Day 6, Part 4 Winter Olympics

Thank you so much the Jonathan and his team. I hope you have been

enjoying the action on day six of the Winter Olympics. We are hearing

news that Yevgeny Pleshenko has pulled out. That is a big shock to

the Russian fans because he is a big star in these parts. We're going to

be showing you a competition with Hazel in the office earlier today.

We were doing the louche relay and she said, Claire, it is going to be

brilliant. I hope she is right, and this is why. -- luge relay.

It is going to be a kind of IC version of wacky races. That is

coming your way. Let's have a look at some of the headline makers so

far on basics. In the ski slope style, James Woods of Sheffield

defied a hip injury but just missed out on the medals, his best run of

86.6 was not enough to make the podium. The USA completed a clean

sweep of the medals with Josh Christensen taking gold. Vicky Adam

is Claire Hamilton are very much back on track in turns of

qualification in the knockout stages of the curling, with an 8-7 victory

over China winning they have one two and lost two. And the British men

are bidding to become the first win gold since the first Winter Games in

1924, beating the USA compared to 5-3 to make it four victories out of

five. Let's have a look at Yevgeny Pleshenko. This was during the warm

up. Clearly not comfortable and not happy and telling the Russian coach

that he does not think he's going to able to escape. That is a real

shame. He is a man with huge charisma and confidence and a big

ego. He would have loved to have skated in front of his home crowd

and tried on his own to win a medal of any colour, but it is not to be,

tonight, and we will be hearing from Robin cousins and Sue Barker what

the reaction was, and any more that they know. We're going to look back

at the rough and tumble of short track speed skating and 23-year-old

who the first British woman to make it two shots back speed skating

final. Indeed, she could be going to three files. Let's find out what

happened in the first of them. The commentary comes from Hugh Porter

and a man who took medals when this was a demo event, Wilf O'Reilly.

There is Elise Christie in the third position. This is going to be some

contest. There will be no charitable hand-outs. We are getting very near

to the dice on the ice for the three podium positions. Elise Christie

looks relaxed and calm, as the ladies 500 metres is about to begin.

Being overhauled by Christie. They have all gone down. There is only

one skater left standing, the Chinese competitor. In second place,

Elise Christie come storming through. She is going to try and

claim the silver medal. She is being chased down, and the gold medal goes

to China. Fontana's almost Bridged to Elise Christie, as they come

round looking for silver and bronze. The gold medal goes to China, and

Elise Christie coming up to the line, and she takes the silver

medal. History has been made here. We wait to see if the result will

stand, but that was a great skate by Elise Christie. She recovered and

got back up on the ice and finished in second position. Now, the big

question is, what is going to happen to Elise Christie? She charged down

the inside and really, it was a battle between Fontana and Elise

Christie. Do you think that decision will stand? It is going to be very

tight indeed. The start was clean, but coming out of that first bend,

Elise Christie charges down the inside, not an awful lot of room,

crashed straight into Fontana. You think she will get advantage? She

may receive a penalty for that, which would be such a shame. She was

skating so well. Did they touch? I don't think they did. I think Elise

Christie's hand might have caught her left five on the inside. It was

marginal. It looked like she went down of her own volition. And down

she went again. I don't think Fontana and Elise Christie touched

her. The LA chronic scoreboard in front of us is showing that Elise

Christie has been penalised and placed fourth in the contest. Well,

how sad is that? The gold medal going to Jianrou, of China. And the

bronze going to Park Seung-hi. Unfortunately, the girl hit me off

my feet and that meant that I then hit everyone else. But this just a

way that short track goes. The referee made the decision. It could

have been different, but everyone is going to have different opinions.

Now, I am regretting that. But I went for the win, and that is just

the way that it went. Wilf O'Reilly joins me now. She

looked absolutely distraught, on the verge of tears. She did well to give

an interview at all. We have seen how it happened. What is your view

on why it happened? I was surprised that she did not stay as cool as she

did through all of the previous rounds of the previous races. Still

four laps to go, and to charge up the inside, having seen it from

another angle, it does not look as bad. When I saw it from the

commentary box, it looks very bad, as if she was totally in the wrong,

but seeing it from this angle, clearly looks like Fontana, the

Italian on the outside, pushes her on the inside. I have only seen it

from this angle now for the first time. And the South Korean almost

got away with it, got up and fill again. She gets pushed down, Elise

Christie, placed in eighth place behind the B final. I am

disappointed for her. She could have got a medal in every single

distance. She still has got the 1000 metres and 1500 metres to go, both

good events for her. She has to get over this. We hope, in the first

place, that she is not injured. She skated on. Her pride may be injured.

We talk in sport about taking the positives out of things. How do you

do that when it is you that this has happened to? As I said before,

because of the rough and tumble type of sport that it is, where all of

these things are always happening, you take one race at a time. You

have to forget what has happened and move forward. Even though they have

a competition day off, they will be back on the ice tomorrow, and they

will be looking at it from all different angles, watching what was

going wrong, watching what was going right, and looking forward to the

1500 metres. That is all she can focus on. And by Saturday, she will

have these in semifinals and then the final, we hope. And when she

gets back into race mode, it will feel a bit better. Absolutely. If

you asked before, would you be happy with an Olympic final at the 500

metres before coming to these games, she would have answered yes. Having

qualified third fastest with a final, she was hoping for a medal.

In her head, what can be said and done to help her recover

psychologically? Is there something with the British team? The Dutch

team are hugely successful, and I'm sure that they have got somebody who

does that. One of the quotes that Elise Christie has spoken about is

that winning is psychology. She has had good season, to come here as an

outsider in the 500, reached the final and then be going from medal,

even though it is disappointing for her, it must be immensely positive,

to have achieved what she has done this week. The first woman in

British history to make an Olympic final. In the 1500 metres there is

more time for the race to develop, and she can relax more. Absolutely.

Do you have high hopes that she could be in contention for a gold

medal? She has shown today, when it is starting, it is going well, it is

all about high speed, and she has proved today that she has got that.

It is brilliant to watch, I love it. And it is good to have a British

competitor with a genuine chance. We discussed it the other day that you

had two falls in Lillehammer. We know that it can happen. You have

been in the sport where it has happened so often, you just have to

let it go. You have to let it go and move on. Why don't we all try and do

that? As spectators we get involved, but we have to let it go and move

on. It is very noisy in Olympic Park today. Lots of Russians waving flags

and chanting, Russia, Russia, and you can see the crowds going into

the ice hockey. We have got ice hockey action later on. That is the

Bolshoy arena. A beautiful stadium. They like it up with score updates.

Thanks for now to Wilf. I am going to grab your microphone and handed

to Olly Williams. Talking about the reaction in turns of professional

athletes and we can feel the reaction of the Russians to the

Winter Olympics. What has been the reaction on social media? Few things

get people talking as much as sporting chaos, and that was

sporting chaos. Jack Tweed, my girlfriend Elise Christie is not a

medallist but she is a winner, that is what short track champions do. He

packed on, my hero, at the end of it. Her team-mate said he is proud

of her. And I'm sure that she will be even on rec. British athletes

watching at home, nobody knows how much is that feels as much as Dani

Khan. Still two to go, you have got this, girl. Etienne Stott, canoeing

Olympic champion, he knows about coming back from a setback. He had

shoulder problems and took time-out. He came back to win

Olympic gold. And finally, time-out. He came back to win

BBC sport website. There are clips up there as well. And fast --

fantastic, up-to-the-minute reporting as well. Yes, light up a

solar way through the day. Have you been surprised at how many people,

given that it was mid-morning, were involved and were talking about it?

It shows that when people get wind of this sport, it grips them. You're

talking about 44 seconds for those athletes to get round 4.5 laps, and

the sheer physicality and unpredictability of it, it just rips

people. -- grips people. It is not like slope style where you get one

and only chance, she is in all three distances. Now, what of the

skeleton? This is Britain were most successful Winter Olympic sport.

Let's find out what happened in 11 and 12, Lizzy Arnold has been

fastest in practice, Shelley Rudman is now as, and experienced silver

medallist in chewing, and we are joining Colin Bryce and Paul

Dickinson now. Shelley Bodman of Great Britain being supported ably

by her husband -- in Turin. And this time she has started well.

Little head movements bringing her down into that first corner,

correctly. She has an advantage over Flock or just 100th of a second

coming into this one. Let me bring in Amy Williams, former team-mate

and Olympic gold medallist. She has lost it a little bit too Flock at

the start. I am expecting her to creep up, but

you never know. She has just gone ahead by 100th of a second. She is

keeping clean lines in the important part. She is learning with every

single run here. And she has improved, 59.33, and she stays in

exactly the same place for the time being. That is great for Shelley,

she will be really happy with that. Is this to be a good start? This is

the first of the athletes who will be pressuring for the gold medal.

She is not a brilliant starter, but she is so big and powerful, with

aerodynamic form. She is like Lizzie, lying very flat,

the weight behind, they just need the perfect line to put them

through. So far, a really good run. And she is accelerating down the

last part of the track. This is dramatic, and she does.

She flies through the air brilliantly, the fastest we have

seen so far. One athletes to go. The aim, another

track record. She gets down into the perfect driving position, and she

goes. Will she break the track record? Not quite. But you can see

the advantage that she has over Pikus-Pace already. This is a big

margin to be leading in the Olympics. Over half a second.

Absolutely perfect lines. She is keeping so still, strong,

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

position. Can she keep it up? She is 0.55 of a second in front. A little

tap there, and she might lose a few fractions. She is coming to the

line. That is brilliant. I could not be more happy. I have been in nerves

all morning waiting for this. 0.44 of a second ahead of anybody else in

the world. Lizzy Yarnold of Great Britain.

Shelley Rudman is in 11th place. What excitement we have had this

morning. Ideally going into the second day, I would be in second or

third position, so I wouldn't be the first one to go tomorrow. It is

something I'm going to have to focus on and content with tomorrow. The

race is only halfway through, so it is back to the drawing board with

the coach. She is so composed, Elizabeth the

Arnold. She knows Amy Williams, is renting a flat from her. She has a

good team around her. And Lizzie tweeted that her coach, Danny, had

been sliding further than her today, because he encountered a slight lack

of friction when he was trying to help other at the end of one of her

runs. He went to take her sled, and fell over. Shelley Rudman was pretty

cross with herself. She is down in 11th, but she tweeted a photo of her

helmet afterwards. It is relatively bumped and bruised, to say the

least. You are doing 80 mph going down there. And that happened

actually in the run, rather than her smashing it afterwards? That just

shows the stresses and strains and GeForce is that these guys go

through. A few other things. Henrik Harle out will be remembered for

this, with his pants halfway down. Call me an old lady, but I always

wanted to run around and tell boys to pull their trousers up. I just

don't know how you can try and win an Olympic medal if your trousers

are around your knees. Pull the mark! You would tell him that? I

would! Amy Williams has joined us, Olympic champion in skeleton from

Vancouver. What is your reaction to everything that happened? It is so

exciting to watch. Lizzy Yarnold is a joy to watch. She is so calm, she

stands on that start line as if it is not the Olympics. I text her last

night, and I said, I know how you are feeling. Keep calm and

consistent, I am here for you if there is anything you want. Just go

out there and have fun. And when you hear her talk about it, she just

seems like a seasoned pro, and she has been in the game such a short

time. That is the magic in her. She seems so confident, and has this

experienced head on her as if she is a third or fourth time Olympian, and

yet this is her first Olympics. I spoke to the Swiss coach, and he was

saying that she looked good on a sled, but she was questioning

herself standing on the start line, and it was a real shame. And on the

flip side, you have Lizzy who is going out there and having fun and

almost just letting it happen. She has got an advantage now that one

would think is almost unassailable. I know things can go wrong, but she

just looks so calm with it all. It makes tomorrow really exciting. We

have to run is still to come. Is it a case of just holding on to her

lead? She does just need to hold onto it. 44 hundredths is huge. She

shouldn't be doing anything crazy or fancy, but just putting down to more

solid runs. The first day is done, have confidence, go to bed, rest up,

eat, and do the same tomorrow. I spoke to the coach of the girl who

is in second, she had been really ill and is in training. Considering

she has had less practice than anyone else, I thought she did

outstandingly. He also said that she had troubles. She can change her

sled during the night if she wants to. You are not allowed to change it

once you get to the track, but you can change it before. It is like

Lewis Hamilton picking the wrong tyres to put on his car with the

weather conditions, it is the same kind of thing are choosing the

runners, you can change them overnight. So she could be quicker

tomorrow? She says she has some speedy ones for tomorrow. Now, Lizzy

has some supporters out here, they call themselves the Yarnie Army. She

says you have to try to treat it as if it means nothing. She has friends

out here to help. Yes, I wouldn't say suddenly bring people watch if

you have never had anybody watch, but her mum and dad are here, her

sisters, her best friend, they are all here. And why not? You want them

here feel big occasion, and no matter how well you do, whether you

get that gold or miss out, they are here to hug you at the end. I love

the fact that she is relaxed enough to be joking about her coach falling

over on the ice! I just happened to see that he stepped on the ice and

he was gone. I don't know if he had his track walkers on or not. But why

not have a joke? You have to keep a bit of reality even though you are

in the Olympic bubble. Have a laugh with your team. Lizzie has got here

because of the team around her. -- Lizzy. These guys were my team, and

they are part of that medal as well, and for years later they come

together for her. Ultimately, you have to have fun at the same time.

But I sensed that the team and you have complete faith in Lizzy. Yes, I

do. She has been our shining star. She has worked so incredibly hard,

and it is paying off now. She has been the consistent slider

throughout the whole World Cup season. Today is proving it. She is

still consistent, and when you have four runs, that is what you need.

And Shelley Rudman, it is very unlikely, impossible to win a medal

for her? Yes, Shelley has taken longer to get used to this track.

She has found it harder to get her rhythm, get her lines. I thought she

would come out today with a surprise, and I was prepared to see

her in the top six, but it didn't quite happen. She did improve with

every run, her second run was quicker. Her first run, she made a

mistake. So I do believe Shelley will come out, and put down two

really good runs tomorrow. But she is nearly two seconds behind, I

think 1.9, and it would be a miracle if she did manage to get any faster.

Well, Amy and I are heading up to the sliding centre tomorrow evening

to present that. These are the times of Lizzy Yarnold's third and fourth

runs tomorrow evening. 3.30 tomorrow afternoon will be her third run, and

her final run will be on BBC One at 5.15.

Now, on the red button at the moment, you can see the men's short

programme in figure skating, but as we now hear, it will not feature

Evgeni Plushenko, Russia's big big star, twice a single medallist, he

has pulled out. We hear he has a back injury. He was part of the

Russian team that won the gold medal. This is him explaining that

he doesn't feel that he is fit enough to take his place. A real

shame for the Russian fans here and we will be getting the views of

Robin Cousins as and when we can. But now we are heading back up to

the sliding centre, a busy day there, and a first for the Winter

Olympics, the luge relay. Each team has three runs, a women's

singles, a men's singles and doubles. As in the other luge

events, competitors begin their run sitting upright, paddling the gloves

with spiked gloves -- paddling the ice. They steer by moving their

shoulders and legs. At the finish of a run, the slider must flick a

special touchpad which allows the next team member to start their leg.

The team that is quickest with their overall time wins. Andrew Carter

with the explanation. It is not about passing over a bat on, it is

about bashing thing at the bottom which releases the gate at the top.

Let's get the commentary with Colin Bryce and Paul Dickenson.

Here we go, thank you very much indeed. We are starting with the

Czech Republic here. We have Poland in the lead. The doubles starts

slightly lower down than the men did. As you come up of the finish,

up the finish straight, slammed the pack and that opens the gate at the

top. The Czech Republic at the moment, they are behind right now,

on the poles. . Poland, sliding extremely well, it has to be said.

The Czech Republic, however, just over the line, but they have got to

come higher up the cause. Away they go. 0.66 BBI in Poland. You have

seen how it is done. It looks easy but believe me, it is not, at speed.

The more these people have come down the course, the more they are going

better despite the fact that they have completed already. That is the

position. The touching and losing speed, they do not do that,

ideally. Up the hill towards corner six, cutting through the well, but

they are still behind here, the Czechs. Back up the hill again. 0.75

seconds behind Poland. Looking good. 31.7 kilometres per hour, roundabout

level by some of the other teams. And away go the doubles. The double

Lodz, these brothers went pretty well. This time it is more potent

for them. They have got to try and cut the deficit as soon as they

possibly can. Talking about reaction times now. It is like a good bat on

exchange in the four by 100 metres. Well done to the Czech republic

team. It is touch and go. They are coming round. My goodness, what of a

second in it, and back into the lead. Up the hill, a little foot on

the ice. The terminal speed was not as great. Zero point 52 of a second

round, and Poland, this team, have maintained the lead. My goodness.

They could hardly look disappointed, the individuals. They did not really

do their bit. They both lost time on Poland. What a blinder, the brothers

that was. Looking back now. That was the start, down at the bottom, she

made no mistake. We have seen a few times over the World Cup season,

people setting up a little late, and they do not get a clean hit, and it

does not open the gates at the top. They have to really work it hard. It

is almost as though they are trying to punch a hole in it. Just a little

touch, to reduce the speed. They finished in second place, behind

Poland. And that is very good indeed.

Now, we have Slovakia. Vera Gobarova, Who finished in 20 Fifth

Place. We only have ten teams at the minute.

Let's have a look at the start by the Slovakians. It has gone green.

Out of five, up the hill. She has lost the lead. Over steering, there.

Six hundredths of a second in, behind Poland at the moment. 0.2 of

a second behind them, up to the next checkpoint. And that checkmark is

due in a minute, a third of a second down. It is going to be hard work

for the next man. Speeding in excess of 135. 55.75. Positively pedestrian

in the end. She has given away a lot of time to Poland, there. That is

pretty quick. Placed 20th in the individual event. They have had a

lot longer since then. Trying to point his close together and create

an aerodynamic form as he cuts through the ice. If you do not do

that, you can lose up to five kilometres per hour. Try to put

their head back as much as possible. If you get your head ack, it allows

the airflow to go over you, creating less drag. -- head back.

He whacked that. And here go the doubles. Still 0.5 seconds behind.

That was a solid slide, but Gburova somewhat let the Slovakians down.

He is the main man doing the piloting right now. They have got

the chance of catching up. It is a slim chance, but it is there.

Definitely better than the doubles team that went for Poland earlier.

They were 0.5 seconds down, and my goodness me, this is a scorcher! Up

to 17th. They were just about to go into the lead but they are not going

to, now. That is disappointing, my goodness. I thought we were on for

some new leaders, that is for sure, and Poland maintained the lead,

still there as number one. Slovakia had it all to do. There we have it.

And despite the fact that the leaders, Poland, are absolutely

delighted, despite that, the Slovakian doubles were ahead. It was

Gburova who let them down. She struggled to set up and hit it. It

is difficult. Going up the hill, bobbling around on the ice,

sometimes you can hit a little chunk of ice and it'll get you back down

again, and you missed the pad. It is easy to do. Just as I was saying,

catching and about to take over. They were certainly going to go into

the lead if they had not taken that touch on the slide. Five teams have

gone so far. The next team are a real threat to the side. I will tell

you more about them in a minute. Here, we have the Sics brothers.

They are the last to go. They already have medals, the first ever

Latvian medal of any description, the Sics brothers got silver in

2010. This is the first real superpower team we have seen so far.

Tiruma is the weak section here, a little bit disappointing in the

women's, but she gets her act together and this could be a real

medal threat. They are in the lead at the moment, that was a solid

start from Tiruma. Looking to see what she needs to get now. It is

very close. And she is in the lead by 0.139. She is driving the cause.

Much better than she did in the individual event. And she sits up

and slaps the pad. Two tenths of a second. And she unleashes the

Olympic bronze medallist from 2006, who does not have a best start, but

his reaction time was lightning, he has managed to hold the lead. We

have often said that this man is one of the best sliders in the world.

But his start does let him down. But it didn't, that time, and he is up

already 0.356 seconds. Undoubtedly one of the best pilots in the world.

Maybe not the absolute best, but not far off it. On his day, he can win.

But his start as his weakness. He is 35 years old. He has had some bad

injuries. And we expect the Sics brothers to drivers on by over a

second. That is tremendous terminal speed as he comes to pennies. And

that opens the gate for the Sics brothers, one of the best crews in

the world. We are seeing a bit of physics and action. How fast will

these doubles cruise go? Here are the Sics brothers, the combined

weight of well over 200 kilograms. Already very fast food corner ten,

and the bigger you are, the faster you fall, in the loose. The Sics

brothers are tearing up this track. That is one of the highest speeds we

have seen. Just wait until we get their terminal speed around here.

One free 7.7. That is quick, taking the lead by some way. My goodness

gracious me. That was a phenomenal final run by the Sics brothers.

Brilliant stuff, 56.502. Remember that time. I wonder if any of the

doubles crews will go faster than that? There terminal speed was

around about 86 mph. That is fantastic. That is some lead that

they hold. Latvia, in the lead, from Poland.

Looking back here at the Sics brothers. They really grabbed their

chance. This could be a third Olympic medal for them, having got

bronze and silver at the previous games in the individual event. This

is the first time we have ever done team relay in the Olympic history of

this event, it started back in 1964, and we have done men's, singles and

doubles since, and it is great that they have brought this team relay

event in. It has been done on the World Cup circuit. It is great that

a nation can compete together in a sliding sport. Ivanova finished

seventh in the end of the jewel event. She gets away to a solid

start. It is difficult to tell because there is no starting plot,

but if there is anybody who wants to put in a run, it is Ivanova. The

two-time European champion, fourth in the last Olympic Games. She was

its better to take a medal and she ended up seven. She was absolutely

gutted by that individual performance. She is well in the

lead. We will see as she goes through 14. She is in the lead by

1.6 -- by 0.169 of a second. She has done it so far. And one 33.9, that

is a great personal speed. We saw Demchenko ready and waiting. He was

ready to pull away. And that is one of the problems. You cannot sit in a

compression phase at the start, when you drop backwards. He is 42 years

old now. But he is an Olympic silver medallist. Forget the start. He is

one third of a second out. He is likening quick at the bottom. He

gets great speed. And he is sliding well. He has not hit any bonds at

all, and has increased his lead. 130.9. This is getting faster,

137.3, terrific by Demchenko. In the lead. That is superb.

Well, my goodness. Here we have the doubles. Yes, heads back good

sliding. They are looking to lay down a massive slide here. They are

favourites for the silver at the moment. As a unit together, when you

look at individual performances, that is where you would expect them

to finish. It is pressuring Germany, trying to take the lead.

And can they touch? Yes! 2.46 .67. That is a full second ahead just

about from Latvia. Russia in first, Latvia in second and Poland still in

third. Well done to them, they didn't have a great slide yesterday

in their first run. Now they are genuine medal contenders. That will

feel really good. Ivanova had her slide there. And Demchenko, he

managed to hit nearly 138 kilometres per hour.

And they are the new course record holders.

Well, Demchenko and one of the doubles pairings, we have seen it

here first. This is the team from the United States, Hamlin who

finished third in the individual and became the first ever non-European

to win a medal in women's's luge. Erin Hamlin gets ready to start. And

away she goes. This girl can really terror the track. She had perfect

slides to get that bronze medal a couple of days ago. I imagine the

Americans fancy their chances. She should go in the lead. But does

she? Yes, she does. She is ahead of Ivanova. Almost nothing in it.

Perhaps a centimetre. Coming up to the next checkmark. Is she excel

rating? She is. -- accelerating. This certainly matches what Ivanova

did. And she unleashes Christopher Mazdzer. He was disappointed with

his individual results, and wants to put something forward here for the

US team will stop he finished 13th in the individual event. Demchenko

went really fast for the Russians down the bottom, and that is where

Christopher Mazdzer may lose it. And as the Time goes from green to

white, we know he has gone behind. The Russian Federation are leading.

And away we go, Christian Nick and Jason turned on. -- Terdyman.

Right now, they are not pulling this back.

Let's have a look at the lead now, and it has increased. My goodness.

They are going further behind with every corner. They will not pull

this back. Will they go ahead of the Latvians in second? No, they won't.

They are in third place. That is a big run for the USA. But they didn't

have what it takes, and there you have it. Erin Hamlin was in the lead

when she came down, and the others lost it. There is no hiding from

that graphic. The times don't lie. Christopher Mazdzer will look back

at this Olympics and be disappointed. He has had two silver

medals this season in World Cup. He had something to prove here, and he

just didn't prove it. And this American duo, they didn't really

fire on all cylinders. So that is a little disappointing. The Russians

are still in the lead. The IOC president and Prince Albert are

there. The Germans are waiting for the Italians. Sandra Gasparini could

be the weak link in the chain here. Who knows? Away she goes. Looking

comfortable so far, Colin. She is just not as quick out of the start.

She hasn't got the power to compete with the Russians, but as long as

she can handover with a third or a half of a second, she is handing to

the great Armin Zoeggeler glow. She is still in touch, it is still

possible. She is sliding much better than she did in the individual

event, I think. And away we go. And here goes Zoeggeler. He could

overcome any deficit. Keycode. Remember Demchenko got a silver,

Zoeggeler got a bronze. His time is similar to what

Zoeggeler managed. He is slow, a full half second behind. So their

work is cut out here, the pair. They are in second place at the moment,

and they have all the mints to go all the way. They are running

smoothly at the moment, but it is still the Russians in the lead. They

can't pull it back on the Russians now, but how much will they lose? If

they lose more than about a second, they will go out of the medals and

into fourth position behind the Americans. Three quarters of a

second right now. They should get third, but with the Germans are

still to come, that is the equivalent of being off the podium.

Oberstolz and Gruber Come to the end, Russia are still in the lead.

Italy in third place, and the Germans go next. That is quite a

line-up for Germany, it is like having Usain Bolt on all four legs

of a relay. They are that good at the moment. Dyson -- Guisenberger

and co-are top. Zoeggeler has lost his chance of

taking gold here. Now, we are watching the Olympic champion come

down here, Guisenberger. She is on fire at the moment, the 10th of a

second up. She is the best starting woman in the world, but so is Felix

Loch who she is handing over to, and so are Wendl and Arlt.

Is Demchenko destined to pay homage to the Germans? And away we go with

Felix Loch. The only chance of this going wrong is if Guisenberger were

to crash, things do go wrong for Germany occasionally, I know they

win 99% of the time! Felix Loch is gaining against Demchenko's time.

Felix Loch is just so good. He is 24 and he already has two Olympic

golds. We will get a good idea of how he is going. He is still just

only half a second, Demchenko had a good slide. And there we go, coming

through the finish. And Wendl and Arlt, the supreme doubles pairing.

Felix Loch is so tall, he just put his arm up for the tag, he didn't

even need to sit up. And here go Wendl and Arlt, Olympic gold

medallists handing over to Olympic gold medallists. And there you have

.8 of a second ahead. It is over as long as they hit the pad. And they

get it. That is remarkable. They have taken a full second from the

Russians. And the split of these guys must be one of the all-time

greats. There you have it. Nobody has done the fastest of the day.

They are going down on the sled, doing poses already. Slightly

insulting to the two teams still to go! Canada and indeed Austria. But

yes, it is hard to see how the other two nations could beat that, unless

they have something perfect. I thought Felix Loch was ever so

slightly flawed their, but a second up on the Russians is still some

target. It looks tricky but they have nailed it. And these are the

results, Germany in the lead, Russia in second, Latvia in third place.

Alex Gough, it is. Starting for Canada. She hands over to Samuel

Edney, the weak point in the team, finishing 11th in his individual.

So, Alex Gough gets underway. We just have to look back over this

World Cup form, Samuel Edney has been knocking on the door of the

podium in every competition this year. Also Alex Gough, she has been

fancying the podium. Walker and Smith, they have had a blinding

Olympic Games so far. The best part of a third of a second down on

Germany already. They are already battling for silver and bronze. She

will be disappointed with that. She was hoping for something around

1.35. Here goes Samuel Edney. It looks slow but it is quick. 60

kilometres per hour. It is hard to see just how fast they are going

with these shots. Extremely steep downhill. It is confusing when you

glance at it on television. You can hear it roaring from 400 metres

away. And it certainly comes flying past you like an express train, and

that is when you appreciate the speed of it. That is not bad. Not

exceptional. 1.33. Bang, there it goes. Onto the doubles pairing. Just

a little touch, there. They have really put themselves in the mix in

the doubles competition. They want to get ahead of the Latvians in

third place, which is looking most likely. They have to stay within 1.8

seconds of the Germans. Austria still to go. Walker, riding well

here. Finished fourth in the Olympic Games, fourth in the world

Championships. I would really like to see these guys getting a medal,

here. They are losing time. 1:33.6. Not great. Keeping straight, yes.

2.45.64. My goodness, in fourth place. They have missed out on a

fraction. Just a tiny margin. I guessed about 1.8 seconds glancing

about. Just over 1.7. Into fourth place, they will not get a medal.

Everything crossed. One team left. The Austrians, hard to see how they

will slide, here. Wolfgang Kindl, ninth place. They could be the

target. Everybody will have to keep an eye on them. Lovely little steel

from Sam, there. Good correction. He will be asking questions as to why

it did not go quite so well. You can already see they had gone behind and

they knew it. They could hear that in their helmets. Disappointment.

Walker and Smith, but one team left to go before we decide this first

ever team relay. Here we are with Austria. They have the credentials,

have they got the speed? . And the Latvians in third place will be

desperate to hang onto position. Miriam Kastlunger, she might not

have done well in the individuals but she has got the skills. That

visit, right there! Their chance of a medal is gone, I'm afraid. The

resulting loss of speed will keep adding away. Just looking at this

bedtime... That is way off. -- the split time. 1:28.1. Very slow

terminal speed. That will have reduced speed going up the hill.

Here goes Wolfgang Kindl, who finished in ninth place in the

individual event. He ran well? He has been given the nod ahead of

Reinhard Egger. He was the number one Austrian. Wolfgang Kindl is so

quick in those changeovers. The layperson quicker is Felix Loch. We

can already say that they have slept down into fourth addition. They will

need a miracle to bring this back. Germany, Russia and Latvia. Germany

are the champions once more. The brothers are ready and waiting. That

is good terminal speed by Wolfgang Kindl. And there we have it. 2.296.

That seems almost impossible. That was a very quick reaction time.

Lingers, they are not here for picking up sixth or seventh place,

they want another medal. These two brothers, they are not classics,

they are not giant men. The brother in front, almost identical height to

his younger brother. 2.6. They will drop down to maybe fifth place or

sixth place and we know that Germany have taken yet another gold. It is a

clean sweep for the Germans. They have won every event. Germany, who

on earth can bid them? Russia have got silver. And Latvia bronze. This

man has done remarkably well. Austria, 1.5 seconds. You could not

put any team together from the rest of the world that would beat the

Germans. They are that good, they are the all-star team. It is like

Lionel Messick, Ronaldo, Maradona, all in the one team! You just cannot

beat them. And using bold? ! -- Usain Bolt. Congratulations to the

Germans. That is great for them. And the Latvian pair, the brothers,

another bronze medal for them and that is wonderful in the first-ever

medal for Eliza Tiruma. Quite remarkable, the lack feel who were

supposed to retire and came back so strongly, Russia in second place,

all eyes on Albert Demchenko. And the Germans, what do you say about

that? Goodness only knows what sort of speed they achieved. They came

through and they have won this be over one second. Just amazing, they

were expected to win, ridiculous favourites. For the rest of the

world, they could somehow have crashed. It does happen. But not

today. The Germans have nailed this. For gold medals. And this one is

probably the sweetest of all of them are colours this is the first team

relay event. And what an event it was. Those are the figures that

everybody will remember. Russia in second place. And Latvia have won

the bronze medal. No doubt about the winners. Germany were miles ahead of

everybody. Thank you to Paul and Colin. Amy

Williams has been with me. What do you think of this as Mac I am not

quite sure what to make of this! It is a great way to get more medals,

or opportunities, everybody working together as a team. It is the first

time it has been here and I do not know if I am for or against it. Why

Germany so dominant? Why are they so good at luge? They have got four

tracks across Germany. Across the whole of Germany, East and West. And

everyone trains on them. One of those is specifically for luge. If

you have those tracks you can practice on every single night after

work, think of the amount of runs you can get, all of that practice,

all the different weather conditions. Your choice of runner,

your setup, that is massive compared with a nation that only has one of

them. Looking at that track, does it take a battering? Does that affect

the following competitions? Having luge today and then skeleton

tomorrow? It does not. The track really holds up. We do not really

affect the ice, we are not heavy enough. They will spritz this with a

fine layer of water to give it a beautiful sheen and condition with

no bumps or lumps. It is the bobsleigh, when they go, 200 kilos

going down, and 4.5 G with the pressure. The track workers have to

pad that. Speaking of that, there was a very nasty accident today? One

track worker had both of his legs broken? I do not know why but the

forerunner went down, the skeleton that goes down to check all of the

timing clocks, and it was the bobsleigh session and for some

reason at the bottom of corner number 17, there was a track worker

on the track and the bobsleigh hit him. They make announcements at the

start of every training, recession is about to begin, bobsleigh on the

track. It has been in Washington and English, everyone has understood so

it is confusing and everybody is unsure why it has happened. Worst

has happened. Irony hope you will be OK. Or she. I think it is a man.

Multiple fractures to both legs and night in hospital awaiting surgery

and we hope that he will be all right. There was a lot of talk in

Vancouver about the track and they did not like it in Vancouver and we

had a fatalities there before the competition started. Generally, what

do the track here? So far it is positive, everybody loves it.

Because it is such a unique track, uphill sections, three of them quite

steep. I was shocked at how blatantly uphill they are. And the

downhill parts on some corners really are sweeping downhill. There

is a unique section where the athletes can be lifted. They say it

feels like a fairground ride, they have really enjoyed it but it is

technical. You have to go dying clean. If you had any corner or

scrape the walls, like in the skeleton today, he will bleed away

time. You will see Lizzy Yarnold's third and fourth runs tomorrow

afternoon. They are at 3.30 and let's catch up on the headline

makers today. Elise Christie suffered heartbreak in the 500 short

track speed skating final. She crossed the line in the silver medal

position but was penalised for causing a crash and demoted to

eighth. Lizzy Yarnold flew out of the blocks

today, and is in pole position for skeleton gold tomorrow. She set a

track record in her first run. She heads the field by almost half a

second. America 's Noelle Pikus-Pace is in second. But Shelley Rudman is

almost two seconds behind, back in 11th.

James Woods defied a hip injury but just missed out on the medals in the

Ski Slopestyle. His best run wasn't enough to him to make the podium.

The OSA completed a clean sweep of the medals, with Josh Kristiansen

taking gold. -- the USA. A perfect final stone took the

curling match. And the British men are bidding to become the first

edition went to win gold since 1974. They have four wins out of

five. But the major headline here is that

you get the Schenker -- Evgeni Plushenko has pulled out of the

figure skating. Robin Cousins is here to tell us about it. Was it

expected? His performances in practice were not going well and he

had a nasty fall. He has pulled a muscle and is not able to be as free

as he needed to be to compete at this level. I don't think he is

anybody who is going to say that he would go out there half-heartedly.

After deliberation with his coaches, he went to see the referee and

pulled out. How disappointing is it for the crowd in there? For the

sport, those of us who have been watching and seen the history that

he has, I didn't see him practice the other day, but people who saw

him said they would be surprised if he made it through. He is obviously

not in good shape. The audience have a busy not been privy to a lot of

what has gone on backstage, so there is disappointment. And he skated in

the newly invented team competition. The short programme, he was to

rhetoric, not so much in the long programme, but as a team, they were

good. He is 31 now, his fourth Olympic games, is this the last time

we will see him? In this circumstance at this level, I hope

you won't try to push itself any further. So how does that leave it

tonight? Who was the favourite for gold? I think probably Han Yan and

Patrick Chan. The Japanese boy was glorious the other night, and not

fazed at all. So Russia will not be winning tonight, but everybody is

still talking about the wonderful pairs routine, and not the free

routine so much as the short programme that they came up with.

This was sensational. You must enjoy this again.

SUE BARKER: It was these two who stole the show, winning the ten

nation short programme competition by more than ten points. It was

flawless and breathtakingly beautiful, it is one of the great

short programmes ever in pairs skating. Bit will it be flawless

again tonight. This is their magnificent Masquerade waltz.

The first element, the triple twist, easy and light.

A third triple loop for the last of the job is. -- jumps. Gorgeous.

A difficult variation of positions, reversing the spin to the right.

SUE BARKER: Oh, yes! You feel the tingle, the crowd on their feet.

That was absolutely magnificent. They have established a magical

partnership on the ice over the last few years, and that was outstanding.

They can finally breathe out now, because halfway through, you think

you can relax a little and enjoy it a bit, playing with the crowd into

the camera. You take that deep breath. But it is a hair on the back

of the neck moment. One of the great ice-skating programmes, one that

will live long in the memory. And Russia, that puts them right back in

the driving seat in this pairs championship. They have dominated

this from 60 432 2006, winning 12 gold medals the pairs, -- from 1964

through to 2006. And look at this set of marks.

And here they are, live in the medals Plaza receiving their gold

medal. The Russian fans are going mad. I do think Tronkov had a little

look of Goran Ivanisevic about him, but he doesn't look like you there.

The new stars of pairs skating. We have further news of Evgeni

Plushenko, who has pulled out of the men's singles. He has announced his

retirement from figure skating. It is a back injury, and he says he is

ending his career. He says, my age allows it in terms of further

competition, but I have had 12 operations on my back and knees. The

slight controversy over this in terms of Russian competitors is that

because he behind closed doors declared himself fit, he got the

position in the singles over the 18-year-old Maxim Kovton. It sounds

as though he had further problems with the back on warm up. So he has

not only retired from this competition but from skating. But no

more. Let us join the men's short programme, and we start with the guy

who took bronze medal in the team competition, Jeremy Abbott, and we

join our commentary team of Robin Cousins and Sue Barker.

SUE BARKER: He looks a little tense. After an outstanding week of

practice, it all went horribly wrong to Jeremy Abbott in competition in

that short programme. He finished seventh out of ten will stop but

here he gets another chance to shake off those Olympic Demons once and

for all. He has moved out of the Olympic Village. He said he found it

distracting in there, he couldn't concentrate on his skating. So he

has moved into a hotel so he can refocus and come out fighting. We

know he can deliver a great programme, but can he do it today?

Quadrupled to loop to open. Ouch! Oh, dear. Right on his hip.

APPLAUSE Here is the triple axel. And he has

fought for it. Come on, Jeremy. He is way behind the music. Well, if

a performance does not deserve a standing ovation, I don't know what

does. How brave he was to deliver those elements after that. He looked

like he was dying and I'd but they cried did rise to it. -- decried. --

the crowd. It did not go well for him in the team event and then that

happens on the first jump but he has picked himself up and he has

delivered a brave programme. Well done, Jeremy. Heroic effort. I want

to know where his head was that after the team event. He got it

together. I knew from the practice the other day that it was there, it

was there in the warm denied. -- warm up tonight. I know he is in a

lot of pain. And you know that is only going to get worse. It really

hurt. I bet it did. They are going to show it on the replay.

Just slight hesitation coming in. Because he does not fully rotate,

yes... Right on that hip bone. I have to say, to come back and then

force yourself and your body to do a triple lutz. To fight again for the

triple toe loop. That was clean. He very nearly ran out of ice! That

will have taken an incredible amount of pressure. Well, everyone loves a

fighter and that was an immense battle. Has he done enough to

qualify? We shall see. Well, I think he needs to be over 62.65. Here come

the marks. 72.56. Great marks, considering all that went on! What a

dramatic short programme we have had here today. 4Gs! To looked down and

out heroically carried on. And he has topped the leaderboard. He has

had a memorable last year. 12 months ago, an 18-year-old on the junior

circuit, here he is in Sochi. A member of the American team. And he

has met the President, all in the space of one week. What a turnaround

it has been in the last 12 months for Jason Brown. He had a fall

during the free skating, his very entertaining dance, what can he do

with the short programme? Can he deliver a clean programme? Jason

Brown from the United States. Triple toe loop, if he wants. Very

nicely done. And that is the triple lutz. And

above head. -- hand above head. That is more like it! The first

clean performance of quality we have seen so far in this programme. He

has delivered all of the elements, lovely choreography, I loved his

choice of music. It suited him beautifully, lovely touches in that.

You talk about giving things room to breathe and staying absolutely in

control. Right on the money. Glorious elements. Timed to

perfection. And all of those little nuances, drawn-out within the

choreography and the transitions. Level four on three of those big

elements. Very strong indeed. That is all you can ask from a

19-year-old, to come to your first Olympics, he did well in the team

event, bronze medal, very nice, to deliver a performance like that? To

come out, as he did, and I was a mistake but he still got the feel of

the arena and he got to know what it was like to skate year. Lovely

little touches like that high kick. The control, ready to throw that

triple axel. I do not think there is any touchdown. The judges could be

looking at a different angle. To make sure that free league did not

touch. -- leg. Very light, down easily. Lovely control. 10.7 for

that combination. 8s For three of those grades. Interpretation,

performance, choreography. No question, this is the new leader.

And by some way. And a real crowd pleaser, he loves to entertain and

really owns the ice. You cannot teach that. You can work on all of

the technique you like, but that is special. You can teach how to make

that triple Quad, but he has got it. Why, these marks are going to go

shooting up. The new leader, no question. Yes! New season best. He

is delighted with the scorers and we were delighted with that programme.

Well done, Jason Brown. He is the new leader. And becoming a big star

at these games. We will be back in figure skating

very shortly. These are the scenes, in the Bolshoy, the end of the first

period between Canada and Norway. You can see the ice is being

prepared for action in the second period and there is currently no

score. That is on the Red Button. Let's go back to the Iceberg skating

Palace because with news confirmed that the shekel has retired and from

Robin Cousins sad that he has to retire with injury. But he is in his

home country, having taken a gold medal as part of the team

competition and I will remember Evgeni Plushenko at the top of the

Olympic podium, looking supremely in control and skating in a way that

nobody could touch. It is no great surprise that he was going to retire

at the end of this, just a shame the way it happened and he fell so

heavily on the triple axels in the warm up. We knew that was going to

be made, that decision, but he actually came back to win the gold

medal for Russia for the team event and he was supreme in both the short

programme and the long programme in that event. The got the gold medal

he came for but this is the competition he lived to skate in.

And he would have loved to have taken on the young guns here.

Looking at the screen, we can see shots of Evgeni Plushenko. I am

saying he is out. And they seem very upset. What was a reaction like in

their owner was announced? -- in the arena when it was announced? He

stood and acknowledge the crowd. But they could see the pain he was in

and he could not compete at the level he needed to and wanted to and

I am glad it happened because I would not like to have seen the

result, had he tried to skate not at his best and had he not been placed

in a respectful place for him, amongst these younger guys that can

deliver material that he was not quite up to at this point. He got a

massive cheer when he came onto the ice but once he fell and he was

holding his back, this happen for about 2.5 minutes, it was no

surprise that he was going to pull out. But huge disappointment and

awesome empty seats because their hero is out.

Just one quick point, may be controversial in Russia, as he

pulled out after the team event? Could they have replaced him with a

very good 18-year-old? There would need to have been a rule in place

because you qualify for the team by being in the main event and not the

other way around. There had been talk about that, that he would take

what he wanted, team gold, and then withdraw but that did not happen.

There may be no Evgeni Plushenko but there is this very exciting young

man. He was the star of the short programme in the team event. 6.5

points clear of Evgeni Plushenko that bad. Japan have never won the

Olympic gold but he is one of the favourites. It is Yuzuru Hanyu from

Japan. He usually opens with this

combination, the toe loop. See. Absolutely easy.

Beautifully centred, a great position there on the spin.

He needs to stay focused and controlled for the triple axel.

Yes! Turn straight through without the bush. Superb work.

This combination, triple toe loop that is it! Now watch him enjoy this

sequence. That's what we've been waiting for!

That was outstanding. Once again, nerves of steel. That is also the

reason that Evgeni Plushenko knew that if he wasn't at his best, don't

even show up. Absolutely. That is in a different class from anything we

have seen. Super. Yuzuru Hanyu has put down his mark for the medal.

12.87 he got for the quad toe loop, unbelievable. 11.49 for the triple

axel, 12.61 for the triple toe loop. Final spins, level four. You know

that those grades of execution will be up there as well. This is better

than in the team competition. This was a better, more relaxed

performance. His coach was a silver medallist at

the Olympic Games. Twice, so he knows how important it is to get

this gold but his student. He has done it before with Yu Na. And he is

now going to leave Yuzu as he is known, to help warm up is the

student. A difficult entry there into the triple axel, and that

lovely flow coming out, soft and light. Easy with the triple toe

loop. Excellent. Wonderful, wonderful

performance. I went to watch his practice just a couple of days ago,

and he didn't make any of the jumps. You just leave all that on the

practice rink, and you come out here and deliver when it matters. You

can't ask for more than what he gave. Oh, my goodness me. Wait until

you see this. 101.45! Watch out, everybody. He is

at the top of the podium if he can deliver another performance like

that. Different class. Jason Brown on 86 points, and he is

on 101. That will be getting around that stage to all of those that are

yet to skate, including this man, Javier Fernandez. He has been

European champion for the past two years. He has struggled on the Grand

Prix circuit, but looked to be back in form just-in-time for Sochi. He

is now aiming for a new first wins their first figure skating medal at

the Olympic Games. His opening quad, he stayed on one

foot. Various the triple lutz, too slow on

that. He is holding it very tight. APPLAUSE

Not choosing the traditional music as always will stop he will be aware

of what the marks were for Yuzuru Hanyu.

They competed against each other every day, so he knows what he is

capable of. He looked quite tired during that. There were a couple of

little mistakes. Little things all the way through, I just felt there

was a lot of tension in that programme. A pat on the back from

the coach, but Javier knows... Just a little stumble there. Yes, he has

missed some big scoring opportunities. Not the best marks,

and in fact all of his big jump elements are getting him less than

ten points, which is not what he was looking for at all. So he is used to

having plus points, but not today. He is not going to hit his season's

best. 91.56 is his season is best, he

won't be close to that. Yuzuru Hanyu really has thrown down the gauntlet

now, because everyone has to be absolutely perfect to keep with him

for that gold medal. Brian is trying to say, you are still in the race

here, but he is going to have to rely on others making mistakes,

because he has. And that is going to prove costly, and he is about to

find out just how much. 86.98 does have him ahead of Jason

Brown, just ahead. So at the moment, he is in second place. But a long

way behind Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan. Well, hopefully he will believe his

coach and come out fighting tomorrow. This man needs to come out

fighting right now. Patrick Chan came in here as the

favourite for the gold medal, but that disappeared in the team event

in the short programme, where he made a number of errors and found

himself behind Yuzuru Hanyu and Evgeni Plushenko. If he can deliver

the elements, he could be right up there with Yuzuru Hanyu for the

gold. But he has got to be clean, and he has got to nail every

element, and he knows that. Patrick Chan, for Canada.

He has got it! Quads toe loop, triple toe loop, in combination. He

went into that with complete conviction. He needs to do the same

now with the triple axel. There may have been an error but

there is such quality to his skating and that will be rewarded. He will

not be far away but he will have wanted every element there and it

wasn't. He has opened the door. And Yuzuru Hanyu has taken it. Well,

here's glorious to watch and there is quality to everything he does.

There are mandatory -3 on that triple axel. He got 16.54 for that

quadruple, triple commendation. Just 7.5 for the axel. It will be about

the components. And he is usually one about nine for those. -- on

about. No one has ever won the Olympic gold for Canada and he came

in as favourite. He flew into the squad. Conviction. -- this chord. --

quad. Perfectly landed, plenty of time, baby did not need to push

quite so much on this axel. He does not have such a big jump. You can

see his body leaning, he is over it. No deduction as such but degrees of

execution, two or three points mandatory. No problem with the lutz.

Well, it was better than we saw the other night and he looks happier but

will he still be smiling when he sees the marks? Will be keep his

dream and the dream of Canada of a gold medal at the Olympic Games

alive? How far behind? Not his season best, 97.52. Which

means it is almost four points behind Yuzuru Hanyu. And that is

quite a difference to take into the free programme but it can be just

one mistake? Just one element, or in some respects, a combination and

half of an element. He wants to be in the mix and he is certainly

there. So, Yuzuru Hanyu leaves from Patrick

Chan. -- leads. Jeremy Abbott is down in sixth place. After his heavy

fall. And Evgeni Plushenko is out, he fell heavily in the warm up. Huge

disappointment for the Russian fans. Jeremy Abbott is down the standings.

It is Yuzuru Hanyu from Japan at the top. After that magnificent short

programme. So, Sweden. He wanted bronze medal at the junior

championships and finished in sixth place at the European Championships

last year. Triple lutz. That was very nice as

well. Come on, make this triple axel work

for you. Well done! He had to fight hard for that, but fight he did.

Oh, yes! They loved that here and you could not take the smile off his

face! When he landed that triple axel, he was looking at his coach

and saying, yes, I have done the difficult elements, I can enjoy it.

Do not enjoy it too much because that is when you fall over and do

silly moves but it was enjoyable throughout and good for him for

hanging on and making that triple axel out. It was pressure going into

that. And a huge opportunity because some of the more fancied skaters

have left room. I think he will do very well in the short programme. He

has a huge amount of product in his arsenal for the long programme.

10.73 for the quad. 8.78 four of the axel. -- for the axel. Looking at

his landing, just to make sure it was there. Yes, fully rotated. And

on one foot. This is coming in for the triple axel. Just a little

tension in his body. Hold it! Hold it! And now I can carry on! They

will be thrilled with that. You cannot ask for more's he absolutely

gave his all. There is a gap of nine points between Jeremy Abbott. I

think this will be his season's best.

And you are right, it does beat it. He is behind Jason Brown. In fifth

place at the moment. The crowd is not best pleased with that. But he

will be happy. From one very entertaining programme to another.

Florent Amodio is next. He is always worth watching. We have had two very

entertaining French stars coming onto the ice. But this is Florent

Amodio. He burst onto the scene in 2011 and came fifth in the World

Championships. Since then, his form has been banned down, mostly down.

When he is good, he is exceptional. -- up and down. Florent Amodio from

France. When it all works, he is a fantastic

worsened to watch. As I say, when it works. And that should have been a

quadruple salchow. He just handed the triple. -- got the triple. Just

the double. Not his night. He always gives so

much in presentation and choreography but it all went

horribly wrong for him last year, he had to fly back to United States

anti-got homesick, he decided to come back to France to train in

France. And train with Cathy Crier. But he has not been the same for a

few years. And he has this incredible ability to just rotate

and get those jumps. And with ease. But if you're not enjoying it, it is

hard to perform? Yes. And the quad did not happen, just the triple

salchow and the double axel. He forced himself and got the triple

lutz. One of those spins, just level two. One level four. His footwork

was terrific, that was level four, for the additional components. But

his grades of execution will be down. He did not get the height for

the rotation on the triple axel. This is the triple that we did get.

Triple lutz. A little slow their coming out of the second triple toe

loop. You want both jumps to be of equal size and have the same speed

coming out as you have going in. We have only seen one person give us

the perfect textbook version of that so far, and that has been our leader

Hanyu. Such a beautiful skater, given us so

many beautiful routines, so many entertaining routines over the

years. He loves to perform in front of a crowd but it hasn't been

working for him in the past couple of years. And even moving back to

France, it doesn't seem that has been the key, he hasn't found the

answer as to why he has fallen out of love with skating, and that is a

real shame. 75.58, the judges have given him.

The presentation score is always huge for Amodio, but the technical

is poor, so that puts him in second -- seventh place. There will be a

big cheer for the very popular Brian Joubert now in his fourth Olympic

Games. One of the most popular skaters all around the world, and he

is another one who just loves to perform. He is a former world

champion, three-time European champion, winning his first ten

years ago, but he has never won an Olympic medal. He went to Vancouver

with high hopes but a poor short programme ended his chances of

getting close to the medals. What will it do tonight for Brian?

He is very much aware that this new breed of status have overtaken him

but he can always deliver. His opening jump is the quadruple.

On its own already combination? In a combination. Quadruple: --quadruple

toe loop, triple toe loop. .

CHEERING He has an army of fans all around

the world and they will be absolutely thrilled that he has

delivered his best short programme of the season right here at the

Olympic Games. In his fourth Olympic Games and his last Olympic Games.

Well done, Brian Schubert. That is one of the better performances I

have seen in the last two years -- Brian Juba. I said not to discount

Juba -- Joubert. What about in comparison to the others? They have

the content but not the technique. It is all very well to play with the

crowd, and he has the Plyuschenko effect in that respect, there is a

lot of motion going on, but not a lot of footwork. But having said

that, he got that triple combination, got 14.83 for that.

8-.64 for the triple Axel. Two level three spins. That is the quad.

Again, didn't have the running edge that he would have liked, but

goodness me, he fought for that and made it work. The same there on the

triple Axel. Most of the judges, I am sure, will have gone -1 on that

triple Axel, as opposed to a plus, because the landing was not as clean

as he would have liked. A little on the toe there, on the Lutz as well.

We see so many of them with intricacy and flexibility within the

footwork, always adding up. But welcome back to the big-time,

Brian Joubert. Seasons best with that one. By a long way. After the

disappointment at Vancouver, when he failed with the short programme and

he has given us a performance. 85.84. Way above his season's best

and that puts him into fifth place behind Jason Brown. Do you agree

with that? I am surprised he is higher but then again, we doubt that

Jason Brown's components weren't there. I'm just looking at

transitions from Joubert. It seems like Joubert got more in the

technical mark but less in the presentation. Speaking at the delete

I'm not surprised Brown is still ahead overall. Yuzuru Hanyu, that is

how to nail a programme at the Olympic Games. Patrick Chan is

certainly not out of it. Abbey eight Fernando is, another of the big

favourites -- Fernandez. Jeremy Abbott is very disappointed, he fell

heavily on the quad. A huge disappointment in the United States

and for Jeremy Abbott himself. And of course, Evgeny Plyushchenko not

even taking to the ice after a fall in the warm up. Just sum up, Yuzuru

Hanyu, what a talent at 19 years of age, not only to deliver in the

team, but also here. Yes, he has been described as comfortable and it

showed in those performances. But there are four more boys to come who

all have the armour, or can bring the armour, to perform and get in

the top five. Particularly Takahashi of the Japan. He can certainly

deliver. We will leave you with the pictures of this incredible young

man, who not only delivered the elements, but delivered the

performance as well. That is Fernandez. Clare Balding, Yuzuru

Hanyu, as cool as you like, he is the leader by some way.

CLARE BALDING: it was absolutely staggering to watch. Thank you so

much to Sue Barker and Robin Cousins, we will be back for the

final four in around 20 minutes' time. Those are the light scenes in

the Olympic Park, with that beautiful torch and the rings

reflecting in the water. They have found it displays every now and then

and it is a stunning sight, beautiful by day but I think even

more so by night and all of the places are lit up, the Bolshoy

behind me and the stadium where the opening ceremony and the closing

ceremony will be, and it will be one of the football stadiums they use

when the World Cup comes here to Russia. Now, we are going from one

of the most elegant and beautiful sports at the Winter Olympics to the

one that is officially the sweatiest, the biathlon. Today was

the men's individual 20 kilometres. They have to ski cross-country for

20 kilometres, they have to shoot at targets and any of them they miss,

they get a one-minute penalty, so it is really punishing. Patrick

Winterton and Rob Walker commentating.

So the 20km for the men is underway. Celebrating his 26th birthday today

on home soil, and here is Bjoerndalen, the winner last time,

silver in Turin and Vancouver. He already has a medal here in Sochi

for the sprint. Any medal today and he becomes the most decorated in

Olympic history. Michael for Cade -- for for

solid shooting by Beatrix. That he had after the second shooting will

be increased after the third. -- that lead. That is Martin Forcade.

The world's best can make mistakes like that... Perhaps a little too

cocky, he has been accused about in the past. Absolutely no reason for

making that mistake. Bjoerndalen. Four out of five is not good

enough. His campaign for that 13th medal will have to wait for the

relay. Huge noise in the stadium for our first miniature Garanichev --

our first finisher. He has not had a bad night at all. Beatrix in for his

last shoot. Crucial for the Frenchman, top right of the screen.

Erik Lesser is a never potential winner. 19 goes wide. Beatrix is

going to have to ski for the gold medal rather than shoot for it. That

is looking pretty good for Erik Lesser. Here comes Svensson, he has

missed out on the top spot. -- his difficult time in Sochi

continues, shake of the head. This is why he has not lost an individual

since 2012. He could be on course for another victory. He has the lead

of just shy of 12 seconds. Beatrix coming into the finish. A good

effort by the Frenchman. But there will not be a medal for him. Erik

Lesser, this looks very good indeed. For clean shoots, the coaches put

their arms in the air. What a chance this is. Martin Fourcade, how much

has he extended his advantage? He is going to go into first place. Way

quicker than Garanichev, but will it be quick enough to stay ahead of

Erik Lesser, who is out on the course behind him. Erik Lesser has

drifted six seconds outside of the times set by Martin Fourcade. I

think Fourcade can start to think in terms of gold number two.

Fourcade's time is going to elude him. Will it be silver for Erik

Lesser? He has got to finish inside 15 minutes and he is going to. What

a performance from Erik Lesser, sensational effort. And that leaves

the birthday boy in bronze medal position. That is to gold medals for

Martin Fourcade and he is aiming for five of them. We will stay there for

the ten, to classic. That refers to the style because freestyle goes

like this. And classic goes like this. They are in tracks. Yes, like

that. Great Britain had a contender. It was the more traditional

cross-country nations who dominated. The clock is ticking down. This is a

brutal climb on the second of these circuits. Marit Bjorgen, will she

add to her tally? Charlotte Kalla could be the first woman in history

to defend her title. The reigning Olympic champion. Is this her moment

to shine? Look at 20th macro. Really driving. It is not so much

technique, it is the tempo she is working. I have not seen her perform

this aggressively for a very long time. This time is going to be

impressive. The reigning world champion. She will be so hungry to

replicate her glory from the World Championship 12 months ago. Here

comes Justyna Kolwalczyk. This is where she always gains time on her

opponent. And here comes the current leader, she is dying. Justyna

Kolwalczyk leading. Marit Bjorgen in second place. Charlotte Kalla in

sixth place. This is where the final hill starts. In front of them

appears this wall, the same wall they had to climb at the end of the

sprint and it is absolutely brutal. Such a gutsy competitor, Justyna

Kolwalczyk. Way inside the time of Charlotte Kalla. 22 seconds. Here

comes 28 crew, watching the clock. No woman has ever defended this

title. What an effort from 28 April! She goes into the light. -- into the

lead. The Polish woman was out of the medals. The Polish fans think

this is good enough for the gold medal. What a performance! What

commitment from Justyna Kolwalczyk. Marit Bjorgen. She is going to face

outside the time so she does not add to her glittering array of gold,

silver and bronze medals. Driving, pushing, she was in fourth place in

the skiathlon. She does not want to miss out. Yes, Therese Johaug is on

the podium. Her best chance for gold and she has delivered in wonderful

style, a second silver of these games for Charlotte Kalla.

That means the winner becomes the most decorated Winter Olympian for

Poland. Very shortly we shall head to the ice hockey but here is what

is going on in the medals because after they do the official

presentations, you can see flowers at the actual venue, they come here.

And then there are live concerts. Big crowds hang around to enjoy

this. Going back to the 1970s and 80s. Rather fun! The biggest sport

in turns of competitors and profile around the world and pay is ice

hockey. The league in Russia is huge. And in North America, equally

so. The men's final is always on the last day. It will be a very long

build-up but Jason is mad for ice hockey and wanted to get involved.

Here at the Arena, the home crowd are gearing up for what they

consider to be the biggest event of this year's Winter Olympics. The ice

hockey. Russia, with a hugely talented roster, or under incredible

pressure to deliver the gold medal. -- they are under.

We will play with our hearts. If Russia want to win, it will be no

walk in the park. They left Vancouver empty-handed after being

knocked out in the quarterfinal and Canada, who claimed the gold medal.

The man who scored the winning goal is ready to take on the best once

again. Sidney Crosby. There are high expectations. Is for a lot of teams

but being a very pride nation with hockey, it will be tough. Any time

you defend, you will have a huge target on your back. The competition

takes place at the ice storm and the arena, with 12 teams fighting it

out. The NHL has been put on hold. Expect all the usual thrills. As

team-mates become opponents. Playing against menu practice against

everyday. It will help in some ways and it will also hurt in some ways.

The weirdest part is the village and they are wearing different colours!

They are with different guys! That is the weirdest part but once you

get out there, everyone knows what they have to do. An age-old rivalry

will re-emerge as Russia takes on the United States, evoking memories

of the miracle on ice at 1980. -- of 1980. When I saw the draw and the

fact we would be playing Russia in our polymerase round, I was very

excited. I was really excited to have that game! And to know it is

going to be on their homeland. This place will be off the chart!

Alongside his superpowers, current world champions Sweden and several

other talented teams. Slovakia have one of the best players in the

world. Defensively so strong, maybe they can just sneak in with bronze.

Which team will cause problems? Finland are always around. They play

with European flair. They will be the surprising team. The stage is

set for the big one, the final gold medal of this Winter Olympics will

be awarded in this very venue but which country will be crowned

champion? I cannot wait to find out! Russia started their campaign today

against Levine yet, who won their first ever Winter Olympics old medal

with the downhill title yesterday. You saw them and you will hear them

in commentary. The atmosphere is wonderful. Canny Slovenians do this?

Real danger. He should send scores! His first shot of the games. Top

corner! The poster boy delivers and he announces his arrival. Foreword.

Here is Evgeni Malkin. Two. Zero! -- 2-0! He just punches that like a

football. A shot at the goal! Into the top corner from Slovenia.

Wonderful finish. They have their first ever Olympic gold. A moment of

history. -- goal. Evgeni Malkin, down the backhand side. Through the

middle. Yes! Ilya Kovalchuk. He shoots. Evgeni Malkin with the shot.

He will turn and look back. Look who is right in the middle. This is

another chance. He is through! What a response from Slovenia! Russia

looked like they would pull away but this break from Ziga Jeglic, he was

devastating with this first. He was deadly accurate with his second. And

he is the man for Slovenia. Ziga Jeglic intercepts. Maybe he can

create a third goal? Not this time. This could be danger. Valeri

Nichushkin. Drives hard. The red light is on. His arm is in the air.

The Russians will celebrate this one. That is a goal! We did not see

that. And the scoreboard flips over. And the Russians double their

advantage. He is usually lethal from there, Alexander Radulov. Wonderful

strike. Slapshot. And there it is. Anton Belov. He just rings the bell.

From the blue line. He blasts it up and over. Three points in the bag.

But a bad effort from Slovenia, given the only have 148 registered

players in the country. We will be back with the figure skating very

shortly. And remind you that the schedule has pulled out of that and

announced his retirement. We also have the USA and the memories of

that game on ice, a college team beat the USSR in the semifinals

before going on to win gold. Still fresh memories and the USA started

their campaign against Slovakia. He fires and scores! Here is the

turnover. He should send scores! 24 seconds into the second period. And

the Americans retake the lead. Another chance! The rebound, and his

scores! 3-1. Kessler cannot get this through. Banging away in front. This

is a loose puck. It is in the net! They score! He finally puts it in

for the US lead. They bank away at it! -- bang. And

the US escape with a great chance. And he scores! 5-1.

Kessler, dropping... He scores! The Slovaks have been chasing hard all

night. He scores. Brian, this time. They're frustrated Slovakia. The

Americans are running it up. 7-1. After 40 minutes.

The USA looking strong and inaction are the champions, Canada. They lead

Norway 3-1. That is live on the Red Button, if you would like to watch

it. Those inside the arena can see that action. And those outside can

see the scores. Up on the roof. Rather lovely! Tonight's highlights

will be slightly truncated, we'll shall get a lot in. Starts at 7:30

p.m.... We will be looking back at the controversial short skating

vinyl with Britain's Elyse Christie. We have James Woods, I will be

talking to him. -- Elise Christie. Now, though, we are heading back to

the Iceberg Skating Palace, we are going to rejoin Sue Barker and Robin

Cousins for the final group in the men's short programme.

SUE BARKER: And just 20 seconds of the final warm up to be completed

here, with six skaters still to go in this short programme, but this

whole place is still reeling from the performance of Yuzuru Hanyu, the

first of the big favourites to skate in the short programme.

He didn't just set the standard, he set a world record score. Just 19

years of age and he is top of the standings at the moment, ahead of

the favourite Patrick Chan and then Hernandez in third place. But there

are some skaters in this last group who could certainly get themselves

into medal contention. Some of the best jumpers that we have seen in

ice-skating, but it is Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic who

will start this final group of six. Former Russian champion and Olympic

champion Viktor Petrenko putting him on the ice. Yes, he has been working

with him for nearly two years. He was on the podium at last year's

European Championships, just missed out in Budapest, finishing fourth,

but he is back outside back of outside's list.

ROBIN COUSINS: the quadruple worked in the warm up.

Will it work now when it counts? Well, hands down. So he will get

credit for the jump. A mandatory minus of two on a grade of execution

from the judges. A triple flip, double toe loop,

wanted that to be a triple -triple combination if he was going to put

himself in contention. Cannot afford not to do this triple Axel.

CHEERING The performances have been so good

at the top of the standings that any error will put you out of

contention. This group can make no mistake if they are going to try and

keep themselves in medal contention and that had errors. Errors, no

major mistakes, but he didn't do material on which he could make

mistakes. Just the quad, handed down, as I say, that is up to two

temps down on the grade of execution -- two temps. Just 7.18 for the

double-triple combination. He really wants the component scores, the

skating skills, choreography and performance, to be up in the

eights, but I have a feeling they will be in the sevens as well. He

did get level fors for the spins -- level fours. The body not quite

where it needs to be to rotate, a touchdown with the hands, but

again, gets credit for the jump itself. In for the triple flip. He

is in a great position to rotate the triple toe into follow but just

making the double. He had to make the triple Axel and it was his best

element. His personal best is 82 point AT and

I think he will be hard pushed to do that. -- 82

it is not so much a case of his performance has dipped, it is so

many great skaters have come along in the last few years. Yes, but he

was so exciting when he was younger and fearless.

He is not so fearless now and I think you notice that in his

performance. 23 years of age now, 81.95, so not a season's best and it

puts him down in seventh place just ahead of Tomas Verner.

Anything less than a season's best in a competition of this quality,

just not good enough. Kazakhstan represented next by

Dennis Tan. He has had a skin infection, an ankle injury, painful

dental surgery and apart from that, he is fine! Last year, he became the

first competitor from Kazakhstan to win a championship medal, when he

got silver, but it has been a disappointing season for him and you

just wonder, because of all the illness and injury, how it will

affect him. Coached by Frank Carroll, who knows all about

delivering and Olympic champion. What can Denis ten do now?

He did take the World Championships by storm last year in London and

Ontario. That was a very nice quadruple, but could not hold the

landing. Again, foot down, hands down.

Triple flip, double toe loop. Very close to the wall there. If he had

done a triple combination, he may well have gone off the back.

Well, there were moments when you saw that exciting Denis ten of a

year ago, but the season hasn't been good for him. You need the

preparation to be right and he hasn't been able to do that because

of one illness or ailment after another. Yes, you need to be getting

out, getting consistent and comfortable and while he has

glorious technique, he hasn't had the experience this season at

performing these routines. Really wanted to push himself with the quad

combination at the beginning but didn't have the landing he needed.

He has it all, though, doesn't he on his day? Just exceptional. As he was

this time last year for the World Championships. But as you say, the

injuries and disappointments, he has had no structure to any training

regime whatsoever this whole winter season. And it is textbook

technique. I thought it was going to be perfect in the air. It is lovely,

he is in the right place and he just slides off the edge. He made sure he

didn't put his backside then, because that would be a complete

points deduction. -- backside down. As it is, it will guarantee him a

-2, possibly -3 from the grade of Execution. The quad got him 7.73.

Bad glorious triple Axel got him ten points 63 points. -- that glorious.

Easy for the triple flip, just the double toe loop. Choreography and

the skating skills were great. I didn't think the transition between

the elements were that good it may be noted in his element scores. And

Frank Carroll, there, by his side. A season's best, I am sure it will

beat that by some way. 84.06. But losing marks on that second mark,

the component score, presentation, and that puts him down in sixth

place at the moment behind Brian Juba -- Brian Joubert. He knows he

can do better but he needs a better season to prepare. The Games came

too soon for Denis Ten. Next on the ice, Peter Liebers. From Germany. It

was a short run that let him down. He made errors in Budapest but was

rewarded with his season's best in the team event, a solid performance.

Can he repeat that? Peter Liebers of Germany.

Beautiful triple toe loop combination.

That is a triple axel. Again, lovely and light.

Well, he was good in the team event and even better tonight. His jumps

were absolutely spot on. He got every element. The commentators are

standing and applauding. Super performance from Peter Liebers. The

spins are not quite at the same level as the jumps but goodness me,

where those jumps on form? Right up there. That is key, the whole

package, all of the different elements that go together. Other

skaters have made mistakes and he is likely going to be behind line but

it is because of the difficulty in the other elements? I have to say,

looking at this, he has got 15.69, 10.7 for the triple Axel. Glorious

as they wear, level three on the spin and the footwork. One level

four. Component scorers might not be into eight. Let us look at the

replay on this, this quadruple toe loop. Absolutely glorious, on the

money. We talk about skating with conviction, he stepped right into

that. Dine in his knees, lifting the body foreword. He is a very open

stance. -- dine. Every jump. Watch, the body placed exactly right.

That'll be his best performance, I am sure his season's best. Again,

the judges had the chance to review all of the elements and see things

that maybe have been missed. But that looked absolutely spot on.

79.61, his season's best. Look at the technical score! 47.26. All of

those technical elements were there. The component score not the same,

that is what he has to work on but what a performance! Consistent but

that's technical score is superb. And well-deserved. That puts him

into fourth place. And just three left. Composing himself for what is

a huge moment for this 17-year-old. This exciting talent from China. Han

Yan, he made his debut in the team event. And he looked mature beyond

his years. He landed the quad with ease. Still, terrific. He is A* in

the making. -- a real star. He opens his programme with the

triple Axel. Huge! Glorious flow. Can he do the same with the quad toe

loop? Great speed and rotation. Needing to step out and his hand

down. Degrees of execution. He needs the combination. The triple

lutz. Just over rotating, stepping out afterwards.

What a shame, he knows this was a missed opportunity but you could

tell from that opening triple Axel what a talent he is and he has got

real personality on the ice. You know he will just get better and

better, closer to the podium every year. This is his first year as a

senior. As I say, I saw him from China and I was blown away from his

work. Possibly overawed by the occasion but there is no question

that he can have it. And maybe having got this out of his system,

tomorrow we shall see the pure fireworks that he is capable of

bringing. How easy did that Axel look? Beautiful! Yes, and it just

flows through the take-off, covering the ice. Absolutely glorious and the

same thing with the take-off and into this quad. Beautiful are

position. -- air. Deductions on the execution. Checked out for the

triple Lutz. He has got a lot of tension in his face, you can see

that. He needs to be more relaxed in the upper body. He will lose in the

execution for that step out on the triple toe loop. Component marks

will be high but I would expect his transition marks to be down. It will

be very interesting, he will not hit his season's best. That is 90.14. We

have seen better performances than that so far. It will not be his best

but he will not be far-away? And that season's best was in China. He

just needs to stay in contention. You can get ever closer to that

podium. 85.66. You can tell, not happy with that. Down in seventh

place, behind Brian Joubert. And he would have wanted to be closer, he

would want to be challenging at only 17 years old and remember that name,

he will be a very big star in the years to come.

This man has been a very big star for many years. Will it be his night

again? Daisuke Takahashi, such a popular skater and the Japanese fans

out in force. But he has suffered a lot of injuries this season,

finished a disappointing fifth place in the Japanese championships but