Day 7, Part 1 - 10.00am to 12.00pm

:00:00. > :00:09.that and that makes it worth it -- but worth it. Well done, you are a

:00:10. > :00:13.pioneer. A hugely significant moment for women's sport and the Olympic

:00:14. > :00:18.Games and a story beautifully told by Matt Pinson there and it is

:00:19. > :00:24.excellent to see it included. It was a great competition. Our daily diet

:00:25. > :00:28.here of sport includes curling. It is taking place in the ice cube

:00:29. > :00:32.arena, the smallest of these venues in the coastal cluster in so cheap.

:00:33. > :00:37.We are in the thick of the round robin matches. There are ten teams

:00:38. > :00:38.in each competition and they each play one another

:00:39. > :00:46.in each competition and they each play one once and after the points

:00:47. > :00:53.are all tallied up the great British team had won two and lost two before

:00:54. > :00:57.the start of today and yesterday's win against China gave them

:00:58. > :01:07.much-needed momentum against Japan this morning. Jackie Lockhart and

:01:08. > :01:10.Steve Cram were on the beat again. You have been kept going with a

:01:11. > :01:19.stash of strawberries and ice lollies?

:01:20. > :01:26.Ice lollies definitely. We have breakfast today. Happy Valentine's

:01:27. > :01:31.Day! Happy Valentine's Day. These are rather nice. We have been

:01:32. > :01:39.looking after ourselves. It has been pretty good so far. It was important

:01:40. > :01:45.that they won that match. You saw the table with the teams that are so

:01:46. > :01:50.close and after this session it will start to sort itself out. It is

:01:51. > :01:56.really important to win the next games and follow-up from yesterday.

:01:57. > :02:00.How significant moment was it for Eve Muirhead and the team yesterday

:02:01. > :02:07.with the win over China? Has created momentum them? Without question. We

:02:08. > :02:12.are starting to see the team that we expected to say. They are very

:02:13. > :02:17.confident team now and Eve Muirhead has her confidence back. She is not

:02:18. > :02:21.so indecisive. She is taking control and that will see them through to

:02:22. > :02:27.the end of this match. Every game is critical and it could go either way.

:02:28. > :02:31.I have every confidence that this team are growing in strength and

:02:32. > :02:37.hopefully they will just peek at the right time.

:02:38. > :02:42.Tell us a bit about the Japanese team that they will face today.

:02:43. > :02:46.Jackie will agree with me that they are an unknown quantity. They are a

:02:47. > :02:51.mixture of the front-end and the lead that are very new. This is

:02:52. > :02:55.their first major championships and they have not been to the world is

:02:56. > :03:01.all the champion -- Olympics before. We are finding in this competition

:03:02. > :03:05.that there is a bit of inconsistency with some of the teams. There are

:03:06. > :03:09.the big ones and we are considered to be one of the medal hopes but you

:03:10. > :03:13.can slip up against the likes of Japan and Korea if you are not at

:03:14. > :03:18.the top of the game. Yes you have to give due respect to these teams.

:03:19. > :03:22.They may be inconsistent on paper but on the ice anything can happen.

:03:23. > :03:28.It is all about following the game plan and it should all follow

:03:29. > :03:32.through. With the promise of a Valentine 's biscuit after the fifth

:03:33. > :03:40.end, it is all yours! I am saving mine. That was a nice

:03:41. > :03:44.little touch at breakfast this morning. Everybody was walking

:03:45. > :03:50.around and giving each other Valentine biscuits. Jackie did not

:03:51. > :03:55.give me one! I am really sorry. I am not the most romantic person, it has

:03:56. > :04:02.to be said. I cannot believe that. If they win this the table will

:04:03. > :04:05.start to look a bit different. Japan themselves, talking about the

:04:06. > :04:10.inconsistency, having beaten Russia, that was a good win for them, they

:04:11. > :04:16.lost last night to the USA and I think most people will not take too

:04:17. > :04:21.much away from the American men and women that they have not been doing

:04:22. > :04:25.too well here and I think they were pretty disappointed to lose that

:04:26. > :04:32.match. It left them with the same record of Great Britain, two wins

:04:33. > :04:35.and two losses. If you accept that the two losses for Britain were to

:04:36. > :04:49.Canada and Sweden, two of the most fancied teams here, I am sure you

:04:50. > :04:53.can accept that going forward. Japan today and they will play Korea

:04:54. > :04:54.tomorrow. It is a real opportunity to build on the success of

:04:55. > :05:08.yesterday. We talked about the youngsters

:05:09. > :05:14.playing for Japan. The lead is Chinami Yoshida. She is just 22. She

:05:15. > :05:18.has not had too much experience. They went to the Pacific Asia

:05:19. > :05:27.championships and that is the first time these plates together. She went

:05:28. > :05:31.over to Canada, as we see Claire Hamilton playing her first stone,

:05:32. > :05:36.she studied in Canada and she learnt a lot about curling there. That was

:05:37. > :05:48.three or four years ago. Import into start well. -- important to start

:05:49. > :05:52.well. All the attention of peers to be on Eve Muirhead but the team as a

:05:53. > :06:00.whole played really well yesterday. The girls came out this morning

:06:01. > :06:04.looking a confident team. Eve is quite happy to take the game on.

:06:05. > :06:11.Straightaway in the first end she has the camera -- hammer and

:06:12. > :06:17.hopefully she will score here. To determine who has the hammer there

:06:18. > :06:24.is a draw that both skips have to make. Either has been performing

:06:25. > :06:30.very well with that. Yesterday was the only time she did not manage to

:06:31. > :06:33.have the hammer in the first end. It gives you a chance to control the

:06:34. > :06:38.match at the beginning. It does not mean you cannot win your match but

:06:39. > :06:42.it does give you the chance to come out and put some pressure on the

:06:43. > :06:54.opposition straightaway. Strangely enough this morning both teams drew

:06:55. > :06:58.the one foot and scored zero centimetres away from the one foot

:06:59. > :07:04.and ended up having to toss a coin and luckily for us it went our way.

:07:05. > :07:08.We were able to choose the last end advantage and that stone in from

:07:09. > :07:13.Claire Hamilton there was very nice. She has utilised the front

:07:14. > :07:23.guard that she put on earlier to give her some cover and this is just

:07:24. > :07:31.the start that we are looking for. Another youngster here, she is

:07:32. > :07:48.playing second for Japan. Kay Howell on a deer in a new addition to this

:07:49. > :07:51.quartet. -- Kaho Onodera. When they determine

:07:52. > :07:56.the teams that are going to compete in the Olympics it is the ranking

:07:57. > :08:03.points that they compete for in the world Championships. Japan did not

:08:04. > :08:07.have enough to be in the top eight. The home nation if they do not get

:08:08. > :08:15.enough ranking points are allowed to compete. The men did not have enough

:08:16. > :08:20.but the women did so to spots were available in a qualifying

:08:21. > :08:25.competition in Germany in December. Japan were beaten in the play-offs

:08:26. > :08:30.by China so they secured their birth and then the way that competition

:08:31. > :08:31.was structured Japan had a second chance if they beat Norway and they

:08:32. > :08:46.took that second spot. The experience itself will have

:08:47. > :08:50.helped them. They do not have a lot of experience but they came through

:08:51. > :08:53.that Olympic qualifying competition successfully and it is pretty

:08:54. > :08:57.cut-throat. There was not room for error because it was only the two

:08:58. > :09:01.top teams that got the big prize to come to the Olympics so that will

:09:02. > :09:07.have stood them in good stead. Yes, it has definitely stood them in good

:09:08. > :09:12.stead. The top end of this team, the skip and the Vice have played

:09:13. > :09:16.together before. The coach of this team and the national coach of very

:09:17. > :09:22.experienced players themselves so they will have brought a lot to the

:09:23. > :09:24.team. The young girls will have taken all of the experience from

:09:25. > :09:41.that qualification into here. A little error there from Vicki. It

:09:42. > :09:46.did not quite have the weight adequately guard. It gives Japan now

:09:47. > :09:53.the chance to play and out-turn draw in behind. That will go in behind

:09:54. > :10:05.the red cover that written has setup. -- Britain. They will have to

:10:06. > :10:10.work hard to get that around. That is going to sit in front of the

:10:11. > :10:19.British stone. It tapped it back a little.

:10:20. > :10:29.That is providing Eve Muirhead with a nice set of three stones there.

:10:30. > :10:44.She is asking Anna Sloan to try and come in around those. Eve has

:10:45. > :10:48.actually given a bit more ice here. It is not pulling as much as she

:10:49. > :10:53.thought it might have done. Strangely enough it can take a big

:10:54. > :10:57.poll one sick rushes the centre line into the house there. Often if you

:10:58. > :11:02.catch that line early enough you can get a stronger pull across the

:11:03. > :11:08.centre line and unfortunately we overcompensated there. We had seen

:11:09. > :11:12.two shots prior to that but it is all about learning how the lay of

:11:13. > :11:15.the ices in these first few ends. Both teams have had a ten minute

:11:16. > :11:21.practice and that is really what they should be looking for. Before

:11:22. > :11:30.they start the competition they should find out how the stones are

:11:31. > :11:36.playing at how the ices running. That was looking to move across the

:11:37. > :11:47.other side and stay in the house. Yes, this gives us the opportunity

:11:48. > :11:54.to pull one in. Eve is just moving that brush another five or six

:11:55. > :11:58.inches to her right. That is the target for Anna Sloan. It is the

:11:59. > :12:06.line she sets the stone Forum and the, of course, is crucial as it

:12:07. > :12:11.starts to turn at the end. They come across quite quickly at the end.

:12:12. > :12:17.Yes, there is a natural turn to the stone. It is turning ever so

:12:18. > :12:23.slightly across to the left. It has a break point halfway down. If the

:12:24. > :12:30.weight starts to come off the stone it will pull much more. They take

:12:31. > :12:36.the pull off by sweeping behind and they got a very good result. The

:12:37. > :12:39.Japanese team are looking to see if they can see any of that stone. A

:12:40. > :12:57.tiny piece of it. I think she can probably see just a

:12:58. > :13:03.couple of inches of it. It looks as though she is going to come down on

:13:04. > :13:11.the out-turn and may be just enough to catch it and tap it back. They

:13:12. > :13:19.are looking at the rays on the bone. The yellow is at the front.

:13:20. > :13:24.These shots are always risky early on. There is a spare bit of -- a

:13:25. > :13:42.fair bit of space between those two stones. Eve was very much back to

:13:43. > :13:44.herself yesterday. They were all chatting a lot during the game at

:13:45. > :14:05.communicating well with each other. The Japanese skip, Ogasawara. That

:14:06. > :14:09.has opened it up and it has done enough but it still gives us the

:14:10. > :14:17.opportunity to draw a second shot in there. It has given Eve Muirhead a

:14:18. > :14:25.good opportunity to get a two. She has got a couple of choices here.

:14:26. > :14:30.Yes, she is just contemplating the red that we can see sitting on the

:14:31. > :14:33.blue there. It is a bit vulnerable because if we leave it at Japan

:14:34. > :14:37.could get a hit and roll into the inside but she is hoping to try and

:14:38. > :14:41.catch that and split it across to the left as we are looking and then

:14:42. > :14:45.her shooter will roll across to the right and create some space between

:14:46. > :14:57.the two Micro stones to try and prevent a double. Another option is

:14:58. > :15:03.to sit in the centre. If it comes to far and duly the inside edge of the

:15:04. > :15:13.red, Japan could get a hit and roll in. The first choice is the better.

:15:14. > :15:23.Talk about a hit and flop, they watched a -- they want to catch the

:15:24. > :15:33.stone and flapped across. The Japanese back stone might produce a

:15:34. > :15:48.stop. The girls working this hard. That is nice. Very well done, Eve. A

:15:49. > :15:53.tad more would have been nice. Yes. She has created some space between

:15:54. > :15:58.them, but there is a chance that Japan could play a double on this.

:15:59. > :16:05.What Japan have to be careful of, they could hit the Jell-o, or the

:16:06. > :16:11.red on the left-hand side, and it might jam on the back yellow

:16:12. > :16:19.Japanese stone. We have had a look at that. She is going to be coming

:16:20. > :16:31.down a similar line. With a different weight. Hoping to move

:16:32. > :16:36.both of the British stones away. And hope that the one on the right of

:16:37. > :16:43.the blue circle does not jam against her own yellow. The last stone of

:16:44. > :16:53.the first end for a Jimmy Anderson Warren.

:16:54. > :17:03.-- Ayumi Ogasawara. Not quite the shop she wanted. She was looking to

:17:04. > :17:06.move both of those. That leaves even in your head with a fairly

:17:07. > :17:15.straightforward shot to come in for a too. She just needs to push the

:17:16. > :17:24.Japanese stone back. It will be a successful first end for Great

:17:25. > :17:26.Britain. This is not dissimilar to the shop she played if you minute

:17:27. > :17:53.ago. A slightly different line. She seems pretty happy with it. It

:17:54. > :18:02.hangs on, just. Not quite the shop she wanted, but it is enough, she

:18:03. > :18:09.gets too, by a couple of inches. We have got the hammer in the first

:18:10. > :18:18.end, not 100% on the last shot, but it was good enough.

:18:19. > :18:24.We will be keeping an eye on the three other matches, it is

:18:25. > :18:31.important, we are beyond the halfway stage. Switzerland had started with

:18:32. > :18:39.three victories, then they have had two losses, they have taken an early

:18:40. > :18:44.lead against Russia. The USA against Denmark and Korea against China are

:18:45. > :18:52.the other matches, no score yet. The cheers will ring out when things are

:18:53. > :18:59.going well for Russia. If it looks odd that we are concentrating on

:19:00. > :19:08.this match, the killers have to put up with four matches taking place at

:19:09. > :19:13.once. -- curlers. The flags are outnumbered by the hosts' support.

:19:14. > :19:20.But it has been a good atmosphere in here. I am surprised the roof is

:19:21. > :19:26.still on, it was the men against Switzerland, picked up three in the

:19:27. > :19:32.final and, they want 7-6. Switzerland should have closed it

:19:33. > :19:39.out. It was a mistake from the Swiss skip. You could excuse them from

:19:40. > :19:47.going crazy. The noise in here was incredible. Japan with the hammer.

:19:48. > :19:57.Chinami Yoshida. Trying to put up a guard here. That

:19:58. > :20:31.is not the best shot from her. That allows Eve Muirhead to move

:20:32. > :20:39.this stone. The first four stones, if they are in the Freegard zone,

:20:40. > :20:45.between the red line and he has, if they sit in that area, they cannot

:20:46. > :20:50.be moved out of the game. But because of the mistake from Chinami

:20:51. > :21:01.Yoshida, Claire Hamilton could move it.

:21:02. > :21:14.I am impressed, you are learning fast! I am listening to you!

:21:15. > :21:21.Think you have got two young players playing lead and second, they have

:21:22. > :21:30.got to learn and gather and gain experience, everybody tends to look

:21:31. > :21:34.at the skip and the big shots at the end, but the lead and second have

:21:35. > :21:42.such a crucial role to play. Definitely. A long time ago, people

:21:43. > :21:48.would think only the skip had to know the game plan, but at this

:21:49. > :21:54.level, every member of this team all have to note the importance of the

:21:55. > :21:59.shot they are playing. The one thing they have to learn, if they do not

:22:00. > :22:05.make the first shot, they have to think about what the second option

:22:06. > :22:12.could be. When you are young and inexperienced, I am not sure that

:22:13. > :22:18.you remember that. Vicki Adams has gone a couple of feet further than

:22:19. > :22:26.she would have liked. We had a lot of that yesterday, apart from one

:22:27. > :22:34.shop, that she got annoyed about. Even if it does not come off 100%,

:22:35. > :22:40.encouraging each other, little comments, to say, yes, that is OK.

:22:41. > :22:48.We are human, you have to allow yourself a break. 100% is not always

:22:49. > :22:54.possible all the time. It is what we all strive for, but not always the

:22:55. > :23:00.case. Be happy with some of the shots you play, take the positives

:23:01. > :23:08.into the next end. That shop left a British stones sitting out there.

:23:09. > :23:17.They really needed to hit and live there. I am wondering if this is

:23:18. > :23:21.what we will see throughout the game. They are not a bad team, but

:23:22. > :23:26.they are not finishing off the shots they need to play. It is critical

:23:27. > :23:32.they hit and like, rather than hitting and rolling. The advantage

:23:33. > :24:01.again rolls over to Great Britain. They want to leave this until it

:24:02. > :24:09.catches a nice draw. They want it on the front half of the circles. That

:24:10. > :24:17.is a nice shot. Japan will still be able to see half of it. It did not

:24:18. > :24:22.turn as much as they were hoping for, but they are putting the

:24:23. > :24:30.pressure on Japan, Japan have to come up with the goods. Maybe just

:24:31. > :24:31.such it back a little. Kaho Onodera, a pretty good heptathlete, this

:24:32. > :24:45.young lady, at national level. This one does not look so good. A

:24:46. > :24:53.poor first stone, and she has not learned from that. If you do not

:24:54. > :25:07.play a good first shot and combat... Just tapped the British stones

:25:08. > :25:11.nicely. Into the perfect place. Those mistakes, if they keep making

:25:12. > :25:16.them, they are draining. It is not just that you have played a bad

:25:17. > :25:18.shot, it is draining our new and the rest of the team, they cannot keep

:25:19. > :25:37.digging it out. Anna Sloan has called it really

:25:38. > :25:44.heavy. That goes out as well. No real damage done, though. When the

:25:45. > :25:54.opposition have the last stone advantage, try and limit them to one

:25:55. > :26:00.if you can. The team with the hammer can decide not to score, to carry

:26:01. > :26:11.the advantage into the next end, or you can steal one.

:26:12. > :26:21.This Japanese team are overthrowing a lot of the stones. I am not sure

:26:22. > :26:24.if it is how they release them, but they are catching everything on the

:26:25. > :26:34.high side and rolling out rather than getting anything on the nose.

:26:35. > :26:37.The women's team coach there. He will be pleased with the way things

:26:38. > :26:57.have started here, especially if Anna Sloan can place the guard.

:26:58. > :27:05.Anna Sloan kept saying the line is good. Just hoping it stops in time.

:27:06. > :27:13.It looks pretty good. That is a nice shot. That is good. A foot more than

:27:14. > :27:15.she wanted, but it has done the job that was asked of it, guarding the

:27:16. > :27:30.centre stone. Quite a lot of the emerging nations

:27:31. > :27:39.have been searching around for Canadian coaches, other more

:27:40. > :27:46.experienced nations looking for experienced coaches, and that is a

:27:47. > :27:53.good shot. Yumie Funayama producing AQ smiles. A lot of them have been

:27:54. > :27:57.bringing in coaches from other parts of the world that have a lot more

:27:58. > :28:07.experience, but not the case for Japan. They have stuck with him, he

:28:08. > :28:13.has been about for a long time, very experienced, so they have decided to

:28:14. > :28:22.keep with him. He is an extremely nice gentleman.

:28:23. > :28:37.That was a first well executed shot from Japan. When you start the first

:28:38. > :28:43.to ends and you are shooting 46% is 18 -- as a team, it is legitimate to

:28:44. > :28:51.say that that was the first good shot. Well done. That is a lovely

:28:52. > :29:00.stone. The one that they left lying there, it is so easy if you do not

:29:01. > :29:06.concentrate, you might catch the high guard. That is when games can

:29:07. > :29:15.turn. But that was very well executed, controlled by the

:29:16. > :29:20.sweepers. Japan with the hammer. They are going to ignore the red

:29:21. > :29:30.stones of Great Britain in the house. They are going to draw in

:29:31. > :29:36.behind the cover parties -- that is the Japanese stone at the front.

:29:37. > :29:41.That is how they can get two points, to make it difficult for Eve

:29:42. > :29:58.Muirhead to get to it and hit it out. That is just turning nicely. A

:29:59. > :30:09.lovely stone. Well swept as well. And it is just looking -- Anna is

:30:10. > :30:13.just looking but I do not think there was anything here, it is

:30:14. > :30:19.tucked behind. The object of the game is to get as many stones close

:30:20. > :30:28.to the centre and alt counting your opponent but it is not always about

:30:29. > :30:31.hitting the other team's stones out. She had to utilise the guard that

:30:32. > :30:40.she had in front so she has chosen to draw one down in here but Eve is

:30:41. > :30:50.hoping to hit this down here and knock this out.

:30:51. > :31:06.She has done well again. If that kept going across? She needed that

:31:07. > :31:13.to go out. It is lying shot and it gives Japan the chance to come in

:31:14. > :31:19.and take the two. It was nearly a good shot. They are very difficult

:31:20. > :31:22.to judge, these stones. A fraction of a difference in way you hit it

:31:23. > :31:31.can make such a difference at the other end. She was slightly unlucky

:31:32. > :31:35.there because it was a very close stone to catching it and taking it

:31:36. > :31:40.out. Let us hope that even keeps her head up. We have said it once or

:31:41. > :31:44.twice before that if she does not get the set -- perfection it can

:31:45. > :31:49.needle at her. She has to accept that she did play a good shot but it

:31:50. > :31:53.just did not work out. You can tell their from the look that she has

:31:54. > :32:01.that she feels she has played the worst shot in the world but she did

:32:02. > :32:07.not. That just needs to shot -- stop in time which it will do. Just. So

:32:08. > :32:11.that is two to Japan and we are all tied up after two ends. Just a

:32:12. > :32:15.little opportunity for Eve Muirhead but she should not be too hard on

:32:16. > :32:19.yourself because it was not a bad shot and a couple of good shots

:32:20. > :32:24.towards the end of that end got Japan back in the match because they

:32:25. > :32:30.made a really poor start. Our girls played a good end and they were

:32:31. > :32:34.asking the questions of Japan. It was just the Japanese skip who

:32:35. > :32:39.played a very good draw around and behind. We have to accept that you

:32:40. > :32:41.have to be prepared to understand that your opposition is going to

:32:42. > :32:47.play the best job possible and that is when you have two try and force

:32:48. > :32:55.her to play the hardest shot in the book.

:32:56. > :33:02.She is quite happy there that her stones stayed in the house and she

:33:03. > :33:05.got her two. It was sliding opt a little bit but it looked as though

:33:06. > :33:08.it would stop in time. You can see from the array of flags in the ice

:33:09. > :33:14.cube that there is a good atmosphere again. Russia are one down in their

:33:15. > :33:24.match but it is the early stages there against Switzerland. Elsewhere

:33:25. > :33:31.Denmark have gone two up against the USA and China took three in the

:33:32. > :34:12.second end against Korea so good beginning of that match for them.

:34:13. > :34:19.You can probably tell their from the cheer that the end of that end

:34:20. > :34:23.worked out well for Russia. They had the hammer. They picked up a

:34:24. > :34:33.couple. That one from Clare was a little mistake from her.

:34:34. > :34:43.We spoke about that and we have done for most of the week, how critical

:34:44. > :34:55.it is that the Leeds player in your team -- Leeds player -- lead player

:34:56. > :35:01.does not always get the respect they are due. They get a chance to

:35:02. > :35:09.predict how the whole end will go. That was a mistake as well from the

:35:10. > :35:16.Japanese lead. She is shooting 33% and it is early stages yet but she

:35:17. > :35:21.has played six shots. If you are wondering where that percentage

:35:22. > :35:27.comes from, the skip or vice skip will call the shots, where she wants

:35:28. > :35:35.her team-mate to play the type of shot she wants them to play and then

:35:36. > :35:40.it gets judged. That percentage is the level of success they have had

:35:41. > :35:46.in delivering those shots in this match under tournament as a whole.

:35:47. > :35:51.You can have a scenario where you have three of the four players

:35:52. > :35:58.shooting a high percentage but if you have a weak link, and, at the

:35:59. > :36:01.moment, with the leader can just become draining on the others having

:36:02. > :36:19.to always keep the situation. That is a nice effort. The British

:36:20. > :36:23.stones stayed in. It is a case and we keep reiterating this point, of

:36:24. > :36:26.helping each other through the bad patches when you are playing bad

:36:27. > :36:32.shots and trying to resurrect situations if you can. You are going

:36:33. > :36:42.to have a bad day and play a bad stone and you have to accept it.

:36:43. > :36:47.Vicki Adams is playing and out-turn barrier weight which is down weight,

:36:48. > :36:51.as heavy as a strike. She really wants to hit and live in the house

:36:52. > :37:04.here. She does not want to lose her shooter and that is OK.

:37:05. > :37:10.There is a lot of space between those two. You have got to get this

:37:11. > :37:18.perfectly right if you want to take them both out.

:37:19. > :37:29.The Japanese second is being asked by her skip to hit this front stone

:37:30. > :37:34.perfectly to try and go across and remove the other British stone as

:37:35. > :37:36.well. They want a double takeout. Not a bad effort. It was not far

:37:37. > :37:51.away. Another point to make and I will let

:37:52. > :37:55.Jackie talk about this because we were talking about it this morning

:37:56. > :37:59.on the way here, there has been a lot of matchplay and we are halfway

:38:00. > :38:03.through the men's competition and also the women's competition, they

:38:04. > :38:08.play different matches on each sheet but the stones stay on the sheet and

:38:09. > :38:11.they are not allowed to be moved. In the two days practice before they

:38:12. > :38:15.come here they can play with each set of strings and evaluate how to

:38:16. > :38:19.use those stones. Each player will choose a pair to play with and you

:38:20. > :38:27.were saying this morning that the world coming back is that on this

:38:28. > :38:30.sheet the yellow stones might be proving difficult. Yes, I have been

:38:31. > :38:35.speaking to some of the coaches and the yellow stones here on sheet to

:38:36. > :38:42.be, they are not happy with the fact that they are maybe not -- there are

:38:43. > :38:47.maybe not as many good stats. We pair up the stones so that the

:38:48. > :38:50.players have two stones that are running very similar but they reckon

:38:51. > :39:00.there is probably only maybe one set that are good. I reckon that set

:39:01. > :39:03.would be played by the skip and that makes it difficult for the other

:39:04. > :39:10.players to manage the difficulty of the stones. We talk about one of the

:39:11. > :39:13.stones may run faster than the other or it may actually curl to more feed

:39:14. > :39:17.than the other stone and that does make it very difficult to judge

:39:18. > :39:22.because it is a very sensitive game to play. Your release, the wait,

:39:23. > :39:33.there are so many factors involved for this game. That was another shot

:39:34. > :39:42.from Anna Sloan that was not that great. The initial draw is made some

:39:43. > :39:47.months ago and there are home teams and away teams and on each sheet you

:39:48. > :39:51.will either be the home team or the away team and the home team where

:39:52. > :39:55.the dark-coloured strip so you get the red stones. The other team, the

:39:56. > :40:00.away team get the yellow. That is also not coming around. That is two

:40:01. > :40:05.shots in a row, one from Vicki Adams and one from Anna Sloan. It has

:40:06. > :40:20.ended up in not such a bad place will stop --.

:40:21. > :40:28.Actually, out of what was not the best chateau -- she has got a decent

:40:29. > :40:31.result here. There is a possibility that the Japanese team could jam

:40:32. > :40:41.this red at the back of the house. This is pulling. They managed to...

:40:42. > :40:50.They swept it out. Well done. If that had stayed in they would have

:40:51. > :40:55.been in a useful place. Even is wanting to use her own stone to

:40:56. > :40:58.clear the Japanese one. No, she is actually wanting to tap that read

:40:59. > :41:02.that we see and try and spit that in. She is trying everything

:41:03. > :41:08.possible here to try and create more than one for herself. As we can see,

:41:09. > :41:11.she is just going to ignore that yellow Japanese stone in the house

:41:12. > :41:16.and try and create something so that at the end of the game she may have

:41:17. > :41:20.a big shock to pull off. If she does a good shot she could get a few more

:41:21. > :41:28.stones rather than just a one so split here is what we are looking

:41:29. > :41:37.for. That is actually a nice results. We have said it quite a

:41:38. > :41:40.lot, this is a game of strategy. It is just nice and it is not always

:41:41. > :41:44.about being the person closest to the centre, it is about pulling in

:41:45. > :41:45.some shots and hoping they will count for you when you have that

:41:46. > :41:57.last stone to throw. I think that is why it makes the

:41:58. > :41:59.game quite interesting. I know a lot of people out there are thoroughly

:42:00. > :42:20.intrigued by this game of curling. The Japanese skip with and out-turn.

:42:21. > :42:24.A nice comfortable weight and she wants to tap this road of Great

:42:25. > :42:30.Britain's out of the house and remaining. She really wants to be

:42:31. > :42:39.making sure that she is lying to macro shots, and she is. Eve could

:42:40. > :42:47.use that want to try and hit her own name behind that front stone. Yes.

:42:48. > :42:50.She wants to try and hit that top yellow and then get a little role

:42:51. > :42:55.across to the right-hand side here and hiding behind the yellow high

:42:56. > :42:58.guard that we see at the top of the house and she may well get the back

:42:59. > :43:05.yellow as well out of it but her first concern here is to get the

:43:06. > :43:18.hit, role and stay in the house. Good call. And there is reiterating,

:43:19. > :43:24.make sure that we keep the shooter. The shooter is the stone that even

:43:25. > :43:27.is about to throw. It is a lot of terminology in curling and I

:43:28. > :43:30.apologise that there might be people out there who do not know what we

:43:31. > :43:41.are speaking about. If you have a question for us send it into us and

:43:42. > :43:44.we will try our best to it to you. That is a result from Eve. A great

:43:45. > :43:56.result there. Very well executed. This is the game that Eve Muirhead

:43:57. > :44:06.is renowned for. She got a bit of stick from... I'm sure the curling

:44:07. > :44:09.fraternity were split on that match where she had the chance to win

:44:10. > :44:14.against Canada and there were three stones that she tried to remove and

:44:15. > :44:22.go for the big winning shot with her last stone in that match and it did

:44:23. > :44:25.not come off. But that is her game. Eve Muirhead now has a big

:44:26. > :44:30.reputation in the world of curling and it is because, more often than

:44:31. > :44:33.not, she does manage to make the big shots. Yes, if you are playing

:44:34. > :44:39.against Eve Muirhead you do not want to leave her the big shots because

:44:40. > :44:43.she is very much drawn to them. More times than off and she will actually

:44:44. > :44:52.make these big shots that she is challenged with.

:44:53. > :45:00.Are they going to use the outside one and role in behind? Yes, if she

:45:01. > :45:08.hits a high one, she might not like a shot, so she is going to hopefully

:45:09. > :45:13.get an inside role and give herself some cover behind her own high guard

:45:14. > :45:24.and Eve Muirhead's read. Ayumi Ogasawara, the Japanese skip.

:45:25. > :45:44.A difficult shot. She has pleaded really well. That

:45:45. > :45:52.leaves Eve Muirhead with a fairly straightforward shot to remove the

:45:53. > :46:00.yellow. It was a difficult shot. Yes, the girls had to keep

:46:01. > :46:07.sweeping, and it has over cold. But it has given us the opportunity for

:46:08. > :46:16.a simple hit and live, to take the two points.

:46:17. > :46:26.When I say it is simple, these are the bread and butter shots that will

:46:27. > :46:31.help take your game through to win. I was just going to make that point,

:46:32. > :46:35.sometimes the simplest shots of the ones you have to concentrate on. She

:46:36. > :46:48.has played it well. Two points for great written. Textbook curling at

:46:49. > :46:54.the moment, two points in the first and third ends. They have missed a

:46:55. > :47:01.few shots, but all in all, it has been a good start. All Eve Muirhead

:47:02. > :47:07.and her team need to do is to keep playing like this, the chances will

:47:08. > :47:14.continue to come. This Japanese quartet, a mixture of experience and

:47:15. > :47:21.youth, know that they will have a tough struggle. Eve Muirhead and her

:47:22. > :47:27.team have played pretty well so far. Vicki Adams has played a few shots

:47:28. > :47:40.that have not been of the standard that she would have liked.

:47:41. > :47:50.You were telling me that Eve Muirhead is famous in Japan in terms

:47:51. > :47:54.of curling. Yes, after Vancouver, she got many, many e-mails and

:47:55. > :48:04.Facebook messages from Japanese people. She looks very much like a

:48:05. > :48:09.Japanese cartoon character. I am not sure which character it is, but it

:48:10. > :48:13.is a female fighting character, and they were sending lookalike pictures

:48:14. > :48:21.of her. She is very well-known in Japan. Better to be compared to that

:48:22. > :48:25.than the one we saw last night, somebody in the USA had a Homer

:48:26. > :48:46.Simpson comparison. A little harsh! Somebody has asked the question,

:48:47. > :48:52.what we do with the stopwatches. If you have been watching, some of the

:48:53. > :48:58.girls wear normal stopwatches around their waist, they will click the

:48:59. > :49:04.times of the stones, and others will have rock watches, attached to the

:49:05. > :49:13.base of your curling brush. Both do the same thing. The girls will time

:49:14. > :49:20.their stone when it crosses the tee line of the house, until it gets to

:49:21. > :49:31.the thick red line, 12 feet outside the house. They will check that

:49:32. > :49:36.time. They have to find out what the time of the draw weight is, and they

:49:37. > :49:42.can hopefully calculate where the stone will finish. Part of the

:49:43. > :49:45.sweeper's task is to let you skip know where they think the stone will

:49:46. > :49:54.finish. The weight is very crucial in this game.

:49:55. > :50:01.The ice is allocated depending on the weight you are going to throw.

:50:02. > :50:07.If you are throwing a heavyweight, the skip may give you the edge of

:50:08. > :50:17.the stone. It does not move as far, the faster you throw it. Well, it

:50:18. > :50:23.does not swing as much. There is a line down here that stays fairly

:50:24. > :50:30.straight, probably played with too much weight. This is a better shot.

:50:31. > :50:37.She has struggled a bit, Chinami Yoshida. It has stayed pretty

:50:38. > :50:49.straight. I cannot tell from here, it might be that she could have her

:50:50. > :50:57.player with a straight stone, which is not what you are looking for. It

:50:58. > :51:07.would be interesting to watch some of our stones, to see if they are

:51:08. > :51:14.coming in. It might be that there is not quite the same movement in this

:51:15. > :51:19.line. So many elements to this game that you have to think about. A lot

:51:20. > :51:24.more than people anticipate, we have to be able to read the stones, judge

:51:25. > :51:34.the weights, read the ice. The ice is cut in a certain way by the ice

:51:35. > :51:39.makers. It all makes for an intriguing and interesting game.

:51:40. > :51:52.Kaho Onodera trying to take-out both of the stones. It just clips it.

:51:53. > :51:59.Another mistake. It is a tighter line, they could not hold it, just

:52:00. > :52:05.the fine difference. The ice conditions might be a bit different,

:52:06. > :52:17.it might be the stone. Maybe she just did not throw it very well.

:52:18. > :52:30.Vicki Adams, after a better first stone and she has been playing so

:52:31. > :52:36.far. Just looking to make sure she has got the weight right. Coming

:52:37. > :52:38.close to the centre line, to guard the British stone. That looks pretty

:52:39. > :53:03.good. That is not bad. Is she asking to tap the stone

:53:04. > :53:10.back? She will be quite happy. It would be a good shot if you can tap

:53:11. > :53:15.the stone back. Her yellow stone then flops in behind. She is waving

:53:16. > :53:18.them on as if it does not have enough weight, the sweeping will

:53:19. > :53:39.help it keep running. It is still sitting in the house,

:53:40. > :53:46.but they needed to sweep that a lot more to try and hold the stone so

:53:47. > :53:51.that it does not roll across as far. She will not be too disappointed.

:53:52. > :54:01.She wanted to push the red behind the centre line. She would then

:54:02. > :54:05.utilise to her advantage, if she could sit in front of the stones, it

:54:06. > :54:16.would make it harder for Great Britain to remove them. Anna Sloan

:54:17. > :54:31.has been asked to come around. She wants to sit on the blue of the

:54:32. > :54:38.circle. Yes, that is very nice. Stone placement being judged very

:54:39. > :54:45.well by this team. A very good shot from Anna Sloan. She has had success

:54:46. > :54:53.as a skip, she played as a youngster with Eve Muirhead, in a young

:54:54. > :54:54.British team. It garners a lot of respect. They are the world

:54:55. > :55:06.champions. They were beaten in the final of the

:55:07. > :55:10.European Championships in December by Sweden, after having had an

:55:11. > :55:20.excellent round robin competition. Two of them have gone. Their

:55:21. > :55:28.experience in Championships and their performances have been such

:55:29. > :55:38.that, yes, Canada will be amongst the favourites, and the Swedish team

:55:39. > :55:44.eat this Scottish team at the Europeans and -- but Sweden, Great

:55:45. > :55:51.Britain and Canada will be the favourites. Switzerland, Russia, I

:55:52. > :55:56.could name half a dozen of the others who could get in there.

:55:57. > :56:02.Switzerland have had a tough last couple of matches after a good

:56:03. > :56:13.start. That is another good shot from Anna Sloan.

:56:14. > :56:36.A well judged stone. They have managed that all the way down.

:56:37. > :56:42.A similar result to last time, the back stone is still sitting there.

:56:43. > :56:57.Britain are lying to points here. When she is calling the promotion,

:56:58. > :57:07.she is leaving her yellow stone at the front, additional cover that we

:57:08. > :57:11.will use. The yellow stone at the top of the house, had it rolled

:57:12. > :57:20.away, it is a much harder decision for Eve Muirhead. She cannot guard

:57:21. > :57:21.both of them in the house. This is just putting on a bit of extra

:57:22. > :57:35.cover. She is going to replace the stone

:57:36. > :57:50.again. Anna Sloan played this very well. Eve Muirhead trying to come

:57:51. > :57:59.into the same spot. A nice shot. A nice complement from Anna Sloan for

:58:00. > :58:06.her team. It is a big team sport, I feel. People often think that the

:58:07. > :58:12.sweepers, that is all they do, but they have got to throw their own

:58:13. > :58:15.stones, they have got to manage and judge everybody else's stones, and

:58:16. > :58:24.sweep as hard as they can when asked to. I was talking to somebody asking

:58:25. > :58:30.me about skips who do not seem to do much sweeping, is it one of the

:58:31. > :58:34.perks of the job? I think so. They only have to sweep the stones out of

:58:35. > :58:43.the back of the house, and everybody else on the team sweeps everybody

:58:44. > :58:49.else's stones. I will not say it is a lazy position to be in, but it is

:58:50. > :59:07.a perk of the job! Almost coming right in. A nice

:59:08. > :59:15.shot. You can see the shot that Eve Muirhead is looking at, to flop in

:59:16. > :59:20.behind her own. This Japanese skip is trying her hardest, she is

:59:21. > :59:25.throwing some nice shots, just fractions away from perfection. Eve

:59:26. > :59:33.Muirhead will not be able to see all of this.

:59:34. > :59:42.She just wants to come down here and hopefully catch it, flop in here,

:59:43. > :59:52.leaving herself with three stones under four feet.

:59:53. > :00:03.Eve Muirhead, the final stone of the end. This would put a lot of

:00:04. > :00:09.pressure on Ayumi Ogasawara. They are trying to hold this. Just have

:00:10. > :00:21.to hit the yellow on the left-hand side, flop in behind. That is a

:00:22. > :00:25.really good effort. That was a fantastic shot. Well thrown. She has

:00:26. > :00:36.made a really good start to this match. I have two laugh out loud, I

:00:37. > :00:45.just heard either saying that if she lifts the triple here, she is going

:00:46. > :00:48.to cry. She is not even going to attempt the triple. That is a shot

:00:49. > :00:52.that Eve Muirhead would want to play. We were talking about this

:00:53. > :00:56.yesterday when you are trying to imagine what the average skip would

:00:57. > :00:59.do and inevitably the shot that you would play will come to the

:01:00. > :01:05.forefront of your mind and everybody is different and plays the game in a

:01:06. > :01:09.different way and Eve's first thought would be that if she was

:01:10. > :01:13.playing she would try to get rid of all of those three. I do not think

:01:14. > :01:17.she can see enough of it to take the triple. There is the yellow guard at

:01:18. > :01:23.the front which would have made it really hard for her. The Japanese

:01:24. > :01:32.skip is looking to do what we would call damage limitation. She may be

:01:33. > :01:39.happy enough to lose our one -- a one. She will try to act count some

:01:40. > :01:47.of our red stones. It is a really tough shot to try and get something

:01:48. > :01:52.out of this. Has she got enough? Well done. She has managed the

:01:53. > :01:57.damage limitation to just one. If she had not played that right she

:01:58. > :02:05.could have lost to macro or three there but as it is, as steel for

:02:06. > :02:11.Great Britain. -- steel for Great Britain. Everybody is playing well.

:02:12. > :02:15.Great Britain are in a very nice position after four ends, leading

:02:16. > :02:20.5-2 and very much in control of this match.

:02:21. > :02:27.The other games out there are all pretty close, much closer than this

:02:28. > :02:31.one. Russia are up against Switzerland which is pleasing the

:02:32. > :02:45.home crowd here. Denmark are leading the USA and China are up over

:02:46. > :02:49.career. Just before we start this end, we have had another question

:02:50. > :02:54.and I am happy to answer them. What would happen if the sweepers touched

:02:55. > :03:01.or it stone? Actually, if either of the opposition's sweepers touched

:03:02. > :03:05.running stone, we consider girls sweeping the stone down here. If

:03:06. > :03:08.they accidentally touch that stone it is classified as a burnt stone

:03:09. > :03:16.and they would have two remove it from the field of play. We do play a

:03:17. > :03:20.very gentlemanly sport where we judge and control the game ourselves

:03:21. > :03:27.and we have to be open and honest enough to say if we have touched a

:03:28. > :03:30.stone. The opposition will often question you if you have touched the

:03:31. > :03:34.stone so a running stone affair has been touched by a brush will be

:03:35. > :03:39.removed but sometimes accidentally a player may catch it with their foot

:03:40. > :03:43.or the brash and they have to let the opposition know that they have

:03:44. > :03:47.touched the stone and the opposite team then have the opportunity to

:03:48. > :03:56.replace that stone where they thought it was. Hopefully that has

:03:57. > :04:02.answered every question. On that, -- on that question of a burnt stone,

:04:03. > :04:09.we did see the occasion where if there are a little green lights, you

:04:10. > :04:13.may have noticed that on one occasion, think it was on the

:04:14. > :04:16.Russian men where they did not release it before that line and

:04:17. > :04:20.there is an Alec tonic sensor and the red light comes on on the stone

:04:21. > :04:25.and that stone is burnt as well. You have to release before the red line

:04:26. > :04:31.otherwise the red lights come on the stone. You will notice when the

:04:32. > :04:38.player release the stone there were two green lights that flashed on

:04:39. > :04:47.which is green for go. If you hog line violator stone the red lights

:04:48. > :04:53.will flash -- violate a stone. I hate to say it but I think it was a

:04:54. > :04:57.Scottish girl, Sheila Swann, who had the first ever hog line violation

:04:58. > :05:03.with these stones. It was very unfortunate. It is a good job that

:05:04. > :05:06.she was a friend. Someone has to be first! I am not sure it is always

:05:07. > :05:09.the best thing to be the first in that one. She has had a lot of

:05:10. > :05:15.ribbing and stick about it and I'm sure she will get more because I

:05:16. > :05:25.have mentioned it on television. She is good, she was my third player

:05:26. > :05:31.when we won the world Championships. Back to the game at hand. This might

:05:32. > :05:36.be a little bit wide. Japan are trying to utilise cover round the

:05:37. > :05:41.front to come in behind. It is not a good stone at all. She has really

:05:42. > :05:45.struggled. I have two say, watching this little girl play those stones

:05:46. > :05:48.on that side as well, they are not curling at all and I think she

:05:49. > :05:53.probably has a straight stone there and they are not managing it well.

:05:54. > :05:58.Would you change the stones that she was playing with if your lead is

:05:59. > :06:04.playing so poorly? That is a good question. You do not want the stone

:06:05. > :06:07.either. Unfortunately if there are any rogue stones they will generally

:06:08. > :06:11.be put in the hands of the lead and the lead has to manage them. What

:06:12. > :06:16.can happen is the second might play them. The second plays a lot of

:06:17. > :06:20.hitting stones and it is easier to throw a straight stone or I hard

:06:21. > :06:24.stone when you are hitting. The rogue stones are left for the poor

:06:25. > :06:31.players at the front-end of the team and the best set are generally left

:06:32. > :06:33.for the skip and the vice because they definitely need them when it

:06:34. > :06:36.gets to the closing part of the game. It is critical that they have

:06:37. > :06:54.good running stones. The two young players there have

:06:55. > :07:11.been shooting 45 and 47%. You can see where the issue is here.

:07:12. > :07:18.They do not have too much experience. This four have played

:07:19. > :07:22.together only at the Asia Championships last year and in the

:07:23. > :07:32.Olympic qualifying competition in December which admittedly was

:07:33. > :07:38.successful for them. They did beat Russia in Denmark. They got off to a

:07:39. > :07:45.reasonable start. They were then beaten by career and career, a lot

:07:46. > :07:50.of people think they have a decent opportunity to do well here. One of

:07:51. > :07:52.the emerging nations. I think the defeat against the USA last night

:07:53. > :08:30.will have been a difficult one to accept.

:08:31. > :08:36.Japan are desperately trying to create something out of this end.

:08:37. > :08:49.They are trying to freeze the top of some of our red stones. They hope

:08:50. > :08:54.that we jam. Jam is when you hit the stone wrong and it catches the back

:08:55. > :09:06.one and it stays the house. That was a well executed shot there from Anna

:09:07. > :09:11.Sloan. We are lying three stones in the house here. Japan are forced to

:09:12. > :09:52.come in behind these stones. A difficult morning so far for the

:09:53. > :09:58.Japanese skip. The team are inevitable here. -- the team are in

:09:59. > :10:13.a bit of bother here. Anna Sloan has had a lot of success.

:10:14. > :10:17.The fact that these players know each other so well and they are all

:10:18. > :10:28.young players who get on with each other, little side there from Anna

:10:29. > :10:39.Sloan. When Vicki and Anna play, they wear their heart on this leads

:10:40. > :10:46.a little. -- their heart on their sleeves are little. This Japanese

:10:47. > :10:51.third actually played a very nice stone there. She utilised the GB

:10:52. > :10:57.stones at the front of the house as a guard for her stone. She came in

:10:58. > :11:10.behind it and unfortunately Anna did not manage the promotion. They do

:11:11. > :11:29.now lie to stones. They need an opportunity to hit-and-run across.

:11:30. > :11:34.Japan have not had the opportunity to take control. It has partly been

:11:35. > :11:38.the first two players not setting the end up in the way that they

:11:39. > :11:42.would like and then they come up against Eve Muirhead who has been

:11:43. > :11:50.playing really well. If she can play a good shot here the Japanese skip,

:11:51. > :12:05.with the end is developing not in the way that she needs... The

:12:06. > :12:09.front-end of the team are not playing well enough to make the life

:12:10. > :12:18.any easier for this skip and a vice skip. Eve keeps doing this. If she

:12:19. > :12:21.keeps playing the shots, you cannot really fault the Japanese skip

:12:22. > :12:31.because she is having to play even more difficult shots. Eve has thrown

:12:32. > :12:36.some really good stones here. She's keeping her cool and playing the

:12:37. > :12:42.shots when it matters. I think her uncle there is biting his nails and

:12:43. > :12:48.a little bit nervous. I am sure he does not have to be.

:12:49. > :13:02.What options are there here? Japan now have two draw in and play a

:13:03. > :13:06.freeze and a freeze is a stone with T wait up to the T-line, the centre

:13:07. > :13:13.line and freeze on top of the red shot that is there. She also has the

:13:14. > :13:17.pop -- she also has the Kinsey that she could tap it ever so slightly on

:13:18. > :13:21.the inside but she will want to use does protection so she is lying hard

:13:22. > :13:24.against it and it makes it harder for Eve to and remove it. And

:13:25. > :13:47.out-turn draw here. The line is looking good. The girls

:13:48. > :13:51.will definitely want to bounce -- not want to bounce off this at all.

:13:52. > :13:55.That is a nice shot from the Japanese skip. She has been playing

:13:56. > :13:59.very well but she has been up against every time she wants to come

:14:00. > :14:00.and play and that is the difference of our girls playing better than

:14:01. > :14:13.their front-end. Even has not been missing much

:14:14. > :14:20.either. She has been playing the shots that have been required. Japan

:14:21. > :14:27.have the hammer in this depends. If Britain could limit them to one

:14:28. > :14:32.halfway, 5-3 up and with the hammer going into the sixth would be a job

:14:33. > :14:39.well done. Yes, Eve will just want to guard the shot up and make it

:14:40. > :14:46.very difficult for Japan to score the one. That is the game plan that

:14:47. > :14:54.you want to play, take a two and wherever possible try to force only

:14:55. > :15:05.the one from your opposition. This has got a really good line.

:15:06. > :15:12.She does still have the possibility of coming down on the right-hand

:15:13. > :15:17.side of the screen, and bite the one foot. She is looking to come around

:15:18. > :15:34.the top British stone. A chance of two points here. She has

:15:35. > :15:45.been playing well enough, it's the first chance she has had to score

:15:46. > :15:48.well, after the second end, which ended up being reasonably

:15:49. > :15:53.straightforward. But even then, she had to play a good shot. She does

:15:54. > :16:03.not have much room for error. It is a difficult shot. Not much room for

:16:04. > :16:06.error. This is what skips practice, these shots, often to win or lose a

:16:07. > :16:31.game. It has got a lot of pace on it. It

:16:32. > :16:41.will be just the one. Another good end by Great Britain.

:16:42. > :16:47.Britain very much in control of this. An opportunity missed by

:16:48. > :16:49.Japan, when they come back for the sixth end, Great Britain will have

:16:50. > :17:02.the hammer, and a two shot lead. Curling News, jewel assessment? I

:17:03. > :17:09.love it, one of the best things about the Winter Olympics. I love

:17:10. > :17:17.it, excellent. We should have it instead of Match Of The Day! It is

:17:18. > :17:23.chess on ice. Thank you! If you love curling, you

:17:24. > :17:30.can continue to watch on the red button, Eve Muirhead and her team in

:17:31. > :17:34.apparent control. They will leave them to it, we have other fish to

:17:35. > :17:40.fry, it is a busy day. On this Valentine's Day, could it be that

:17:41. > :17:44.the British public will fall in love with a 25-year-old from Maidstone?

:17:45. > :17:49.Lizzie Yarnold leads the standings in the skeleton, going into the

:17:50. > :17:56.decisive second day. The third run is live on BBC Two. She goes first,

:17:57. > :18:03.Shelley Rudman in 11th place. Thereafter, we changed channels, the

:18:04. > :18:08.coverage switches to BBC One. Complete coverage of the decisive

:18:09. > :18:14.gold medal, we hope, winning run. Who will claim it? All will be

:18:15. > :18:22.revealed. Lots of history being made all over the Olympics here. Elise

:18:23. > :18:26.Christie became the first wreckage woman ever to make it into the final

:18:27. > :18:30.of a short track event. She crossed the line in silver medal position,

:18:31. > :18:37.only to have it taken away after a discomfort nation. But she has

:18:38. > :18:41.several more chances, because she is stronger in the longer events, the

:18:42. > :18:47.1500 metres is tomorrow. Will O'Reilly will be commentating. He is

:18:48. > :18:51.one of the pioneers of the sport for Great Britain. As far back as when

:18:52. > :19:03.it first became a demonstration sport, 26 years ago.

:19:04. > :19:11.I grew up with my mother, alone. She was the father and mother. My mum

:19:12. > :19:17.bought me a pair of in-line skates, the four wheels were in the front.

:19:18. > :19:24.My mother was helping me from one side of the living room to the

:19:25. > :19:29.other, as the carpet slowly moved to one side, she kept saying, only

:19:30. > :19:35.skate the other way, because then it will move back! I was able to

:19:36. > :19:40.in-line skate from my house to the ice rink in about 15, 20 minutes,

:19:41. > :19:47.going down through the underpasses, the speed and Hobbes on the road, it

:19:48. > :19:55.gave a terrific feeling of freedom. For me, it was a natural transition

:19:56. > :20:02.from in-line skating to ice. I started figure skating. I remember

:20:03. > :20:07.watching John Curry with my mother, winning his Olympic gold medal.

:20:08. > :20:21.That was my first aspiration to take up the sport. Somewhere along the

:20:22. > :20:24.line, I realised I wanted to be a bit more competitive. The

:20:25. > :20:31.rough-and-tumble, if you like. Even though figure skating gave me an

:20:32. > :20:38.incredible basic instruction of how to skate, it did not give me the

:20:39. > :20:45.thrill. There was a good speed skating club in Birmingham. I am now

:20:46. > :20:53.an honorary member. They have a time trial, you had to do three laps over

:20:54. > :21:00.the track, and you had to do it under 40 seconds. I remember the

:21:01. > :21:07.start calling me to the line, I was shaking in my skates, I made the

:21:08. > :21:09.time, I made the grade, that was my first time of joining the Birmingham

:21:10. > :21:20.club. Wilf O'Reilly going round the

:21:21. > :21:29.outside. When I won the 500, I remember going

:21:30. > :21:34.to bed and putting the medal under discussion, and waking up the next

:21:35. > :21:39.morning and I put my hand under the pillow to make sure it was still

:21:40. > :21:44.there! I was dreaming it was not real, but it was very real.

:21:45. > :22:00.Wilf O'Reilly gets it! A second gold medal!

:22:01. > :22:11.Winning the 1000 metres was amazing. The sport has given me an incredible

:22:12. > :22:20.amount. I was a young lad living in Birmingham, and this has happened to

:22:21. > :22:23.me, it can happen to anybody. Only Nicky Gooch has subsequent new

:22:24. > :22:28.managed to get a medal for Great Britain thereafter. Elise Christie

:22:29. > :22:33.has the chance to follow in the footsteps in the coming days.

:22:34. > :22:39.Meanwhile, we are talking snow. We have been talking about the men's

:22:40. > :22:43.super combined, it was put forward by an hour because of the warm

:22:44. > :22:47.conditions, and we are about to go into the deciding slalom run. What

:22:48. > :22:53.is involved? Who are the favourites? It is going to be

:22:54. > :23:02.exciting, it is set by the Croatian coach, Ivica Kostelic's father. It

:23:03. > :23:07.is difficult, a lot of straight-line verticals, it is called a royal

:23:08. > :23:12.flush, straight down the hill, only one offset gate, and another

:23:13. > :23:21.hairpin. They will be flying, then a big turn. It will be really tricky.

:23:22. > :23:28.And very fast. Is this what the Croatian coaches are renowned for?

:23:29. > :23:31.He has done it for his son, because he is the slalom skier, that is how

:23:32. > :23:38.they train, really difficult courses. He is a high-class coach,

:23:39. > :23:43.he was drawn to set this cause some months ago, so this is no suggestion

:23:44. > :23:50.of incestuous behaviour. Graham Bell is in the mountain, there were

:23:51. > :23:58.concerns about the temperature, what do you expect from because? The

:23:59. > :24:05.temperatures are indeed very warm. In between the downhill leg and the

:24:06. > :24:07.slalom leg, I caught the American team playing keepy-uppy in the car

:24:08. > :24:14.park, both of them had their shirts off. If the camera pans down, I took

:24:15. > :24:22.the foresight of bringing my Bermuda shorts up on the mountain with me,

:24:23. > :24:28.it is bad form. They have been throwing salt down, ice takes a lot

:24:29. > :24:35.longer to melt down water does to heat up. The piste is in a

:24:36. > :24:43.reasonable condition. It is like it was for the women's, but it will rot

:24:44. > :24:48.up, so if you go last, you will have a much rougher course. That is a

:24:49. > :24:56.sight for sore eyes on Valentine's Day, we are all very impressed! Bodi

:24:57. > :25:02.Miller says, I do not think anybody has a crush on, it will be full on

:25:03. > :25:08.attack, and whoever sticks it will get into the medals. He will try.

:25:09. > :25:11.Definitely, he will go for it, he has a lot of time to make up on some

:25:12. > :25:21.other slalom skiers, like Ondrej Bank. Bodi Miller will be kicking

:25:22. > :25:30.himself for the mistake he made in the downhill, he lost about a

:25:31. > :25:35.second. But even Alexis Pinturault is not out of the equation, he will

:25:36. > :25:42.start early in the slalom, he will have a fairly good track, and he

:25:43. > :25:46.will let it rip, as will Ted Ligety. The two best slalom skiers in the

:25:47. > :25:50.field have a lot of time to make up, but they will have an advantage of

:25:51. > :25:55.starting on a slightly smoother track. It is almost impossible to

:25:56. > :26:03.call. Ivica Kostelic is in their as well. It is difficult to know how it

:26:04. > :26:11.will pan out. Let's remind everybody back home of how things stand. This

:26:12. > :26:12.event is designed to identify the greatest all-round mail Alpine

:26:13. > :26:22.skier. The Norwegian is not renowned as a

:26:23. > :26:30.slalom skier, and for those in his wake, where is the biggest danger

:26:31. > :26:35.going to come from? Number seven, Peter Costello, he is my favourite,

:26:36. > :26:39.but he will have to get used to the course. It is similar to the

:26:40. > :26:46.women's, but the men are happier, they will make you got holes. We

:26:47. > :26:57.mentioned Alexis Panter Row, he is 2.4 seconds back. Ted Ligety, the

:26:58. > :27:02.2009 -- 1.9 seconds back. It could be a cavalry charge. Alexis

:27:03. > :27:10.Pinturault, you cannot write him off. Starting in eighth place out of

:27:11. > :27:14.the start gate, he has nothing to lose.

:27:15. > :27:23.You have competed in this event many times, you know what it is like.

:27:24. > :27:29.When you are in the start gate, as a slalom specialist, how does that

:27:30. > :27:34.make you feel? For me, I had the downhill out of the way, so it was a

:27:35. > :27:39.sigh of relief, and I was excited to get into it. When I was racing, it

:27:40. > :27:45.was a 2-run slalom, which was an advantage. It is a bit more even

:27:46. > :27:52.now, but it is slightly favoured to the slalom skier. Your motivation

:27:53. > :27:58.levels and game plan? Because the course is designed to be superfast.

:27:59. > :28:04.Superfast but super tricky. Ivica Kostelic will know he has gone on a

:28:05. > :28:08.course like this so many times. Does he have an advantage because of the

:28:09. > :28:14.course setting that his father has completed? Yes, he has trained

:28:15. > :28:19.courses like this so many times. We have often seen the Austrian coach

:28:20. > :28:24.setting and then an Austrian winner, so it favours Ivica Kostelic. Let's

:28:25. > :28:28.get up there with Graham Bell and Matt Chilton.

:28:29. > :28:36.Good afternoon. This is the scene in Rosa Khutor for the second leg of

:28:37. > :28:51.the super combined, 1160 metres. It is an interesting looking course.

:28:52. > :28:57.There is a royal flush at the bottom, we expect that will flush

:28:58. > :29:08.out some of the early starters who are less useful slalom skiers. A

:29:09. > :29:12.beautiful afternoon. It is warm, a bit too warm for Alpine ski racing,

:29:13. > :29:17.but the course is very firm indeed. It is rock hard. I am expecting it

:29:18. > :29:24.to hold up pretty well for the first ten. They will include Alexis

:29:25. > :29:30.Pinturault, and Ted Ligety will go shortly afterwards. Things will get

:29:31. > :29:35.interesting for the later starters. It is a big advantage for the

:29:36. > :29:42.Slovenian going first. He opens the slalom stage of the Olympic men's

:29:43. > :29:48.super combined. His time for the downhill will have the slalom time

:29:49. > :29:55.added to bed. He was in 30th place in downhill this morning. That is

:29:56. > :30:00.his chance gone. He has gone back up above the control gate that he

:30:01. > :30:03.missed. He will carry on. It gives us a chance to analyse the course.

:30:04. > :30:13.The royal flush is right at the end, about 15 gate from the finish

:30:14. > :30:18.line. The floodlights are on. He hits the royal flush here, for gates

:30:19. > :30:25.vertical down the course. Then, the hairpin, and into the last five

:30:26. > :30:30.gates, which are quite wide. He will not do any damage to anybody else's

:30:31. > :30:35.chances here. It gives us a chance to get a good look at the course

:30:36. > :30:42.that has been set by the Croatian coach, the father of Ivica Kostelic.

:30:43. > :30:54.Ivica Kostelic said the seventh fastest time in downhill this

:30:55. > :30:58.morning. The sun went in for while. The temperatures did drop but now it

:30:59. > :31:03.is blazing down on the course again. The next man down is in 29th

:31:04. > :31:08.position after the downhill stage this morning. He is second to ski,

:31:09. > :31:20.Martin Vrablik from the Czech Republic. This will be useful for

:31:21. > :31:27.Ondrej Palat to get him down. -- Ondrej Palat.

:31:28. > :31:40.It was about here that we had a mistake earlier. Graham Bell has

:31:41. > :31:45.gone all of the way down and all the way back up and he is now sitting

:31:46. > :31:54.alongside me. Yes, that was a bit of a work-out. The lead here is 2.71

:31:55. > :31:59.seconds. He is the second fastest -- they have the second fastest man

:32:00. > :32:04.after the downhill still to come. He will be easy -- eager to get words

:32:05. > :32:10.of advice from the man who has skied on the course. Everyone else has

:32:11. > :32:26.skied alongside and inspected and memorised it. That is Bode Miller,

:32:27. > :32:31.he will start 19th. Next to go. Slalom is very similar to downhill.

:32:32. > :32:36.If you see these skis go away from the snow there is a jumping action

:32:37. > :32:46.in between the gates and the skiers are not making the best use of their

:32:47. > :32:51.carving abilities. Adam Zampa is a world class racer and he has had

:32:52. > :32:55.good form in slalom this season. He should do OK here. This looks

:32:56. > :33:03.respectable. He is coming into the Royal flush now. He looks like he

:33:04. > :33:09.might take the gold medal position here for Slovakia. He does so by a

:33:10. > :33:18.decent margin, 1.58 seconds. He is happy with his performance. It goes

:33:19. > :33:25.to show how much time you can make up with a good run. The tips of the

:33:26. > :33:29.skis have plastic on the top of them and it is angled in one direction so

:33:30. > :33:34.if they hit the base of the pole directly on, they are designed to

:33:35. > :33:36.bounce to the inside. He is happy with that. Deservedly so. It is a

:33:37. > :33:50.good run from Adam Zampa. The ski out with the same speed as

:33:51. > :33:54.him is going to have to pull out his best if he is going to get anywhere

:33:55. > :34:00.near that time. Thomas Mermillod Blondin could find himself trailing

:34:01. > :34:08.on this first bit. He has actually started pretty well. He is just a

:34:09. > :34:11.little bit in front but he is skiing sideways. Thomas Mermillod Blondin

:34:12. > :34:15.will be disappointed by his downhill run. He is capable of a better

:34:16. > :34:20.downhill run and he could have been really challenging for a position on

:34:21. > :34:29.the podium. Here we go, Royal Flush, outside, then a hairpin. Oh, he is

:34:30. > :34:33.in trouble. He is down. A bit of chin music on some of those gates.

:34:34. > :34:38.You can see how slick the courses. Be as gone right the way through the

:34:39. > :34:41.finish line on his face. Often when you fall like that the best thing to

:34:42. > :34:47.do is just to stay on your back, do not try and get up. There are razor

:34:48. > :34:50.sharp edges and if you try and dig into the snow at that point and

:34:51. > :34:54.stand up, that is when you can actually cause a knee injury

:34:55. > :34:57.bizarrely enough. If you are not going to hit anything then the

:34:58. > :35:03.safest thing to do is stay on your back with your legs in the air. He

:35:04. > :35:06.is OK. He is on his feet and he has given everybody a spectacular

:35:07. > :35:10.display of face first sliding on the eyes but he is all right, minus a

:35:11. > :35:17.bit of equipment but that will be returned to him. This is Paul de la

:35:18. > :35:23.Cuesta of Spain. The current leader is Adam Zampa. Paul de la Cuesta is

:35:24. > :35:32.not a very accomplished slalom skier. He is having a pedestrian

:35:33. > :35:37.start here. You can see how stiff his upper body is compared to a more

:35:38. > :35:40.accomplished slalom skier. He is having to reach across and hit the

:35:41. > :35:44.gates with his outside hand because he is not getting his feet close

:35:45. > :35:47.enough. He is not getting the lead with his body so that the gates

:35:48. > :35:57.coming to its outside hand. He has to reach across at it. Adam Zampa's

:35:58. > :36:01.spit was 2.30. Paul de la Cuesta is lower than that. He is looking to

:36:02. > :36:07.the finish. If he gets the finish he gets a position. Oh, that was not

:36:08. > :36:10.too clever. He is still in, just. He has come through the end of the

:36:11. > :36:14.really difficult section of the course and he will get a position

:36:15. > :36:17.alongside his name and that is the key for some who know that they do

:36:18. > :36:23.not really have a chance to be able to say that they finished 21st 22nd

:36:24. > :36:26.or whatever in the Olympic Games combined slalom. He was hanging on

:36:27. > :36:37.here though. He doesn't look as physically big

:36:38. > :36:42.and strong as some of the other skiers either. More time is needed

:36:43. > :36:48.in the gym I think. This is Morgan Pridy, the only Canadian involved in

:36:49. > :36:53.this special -- second run. He is on his way. He had a reasonable

:36:54. > :36:58.downhill run this morning. He skied into 25th position.

:36:59. > :37:03.I cannot resist it, I have got to say it, his slalom skiing is pretty

:37:04. > :37:17.slow. 1.33 seconds down. He had a lead of 200th over Adam

:37:18. > :37:23.Zampa. The course just flattens out slightly and then it dropped the

:37:24. > :37:30.way. He is going to have to face up to the Royal Flush, followed by the

:37:31. > :37:37.hairpin. He is doing OK. That is nicely negotiated. Morgan Pridy is

:37:38. > :37:42.in trouble and he slams on the break sideways but it is OK. No danger to

:37:43. > :37:48.Adam Zampa. Morgan Pridy is into third position for Canada.

:37:49. > :37:55.More accomplished in the downhill. In the back seat there. Sitting on

:37:56. > :37:59.his heels and not being able to control the fronts of his skis. As

:38:00. > :38:05.you push forward you cannot get the weight on the tip, on the shovel and

:38:06. > :38:11.get them to turn. Adam Zampa will move up quite a few places here I

:38:12. > :38:16.suspect. Next ago, prepare for a roar from the bottom of the hill

:38:17. > :38:20.because it is Alexander Khoroshilov from Russia who is next to go. He is

:38:21. > :38:26.the only Russian in the top 30 and he is not about slalom skier. He has

:38:27. > :38:31.had top 30 results in slalom. He has qualified for second run in slalom.

:38:32. > :38:42.He has an advantage over Adam Zampa at the start. It is a nice top

:38:43. > :38:46.section. Oh, no! He is down. Just when I was about to say that he is

:38:47. > :38:53.now starting to let it run and really attack, he just goes down

:38:54. > :38:58.with too much weight on the inside ski. He can do this, walk back up,

:38:59. > :39:03.push back up and make sure that he negotiates the gates so that he does

:39:04. > :39:07.not get disqualified but the damage is done and he is 12 seconds down.

:39:08. > :39:11.He wants to come through and at least enjoyed a warm welcome and a

:39:12. > :39:16.roar that he will get from the crowd here. I do not think anybody who

:39:17. > :39:20.starts after him will thank him for walking back up and putting another

:39:21. > :39:27.set of tracks into the ice. That is true. This is where it all went

:39:28. > :39:31.wrong for him. Yes, he just threw his legs out more in hope than

:39:32. > :39:40.expectation and the weight was on the inside ski and it just did not

:39:41. > :39:45.hold him up. Next to go is Alexis Pinturault from France. He is a big

:39:46. > :39:50.hope. He is 23rd fastest after the downhill stage but he is a slalom

:39:51. > :39:55.specialist. His lead over Adam Zampa is over half a second. He does not

:39:56. > :39:59.tend to make -- Ricky does tend to make unsteady start at times but

:40:00. > :40:03.five or six gates then he settles down and find his rhythm and his

:40:04. > :40:08.confidence and he begins to attack. He is a very busy skier with a lot

:40:09. > :40:12.of action and a lot of movement. Look how clearly the skis are

:40:13. > :40:19.carving. He is three tenths up so still in the Green zone. Onto the

:40:20. > :40:25.flat section now. That was good. He will look for acceleration here. Oh,

:40:26. > :40:31.no! He is back up in front and then he is out. It is all over for him.

:40:32. > :40:36.Thomas Mermillod Blondin first for France and now Alexis Pinturault

:40:37. > :40:40.straddles. He knew he had to stop. We are talking about how the skis

:40:41. > :40:45.tips go very close to the base of the gate and that one just cut

:40:46. > :40:48.inside and immediately he knew as his inside leg started to get pulled

:40:49. > :40:53.inside the gate that the pole flaps down in front of him but he

:40:54. > :41:01.struggled so he had to stop. Adam Zampa knew that that was left off.

:41:02. > :41:13.The next man in the gate is Otmar Striedinger from Austria. He is more

:41:14. > :41:18.the speed skier than a slalom race and that is obvious in the first six

:41:19. > :41:22.turns. It was obvious in the very first turn as he pulled out of the

:41:23. > :41:27.start gate and he pulled out and almost skidded the first turn just

:41:28. > :41:31.so he could stay on course. The three quarters of the second will be

:41:32. > :41:40.gone, and more, down to a second behind now. He had a good season at

:41:41. > :41:45.high speed but finds things a little tougher when going left and right is

:41:46. > :41:49.required. This is what I expect from the other Austrians, Max Franz and

:41:50. > :41:58.Materials Meyer, they do not have any out about combined specialists.

:41:59. > :42:05.This is sluggish. It is like watching a front row forward run on

:42:06. > :42:11.the wing. -- Matthias Mayer. Adam Zampa still has the best time. One

:42:12. > :42:14.role of downhill -- run of downhill on one of slalom. Otmar Striedinger

:42:15. > :42:20.has a cheer from the Austrians and he has done his level best to keep

:42:21. > :42:21.himself in the hunt but he is 4.34 seconds behind Adam Zampa who is

:42:22. > :42:42.leading for Slovakia. Next up we have another good

:42:43. > :42:49.downhill super-G skier. It is Romed Baumann. He will be better than

:42:50. > :42:51.Otmar Striedinger. Yes, he is better but he is not going to challenge

:42:52. > :43:02.Adam Zampa. Once you start racing downhill and

:43:03. > :43:06.you start racing speed events a lot and Romed Baumann has been on the

:43:07. > :43:11.podium in those, it becomes very hard to keep the speed up, the speed

:43:12. > :43:16.of movement up that you need in slalom. The skis they are using now

:43:17. > :43:21.30% shorter than the skis on which they raced downhill this morning. It

:43:22. > :43:29.has now gone the wrong side of some per's side for Bauman. The toughest

:43:30. > :43:33.part of the course is coming up here. You through there and he can

:43:34. > :43:38.sense the finish line. The last four gates was not a bad run but no

:43:39. > :43:43.threat to Adam Zampa. Good enough for second place though. The

:43:44. > :43:49.Austrians enjoyed that. Adam Zampa leads and Romed Baumann is now

:43:50. > :43:56.second. Next to go is Andrew Weibrecht. Soon it will be Ted

:43:57. > :44:00.Ligety and Bode Miller's turn is approaching. He will start 19th in

:44:01. > :44:09.this section. The defending champion, Bode Miller. Max Franz is

:44:10. > :44:14.watching at the top and trying to get last-minute tips. Yes, his turn

:44:15. > :44:19.is coming up shortly. This is Andrew Weibrecht, bronze medallist in

:44:20. > :44:23.super-G four years ago in Whistler. Those angles are not bad. He is

:44:24. > :44:28.slightly in the back-seat. You can see how his legs are continuously

:44:29. > :44:32.burnt. It does not give him the room to really move between the gates in

:44:33. > :44:38.the transition. Nine tenths is his lead coming into this slalom and has

:44:39. > :44:43.all gone. He trails by 19 hundredths, he is the intermediate

:44:44. > :44:46.is number one. In skiing, if you watch the actual skis rather than if

:44:47. > :44:55.you watch the body and you can look and see how clearly... Oh, he

:44:56. > :45:01.straddled and he is down. It is because we are racing combined, all

:45:02. > :45:07.of them are not at and that slalom skiers, they may not train that much

:45:08. > :45:12.slalom. If they are experienced at downhill, they will chance their arm

:45:13. > :45:20.in the combined, try to get a good run in the downhill. We saw that

:45:21. > :45:26.happen to the Canadian in the women's combined, she dislocated her

:45:27. > :45:33.shoulder. Her shoulder popped out. It happened so quickly. Learning to

:45:34. > :45:42.fall is quite a skill. You will fall quite a bit. Falling safely is an

:45:43. > :45:48.artform. Skis up in the air, you cannot hurt yourself like that.

:45:49. > :45:54.There is Ted Ligety, expecting a great run from him. Hopefully I will

:45:55. > :46:01.not be disappointed. The first of two Croatians, on the course that

:46:02. > :46:05.has been set by their coach. 19th place after the downhill, he is a

:46:06. > :46:13.good all-rounder, he was on the podium in Wengen in mid-January. He

:46:14. > :46:18.was in third place behind Ted Ligety and Alexis Pinturault. He has a

:46:19. > :46:24.great training partner in Ivica Kostelic. He has lost a lot of his

:46:25. > :46:36.lead, though. It has been cut in half. Better on the flat apart. It

:46:37. > :46:38.is not particularly flat, but it is not as steep as it is at the top and

:46:39. > :47:01.bottom. Here comes the royal flush. Second place. They are cheering

:47:02. > :47:05.already, they have come to see Ivica Kostelic, who is in a much better

:47:06. > :47:13.position, the seventh fastest, his tone is coming up. Holding his

:47:14. > :47:23.position at the top of the leaderboard. The next man to go will

:47:24. > :47:28.be Ted Ligety. The world combined champion, he won the gold medal last

:47:29. > :47:29.February, one of three gold medals, beating Ivica Kostelic into second

:47:30. > :47:45.place. Lovely turns from Ted Ligety, great

:47:46. > :47:49.angles on his body, and he is increasing his lead. Oh, no, he has

:47:50. > :48:09.dropped! He starts to try and accelerate. He

:48:10. > :48:15.leaves himself work to do here. This is a really disappointing run. He

:48:16. > :48:23.looks slightly cautious. He looks tense. He will finish, but he is

:48:24. > :48:27.only in third place, the Slovakian will see that as a big scalp. Ted

:48:28. > :48:36.Ligety smacks himself on the home it, frustrated with how things have

:48:37. > :48:48.worked out. He really did not relax. He started off well, but he tensed

:48:49. > :48:56.up. It is starting to break up, but not as badly as you would expect. A

:48:57. > :49:01.big disappointment. The Slovakian, 27th after the downhill, will finish

:49:02. > :49:13.in the top 15, he could even finish in the top ten. Now, a downhill

:49:14. > :49:18.specialist. He set the 18th fastest time at downhill. He is having a

:49:19. > :49:26.crack at this, you have to give him credit. The more he attacks, the

:49:27. > :49:36.sooner he will come unstuck. His lead is virtually all gone now. He

:49:37. > :49:42.is not balanced, not particularly balanced on the course. He was

:49:43. > :49:50.unsure through the gates, it did not come naturally to him.

:49:51. > :49:59.He is hanging on. He needed massive core strength there to pull that

:50:00. > :50:02.back. A couple of emergency manoeuvres to keep him on the Hill.

:50:03. > :50:08.But he has finished, respectable skiing. The Slovakian still leading

:50:09. > :50:22.the way. It is getting hot now, the

:50:23. > :50:25.commentary box is roasting! In this February sunshine! The sun is

:50:26. > :50:43.streaming straight in. The Italian was 16th in the

:50:44. > :50:49.downhill. The lead will not be enough. He is a good downhill

:50:50. > :50:56.super-g skier, but an irregular slalom race. Look at how low he

:50:57. > :51:05.holds his hands, he could do with lifting them, to give him a bit more

:51:06. > :51:14.purchase over the front of his skis. He has not lost too much, actually.

:51:15. > :51:25.The Italian veteran doing well. The skis are working well. Not an

:51:26. > :51:32.orthodox technique, but it is keeping him in touch. His lead

:51:33. > :51:41.gradually falling away, down to half a second, and out. That was a double

:51:42. > :51:50.struggle. He straddled that one and that one.

:51:51. > :51:59.Now, there will be a longer course repair, because 15 have gone and

:52:00. > :52:01.there are 15 to go. The Slovakian could climb onto the podium,

:52:02. > :52:09.stranger things have happened. Ted Ligety will not stay in third

:52:10. > :52:20.place. None of the failures were more

:52:21. > :52:47.spectacular than the Frenchman. Take into account the bumps that

:52:48. > :52:52.will develop, it is easily possible to be three seconds down in 11 of

:52:53. > :53:00.slalom. The final preparations for the next man to go, he did well in

:53:01. > :53:03.the downhill, 15th position. Slalom skiers like to clamp their feet

:53:04. > :53:09.solidly onto the soles of their boots. There is the man who will be

:53:10. > :53:15.going last, and there is the defending champion, Bode Miller.

:53:16. > :53:20.Talking of boots, they will have a different pair. In than four

:53:21. > :53:26.downhill. The boots are switched over, they will be much stiffer than

:53:27. > :53:30.the downhill boots. The downhill boots need to be softer so they can

:53:31. > :53:34.absorb the impact from the jump landing. If you were to raise

:53:35. > :53:42.downhill in slalom boots, you would end up with bruised shins. They are

:53:43. > :53:47.much stiffer here, the pressure is so hard, you need a tight-fitting,

:53:48. > :53:51.stiff boot to cope. When you talk about stiffness, you refer to the

:53:52. > :53:53.solidity of the forward flex on your chin, that is the stiff part of the

:53:54. > :54:07.boot. I do not think the Slovakian will be

:54:08. > :54:08.worried too much with these first few turns, it is a little scruffy

:54:09. > :54:27.from the American. They seem to be losing more time on

:54:28. > :54:36.the lower part of the course than they are at the top of the course.

:54:37. > :54:40.It was inevitable that he would find himself trailing the Slovakian on

:54:41. > :54:45.the bottom half of the course, this is where the Slovakian used his

:54:46. > :54:49.slalom skills to good effect. The American is fighting against the

:54:50. > :54:56.course, and he has finished respectably enough. The American

:54:57. > :55:05.supporters are happy with that, and they still have Bode Miller to come.

:55:06. > :55:09.Ted Ligety has been pushed down to fourth place. We get down to the

:55:10. > :55:19.fastest men after the downhill stage. The Slovakian will not

:55:20. > :55:24.necessarily know how well some of these guys go in the slalom. He will

:55:25. > :55:27.be looking at the big screen as they go out of the first gates, trying to

:55:28. > :55:39.judge how they are tackling the course. The Swiss racer, 14th after

:55:40. > :55:42.the downhill this morning. A good slalom skier, he has had some solid

:55:43. > :55:51.results in the combined over the years, and he has had a good start.

:55:52. > :55:58.In fact, he has added a bit of time. This is the best slalom skiing we

:55:59. > :56:03.have seen by a long way. Just rolling the knees, calving down the

:56:04. > :56:09.course, and he is building up more time. He was fourth in the Wengen

:56:10. > :56:18.super combined, seventh in Kitzbuhel. He might be able to end

:56:19. > :56:25.the Slovakian's control, and he has done it comfortably. Wow! The Swiss

:56:26. > :56:31.having an excellent Winter Olympics so far, and they have a new leader.

:56:32. > :56:43.That could be good enough for a place on the podium. Look at that.

:56:44. > :56:48.Really aggressive, really going for it, and relaxed in the body, able to

:56:49. > :56:55.absorb the bumps and rollers, and still get the skis on edge, still

:56:56. > :57:05.generate speed. He is the new leader, the Swiss.

:57:06. > :57:12.You are not going to miss anything, but the inclusion of this super

:57:13. > :57:17.combined will happen on BBC One now, because we have to change

:57:18. > :57:23.channels. Also, let me signpost you in the direction of this Tom at on

:57:24. > :57:27.Valentine's Day, a hot date at the Sanki Sliding Centre, can Lizzie

:57:28. > :57:33.Yarnold slide to skeleton gold for Great Britain? She is the leader by

:57:34. > :57:39.0.4 seconds, with two runs to go. She will be back on the ice at

:57:40. > :57:46.3:40pm, your time. But is it here on BBC Two. The men's super combined

:57:47. > :57:50.gold medal beckons, but for whom? It will happen now on BBC One. I shall

:57:51. > :57:55.bid you farewell.