Day 7, Part 6 Winter Olympics

Hello and welcome back to the Sanki Sliding Center. If you have been

watching on BBC One, you will know exactly what has just occurred. If

you were watching Pointers on BBC Two, Great Britain has a new

champion. Lizzy Yarnold goes for gold for

Great Britain. Can she get a track record again? If she can, it is all

over. She is still in the lead by a big, chunky margin. She is in

control. Unbelievable. She is having the run of her life. I think she can

hang onto this. That was a horrible slide, but she is still over a

second ahead. This is not a great slide at all. She is making

mistakes, but... She is still in the lead by a comfortable margin. Come

on, Lizzy, keep it together, keep calm. Go on, Lizzy! She hit that

hard on the left-hand side. It doesn't matter. She is going to win

the gold medal, surely? She is going to crash -- she could crash now and

win it. Lizzy Yarnold is the Olympic champion! Oh, my goodness. That was

William. Look at everyone! Unbelievable. Awesome work by Lizzy

Yarnold. Lizzy Yarnold has taken everything the rest of the world

have had, and thrown it back in their faces. That is fantastic. She

made us worry for a second! I literally nearly had a heart attack

watching that. That was not the best run. I have tears in my eyes. I have

passed over my Olympic crown. You are no longer Olympic champion. I am

so proud of her. It is an emotional time for everyone, for the whole of

British skeleton and the whole of Great Britain. That is truly

remarkable. We had never even heard of Lizzy Yarnold four years ago.

Four years ago, she would have been watching you get a gold . Now you

are her landlady, you can sit and have a cup of tea and click your

gold medals together! I had not thought of that! She's lapping it

up. She has to make the most of every moment. Her life is going to

change forever now. Her name is in the history books. Maybe she will

keep sliding and come back in four years. I think she will. She has got

a lot more to prove. She can be one of the best sliders in the world.

You could see the reaction of Clive and this, her parents. Her sisters

had a big hug for her. There are fireworks going off here. We had

fireworks on the track. Sorry, that is a bad cliche! She dominated from

the beginning. So Amy, it did not matter that her last run was not her

best. No, it didn't, luckily for her. She did not have too have a

perfect run. She had such a huge amount of time, unheard of. This is

the Sochi track that everyone has loved to slide. Lizzy was lucky that

she managed to keep it up. She would not have known until she saw her

time. You have told us how aerodynamic and skilful she is at

this sport. Yeah, she is a big, heavy girl, like Noelle Pikus-Pace

in silver. She has a great start. She trained so hard over the summer

in Bath. She has made that mistake, but overall, her rare dynamics and

the technology that goes into that's sled, all the hard work, all those

hours have paid off as Olympic champion. The two coaches at the

bottom, it means just as much to them, all that hard work for years.

That is a glorious feeling. I guess every time you go to the gym, that

is what you are working for . That is what motivates you. Every day,

you go to that gym as an athlete, you are lifting those weights. You

do two or three sessions a day, and each of those weights you lift is,

this is going to make me the better athlete. Every bit of food you put

in your mouth, the hours you go to bed, all those sacrifices and that

dedication, missing out on parties, celebrations, New Year's Eves, it is

all worth it for this one moment. You will never regret missing out on

the other side of life. As an athlete, you train your whole life

to be at the Olympics and one day to bring home a medal. Gathering from

what you said earlier, four years ago in Vancouver, when we sat

outside having a chat at the table today after you won your gold medal,

you still did not realise then what was. It will take a while for Lizzy

to realise what she has achieved. It really will. It has seriously taken

me four years. It has only just hit me and I have just had messages on

the guys in the pub who were celebrating those images from four

years ago in my local pub. They are now watching Lizzy and almost

reliving it. It has only taken me until now to hit me. Lizzy is going

to go to bed tonight and wake up and think, did that really happen? She

will be on a media frenzy, everyone wanted to interview her. And

tomorrow night, she will stand on that podium and get given her medal.

I hope she can somehow be calm in that moment. If I could relive it, I

would. The medal is coming back to Great Britain, where we want it to

be. The fireworks display has just finished with a big bang. Let's look

at the reaction of her friends and family.

Katie and Charlotte, her sisters, Clive and Judith, her parents. You

can see her dad has an Australian hat on. He said earlier when

interviewed by Matthew Pinsent, I am allowed to embarrass my daughter,

that is what fathers are allowed to do. He was wiping the tears away.

And this was the flower ceremony. It is a moment that happens very

quickly after the end of the race. Darren Steele of the USA made that

flower presentation. These are live shots now. Those are her sisters,

her mum and friends. Hallo! You can see their T-shirt. The Yarny Army,

they are known as. We will talk to some of them as soon as we can. What

have we started?! I am amazed at the confidence. Lizzy admitted that she

had even learnt to say in Russian, I am the Olympic champion. You hardly

ever hear athletes say that, and you rarely hear a female athletes aid.

Some men do, boxers, but not women. That is the unique thing, Lizzy is

not scared of saying, I am going to win. Maybe that is what she spent

her time doing today. She was so confident that she had to fill her

time doing something . May be learning Russian, and the fact that

she has remembered learning how to say that! Every day, I have tried

learning one word of Russian and so far, nothing. That was the

confidence Lizzy had. She has said many things that transferred to life

in general. Whether it is business, or problems you are going through at

work, she says things like, I want to be the best version of myself

that I can be. That is true in everybody's life, and she is doing

it under the biggest spotlight at a Winter Olympic Games to maintain

that sort of calm, collected, confident concentration, to round

off all the letters see. It is amazing. As an athlete, you learn

all these different skills that you can put into another area of life. I

do a lot of talks with business people, and you can use the same

principles to put into your training, all that hard work. It is

not about concentrating on others, it is about focusing on yourself and

being the best athlete you can be everyday. For me, it was not about

studying other people and their times, it was about studying

yourself. Where can I improve? Where can I have better nutrition? Where

can I go to bed earlier? It is about those strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities, threats. What can you do to become a better person? Lizzy

has done that each day since she started doing skeleton. She has

contributed to Great Britain's medals haul at the Winter Olympics,

which is not massive, a tenth gold medal in a period that stretches

back 90 years. There has been an awful lot going on

today away from the sliding Centre. First, we bring you up-to-date news

the curling. -- news from the curling. Great Britain's men were in

action and there were more celebrations for David Murdoch and

his team. They led 7-6 going into this final 10th end. And although

Denmark had the hammer, the final stone, it looks as if... It is not

going to be good enough. So Great Britain got the win. They won 8-6.

The Danish skip was looking very disappointed. We will be rounding up

all of the action later today at 7:10pm on BBC Two.

There are women's aerials right now on the red button if you want to

watch that live. And we will be joining live figure skating very

shortly. We are going to see who will be crowned as the men's singles

winner. Gosh, it has been an amazing competition, because we saw a world

record yesterday in the short programme, and there is a

19-year-old from Japan leading the way. Let's go there now and join Sue

Barker and Robin Cousins. They... Yes, Denis ten is leading

the way here and I am sitting alongside an Olympic champion who

knows what it is like to win a gold medal. That is good news, Robin? It

is, there has on the back of the neck went up. But this is all about

the gold medal in the men's competition, and what a group of six

we have in front of us. Daisuke Takahashi is capable of huge things,

but the man everyone has been talking about is Yuzuru Hanyu. He

had a world record score yesterday in the short programme. Patrick Chan

is second, but there is just one mistake, and he and his coach know

it. This is the man everyone has had to beat over the last few years. But

he is not the target any more, he is the man chasing. Denis Ten of

Kazakhstan is the leader at the moment. A super performance from him

in the last group. He did not make a mistake, and no one must now. And it

is the man with immense pressure who is going to start this final group.

Spain has never won and Olympic figure skating medal, and this man,

Javier Hernandez, good change that, but he needs to be better than

yesterday. He was cleared at times but a disappointment in other

elements, almost sluggish. His coach told him afterwards he must attack

today if he is going to claim a medal. There is less than 1.7 rating

third, where he is, and sixth place. He is the first of the leaders to

skate. Will he put the pressure on others or leave room for them to

claim a place on the podium? Two quadruple jumps are planned. He

needs them both, hopefully one with the combination. He has gone for the

quad toe first. That was wonderful. The step sequence done, will he go

for quad number three? The jump is going to happen, it comes next.

A combination of triple flip and... Legible Salchow, -- eight triple

Salchow. He is one of the sport's great

entertainers and everybody enjoyed that performance will stop he

enjoyed the first minute because he is late macro was so good. Normally

so reliable but in the end, they let him down. Two out of three ain't

bad. It would have been nice to see the third quarter, the triple lutz

as well needed to happen. Level fours, level threes and in the step

sequence. But there was enough in there, Robin, others to come out and

take the middle from him. I am also seeing that the final triple Salchow

sequence has not been given any marks at all. So 12, five, nine and

14 for the first two quads. Changing foot after the three turn.

Easily rotating with the quad toe, terrific jump.

A very tight take off on a trip for Axel, doesn't have much flow at all.

-- take-off on the triple Axel. A loss of concentration on the take

off for that triple lutz. Components will be good. Components always are

good, he is tremendous with choreography and presentation.

Always offer something a bit different. We thought we were going

to see some in special and then just a few of the errors. You can only

pick up points on the elements you do. Exactly. And he has certainly

opened the door for others to follow . He remembered his rose for

Valentines though, so well done. I think it is dawning on him, he

properly does not know he got a zero for the final combination jump but

166.94 actually puts him third in the free skate and second overall so

no medal for him unless the leaders have a nightmare performance but it

looks like he is out of the medals and it is still the Kazakhstan

athlete who leads the way. But it could change here. The skater

lying in fourth place, after the short programme, a huge ovation from

his adoring fans, Takahashi. So much support over the years, a superstar

for so long. The killing the first to put BLEEP Japanese -- Japanese

athletes to win the world champ Richard. Can he take home a medal?

-- world champion. MUSIC: "Yesterday" by The Beatles -

instrumental. Takahashi opening with the quad toe

loop. And then the triple lutz. MUSIC SWITCHES TO "COME TOGETHER" BY

THE BEATLES. There is the lutz and there is the

toe loop. MUSIC SWITCHES TO "IN MY LIFE" BY

THE BEATLES. He certainly delivered. Really lucky

to be here finishing fifth in the Japanese Championships but they put

him through to give him a last chance here in front of his adoring

fans and this stadium is full of his adoring fans and one once again,

they will throw flowers on the ice and it will take a while to clear

them. He has been so popular over the years but I do not think it will

give him a medal but certainly a fond farewell to Takahashi. Much

better than his practices have been giving away, that is for sure. He

was surprised to find himself in fourth after the short programme. He

has made it difficult for himself. Look at all these flowers! There are

not in a flower girls to go and collect them and about 20 on the

rink and they are still falling down. And in the middle of it, is

the next athlete trying to skate around the flowers trying to do his

warm up. But Takahashi came in and maybe jumps happen, they did not

show up in the warm up for him. The quad was there, on two feet.

That has been downgraded to a triple.

There is the triple Axel. We have seen lesser errors be much more

costly for earlier skaters so I have a feeling... But word I used

earlier, "plummet" may see him dropping down the rankings. It is

the psychology and you think, if you can produce a season's best and that

would take the lead and that might give me a bronze medal. It just does

not happen. Presentation, choreography in the nines but

transition down in the eights. But it is the technical score that will

hold him back again on this. That will not be well received by those

who have thrown in the flowers that have finally been cleared from the

ice. But what a career he has had. World champion back in 2010. So many

glorious routines and performances over the years. The music was lovely

as well, nice arrangements of Beatles classics. Such a charismatic

skater. Plenty for the judges to review in that programme. That is

why the scores are taking some time. It will be sad to see him go.

He has been a great character on the ice. He has certainly brought many

fans to skating, particularly back in Japan. When you look at their

national championships, it is almost like a major international. Any one

of their top five could have come here and performed in these final

two groups, such is the depth there. It will be an exciting World

Championships, as they are hosting them in Tokyo in a month's time. And

still, the wait goes on, not only for Takahashi, but also for Yuzuru

Hanyu, the leader, who is waiting to skate.

He needed 172 to take the lead, so that has not gone down well. He lost

it on the technical mark. No medal to end his glorious career. We wish

him well. Now, what about this young man? He has twice won a silver medal

at the Olympics games. And with all the drama yesterday, Plushenko

withdrawing, we needed a skate to remember, and Yuzuru Hanyu did just

that, producing a world record score, over 100 points. It was

energetic, powerful and perfect. But this skate is for the Olympic gold

medal, and he is just 19. He steadied himself, readying for the

biggest moment of his short career. He made history here yesterday. Will

he do the same again today? It will come down to the opening two

jumps. That was the first, quadruple salchow, he wanted. Now, compose

yourself, and let's do the quadruple toe loop. Yes.

He did so well to recover, but that is the pressure of the Olympic

games. Missing jumps early on that look so solid yesterday. That

performance certainly does not secure the gold medal for Hanyu. It

has left room for Patrick Chan, if he can deliver the programme . But

boy, he overcame the nerves and relaxed into the programme, and then

it took off. And he delivered the elements he needed. The half-loop

was off in the middle, but got the triple salchow in the end. At how

costly are those two mistakes earlier on? The fall on the first

quad, he will get the score for the quad, but the grade of execution

goes down. Plus the deduction. Two deductions for falls. 12.44 for the

second quarter. 7.50 for the first quad. 16.15 for the triple axel,

triple toe combination. He looks very disappointed, particularly

after what he delivered yesterday in that short programme. He so wanted

to come out and deliver another clean routine and it was not to be,

but that is the pressure he is and in here. Just 19, and he is not

experienced. Made the rotation on the quad. It was nice in the air.

Caught the heel a bit on the landing. Composed himself to come

back for the second. Made that one, no question.

I think they may have taken a full deduction for that. Got the triple

axel Andy triple toe loop. Only 19 years of age. Before, there was a

question mark about his stamina in the long programme, until this year,

when he did overcome Patrick Chan. But that was pressure. And that is

new for him, because normally when something goes early, it does not

get recovered. Delivering something in two minutes and 49 seconds is one

thing, having to do it when you are exposed and pull the focus act is

another. He knew the pressure was on. He got the second quad out. He

does not have great experience at major international level, does he?

This is a whole new experience for him. Not compared to Patrick Chan.

Oh, no! His season's best is so huge, 193 plus, so that is way

under. He has been penalised. All of a sudden, it looks very good for

Patrick Chan and Canada. Well, Hanyu was trying to become the first

Japanese skater to win the men's championship here. Patrick Chan is

having to do the same now for Canada. For the past three years, he

has been the most dominant skater on the planet, setting the standard,

always the man to beat. It changed in December at the Grand Prix

final. Here, he is playing catch up. But now he, more than anyone, is

aware of what he has to do to win the gold. The dream would come true.

He went in with high expectations in Vancouver and finished a

disappointing fifth. But here he is, four years later, and the door has

been opened by Hanyu. But can Chan take it?

There was the quad, with the triple toe loop.

Quad number two, just the hands down.

Tight on the landing of the triple loop.

The easiest jump in his programme, the double axel.

He was given a chance and he didn't take it, that is not Patrick Chan at

his best. So dominant for the past three years but in the past couple

of months, his jumps have started to look vulnerable and they were again

tonight. You think that Canada is desperate for this gold medal, they

have had so many great world champions come into the Olympics,

among others, whenever they have a better chance than Patrick Chan and

he did not deliver the programme. I thought he was looking vulnerable,

not just the jumps. There was a hesitation in him. He is normally

cool and focused but then he had the first quads triple combination and I

thought he was on his way. When you look at the scores, he could be 14,

14 points below to take the lead in this free skate so there was bluntly

of for him. But just too many mistakes.

There is an extra 10% that comes from the elements at the back.

Patrick lost big points. The choreography sequence, level one,

2.6 for the double axel. This is the opening combination.

Easy, down and light, set up for the second triple toe loop that followed

the quad. No sign of pressure or tension in that body at all. And on

the second one, he likes to get a little bounce on the three term,

just a bit of tension forward with the body, he pushed himself onto the

toe pick some scratched down a bit. At the hands down. He didn't get the

lift through from that right leg coming into the take off of that to

give him the elevation that he needed.

Again, tight on the half-loop between the triple lutz and what he

would have liked to have been a triple Salchow. He always has a big

component score and he will be relying on that. It does not matter

what sport you are in, once you doubt yourself, it just does not

work. And it is not enough, 178.10. It is

below Yuzuru Hanyu in the free skate and overall and that is not what

Patrick Chan came here for. And not what we affected. Six months ago.

The gold medal was his then but not to be, not his night. And I think it

is just beginning to sink in. So, Yuzuru Hanyu has his hands on

the gold medal but now Peter Liebers of Germany is on the eyes this. --

is on the ice. He surprised everybody finishing sixth at the

European Championships last month but then finished in the team event

with a season's best and improve with 6.5 points yesterday and finds

himself in fifth place and in touching distance of an Olympic

medal. Peter Liebers of Germany. He opens with the quad toe loop.

That has served him very well in the short programme, let's hope it shows

up again tonight. Triple axel, triple toe loop, that

is better. He will be given credit for the jump

because he made the rotation. Fighting, holding on, got the

Salchow and now the loop. The last of his triples.

The tension of this final group is flowing from one skater to another.

He has looked rock solid so far and in practice but when it came down to

it with the chance of an Olympic medal, it just failed him. He is not

the first I am sure he will not be the last to find that pressure.

Finding himself in that final group, he has been a grafter for the last

few years. He has worked so hard. He competed against his father back in

the 80s # I competed, Mario when he was alongside the great Jan Hoffman

but found himself in this extraordinary position yesterday of

delivering the performance of his career in the short programme. He

did not do himself any harm to night. The quad was not there but he

pushed through the two double axel is, and the triple lutz, made it

happen. And he will go away a happy man from this championship. Probably

not in the top five though. He is a very open stance skater, uses his

arms very high on the landings, lots of tension in the shoulders, did not

get the free leg back to help them get back from that quad toe loop but

he made the rotation so he will be given the credit. That was the

triple axel interdigital toe loop combination. So he will begin then

the point for the triple axel -- into the triple toe loop. Sorry, for

the quad. Points as well for the triple axel but it was the grade of

execution that the judges are looking at where they make the

deduction. There were errors in the programme but boy, he can be

immensely proud of what he has achieved here and he has shown the

world that he is right up there with the very best and this has been a

long time coming full top the season's best is 148, they are

asking him to have 194 to get to the lead but let's see what he does. It

is a season's best, 153.83. The crowd don't like it that that is

what the judges have given him. A good component score. That is all he

can ask. Come away with what he can. That puts him eighth overall so he

is dropping some way down the standings but, as we said, he has

come here and delivered some great programmes. As has this young man.

We are set for a fairy tale ending here or are we? Jason Brown of the

United States of America. Boy, he was nowhere a few months ago and

suddenly second in the national championships on the American Arabic

team here. He won a medal in the team event, a bronze medal for the

United States and here he is skating last in the Olympic final -- on the

American team here. If you can deliver a perfect routine, you never

know. It is a wonderful routine as well

which could bring the house down. A great step sequence towards the end,

this is Jason Brown's Riverdance. This is where it gets important for

Jason, triple axel, triple toe loop. It is his hardest element.

The triple toe was on two feat which made the rotation on the triple

axel. Him Ooh, just eking out that triple

salchow at the end of the combination.

Better on that triple flip, double toe loop. That should have been a

double axel. There it is. Slightly underrotated on the landing

of the triple loop. The judges may ask to review that.

A huge ovation. It was fun, and energetic as always, but there will

be in no medal for Jason Brown this time. Not as difficult a programme

as the others performed, and there were mistakes as well, but boy, what

a difficult few months it has been for him. There was talk about

staying in the juniors last year, and he thought he would give it a

chance. He has skated at last at the Olympics. He has a bright future. He

still has some junior qualities about him as a performer. With the

short programme, it was strong. But he is vulnerable in a long

programme. He needed to be 11 points over his personal best this season

to get onto that podium. But he is only 19, and he has the performer in

him, which some skaters don't have, and it is very natural. It is. You

can't teach that, but you can teach the quantity he needs to get those

combinations consistent and find that elusive quad. They say he is

not far off the rotation is with the quad. He was slightly over rotated

and on two feet with the triple axel.

So there is a downgrade there. And there is a downgrade on the second

triple axel and zero for the triple loop. Just level one for his

choreography sequence. But he is one of those skaters who, even when it

doesn't quite work, you still enjoy watching the overall performance.

And he doesn't let disappointments overtake him. You do not see it in

his face. He has just loved being here, enjoying the moment. He came

here as just the boy with the famous ponytail. It has got its own social

media site. But he has certainly delivered here. Not tonight, but at

the Olympics. Wonderful performance in the team competition to help

America take the bronze medal. And it is all a learning experience for

him at just 19. He will be lovely to work with for the coach and

choreographer, because it will be interesting and exciting to see what

he comes up with in the years to come.

This could be a while, because I think there are a few reviews for

the judges to make sure the marking is spot on and put him in the

position he deserves to be. He is in the eights for the component scores.

No surprise. He was always going to have a good component score. But it

is the technical score he has got to work on. He came in sixth after the

short programme, and I think he is going to drop. But the second mark

shows what a future he could have. He is top ten in the Olympics. He

may have dropped from six to nine, that there were many great skaters

that today. But it is this man who is the Olympic champion, on this

evening full of tension, when the leaders were just overawed by the

occasion and the prize at stake. But it does go to an immensely talented

young man from Japan who did not perform at his best today, but he

will be a major star of the future. We look forward to 219-year-olds,

Jason Brown and Yuzuru Hanyu going for. It was not quite the skate off

we were hoping for or expecting, looking at that final group. But

Yuzuru Hanyu, to the delight of the Japanese fans here, is the Olympic

champion, the first Japanese man to win the Olympic gold medal in the

men's championship and the youngest winner for 66 years. He will recover

quickly from this performance. It will take Patrick Chan a long time

to come to terms with what happened tonight and how he gave away that

Olympic gold medal. Congratulations to Denis Ten, with all the injuries

and illnesses he had throughout the year. Skin infection, back pain,

ankle injury. He skated his heart out tonight in a clean programme to

take the bronze medal. So not the greatest night of skating, but still

drama all the way. The gold goes to Japan and Yuzuru Hanyu. Yuzuru Hanyu

fell twice in that free programme, but having set a world record in the

short programme, he had enough in hand to take the gold medal for

Japan. Congratulations to him. Thanks to Sue Barker and Robin

Cousins. Coming up next on ABC two is Today At The Games, highlights on

what was a golden day here at the sliding Centre for team GB. See you

in a minute.