodness, what excitement we have had this morning. Ideally, going

into the second day, I would be second or third so poorly run

tomorrow, I wouldn't be the first to go. That can always be tricky if you

have any track delays, being the first one up, so it is something I

had to contend with tomorrow, but really, therefore -- the race is

only halfway through, so just back to the drawing board with the

coach, talking about lines and how we can improve it tomorrow.

JONATHAN EDWARDS: And you can see those final two runs tomorrow live

with us from Sochi from 3:30pm. Put that in your diary. It could be Team

GB's first gold medal. If Lizzy Yarnold's start has been perfect, it

has been anything but for Eve Muirhead and the curlers. They have

played three and lost too, albeit close matches. They are in action

against China, we join it at the 10th end, it is 7-7, incredibly

tense once again. Jackie Lockhart and Steve Cram describing the

action. JACKIE LOCKHART: asking her team to

put out another centre guard. It is all she can do. Obviously, it is

very difficult to steal in this last end and the way things are going,

she will be hoping for some sort of mistake from Britain. They will keep

taking them away. Wise words, just take your time.

Plenty of time on the clock for Britain. Anna Sloan, just need three

or four really accurate stones here and they can close this one out.

They just left a stone in there. Just needs to calm herself down, she

knows what is coming. It always is the case for the skip, a big shot,

didn't go for it the other night. Evil try and take that back as far

as she can. Trying to get her own stone while

worrying -- Rather than worrying about the one at the back.

That red stone China's shouldn't be an issue to her, because it is far

back in the rings. Almost, it would have been nice to

take both of the mad. There was a fair bit of distance between them

but it was very close nonetheless -- both of them out.

Anna Sloan saying the previous shot, she didn't realise it was going to

stay and sit there. Not too much damage done. Going to try and better

the draw of the previous player, coming behind this. Utilising that

yellow at the front of the house as a guard.

Not quite finishing for her, is it? Just sitting out there. And you can

see Eve Muirhead deciding to just come and hit this and roll across.

Just needs to stay calm now. This sort of situation is one she will

have played many times and got the right result out of it. A couple of

good shots now... She wants to play a controlled weight here and hold

her shooter in play. Yes, important to leave the shooter in an account

-- and count. So Eve Muirhead, the British skip, she has played really

well today. Watching this all the way down. And

that is a pretty good shot again from Eve Muirhead. That was a well

delivered and well-controlled stone. It has been the story of the

day, perhaps with the exception of the first end. Eve Muirhead has been

coming up with the shots all through this match, well supported by her

team. She has given herself every opportunity of closing this out.

Yes, that is an excellent shot from Eve Muirhead. Betty couldn't afford

to ignore that shot and draw another one in because she wouldn't have got

a shot out of it behind that yellow crossing the four foot, so she is

going to have do hope to hit this and get a roll across. But if she

leaves any of it showing for Eve, she will have to do a similar shot

again to take the end. These are the nervous moments, where the

experience of having been through this only time scans. Both skips

with workshops to play. -- having been through this another time

counts. Looking pretty straight. She wanted it to come across. Did

her best. She played a very good shot but she has left the whole of

the four foot open for Eve. Feeling pretty confident that she has been

playing well enough that we just have to draw the one to be fully in

the four foot. Just has to finish in here, and she has the whole of that

area to finishing. Just has to stay calm. This is the shot of skips. Eve

Muirhead, with the pressure on again. This for the match, the last

stone. Just needs to draw this in. Need the right weight. She is not

saying anything. The girls seem to be in control of this. It looks good

from here. Eve Muirhead has played a great match today and if she was

responsible solely for that bigshot that didn't come up against Canada,

she has redeemed herself. Well done, Eve Muirhead. Great shot from the

British skip. It has been tied but they have been in control all the

way through and they have closed it out, 8-7 -- it has been tight. They

now have two wins and two losses, a really good win from the British

team. That will lift them up, with two Games to come against Japan and

Korea, the chance to put themselves in a good position in the round

robin. JONATHAN EDWARDS: A really good win

there for Eve Muirhead and that will build her confidence towards the

latter stages of this competition. Mixed fortunes inside the iceberg

Skating Palace. Elise Christie made history by becoming the first

British short track skating woman to make a final, but she was

disqualified in the final. But she looks fantastic for her strongest

event at 1,000m. For now on BBC One, goodbye.