Anyway, that’s about us, so it’s goodnight from me and goodnight from me. Join us again tomorrow!
All that’s left today is some men’s ice hockey. Sweden, the favourites, lead Germany 1-0 in the second period, and Finland lead Norway 3-1 in the third period.
As far as the table is concerned, Sweden and Canada are 4 and 0; GB are one of four teams who are 2 and 2.
Elsewhere in the curling, USA beat Denmark 9-5 and Canada beat Korea 7-6. They’ll be a difficult challenge for GB tomorrow despite being 0 and 4.
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Sweden beat GB 8-6!
And that’s pretty easily done, both stones expelled from the house. GB had the chance in the previous end, and chances earlier in the match - but at 2 and 2 they’re still reasonably well placed. They meet South Korea next.
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Penultimate shot from GB here, playing off a Swedish stone and moving inside the house, kissing another. It was a fair shot, but Sweden now have a chance to take both of the GB ones out of the equation...
Sweden opt to play into just one stone, which they knock away.
This is the match...
GB knock away one of the Swedish stones, but it’s not a good shot and Sweden have a chance to take both of theirs out...
If GB win this end by two, there’ll be an extra one in which Sweden have the hammer. It’s hard not to think that missed double takeout at end of the last end will be crucial in the end. End end end end. Lots of ends.
GB have one in the house, which they’ve guarded, while Sweden have two. Sweden keep knocking the guard away and GB keep replacing it.
“Just a shout out for curling,” emails Andrew Benton. “It’s the best winter sport. Strategic, but at appropriate moments, exciting. And as it’s not based on physical strength, its suitable for everyone – lets do away with men’s and women’s teams, and have just teams. Many cheers for curling.”
I quite enjoy it too, but – and I feel a fool for saying this – am unsure it has the variety to go on for as long as it does, or could use an extra variable, I’m not sure what.
Sweden roll it in, and that’s 8-6 to them with end to play.
No they aren’t! Smith misses the second rock - not by much but by enough - Sweden will take two! Might that be enough?
Sweden then knock it away, but the two they have in the house are close enough together to facilitate the double takeout; Sweden will only get one point this end.
Kyle Smith sends down a pearler, which places their penultimate stane in the house and blocking the Swedes’ red stane.
It’s 6-6, and each side has two stanes left in this end.
Anyway, let’s focus on yon curling.
Dom Parsons is now on BBC; he’s phenomenally happy, which is vicariously pleasant.
In the men’s curling, GB are tied 6-6 with Sweden playing the ninth end; Sweden have the hammer.
We’re watching Jacqueline Loelling, the bookies’ favourite, learning that Germany has various skeleton tracks which allows kids to learn young and pros to practice.
Lizzie Yarnold speaks to the BBC, and roughly, she says: “I don’t know where I’m sitting in relation to first ... I’ve got a bit of a throat and sinusy thing going on ... I think I’m just struggling to breathe enough because it’s very cold here and it’s a bit dusty ... I’m doing as lot of steaming which is nice ... It s a great track actually, really fast ... I’m an athlete that loves to compete at these big events when everyone is bringing their best. It’s a big goal to be the first British Winter Olympian to retain my title .. to everyone who.s supported me, thank you, I’m doing it for you.”
Meanwhile, Laura Deas hath spaken: “I just wanted to relax, get that one out of the way. I had a few things to work on in the second run and I’m really happy with where I’m sat now. It is a tough, technical track and you have to think all the way down. Going home, recovering and coming back fresh tomorrow is very important. Sitting in fourth, seven hundredths out of a medal position is a really nice place to be.”
Lizzie Yarnold mouthed the words “I’m dizzy” after completing her run, but in the studio they’re confident that nothing serious is amiss.
Greetings. Daniel Harris here while Ben gets lunch...
Loelling, Flock, Yarnold and Deas is the order heading into tomorrow’s third and final heats. It will not be dull.
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Eek! Yarnold slips into third after a couple of mistakes means she logs a time of 52.30secs in this second run. Her colleague, Deas, is in fourth.
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With only Yarnold to come, Loelling posts 52.12secs! That’s slower than Laura Deas and Janine Flock. Team GB are in the driving seat, that’s for sure.
It looks as though Laura Deas will be in fourth-place overall, in the standings, ahead of tomorrow’s final two runs.
And Germany’s Tina Hermann is slower second time around too. Her 52.31secs is sluggish compared to Deas and more good news for Team GB ... Deas keeps her second spot, with Loelling and Yarnold still to come.
Anna Fernstaedt, who came into the second heat in fifth place, is slower than Deas and that is great news for the GB athlete, the 29-year-old from Wrexham. The German’s 52.17secs means that Deas retains the second spot after two runs, with only three still to come.
Great Britain’s Laura Deas posts a time of 52.03secs! That takes her into second – for now, with five women still to run, as such. Will that lift her any higher than the sixth-place finish after the first heat.
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Latvia’s Preidulena, who will have a knee operation after these Games, shows no sign of any niggling problems as she races into top spot in this second heat – with Laura Deas, of Great Britain next to run.
Kimberly Bos, of the Netherlands, breaks into that three-strong Canadian leading pack. She zooms into second in this heat, with a time of 52.26secs. But, still, nobody is getting close to Yarnold’s first posting of 51.66secs. Seven competitors to come in this second and final run of the day ...
Back to the skeleton, where Canada are currently in pole position in this second heat. They have a one-two-three and Elisabeth Vathje is the leader – for now. Her time of 52.01secs is sluggish in comparison to those in the first heat, though. The big-hitters are still to come, with 10 women yet to fly down the course for a second time.
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In the men’s curling, Sweden have peeped back into the lead against Great Britain. They lead 6-5 there, after six ends. Four to play.
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There are 13 competitors to come then, in this second heat. Laura Deas will go fifth-last while Yarnold will be last of all. Germany’s Loelling and Hermann are surely two of the fiercest rivals to Team GB in this second run.
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Belgium’s Kim Meylemans is the new leader – in this second heat, at least – with a time of 52.54secs. But that simply will not trouble the leading pack. A reminder that Yarnold’s track record a little earlier was 51.66secs.
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Yarnold will go last in this second heat, with the competitors going in reverse order. So Simile Adeagbo, of Nigeria, gets us back under way, followed by Oguchi, Mazulu and now Kendall Wesenberg, of the United States.
Perfect, easy lunchtime viewing:
But we are not done yet, with Great Britain still doing battle with Sweden in the men’s curling – GB lead 5-3. And the second run of the women’s skeleton is up next. The leader, Lizzy Yarnold, was a little dizzy after that first run but is all ready to go second time around.
Benjamin Haas reports on Pita Taufatofua, the skiier who has only ever spent 12 weeks on snow. From Pyeongchang:
More on Lizzy Yarnold’s first table-topping hit in the women’s skeleton is below. The second run gets under way in 10 minutes or so:
Back to the men’s curling, where Sweden are now level-pegging with Great Britain. They are on the fifth of 10 ends. Switzerland are beating Japan 4-3 on Sheet A while on Sheet D, Korea trail Canada 3-2. Elsewhere, the United States are cruising 6-2, up against Denmark.
Esmee Visser wins 5000m speed skating gold!
It is another medal for the Dutch, with the world-record holder, Czech Republic’s Sablikova pushed into second and a silver medal position. Natalie Vorinina, of OAR, takes bronze. That’s the Netherlands’s sixth gold of the Games.
Hanna Huskova wins freestyle skiing gold!
Huskova, of Belarus, takes the top prize in the aerials with a score of 96.14. China’s Zhang Xin has to settle for silver, and Kong Fanyu bronze.
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Plenty of food for thought for Niklas Edin and his Sweden team, who trail Great Britain 3-1 at the curling centre.
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And ... Alla Tsuper, of Belarus, is the new leader in the freestyle skiing with a score of 59.64. In terms of the women’s skeleton, the second heat, in which Yarnold, Deas and co will attempt to improve on their respective times, that will kick-off at 12.30pm (GMT).
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In the aerial skiing at Phoenix Park, Madison Olsen has just been awarded a score of 47.23 from the judging panel, with five competitors, including Australia’s Laura Peel, still to come.
A wobbly effort sees Adeagbo post a time of 54.19secs and that means she is last. But, with three more runs to come, there is plenty more skeleton to come yet. Meanwhile, in the men’s curling, GB lead Sweden 3-1 after the captain Edin goes too long, too ambitious in the third end. The women’s aerials finals get under way shortly, too.
With only Adeagbo, of Nigeria, to go in this first heat, Yarnold remains the leader with that 51.66secs posting. She is the first Nigerian athlete to ever compete in the sport ...
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There are four more competitors to come in the women’s skeleton first heat, with Lizzy Yarnold currently sitting top of the pile. Australia’s Jackie Narracott and Nigeria’s Simidele Adeagbo will be the last two out on the course.
Yarnold is the new leader in the women’s skeleton, pipping Germany’s Loelling into top spot, for the time being at least with a time of 51.66secs. That is a track record for Yarnold, 0.08 quicker than Loelling. Deas is sixth as it stands, too.
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Here comes Lizzy Yarnold ... and it looks quick.
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Lelde Priedulena psyches herself off with a couple of wacky slaps against her legs, before setting off down the course. The Latvian will have a knee operation after these Games, but before then, she will have three more heats to try and better her score of 52.14secs, behind Deas.
A small but costly mid-run mistake, a tiny clip, means she loses a couple of hundredths of second. An unforgiving track means Deas takes a time of 52secs from the first heat. That puts her fifth out of the 10 competitors who have already been and gone.
She makes an incredible start, shaving 0.34 off the time of current leader Loelling ...
Back in the men’s curling, Niklas Edin overcooks his final stone and GB’s Kyle Smith steals in to clean up two points, and poke Britain into the lead for the first time against the reigning European champions. Lovely stuff. Now, back to the women’s skeleton, where Laura Deas is about to fly down the course ...
And now Jacqueline Loelling, also of Germany, flies down in 51.74 and she is the new leader. Next up? Anna Fernstaedt, another German, the 21-year-old on her Olympic debut. Then it’s Austria’s Janine Flock, and then GB’s Deas.
Germany’s Tina Herman is the new leader in the skeleton, toppling Channell’s score with 13 competitors still to come in the first heat. You sense there is a lot of chopping and changing to be done in these standings yet. Great Britain’s Laura Deas will be up in a couple of minutes.
In the men’s curling, Sweden have nudged themselves into an early lead thanks to their bearded skip, Niklas Edin. An ice-cool final shot knocks out GB to take a point inside the Gangneung centre.
The skeleton is under way. Korea’s Jeong Sophia and Japan’s Takako Oguchi have already done their first run. Romania’s Maria Marinela Mazilu’s 53.31 made her the early leader before Canada’s Elisabeth Vathje, who is now out in front with 16 competitors still to fly down the ice. Canada’s Jane Channell, the No5 in the world, is next up ...
We know all about Lizzy Yarnold but Laura Deas is also representing Team GB in the skeleton. The 29-year-old from Wrexham played hockey as a youngster before eventing in equestrian but this is her first participation in a Games. She has impressed in World Cup events, and finished ahead of Yarnold, in seventh in the 17-18 standings. Deas will go off 10th in this first heat, while Yarnold will go 14th.
It is almost time for the women’s skeleton, with heats one and two, featuring Lizzy Yarnold and Laura Deas about to get under way.
Dom Parsons is going up to collect his bronze in the medal ceremony, he will be the first one up on the podium. What a brilliant moment for the 30-year-old Londoner, who looks as though it’s still not sunk in. There is a huge reception for the gold medalist, champion Yun Sungbin. Nikita Trebugov took silver.
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Great Britain are about to tackle Sweden in the men’s curling. Kyle Smith will skipper the team, with women’s skip Eve Muirhead’s younger and older brothers, Glen and Thomas, forming part of the five-strong men’s team that will do battle on the ice in a moment. Niklas Edin will skip for the Swedes.
Bravo Mr Parsons:
Well done, @domparsons 👏 Now go get that medal! 🥉
— Team GB (@TeamGB) February 16, 2018
He's off to watch the women in their heats, who else will be joining him!?#WeAreTheGreat pic.twitter.com/0wQBHHvpAw
Get a load of Dom Parsons winning bronze in the men’s skeleton (video only playable in the UK – unfortunately):
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The figure skating short program soundtracks are a mixture of, well, creepy and enchanting. It sounds like the music of a cult. Either way, watching these kind of performances is something of a good, relaxing warm-up for the excitement of the women’s skeleton, in which Yarnold and Deas will be in action for GB.
A replay of Yuzuru Hanyu’s knockout 111.68 performance, posting the second best ever Olympic score in the men’s figure skating, means just one thing: a sudden influx of plush Winnie the Pooh’s on ice. He is a big fan. When he was younger, he would place a Pooh bear tissue box rink side as a good luck charm. These days, his fans bring their own teddies to shower him with post-performance. “Winnie has been with me since I was a junior or younger,” he said earlier this week. “I always carried the tissue box, and fans started throwing them onto the ice. Now my room is filled with Winnie the Poohs.”
He finished last with a time of 53.69 this morning but what a moment for Akwasi Frimpong, who arrived in Pyeongchang after a stint selling vacuum cleaners and turning down a spot in The Lion King on Broadway. His back-story is better than most:
After his run, and after becoming only the second athlete from Ghana to compete at a Winter Games, he said: “I came last but the most important thing is that I won the hearts of the people. The Olympic experience was awesome. I’ve never been in a place where so many people are cheering you on. You feel like you’re a gold medallist, that’s how they make you feel each run. It’s incredible.”
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“Am looking forward to what could be a very good day at the office for Team GB,” emails Gary Breadington. “Hoping Lizzy keeps her crown and that Laura will deliver too.”
So, next up we have a slice of alpine skiing, snowboard cross and then figure skating. That’s before all the really exciting stuff; the first run of the women’s skeleton before curling, followed by the second run. The third and fourth heats in the skeleton are tomorrow, including the final.
Lizzy Yarnold will attempt to defend her 2014 Sochi crown in Pyeongchang in a little bit (11.20am GMT). Here is a great interview with her, by Sean Ingle:
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In the men’s ice hockey, OAR ended up with a 8-2 victory over Slovenia. Still to come in today’s play is Finland’s duel with Norway and Sweden v Germany. There are another round of curling matches to come, too, with Great Britain’s men in action against Sweden. Eve Muirhead and co set the tone a little yesterday with a couple of brilliant round-robin wins on Thursday.
The former Olympic gold medalist, Amy Williams, says the excitement surrounding Lizzy Yarnold and Laura Deas, in action in an hour or so in the women’s skeleton heats, is huge. “They have got out and do exactly what they have been doing in training, because they are in a really good place,” she says. “They have to make sure they have enough grip, because the ice is very hard. I know that sounds silly, but it does get very hard in these kinds of temperatures.” It is as low as -8 there out on the course.
A reminder that Germany are out on top of the medal table, with nine golds, followed by Norway and the Netherlands. GB are 20th as such, with only Dom Parsons’s brilliant bronze this morning in the bag so far in Korea. He will collect his medal at the ceremony, around 11am (GMT):
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In the men’s ice hockey, OAR have added another flurry of goals to make it 8-1 over Slovenia. Finland take on Norway and Sweden take on Germany in Group C later on today, and deep into the night into Pyeongchang.
Cool Runnings II is back on. A beer company have got the Jamaica women’s bobsleigh team back up and running. Great news:
The final medals of the day are in women’s 5000m speed skating and women’s aerial skiing, with the former up first in an hour or so at the Gangneung Oval. The Czech Republic’s Martina Sablikova, who holds the world-record time of 6.42.66mins, which she set at Salt Lake City in 2011. Sablikova will be one of 12 competitors looking to land gold in the final.
Great Britain racked up their first medal of the Games earlier on in Pyeongchang, where it’s just gone 6pm local time. GB cannot add to that by the close of play but there’s plenty of action still to come, with Lizzy Yarnold and Games debutant Laura Deas kicking off the women’s skeleton heats later this morning.
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The OAR supporters are going bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S, with pom poms galore. They are cruising to a 6-1 victory ... with a third period still to play.
