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(All times local. GMT -8)
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1350: GOLD for Germany's Magdalena Neuner in the women's 12.5km mass start biathlon. It's her second gold and third medal of the Games after winning the pursuit and coming second in the sprint. Olga Zaitseva of Russia is second with Simone Hauswald of Germany third. In the men's ice hockey, Russia lead Czech Republic 3-1 early in the third period.
1330: GOLD for Switzerland's Michael Schmid in the inaugural Olympic ski cross. Schmid gets out of the gate first and muscles off the attentions of Andreas Matt on the first corner. Norway's Audun Groenvold is third with Canada's Chris Delbosco fourth going into the middle part of the course. But Delbosco finds speed from somewhere and reels in Groenvold to nip into a medal position. Schmid thunders down clear in front and Matt looks safe in second, despite a wobble over the "woops". But Delbosco crashes over the penultimate jump and Groenvold screams through to grab bronze. "It's a man's sport, ski cross," says BBC commentator Graham Bell. 1315: To whet your appetite for Canada v USA in the ice hockey later, have a watch of Matthew Pinsent's look at Canada's
national obsession
with ice hockey. By the way, a large police presence is expected at tonight's massive match in Vancouver. In the second period, Russia lead Czech Republic 2-1. Enak Gavagio wins the small final of the men's ski cross from Davey Barr. 1310: Norway's Audun Groenvold wins semi-final two of the men's ski cross but Chris Delbosco of Canada is forced to come from behind after a slow start to overhaul Australian Scott Kneller to qualify. Slovenia's Filip Flisar is fourth. 1305: Swiss Michael Schmid takes an early lead and stays clear to win from Austrian Andreas Matt. Both qualify. Canada's Davey Barr is left behind in third followed by France's Enak Gavaggio in the first ski cross semi-final.
1300: Ski cross semi-finalists: Gavaggio, Matt, Schmid, Barr, Delbosco, Flisar, Groenvold, Kneller. My money's on ski cross specialist Enak Gavaggio of France, but Mario Matt's brother Andreas looks good, too. Russia 1-1 Czech Rep in 2nd period. 1255: GOLD FOR BODE MILLER in the men's combined as the fastest man in downhill, Aksel Lund Svindal, crashes out of the slalom. Croatia's Ivica Kostelic is second with Switzerland's Silvan Zurbriggen third. Miller has now won a gold, silver (super-G) and bronze (downhill) at these Games. He's got five Olympic medals in allbut this is his first gold. The former bad boy is back in the fold and reaping the rewards.
1250: Olympic downhill champion Didier Defago crashes out of the slalom and fellow Swiss Carlo Janka goes fourth, meaning Bode Miller's first place is looking good. Shock second-place man in the downhill, Dominik Paris shows why he's ranked well down the World Cup combined standings as he drops more than three seconds.
1247: Bode Miller goes into first place, pushing out Ivica Kostelic in the slalom section of the men's combined.
1245: Right, ski cross qualifiers are: Schmid, Iljans, Kerr, Barr, Kraus, Delbosco, Spalinger, Matt, Gavaggio, Kneller, Wittner, Miallier, Flissar, Hayer, Groenveld, Eliasson.
1240: Olympic slalom champion Benjamin Raich hauls himself up to second, but a slightly ragged run prevents him going ahead of Ligety in the combined.
1235: Defending Olympic combined champion Ted Ligety goes first after his slalom run. 1230: I implore you to watch some ski cross if you can. "It's time to kick-start your heart," says BBC commentator Ed "the Shred" Leigh. There also appears to be a bit of teamwork going on. One Frenchman can be heard saying to his countryman "C'est moi" as they thunder down, letting him know that the man breathing down his neck is not going to bundle him over. I'll give you a list of qualifiers in a sec. 1220: MONSTER MASH! Ski cross EXPLODES ( and I mean that in capital letters) into life with the first four-man heat. Michael Schmid qualifies first but Daron Rahlves and France Piccard have a virtual dogfight in the air over the last jump and both end up in a heap as Eric Iljans nips through from fourth to qualify. The second heat is just as thrilling as Jamaica's Errol Kerr (who actually grew up in California) and Davey Barr progress after Anders Rekdal eats snow. 1215: To follow slalom combined, check out our
live timing page.
1205: Without exposing the mechanism behind the magic, I can reveal I'm triple-handed here - we've got the slalom section of the men's combined, the knockout stages of the men's ski cross and Russia v the Czech Republic in the men's ice hockey all on at once. What can possibly go wrong? 1200: British skip Eve Muirhead on the defeat by Switzerland which leaves her side needing to win their last two games: "We're gutted with that loss. Too many slack shots at the start put us on the back foot straight away. Good comeback, but too little too late. We know we can play all the shots, we've just got to believe we can." Now then, I must fess up - earlier I gave an incorrect start time for the slalom section of the men's combined. It will begin at 1215 (2015 GMT). Sorry about that. 1142: GOLD for Russia's Evgeny Ustyugov in the men's 15km biathlon mass start. France's Martin Fourcade is second with Slovakia's Pavol Hurajt third. Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, chasing a sixth Olympic gold and 11th medal in total, can only manage 27th.
1140: GAME OVER - Switzerland grab one in end eight to go 10-6 up against Britain and the teams shake hands. GB now have four losses and three wins and must win their last two matches to have any chance of qualifying in the top four. 1120: Britain are making things interesting as they snatch one to edge to 9-6 down with two more ends to go. British skip
Eve Muirhead
has very piercing eyes, by the way. Switzerland's skip
Mirjam Ott
looks like Shaun White. 1105: Great British skip
Eve Muirhead
delivers her last stone to claim three in end seven to narrow the gap to 9-5 down. A chink of light, perhaps? Here's how the men's combined looks going into the slalom, which begins at 1345 (2145 GMT): 1. Svindal 2. Paris (+0.39) 3. Janka (+.50) Follow it all on our
live timing page.
1050:1055: Anonymous texts us to ask: "Are the beeb gonna show Canada v USA hockey live? *Begging*" No need to beg, anon. The whole game will be on the BBC red button and the BBC website (UK users only) with periods two and three on BBC 2 (once the bobsleigh has finished). The game is at 1640 local time in Vancouver, which is 0040 in the UK. If you're a British ice hockey fan, going to bed on time tonight is simply not an option, work tomorrow or not ... 1050: Switzerland edge to 9-2 up after six ends against Great Britain in the women's curling. Wonder how GB morale is right now? After the last end they had a little group huddle but skip Eve Muirhead wasn't involved. Trouble at t'ice sheet? Britain need to beat Denmark tomorrow to save their bacon. My boss told me to write that because he came up with it and he's still laughing. They must then also beat Canada on Tuesday. The only consolation for Muirhead's side is that other results today are going in their favour - Canada 6-2 USA, Denmark 4-1 Germany, Russia 6-3 Japan. Coming up at 1100, it's the men's 15km biathlon mass start. Ole Einar Bjoerndalen is involved but he cannot now equal Bjorn Daehlie's Winter Olympics record of eight golds, at this Games at least, though he will be keen to take his tally to six golds and 11 medals in total. Team-mate Emil Hegle Svensen, who pipped him to gold in the 20km individual, will be a big threat, while Austrian Christophe Sumann and Russian Evgeny Ustyugov are others to watch. 1030: Ski cross qualification has finished and Switzerland's Michael Schmid leads. Andreas Matt, brother of alpine racer Mario, lies fourth. Jamaica's Errol Kerr (who is actually from New York) is ninth, with former US downhill racer Daron Rahlves in 24th. Funnily enough - is it funny enough? (that gag copyright S Milligan esq) - 32 of the 33 starters qualify, leaving Zdenek Safar of the Czech Republic the only man to miss out. Heats will be ranked according to times, though. You can see the full list on our
ski cross results page.
1020: The comeback starts here, maybe? Great Britain score one in end five to reduce the deficit to 8-2 down against Switzerland. The BBC's curling producer Peter Small isn't convinced. He just sent a one-word text to us. "Disaster." That feels like it adequately sums up what has happened to the GB women's team on this Vancouver Sunday morning. Arguably one of GB's three biggest medal hopes before the Olympics along with the men's curlers and the skeleton athletes, are they about to go crashing out of the Games? Britain's Ed Drake crosses the line 30th in the super-combined downhill, more than three seconds back. 1015: Italy's Dominik Paris goes into a surprise second place behind Svindal in the men's downhill section of the super-combined. Defending Olympic slalom champion Benjamin Raich lies 12th, 1.55 back. A big ask, maybe? Follow it all on our
live timing page.
1010: CURLING NEWSFLASH - Great Britain crash to an 8-1 deficit against Switzerland after four ends of the women's curling. This could spell the end of their Games. 1005: Bode Miller is off the pace in the downhill section of the men's combined and finishes 0.76 seconds behind Svindal. A long way back for Bode in the slalom. Interesting Tweet from Mark_Hanna, who says: "This ski cross is awful, if I wanted to see people snow plough then I would have gone to a ski school...way too many jumps." The racers are, indeed, putting in little speed checks to steady themselves. The course is like a bucking bronco and the key is just to get down and qualify. I think the real fun will come when the four-man heats start. Then it will be chaos. Famous mogul skier Mike Hattrup once said of skiing bumps: "The key to skiing these things is to go to a panic and then back off." In the ski cross knockout stages they might need to go to a panic and stay there. 0955: Great Britain go 4-1 down to Switzerland after three ends in the women's curling. Dangerous time for Eve Muirhead's side, who really need a win to boost their qualifying hopes. Switzerland's Silvan Zurbriggen, no relation to the great Pirmin, goes fourth, 0.73 behind Svindal but he's a red-hot slalom skier and will be in the hunt. Countryman Carlo Janka goes second and is another very serious threat for the title. Bode Miler yet to come. The slalom section of the super-combined begins at 1345 (2145 GMT). 0948: Almost immediately super-G champ Aksel Lund Svindal nicks Defago's lead in the combined downhill. Follow it all on our
live timing page.
0945: Old dimply chin
Didier Defago,
the Olympic downhill champion, takes the lead in the downhill section of the men's super combined. In ski cross, former US alpine racer Daron Rahlves crosses the line back in 13th after his qualifying run. He dislocated his hip a few weeks ago. Not much of an excuse, that, is it? 0935: We're getting a full-on action broadside - the men's downhill section of the super combined is also under way at Whistler Creekside. Follow it all on our
live timing page.
In women's curling, Great Britain take one in end two to narrow the gap to 2-1 against Switzerland. You can follow the curling on our
results page,
which features graphics showing you where every stone is. Steve Cram tells us: "Our women have the dreaded red stones on sheet A this morning. Last night even I was tempted to nip down and swap sheet B's reds with A's, but I resisted." Meanwhile, curling producer Peter Small adds: "Rhona had a bit of a bad start to a big day - she left her mobile phone in a coffee shop and had to return to pick it up. The women's team arrived on the ice before she did and texted Rhona to ask where she was." 0925: Just watched the first man down in the ski cross. The course is exactly the same as for boarding and with the jumps kicking them into orbit it's real rock 'n' roll stuff on skis. The racers are working so hard, and that's with just one man at a time for a qualifying run. It will be absolute carnage when there are four men on the track. You will not want to miss it. 0915: Good start for Switzerland as they take two in the first end to lead Great Britain in women's curling. Ominous. Unless you're Swiss, in which case, promising. GB have last-stone advantage in second end. Dannynic on
Twitter
asks whether we will be showing the whole ski cross event? And the answer is that qualifying (single timed runs), which runs for an hour from 0915 (1715 GMT), will be on the Red Button (not Freeview) with the finals (1215/2015 GMT) live on BBC 2. 0905: Remember, you can join in the fun yourself by getting in touch via text on 81111 if you're in the UK or +44 7786200666 if you're not. Or via
Twitter
if that's your bag. For instance, Peacism Tweeted to say: "Am very, very, very stoked about ski cross. Expect it to be as exciting as the boarders except faster." To whet your appetite for the demolition derby on skis, check out Graham Bell
competing in ski cross.
Gnarly, dude. 0850: So, first by a nose we have women's curling and here's how they roll: Britain take on Switzerland, the 2002 and 2006 silver medallists, very much needing a win after yesterday's loss to USA. Britain have won three, lost three and are tied with Germany and Sweden in fourth place in the
table.
Canada, Norway and Switzerland are the one-two-three. The top four go through to the semi-finals. In this morning's other matches Germany play Denmark, Canada take on USA and Russia meet Japan. You can follow them all on our
curling live pages.
0845: Hello team. On form? Ace. It's day 10 of the Games and I, for one, am stoked. Why? The sun's out and shortly we've got Britain's women in action against Switzerland in the curling, alongside the Olympic debut of skier cross, followed by men' super combined, with a little biathlon, a lot of ice hockey, some figure skating and some speed skating. That's one tasty combo. Oh, I forgot to add the relish - the final two-runs of the men's two-man bobsleigh. Shall we cook it on gas? Yeah, baby. Oh dear, I've been here too long. For a full run down of what's on today, check out our
schedule page.
But don't worry, I'll flag them all up as we go along. Ready? Let's go.
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