:00:42. > :00:52.Welcome to day seven. The day that Lizzy Yarnold says she has been
:00:53. > :00:56.dreaming of for the last five years. This is where she will do her
:00:57. > :01:02.preparation, this is where she will start. Her sled is called Mervyn.
:01:03. > :01:06.This is Valentine's Day, we are hoping you will spend date night
:01:07. > :01:10.with us. Lizzy Yarnold has a commanding lead at the halfway
:01:11. > :01:15.stage, two runs to come, the third is coming up very shortly. They're
:01:16. > :01:20.in mind this could be a little slice of British sporting history. In the
:01:21. > :01:24.last 90 years Britain has only 19 gold medals at the Winter Olympics,
:01:25. > :01:36.and one of the most famous was 30 years ago today when Torvill and
:01:37. > :01:44.Deen skated to success in Sarajevo. -- Deen.
:01:45. > :01:56.Always nervous before you compete. You need to feel aware of being
:01:57. > :02:03.nervous because it can be dangerous. It is the thrill and adrenaline I
:02:04. > :02:07.really love. As you walk to the start block, you have to be
:02:08. > :02:15.completely focused yet really exhilarated, ready to produce a lot
:02:16. > :02:20.of power and sprint really fast. As soon as I am into position I am
:02:21. > :02:25.completely relaxed and breathe out and let my body mould into the sled.
:02:26. > :02:30.I have come so far in a short three years. When I came into the
:02:31. > :02:33.programme Amy Williams had just won the gold medal and it was the same
:02:34. > :02:41.team she had around her that I now have around me so I slotted into the
:02:42. > :02:50.position in the amazing team that is British skeleton. Your mind just
:02:51. > :02:54.takes over, your peripheral vision and everything takes over. You are
:02:55. > :03:01.feeling the interaction between you and the ice, it is all your senses
:03:02. > :03:04.working at 100 mph. There is no perfect run, there is always
:03:05. > :03:14.something you could improve on, your speed, your line. It is not only
:03:15. > :03:22.about doing well against other athletes, it is seeing how good I
:03:23. > :03:27.can be against myself. Every session means everything, every single gym
:03:28. > :03:38.session, sliding session, I have got to be the best version of me I can.
:03:39. > :03:56.It is only my first Olympics so I am taking it one step at a time and I
:03:57. > :03:57.hope to perform at my best, and I am unbelievably motivated. Fingers
:03:58. > :04:12.crossed. We all have our fingers crossed.
:04:13. > :04:19.Most of us are more low this than she is. -- more nervous. We are on
:04:20. > :04:23.the northside of the mountains which is where you want to be for an ice
:04:24. > :04:31.cold trap. She will be skipping out as part of her warm up. There she is
:04:32. > :04:36.with Shelley Rudman, currently in 11th place. Lizzy Yarnold will go
:04:37. > :04:40.first, Shelley Rudman will go in 11th, all 20 will go in reverse
:04:41. > :04:45.order for the fourth run. The last three Winter games have delivered
:04:46. > :04:53.medals for this event, all of them women. Shelley Rudman took the
:04:54. > :05:00.silver injuring, and in Vancouver, they have been playing it four years
:05:01. > :05:08.ago, Amy Williams got the gold. Could Lizzy Yarnold follow? Amy
:05:09. > :05:13.Williams is with me now. You haven't even seen yourself on the screens. I
:05:14. > :05:18.have been busy doing other things and in the commentary box. They have
:05:19. > :05:21.been showing the Vancouver clips. I missed mine.
:05:22. > :05:27.How proud would you be if a woman who says you were her inspiration,
:05:28. > :05:30.who rent a flat from you in Bath, who you know really well, if she
:05:31. > :05:37.were to succeed? It would be amazing. I feel I have
:05:38. > :05:42.been a little tiny part of her journey, she is an awesome athlete,
:05:43. > :05:45.phenomenal, something really special inside of her, made up a bit
:05:46. > :05:50.different in the head, she works hard, and continues to be
:05:51. > :05:54.consistent. We are hoping all she does is to more consistent runs. I
:05:55. > :06:02.spoke to her last night, had a few text messages, she said how will I
:06:03. > :06:07.keep calm? I just said, go and have a good meal, put on your favourite
:06:08. > :06:11.DVD, get up, have a plan, she has had the whole day to think of
:06:12. > :06:16.something to do, have breakfast, relax, stretch, do what you always
:06:17. > :06:21.do and be consistent. We can see her at the top, she looks calm,
:06:22. > :06:26.collected and a champion already. She is determined to enjoy it and it
:06:27. > :06:28.helps when you love people you love around you. Matthew Pinsent has been
:06:29. > :06:37.catching up with her friends and family.
:06:38. > :06:46.How did she fit in? She is in the middle. A typical middle child? What
:06:47. > :06:50.is a typical middle child? Difficult, not quite as successful,
:06:51. > :07:01.annoyed because your parents look after the young one. What kind of
:07:02. > :07:07.system is she? A very committed, loving sister, she supports us in
:07:08. > :07:14.everything we do. How often do you watch a race? I have only seen her
:07:15. > :07:18.twice but mum and dad have watched her four times. As much as we can.
:07:19. > :07:23.What are you hoping for this evening?
:07:24. > :07:31.Her sisters are here, her parents, friends, and she comes from Kent
:07:32. > :07:37.originally, it now based in Bath. The full team around her, that Amy
:07:38. > :07:44.had. These are the scenes, the crowd getting very excited. Her sled is
:07:45. > :07:48.called Mervyn, named after a retired insurance underwriter. When she was
:07:49. > :07:53.young and working in a job she was asking her colleagues for support
:07:54. > :07:57.and he gave her ?176 for a sports bag and has aborted ever since and
:07:58. > :08:06.that is why it is called Mervyn. It really lovely story. One of the old
:08:07. > :08:11.ladies gave me money to buy a new helmet when I lived in Bath. It is
:08:12. > :08:15.about people helping you. We are looking at the course and the curves
:08:16. > :08:21.and the turns that have to be negotiated. The uphill sections.
:08:22. > :08:26.Very unique, three major uphill sections. If the athlete make a
:08:27. > :08:31.mistake they will slow down so much quicker for stop there is one the
:08:32. > :08:37.coming out of corner 11, Connor 12 and 13, it is really important they
:08:38. > :08:43.don't skid and hit and bleed the time. We can see the athletes
:08:44. > :08:52.warming up, a lot of them listening to music. Lizzy Yarnold changes her
:08:53. > :08:57.music, classical music to calm her down.
:08:58. > :09:03.It is all about going to be energetic, if the music pumps you
:09:04. > :09:16.up, you have then got to be Billy calm. We are seeing the start list.
:09:17. > :09:23.Lizzy Yarnold will go first. You get the worst ice later won but the
:09:24. > :09:28.dramatic finish. Lizzie will be up there all on her own in the start
:09:29. > :09:34.block. Left alone in the warm up area. You have just got to go out
:09:35. > :09:42.and perform to the very best. That is the start record. Lizzy Yarnold
:09:43. > :09:46.holds the course record. I am expecting them to go a lot quicker
:09:47. > :09:51.today. In the evening, the ice is colder, the air is colder. The Times
:09:52. > :10:00.could be up to half a second quicker. She has won four out of
:10:01. > :10:12.eight races. This is a different event. A normal event is to runs on
:10:13. > :10:20.one day. To be able to go out and perform four runs in two days,
:10:21. > :10:32.everyone of them counts. And here she goes. She has got to be
:10:33. > :10:35.on form. It is a good start. Her fastest start so far, you couldn't
:10:36. > :10:47.ask for anything more on the second day. Some athletes have come out
:10:48. > :11:00.exhausted. Up the hill. Three big uphill sections. Very steep. She is
:11:01. > :11:10.going well. Just looking at the time, 1.27.4, magnificent speed. She
:11:11. > :11:14.didn't go into a big slide, that is good news. Back down the hill for
:11:15. > :11:33.the final to write and turns. That is good. It is a track record,
:11:34. > :11:47.you couldn't ask for anything more. She has done it. 57.91 a brilliant.
:11:48. > :11:58.The ice is hard. It is colder than yesterday. This little tap on the
:11:59. > :12:04.left-hand side, that is the only obvious but that wasn't perfection.
:12:05. > :12:07.Such a powerful start. That is what she has got over this woman, the
:12:08. > :12:20.woman chasing her. That was brilliant. Be with us in an hour and
:12:21. > :12:32.a half. Pica 's pace. -- Noelle Pikus-Pace. A great starter. That is
:12:33. > :12:45.superb. That is lower than Lizzy Yarnold. -- slower. Not as quick as
:12:46. > :13:00.Yarnold. She is three quarters of a second behind, a massive margin.
:13:01. > :13:09.Pikus-Pace, very high on that one. Going well at the moment. Starting
:13:10. > :13:23.to pull this back in now. How much work can she do? She has made those
:13:24. > :13:33.tiny little mistakes. 0.78 of a second behind, wonderful news for
:13:34. > :13:39.Great Britain. As long as Lizzie holds onto her sled, she can win
:13:40. > :13:48.this. She would have two make some humongous fall not to retain that
:13:49. > :14:01.position. Let's not forget, there are still Nikitina and others to go.
:14:02. > :14:06.Some big names to come. It is not over yet, everybody has still got
:14:07. > :14:22.their first one. The confidence that has given to Lizzy. Elena Nikitina.
:14:23. > :14:35.This is happening at the finish, she cannot hear it. They are giving up a
:14:36. > :14:45.slight time deficit. That is a solid start. She does have the start
:14:46. > :14:52.record. She could pull this back in. She could, but she is skidding
:14:53. > :15:07.around. Losing a lot of time. Just slightly waiving all over the track.
:15:08. > :15:11.Nikitina, my goodness. She is not as heavy as Yarnold. She is not
:15:12. > :15:21.carrying as much momentum down the track. That is the experience of
:15:22. > :15:29.this track. She is a small girl. The momentum going down the track is not
:15:30. > :15:42.as great. Elena Nikitina is in third place. It is where you would expect
:15:43. > :15:48.her to be. She is virtually a whole second behind the leader, Lizzy
:15:49. > :15:53.Yarnold of Great Britain. This is really good news for Lizzy. It is
:15:54. > :15:58.going to be hard for anyone. If every slider that comes down has the
:15:59. > :16:03.best run of their life, to catch up on that time is huge. How far were
:16:04. > :16:09.you in the lead going into that final run? I think overnight, I had
:16:10. > :16:14.about 33 hundredths and then ended up winning by well over half a
:16:15. > :16:24.second. So for Lizzy to be 78 hundredths up is massive. Katie
:16:25. > :16:32.Uhlaender is quite a quick starter. She has a very low centre of
:16:33. > :16:36.gravity. She nearly made the women's weightlifting team in the 2012
:16:37. > :16:43.Olympics. Exceptionally powerful character. She has so much
:16:44. > :16:47.potential. Good slide so far. She is a bit unique, having her legs apart,
:16:48. > :17:04.but she is very still, especially with her shoulders and head. Lizzy
:17:05. > :17:12.Yarnold still leads. This is looking good for the Brit. Uhlaender has to
:17:13. > :17:18.stay within a second of Yarnold to go ahead of Nikitina. The Americans
:17:19. > :17:22.will be fighting to stay ahead of those Russians and into the medal
:17:23. > :17:24.zone. Looking like a good run from Katie, but it is such a big time to
:17:25. > :17:44.try and beat. She certainly enjoyed it. She pumped
:17:45. > :17:48.her fist at the end. But she is almost a quarter of a second down on
:17:49. > :17:52.Nikitina in the bronze medal position, and people are starting to
:17:53. > :17:54.cement their location now as to where they are going to finish.
:17:55. > :18:05.Lizzy Yarnold is looking exceptionally good for the gold,
:18:06. > :18:10.Pikus-Pace for the silver. It will be tough for anyone to claw back the
:18:11. > :18:19.lead but Lizzy has put down. It is almost an impossible task. What can
:18:20. > :18:26.the next Russian do? Olga Potylitsina. She is not a
:18:27. > :18:36.particularly quick starter Matt that is her problem. This is someone who
:18:37. > :18:44.is becoming comfortable with the big time. She looked a bag of nerves
:18:45. > :18:47.before the first run. She made mistakes yesterday. She will be
:18:48. > :18:52.gigging herself that, because it is she cannot necessarily pick up --
:18:53. > :19:09.she will be kicking herself for that. Not quite as high as the boys
:19:10. > :19:18.on that corner. She went around the turn superbly. She's not going to
:19:19. > :19:31.catch Yarnold. But she might just go ahead of Uhlaender here, or maybe
:19:32. > :19:37.the other Russian in third! Potylitsina is just short of third
:19:38. > :19:47.place. In fact, Uhlaender is fifth at the moment. It is going to be a
:19:48. > :19:51.battle between second, third and fourth place. Who will get the rest
:19:52. > :19:57.of the medals? It is very close between those sliders. We are
:19:58. > :20:03.getting excited here in the box, because Lizzy Yarnold is still in
:20:04. > :20:13.the lead. She leads by some margin. I am literally a bag of nerves. I
:20:14. > :20:20.have butterflies in my stomach. This is falling down a hill exceptionally
:20:21. > :20:25.fast on 80 tray with blades. They are very sophisticated pieces of
:20:26. > :20:31.equipment! But my point is, look how blunt these runners are. The
:20:32. > :20:33.possibility to mess up is still massive. Let's not put the gold
:20:34. > :20:58.medal round her neck yet. No. The vital point is for the athletes
:20:59. > :21:12.to choose their runners, the technical side. These are very good
:21:13. > :21:15.runs here, a lot cleaner than most of the guys we saw in the early
:21:16. > :21:24.races. The girls are really getting to Brits with this track. But it is
:21:25. > :21:38.very hard to make up such a time difference.
:21:39. > :21:46.Everyone is just getting further and further from the Brit right now.
:21:47. > :21:50.Each of these athletes stands less and less chance of getting into the
:21:51. > :21:59.medals. That is the truth of the matter. This was a great corner. If
:22:00. > :22:04.you stay in the corner too late, you get kicked into the wall. Yes, it
:22:05. > :22:11.means they are not catching the first pressure. It is all about
:22:12. > :22:22.control. It is centrifugal force. If you don't steer at all, you can go
:22:23. > :22:32.into the woodwork. Anya has had two runs which are world-class, within
:22:33. > :22:36.four hundredths of a second. What sort of speed can she get at the
:22:37. > :22:43.start? She has improved by three hundredths of a second from the
:22:44. > :22:49.first to the second start. It is slower. I would have thought she
:22:50. > :22:54.would be pushing more. She was fast over the last few years, and has
:22:55. > :22:57.just lost the edge she normally has. She is the bronze medallist from
:22:58. > :23:02.Vancouver mustard on the podium next to me. She is a very good slider,
:23:03. > :23:06.very technical. I thought she would be higher in these games, but she
:23:07. > :23:14.will pull it back as much as she can. If you remember the body shapes
:23:15. > :23:18.of those who won in 2002 in Salt Lake City, one skeleton was first
:23:19. > :23:22.reintroduced from 1948, where it was known as tobogganing, they were
:23:23. > :23:26.quite small and slender. But now they are big, powerful athletes. You
:23:27. > :23:36.need it. That is your engine at the start, and then you have just got
:23:37. > :23:51.gravity to help you. You could see her tapping her toes. But it is not
:23:52. > :23:57.quite enough. Anya Hueber is such a good slider. This is so unique, to
:23:58. > :24:03.have such big time differences 21st and second slider. I have never
:24:04. > :24:14.known a race like it -- to have such a difference between first and
:24:15. > :24:18.second slider. These uphill sections are separating the athletes who can
:24:19. > :24:21.and cannot drive. We have still got Shelley Rudman to come, a big
:24:22. > :24:31.British interest. Hopefully, she will have a good third run. I
:24:32. > :24:36.remember four years ago, when we had the fastest run on every attempt.
:24:37. > :24:44.Yes, Sarah Reid is a very good slider. I saw another Canadian at
:24:45. > :24:48.the bottom, cheering her on. Sarah is very compact on the sled, but
:24:49. > :24:54.again, a shorter, smaller athlete, but look how aerodynamic she is. She
:24:55. > :25:00.is very quiet on the sled, you can hardly hear any noise. Beautiful
:25:01. > :25:11.lines, feet together. I was about to say, just listen. You can hardly
:25:12. > :25:14.hear a word we say. The more you hear it scheduling, it means that
:25:15. > :25:19.those are digging into the eyes or it is going sideways. They dragged
:25:20. > :25:25.along the ice, slowing themselves down. This is one of the best runs I
:25:26. > :25:35.have seen. She has not skidded. She has beautiful, lean lines. It is the
:25:36. > :25:42.way you steer this. Some people do incredibly subtle steering with
:25:43. > :25:45.their hand. Which way did use direct? I steered through the
:25:46. > :25:55.shoulders, the main way of steering arm pushing into the sled through
:25:56. > :25:59.your shoulders. Only about one or two centimetres of the runner
:26:00. > :26:04.actually touches the ice at one point. The athletes dear to their
:26:05. > :26:08.knees, their feet and their head. You have got to have that balance of
:26:09. > :26:18.not steering too much but just enough to get those pressures. Sarah
:26:19. > :26:28.Reid finished over one second behind Lizzy Yarnold. We have Shelley
:26:29. > :26:42.Rudman coming up soon. She is down in 11th position. She is just
:26:43. > :26:49.warming up at the top. Sophia Griebel had the eighth fastest bush
:26:50. > :27:04.we have had so far. She is not a great starter -- the fastest push.
:27:05. > :27:30.That was a major uphill section taking a hit. Just that one hit out
:27:31. > :27:34.of Cornet 11. The pressure is pushing the athlete. You can hear
:27:35. > :27:38.the helmet skidding along the ice. The girls don't have such strong
:27:39. > :27:48.necks. The g-force pushes you right into the ice. It is very hard to
:27:49. > :27:54.keep your head up. That was a remarkable run by Lizzy Yarnold, the
:27:55. > :28:02.first time this track has ever been run in the skeleton by anybody under
:28:03. > :28:13.58 seconds. Just two more sleds, and then we see Shelley Rudman. Rudman
:28:14. > :28:24.is one point nine seconds behind. Bronze is possible for her. The
:28:25. > :28:28.target for her would be to get inside the top eight. She will
:28:29. > :28:40.definitely want to get into the top ten, and hopefully creep up a bit
:28:41. > :28:49.more. Marion Thees will have a bearing on Shelley Rudman's result.
:28:50. > :28:53.She is not a natural sprinter. She has not got a particularly good
:28:54. > :29:09.style. But she does find beautiful lines. She has slid for many years
:29:10. > :29:12.now. There is a whole cluster of Germans in eighth, ninth and 10th
:29:13. > :29:17.position, just ahead of Shelley Rudman, who we are about to see.
:29:18. > :29:20.Marion Thees is good at finding speed out of corners at the bottom
:29:21. > :29:25.of the track. It is never going to help her with the start, so she will
:29:26. > :29:31.never be a world-class performer at the top, which is unfortunate for
:29:32. > :29:34.her. She crashes against the left-hand side, as so many have done
:29:35. > :29:51.before her. The time is not exceptional. Marion Thees is
:29:52. > :29:55.considered by many to be the best pilot of all, just doesn't have the
:29:56. > :30:03.start. It is like having a beautiful car without the engine, I'm afraid.
:30:04. > :30:06.Lizzy Yarnold is not quite the fastest, but because of that power
:30:07. > :30:20.start all the way down, she is virtually the fastest. You can see
:30:21. > :30:29.her there. Valentine's Day, a great day to be racing on. I am here with
:30:30. > :30:37.both of you! Here we are, Shelley Rudman. Shelley Rudman goes for
:30:38. > :30:41.Great Britain. Let's see what she can do. She will want to get in the
:30:42. > :30:50.top ten. I am sure she will improve on yesterday. 5.13 is not a good
:30:51. > :30:59.start. Not the best start. It will give her a start deficit. She will
:31:00. > :31:10.want to try and catch a cluster of Germans just ahead of her. She was a
:31:11. > :31:19.bit too high. She is getting it back on track. Just making tiny little
:31:20. > :31:31.mistakes. Away we go. She has got to minimise the force she comes off, a
:31:32. > :31:40.little tap there. She is losing speed. She has gone to 11th. She
:31:41. > :31:47.made a few mistakes. She said in training she had been struggling
:31:48. > :31:55.with the track. A solid run, but lots of little tiny mistakes. I am
:31:56. > :32:04.sure she will affect some of them. We will have to see what she thinks.
:32:05. > :32:12.On Valentine's Day, her partner went into a position. She has gone into
:32:13. > :32:17.11th. Her partner has got bragging rights on Valentine's Day. I am sure
:32:18. > :32:21.by the end of the fourth one she will be back up into 10th place,
:32:22. > :32:31.great for her to finish in the top ten. Her daughter is at home, this
:32:32. > :32:42.is Michelle Steele from Estonia. -- Australia. She is about one tenth
:32:43. > :32:53.behind Shelley Rudman. Really solid start. She comes from a life-saving
:32:54. > :33:09.back round, a very powerful athlete. Look how tiny she is, tax write in.
:33:10. > :33:13.-- she tucks right in. You want to have all your muscles in your legs,
:33:14. > :33:25.lower legs, you don't want a big upper body, you will block the
:33:26. > :33:31.airflow. Looks like she has had a cracking one. She is a bit high
:33:32. > :33:51.there, but a good, solid one. A little fan club for Michelle, I
:33:52. > :34:02.know her husband, he flew in a few days ago, he will be cheering him
:34:03. > :34:12.on. This is a big corner, 16, going downhill before you turn up the
:34:13. > :34:18.hill. Doshi sticker had and therefore aerodynamics? If you go in
:34:19. > :34:26.a bit late the g-force is even more pressure. They have to use
:34:27. > :34:34.peripheral vision quite a lot. The feeling of where you come into the
:34:35. > :34:44.corner. Here goes Janine Flock from Austria. The time, absolutely
:34:45. > :35:02.crucial. The second fastest so far. She had a really bad first start. So
:35:03. > :35:12.easy to miss the start up. You leap onto this trade wanting to stride
:35:13. > :35:14.away from you -- slide away. Your training is all about getting
:35:15. > :35:39.speed. She is just hitting on the
:35:40. > :35:45.right-hand side. Her coach at the bottom, also one of the best sliders
:35:46. > :35:54.in the world. She trains in Austria where there is a track. Every track
:35:55. > :36:03.is designed very differently. Your high g-force pressure track. This is
:36:04. > :36:20.very developed what she is used to. She has gone ahead of Shelley
:36:21. > :36:27.Rudman. She has gone from 13th position, but to 10th position. That
:36:28. > :36:31.was a huge slide by her. She was born in London. She has got fans in
:36:32. > :36:43.Bristol. What has she got? Five seconds dead.
:36:44. > :36:53.A good start. She has really improved. She has been sliding for a
:36:54. > :36:56.long time, hadn't had the same support or technology that other
:36:57. > :37:04.people have from some of the smaller nations. If she can do what Janine
:37:05. > :37:20.Flock just did, it would be a great result. This section is so steep.
:37:21. > :37:27.She was staying well away from the wall, but that time she thumped it
:37:28. > :37:35.hard. The big, main technical section is between five and 15.
:37:36. > :37:40.Really important you get your perfect lines in the middle section
:37:41. > :37:50.of the track and continued the speed through to the final few corners.
:37:51. > :38:11.She has finished 61 hundredths of a second behind Shelley Rudman. -- six
:38:12. > :38:27.one hundredths. You are struggling, she was a little bit wonky there.
:38:28. > :38:48.What sort of start have we got? 5.02. Very respectable. She is a
:38:49. > :39:01.good pusher. She hasn't been sliding for as long as some of the others.
:39:02. > :39:15.She has got a lot to learn. Good start.
:39:16. > :39:21.You try to steer through to get the flattest line. Very good line, one
:39:22. > :39:27.of the only athletes that didn't clip. That could mean she is driving
:39:28. > :39:39.too much, otherwise this is really good. Driving the bottom of this
:39:40. > :39:46.track really well. Shelley Rudman moves down another place. No, she
:39:47. > :39:55.doesn't. She has gone into 15th price. -- place. Another former
:39:56. > :40:03.sprinter, very good track and field athlete before turning to skeleton.
:40:04. > :40:08.You need that incredible athletic ability but you need that slight
:40:09. > :40:14.dose of craziness to do this. Not every track and field does well. Are
:40:15. > :40:27.you trying to say we are crazy? I used to be being called crazy, it is
:40:28. > :40:35.a very unique bought. -- sport. Huge G forces, speeds. You have to power
:40:36. > :40:42.away at the start, you need that muscle. That is something Hollins
:40:43. > :40:55.Worth doesn't really have. -- Mellisa Hollingsworth.
:40:56. > :41:04.She was the favourite four years ago. I was hidden away.
:41:05. > :41:07.Unfortunately the pressure got to her. She didn't have the
:41:08. > :41:21.performance. She has been fighting to get that back. She is a brilliant
:41:22. > :41:38.slider. These are some good, clean lines. A small little tap. Coming
:41:39. > :41:52.down the last bend. She is up into 10th place. In the world of skeleton
:41:53. > :41:57.she is a huge name. She is a legend. For raw five years ago she was the
:41:58. > :42:02.number one in the world. Lizzy Yarnold would have watched this on
:42:03. > :42:09.TV the last time and thought imagine being three seconds ahead? She is
:42:10. > :42:22.one of those girls you always wanted to be like. A good 15 years behind
:42:23. > :42:28.her, so much experience. Mellisa Hollingsworth, the 10th fastest of
:42:29. > :42:46.this slide. She moves into 16th place. This is Lucy Chafer of
:42:47. > :42:57.Australia. Tremendous support. Not a particularly big start. If you have
:42:58. > :43:01.just joined us, Elizabeth Yarnold of Great Britain is very much leading
:43:02. > :43:10.the limit games here with one run to go. -- Olympic Games. So much that
:43:11. > :43:15.goes into the skeleton, that nobody else sees, they technology, the
:43:16. > :43:21.runners, spending hours in winter perfecting your position. They would
:43:22. > :43:26.have all spent hours on their slats, polishing their runners-up, getting
:43:27. > :43:34.the scratches out. Selling the race bibs, making them small -- selling.
:43:35. > :43:53.A lot of preparation goes into every single run.
:43:54. > :44:02.Solid slide. You were just saying all the different elements. There is
:44:03. > :44:08.physics, value go down a mountain. It is a bit of a dark art. You have
:44:09. > :44:17.to get this alleged right. The way it hits off the wall -- the sled
:44:18. > :44:25.right. There is so much that goes into this sport. I could spend hours
:44:26. > :44:32.talking to you about it. There is a big science behind it. Huge amounts
:44:33. > :44:42.of technology that goes into the sled.
:44:43. > :44:57.Gilardoni is chasing everybody else in front of her. Great start. Herb
:44:58. > :45:04.coach was my coach in Vancouver. She struggles around getting her head
:45:05. > :45:12.around the fact she is at the Winter Olympics. I hope she has gone away,
:45:13. > :45:26.had a good nights sleep, got into a better psychological place. That was
:45:27. > :45:31.coming out of the corner on that straight. Very hard for the athletes
:45:32. > :45:42.to get the correct angle to be able to get into that corner. 58.77. That
:45:43. > :45:51.is a very good side. She was into last. We have got two more of them
:45:52. > :46:01.to go. Japan and Rumania, both have a huge time advantage to Lizzy
:46:02. > :46:05.Yarnold. We can safely say that into the final run, Lizzy Yarnold will
:46:06. > :46:15.not be just in the gold medal position, but I is very big margin.
:46:16. > :46:20.This is hers to lose. She will be sitting down and doing all of her
:46:21. > :46:31.warm up and going through that process of keeping in the right
:46:32. > :46:37.headspace. She certainly has a lot to catch up on. Nozomi Komuro. She
:46:38. > :46:44.finished in 15th place at the World Championships. She mistyped on 2013
:46:45. > :46:50.for some reason. She was loaded beautifully, there. Incredible
:46:51. > :46:55.dexterity, very quick. That was just about perfect at the start. She does
:46:56. > :47:04.not have the pace, the top end speed of the likes of Lizzy Yarnold. The
:47:05. > :47:14.changeover was solid. Up the hill. Nice bit of sliding from Nozomi
:47:15. > :47:21.Komuro. Almost touching the roof. She comes around. And that was
:47:22. > :47:30.tricky as well. But waving about. 3.15 seconds behind Lizzy Yarnold.
:47:31. > :47:44.She has taken a little skid, there. 4.2 seconds behind the leader.
:47:45. > :47:52.59.24. Her coach seems delighted with that, although she stays in
:47:53. > :48:02.19th position. Certainly her best time of the season. -- the series.
:48:03. > :48:09.Here is the exit of 11. Going sideways. That was nasty. That would
:48:10. > :48:14.be worse in a Bobsleigh. These runners are very round, except for a
:48:15. > :48:30.tiny little groove in the middle. You do not see so much I being
:48:31. > :48:41.kicked up. -- ice. Bye. Just trying to decide what she is wearing above
:48:42. > :48:49.the waist. She needs to be running much faster. The 13th fastest start
:48:50. > :48:54.of the athletes who have qualified. Slightly below average. Lizzy
:48:55. > :49:00.Yarnold was the second fastest of anybody, still hanging onto that
:49:01. > :49:12.lead by a massive margin ahead of Maria Marinela Mazilu. This is a
:49:13. > :49:17.less experienced, less solid athlete than the likes of Lizzy Yarnold. You
:49:18. > :49:23.can just see how tricky it is when they have less experience. Coming
:49:24. > :49:31.around this band, she has lost even more time, there. That was a big
:49:32. > :49:49.slam out of 11. Sideways, there. Fishtail out of 15. Not magnificent
:49:50. > :49:59.speed. 59.63. That was the slowest time of these 20. Britain is
:50:00. > :50:04.hopefully so close. About to get another skeleton medal and, like Amy
:50:05. > :50:10.Williams, hopefully it will be gold. We can watch the Romanians tapping
:50:11. > :50:21.on the right wall. That is metres of distance she has over second. The
:50:22. > :50:27.Russian down in third. We have had a medal in every single Olympic Games,
:50:28. > :50:48.not just since 2002, but with a bargaining, in 1928. David Carnegie
:50:49. > :50:53.and John Crammond. -- tobaganning. The girl of the moment, she does not
:50:54. > :51:01.just leave, but she leads by a very long way. Here is the great slide.
:51:02. > :51:08.You can see these following different lines. Noelle Pikus-Pace
:51:09. > :51:14.behind, waving, Wilder, that can sometimes be good. Ideally, flat
:51:15. > :51:18.around the corner but it does not always work out like that. These are
:51:19. > :51:26.the standings. Elizabeth and Arnold leading for great wooden. -- Lizzy
:51:27. > :51:35.Yarnold. Second place is Noelle Pikus-Pace. And then Elena Nikitina.
:51:36. > :51:49.Absolutely remarkable. On the second page, we will see Shelley Rudman,
:51:50. > :52:00.down in 13th position. For her, the goal is getting into the top ten.
:52:01. > :52:06.That margin can be caught, she can get top ten. She has already got the
:52:07. > :52:13.Olympic medal, she has done well just to get to these Olympics
:52:14. > :52:18.again, having had a child, etc. Join us again at nine o'clock. They will
:52:19. > :52:24.go in reverse order. Lizzy Yarnold will be last down. And she is in
:52:25. > :52:35.first place and that is absently superb, we're just having a look at
:52:36. > :52:40.these sliders. Third-place... Did not hit anything on the way down,
:52:41. > :52:47.Elena Nikitina. She got away to a blistering start. This was Noelle
:52:48. > :52:55.Pikus-Pace. Looking smooth and comfortable. Yes, there is Lizzy
:52:56. > :53:06.Yarnold. Powering over the end. Going into that gold medal position.
:53:07. > :53:11.Brilliant. Noelle Pikus-Pace, I got confused by the fact she came last.
:53:12. > :53:19.But she is destined to finish in second place. That is for sure. Or
:53:20. > :53:31.Elena Nikitina in the bronze medal position. The Russians will be
:53:32. > :53:36.hoping for a bronze. The advantage is over three quarters of a second.
:53:37. > :53:42.That is for Lizzy Yarnold. Why is it do you think there are such big
:53:43. > :53:47.gaps? And release apprised, I have never seen a race with such big
:53:48. > :53:52.gaps. But this track is just so unique, it has three uphill
:53:53. > :53:55.sections, no other track has uphill and that is when the athletes are
:53:56. > :54:01.making mistakes and that is just going to eat away at the times and I
:54:02. > :54:08.was shocked at how it really was uphill, downhill, and most flats are
:54:09. > :54:13.gradual. The key corner everyone is taking the hit on his corner number
:54:14. > :54:16.11. They are clipping that, some of them are hitting harder than others
:54:17. > :54:21.and quite if you have made mistakes into corner number five, and it is
:54:22. > :54:23.just bleeding time and it is really making those gaps between the
:54:24. > :54:29.athletes so much bigger than in other tracks. The one side who made
:54:30. > :54:34.no mistakes was Lizzy Yarnold, setting a track record. Let us look
:54:35. > :54:44.at this. Talk us through. The start was good. Really powerful, onto the
:54:45. > :54:49.sled quite early. It is key that she has clean lines, here. In the top
:54:50. > :54:54.corners. That will keep the speed going down. Her speed is always
:54:55. > :55:00.parallel. You see so many with the wide apart, her feet hardly move at
:55:01. > :55:07.all? People steer between shoulders and feet and Lizzy always has her
:55:08. > :55:11.shoulders pressed down. Feet together, very aerodynamic. She
:55:12. > :55:18.takes the head but she remains very parallel, no skidding. And she is
:55:19. > :55:24.picking up pace all the time. 85 mph? Yes, the technical section, you
:55:25. > :55:29.do not want to make any mistake there. She does not, she continues
:55:30. > :55:38.at speed into the bottom G-force corners. She keeps aerodynamic and
:55:39. > :55:43.look at that time. What I love about that is they are all excited, the
:55:44. > :55:50.whole team, but Lizzy Yarnold was like, all right, yes. She just loves
:55:51. > :55:55.the sport, I kept saying to her, keep happy, you have to be chilled
:55:56. > :56:00.out on the sled and that is wearing the performance comes from. Huge
:56:01. > :56:04.margin between her and others. Anyone else would have to have an
:56:05. > :56:10.absolute storm or for her to literally fall off. Her performance
:56:11. > :56:15.is a cut above the rest. One little bump. I guess the advantage, and
:56:16. > :56:21.Colin was talking about the bigger sliders, Lizzy Yarnold is physically
:56:22. > :56:25.eager. Also Noelle Pikus-Pace, but when they make a mistake, it can
:56:26. > :56:31.accentuate the difference? What is the ideal weight and size for the
:56:32. > :56:36.skeleton athlete? There is none. The new breed coming through our bigger
:56:37. > :56:41.and heavier, they have to remain aerodynamic. Is there any limit?
:56:42. > :56:49.There is a weight limit with the sled, minimum and maximum with it.
:56:50. > :56:55.Lizzy would have a minimum weight, 27 kilos, so she can be as heavy as
:56:56. > :57:02.she wants. I pushed a sled at 30 kilos and I had to be under 92. I
:57:03. > :57:06.was trying to get heavier in my body so I could have the lighter sled.
:57:07. > :57:10.Lizzy is one of the new breed who has a phenomenal push at the start
:57:11. > :57:15.and that means she can have a lighter sled and then the momentum
:57:16. > :57:21.of that body weight, if I was competing against, she would be 20
:57:22. > :57:23.kilos heavier. That is an amazing advantage in these downhill
:57:24. > :57:28.sections. But you must number, if she does take the hits on those
:57:29. > :57:36.uphill sections, she will slow down quicker. Compared to Shelley Rudman
:57:37. > :57:43.and yourself, is she the best British skeleton slider we have
:57:44. > :57:49.seen? Definitely the new breed. And she has done phenomenally well. Look
:57:50. > :57:52.at her. She watched me winning gold and she said, I will do the same in
:57:53. > :57:58.four years and was similar to me watching Shelley Rudman. That will
:57:59. > :58:04.be me. For me, every single decision of those four years was, will this
:58:05. > :58:08.make me when the gold medal? And Lizzy Yarnold has adopted that same
:58:09. > :58:12.thing. She has an awesome sprinting background, the great skeleton
:58:13. > :58:18.programme and she could be winning gold. This is the woman who inspired
:58:19. > :58:23.her. We have the wisdom of the reigning in champion. Will we see
:58:24. > :58:27.the next British Olympic champion in skeleton crowned this even? We will
:58:28. > :58:38.build up to that final run on BBC One so join us in just one minute or
:58:39. > :58:49.two. That is a magnificent start, her fastest so far. She is going
:58:50. > :58:59.well. Magnificent speed. This will set the benchmark. It is tremendous,
:59:00. > :59:00.the track record, you could not ask for anything more from Lizzy
:59:01. > :59:03.Yarnold.