thank you very much for James Woods joining us. We'll be back for men's
halfpipe qualifiers later on. Thank you very much indeed, Tim, Ed
and James, for narrating a captiving final. Congratulations to the
Olympic champion, Cassie Sharpe, who is simply just too good. But huge
respect to GB's Rowan Cheshire for personifying the Olympic spirit. How
will -- Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland get on? Let's find out. So
this is it. The penultimate group of ice dancers out in this final day of
the Olympic competition. And this is the group... That matters if you're
a British skater fan, because Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland will skate
next. But first... Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada. They are
just over a point ahead of Nick
So the pressure is on James Bond and his Bond girl.
Wonderful control.
Beautiful through the rotational lift. Lovely quality
lift. Lovely quality and soft ness from Poirier and Piper.
APPLAUSE
Such a striking combination out on the ice. And we enjoyed their
inventive, contemporary short dance yesterday. This, though, old-school
Bond movie glamour and action. Well, they were absolutely thrilled with
it. Smouldered throughout. If I had one tiny niggle, the music
was so dramatic at one point, and fast, and I really just wanted them
to have a bit more attack. But it is so smooth and lovely quality within
the elements. Just level two on the twizzles. And everybody knows James
Bond. And level threes for circular and diagonal step sequences. But
pluses on all of the grades of execution from the judges. And the
crowd liked it too.
She can relax now.
APPLAUSE I don't know if you can, though.
Just slightly ahead of the Italians technically and with components so,
they will stay ahead. But both the Canadians and the Italians have put
the pressure for Nick and Penny to really need and perform well next.
The reason I said that, which the cameras aren't showing at the
moment, obviously because we're seeing those replays, is Nick and
Penny are out on the ice for their free dance. And that means it's
heart-beating time for Robin Cousins.
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier have earned in the free dance: That is a
big season's best for them, improving by five points on their
previous mark. And they leap up to the top of the leaderboard, and that
has heaped the pressure on Nick and Penny, who skate next. They were
just over a point behind Piper and Paul. But that's given the Canadians
a big lead. Nick and Penny now need a brilliant skate if they're gonna
keep up with the pace. ANNOUNCER: The next skaters
represent Great Britain. Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland.
So, here we go. Just over four minutes and this Olympic journey
will be over for Nick and Penny, from a shattered kneecap, through 20
months of despair, recovery, hope to today. 10th place at the moment.
Nick and Penny looking to push up the leaderboard here, and they need
to be perfect.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE And that was the lift.
How's it looking, Robin? So far, so good.
APPLAUSE The ultimate story of grit and
determination has a happy ending out on the ice, for now at least. It may
not beal medal -- medal for Nick and Penny, but this means more to them
than precious metal. Just being out there together, skating together at
an Olympics. Robin, look at the computer. Whether a can you see?
Diagonal sequence level 4, straight lift, synchronised twizzles,
circular step level 3, curve lift level 4. We're seeing positive GOEs
across the board. And big, big, big smiles from both
of them. It's all gonna come down to the component scores. I think there
are some tears out there finally for Penny. She was so proud of herself
that she held it together after the short dance. But stepping off the
ice, their Olympics now over, there is nothing more they can do.
Transition score is the lowest, at just eight.
And the GOEs, slightly dropping as well. Grade of execution for the
individual judges for the elements that they performed. Penny, just a
little slight wobble on the second turn of the twizzle, back up, got
through the last part.
through the last part. It's not gonna be as good as the Canadians, I
don't think. But then they were behind the Canadians to begin with.
They were. So, it's a question of hanging on to that place for now,
that tenth place in which they qualified.
They're so desperate to finish in the top ten here, after everything
they've been through - that shattered kneecap. Eight pieces, it
was. Wired together. And 20 months of rehabilitation and hard work.
ANNOUNCER: Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland have earned for the Free
Dance 101.96 points. So, it does keep them behind the Canadians.
They're in third place at the moment. The Canadians out in front
and the Italians as well above them. The Italians were in 11th. Nick and
Penny in tenth. So, that means that Nick and Penny have dropped a
position in the Free Dance. And as you can see, disappointment creeping
in. Maybe it won't be the top-ten finish they'd hoped for.
ANNOUNCER: Representing Canada, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje.
And the bad news, as far as the British are concerned, is that
there's a bit of a gap, a bit of a jump up now, from Nick and Penny to
Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje - six points, the difference. So, it looks
like Nick and Penny will be finishing just outside the top ten.
MUSIC PLAYS
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Powerful stuff from Andrew and
Kaitlyn as they try to chase down their countrymen, in first position.
They are very, very pleased with that performance. Drama. We want
drama in the performance, and they certainly delivered. They've had a
tough couple of seasons. They were the number one Canadian ice dance
team. They were on a podium at the World Championships. They were
knocked off the top of the podium, and then Piper Gilles and Paul
Poirier knocked them down to third. APPLAUSE
But they are the lead team here, of those two. At this Games. But is
that performance enough to keep them there? There is all kinds of
inter-country squabbling, really, isn't there, when you look at the
leaderboard? The Canadians going head to head, there's the three US
couples all battling it out, particularly when it comes to the
bronze medal, or the bronze medal position for now at least. Just two
one-hundredths of a point between Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue,
and Alex Shibutani and Maia Shibutani. The Canadians and the US
have such depth of talent in their squads. Andy was a little lucky on
that third twizzle. Just falling off it slightly.
Well, they're below their team-mates from a technical elements score by a
couple of points, but ahead in the component scores by a couple of
points, so it's gonna be very tight in the Free Dance.
in the Free Dance. And where does that put Kaitlyn and Andrew? We will
find out in seconds.
ANNOUNCER: The scores, please. Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje have
earned in the Free Dance: Oh, it is enough. 107.65, and we
have new leaders. That is enough to push them up above Piper Gilles and
Paul Poirier. So, it's a Canadian one-two. Followed by the Italians,
with Penny and Nick down in fourth for now. So, Penny and Nick sliding
again.
ANNOUNCER: The next skaters represent the United States of
America.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the USA US.
USA US. -- of the USA. They train with Nick and Penny.
Maddie and Evan won the Free Dance at the US Championships with this
performance to Imagine.
IMAGINE PLAYS
# You may say I'm a dreamer # But I'm not the only one
#... Safely through the twizzles. That was not the perfect move for
Evan yesterday, but they're on the money today.
ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS
Well, that will be a very costly error in the combination spin. Don't
see that very often, do we?
APPLAUSE # You may say I'm a dreamer
# But I'm not the only one # I hope some day you'll join us
# And the world will be as one. # APPLAUSE
Well, they managed to pick themselves up, both physically and
mentally off the ice after that fall. But what a shock. That's the
first fall we've seen in this entire competition, and they are truly,
truly heartbroken. And they will know that they will get, at this
point, zero points for that one element. You see the X in the box.
ANNOUNCER: Representing the United States of America, Madison Chock and
Evan Bates. They were just two 100ths of a mark behind Ekaterina
Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, who skate next. Madison Chock and Evan
Bates were trying to jump up, push into that sixth position. But that
will be a very, very costly mistake. If not higher. They know what that
Free Dance can get them in terms of scores. But costly, costly, costly.
Just caught their boots. Not the blades, the boots smacked together.
Just happens, unfortunately. You just never want it to happen on the
Olympic arena ice. They did come back and deliver the rotational
lift, the step sequence. ANNOUNCER: The scores, please. This
is gonna be very costly. Madison Chock and Evan Bates have earned for
the Free Dance: 100.13 points. Yes, it is. 100.13 points. So, that's a
couple of places dropped for Madison Chock and Evan Bates. They slot into
third position behind the two Canadian couples, Kaitlyn Weaver and
Andrew Poje, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are in first and second. The
Italians in fourth, and Penny and Nick in fifth place for now.
Next to skate, Olympic athlete from Russia, Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri
Soloviev. So, Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev now have a little
breathing space after that mistake by Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
They were, as I say, just two one hundredths of a point ahead.
Ekaterina and Dmitri in sixth after the Short Dance.
MUSIC PLAYS
Follow the storytelling. She is blind through the whole first part,
which is why she will never look at her partner.
Very nicely through the twizzle turns.
Sight is restored.
Living the story out there. And at the end, it was he who lost his
sight. But she has wanted this moment, I got to say, every time
she's on the ice, it's like the last time she's ever going to be on the
ice. I thought he wasn't quite as strong and precise as he was in the
free dance they did in the team event. But they're thrilled, we hope
that's what it's for. They made it.
Greens across the board. On my screen. Just the diagonal step
sequence still being reviewed. But it's plus execution points from the
judges. One level three for the circular step sequence, everything
else on a four.
else on a four. And they're a very tall couple and she manages to keep
the elegance in lifts and some not so very pretty positions, but she
makes them work. Beautiful here. Great line. Get those legs, ankles
crossed just that a little bit tighter.
tighter. As much as Nick is able to use Penny's height to their
advantage, this tall, elegant couple, had to be very particular
about their movement for spins and lifts.
APPLAUSE
So, 111.45 for Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev. And they are at the
top of the leaderboard for now. The Canadians, two couples from Canada
in second and third. Penny and Nick now down in sixth place, and they're
heading to drop out of the top 10. Earlier, they caught up with David
after their skate. Well, Nick and Penny, I saw by your reaction, not
the score you wanted. But today is not about the scores, today is
coming to 20 months of pain for you, Penny, and not being able to skate,
and day after day, pain for 20 months. Just being out on the
Olympic stage. I'm so happy to be back. It felt like a great skate. I
soaked up the moment and I just loved it and I'm happy to be back.
But the score does put a dampener on the whole experience. I felt like we
gave at the everything. The score is very disappointing for us. I think
sometimes a score can dampen your feelings about a performance I tried
to remember how we felt after we finished it. We felt like we did a
great job. We got to try and remember that, I think. It's been an
incredible journey for you bothers hasn't it? It's been a long journey.
I think, I'm pleased that we managed to get here and put out two
performances like we have done the past two days. The score may not be
quite what we wanted it to be, but we have to take away what we have
got. resilient is a good word. I know that both your mums are in the
crowd. They've been quite emotional. It's been an emotional day for them.
I love our mums. They're our number one fans. We're so lucky to have the
support of two great families. Before we got UK sport funding,
which we're so lucky to have, they were in ones taking us to the rink
at five in the morning and driving us around and paying for everything.
They've got our backs, 100%. When we talk about your story, you had a
recent issue with your knee pain, shattered into eight pieces. Nick,
you had your downs as well. You had heart surgery to fix your heart. The
resilience and the grit you guys have shown is really what the
Olympics is all about, isn't it? I think so. It takes someone very
special to be earner Olympic athlete, but it's not easy. This is
the glamour side of it, but the training isn't. The OCD type way,
you do everything the same very day. Sometimes you're so, so, so tired
but this makes it all worth it. You need guts and grit to get through
the hard days. This experience is so rewarding. I'm so lucky and I
wouldn't change anything for your world. Was that your last
competitive skate? We plan to do the world championships in four weeks.
That may be our last competitive skate, we'll see. We never say
never. We've had ups and downs along the way. Well, guys, really well
done here. It's been so great to see you back out on the ice, on the best
and biggest stage of all. So thanks again and all the best, come the
world championships. Thank you very much.
Well, Nick and Penny there, a bittersweet ending, perhaps to their
Olympics. So well done to them for getting here in the first place.
What a story that was, the 20 months of recovery after shattering her
knee cap into eight pieces. They were, were hoping, as you heard them
say, for a top 10 finish. But they will be just outside the top 10
positions in 11th. When all is done and dusted here today. And I'm glad
to hear them proud of their performance, happy with what they
have done. They felt they skated the best they could and that's all we
can ask of them, isn't it, Robin? Absolutely. You have no control over
what the judges decide to give them. You can only do the material
yourself. And they have no control over what comes next. The next five
couples, the very, very best in the world. This is going to be a real
treat of ice dancing as the medals are fought over by these last five
pairs of competitors. First up, Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte. They're
the 2014 world champions from Italy.
Well, Luca did very well to recover from the second and third set of
twizzles. Slightly off on the very first one, but they will get the
credit for the level.
Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte are just one point behind the bronze
medal position. This was their fight for a first Olympic medal. Have they
done enough to enter the fray? Well, it's going to be very close,
technically, with Bobrova and Soloviev. And they did get levels
given but again, a lot of the couples will have the identical base
scores at the end of the technical. But it depends on the grade of
execution that each of the judges give them per element that will bump
the score up.
the score up. And that... Combined with performance, the artiestry,
there's -- artistry, there's the subjective creeping in. Even the
GOEs can be subjective. We saw that with the skating skills, transition,
interpretation and timing. Not all in the nines like they would have
liked.
liked. Few of the GOEs changing on specific elements as well. That's
the little bobble that Luca had in the first twizzle. Again, that
doesn't come off the technical score, it comes off the grade of
execution from the judges, or should, because they got pluses for
the GOEs there. That's what makes it such an unpredictable sport, isn't
it? And they've had a one point deduction because the third element,
the straight line lift exceeded the duration it's allowed to be in the
air. That is a point you don't want to be giving away. That could be
expensive, since it's so tight at the top, so tight between the top
five couples. And I can tell you, with that point, they would've been
ahead of Bobrova and Soloviev on the technical score. They are one point
behind them. But they had a point in hand after the short dance. And that
point in hand has gone with that deduction. And they're slightly
behind on the artistic score, component score as well. Where does
that leave them? It leaves them in second. So yes, they have slipped a
position. Second in the free dance, and that will be... Second overall.
Yep. Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev top the standings for now.
That expensive lengthy lift, then, from the Italians, means they slip
down.
These two very much in the battle, particularly for the bronze medal
position at the moment. Who knows? They could go even better.
They could go even better. But there's just 2-100ths of a point
between Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani who are going to skate,
and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue. The rivalry in Team USA is
heating up.
Well, Maia and Alex, hoping that Pyeongchang 2018 is their paradise.
Very smooth through the step sequence and into the straight line
lift.
Reflection through the twizzles. They're so precise with their feet.
It's signature Shibutani, clean, correct, precise. The performance of
the Games for them. They're already going home with a bronze medal in
the bag from the team event, and that looks like a medal winning
performance to me. That was the best I've seen them. They're so precise,
technically, but sometimes it's lacking the joy or some emotion. And
you could see individually they were both loving that moment, being on
the ice, and that's what I need to see. That's what I haven't had from
them that often. It's always been, almost clinical for me. Technically,
they have been so sound, every since they burst onto the scene as
juniors. And they've been working over a three-year creative process,
they've called it. To culminate today with that routine with that
music as well.
music as well. The Coldplay triology. Fours for everything,
except the diagonal sequence which are threes. But the tech score
already climbing with the grades of execution from the judges. The
quality of each individual element they can add points to...
they can add points to... Always precise and always clean. Sometimes
you want to push outside of that box.
box. But there was a spontaneity within that performance. There was
an extra sparkle today that wasn't there from the team event. That just
comes from being in that moment that you want to have.
If you're going to add that little something, that is going to make
that people forget you're a brother and sister, it is in this arena
right now. Because that was superb.
Well, they were just two-one hundredths of a point behind Madison
Hubbell and Zachary Donohue in the bronze position.
We have new leaders, just as we expected, and that will pile the
pressure on Hubbell and Donohue. Who will be skating to save their medal
chances. But Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani have really, really gone
for it here. Can they come away from their Olympics with two medals in
their suit case?
their suit case? So, silver medal position at the moment for the two
time world champions, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron.
They're the reigning European champions and they're less than two
points behind Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue who lead the way at the
moment. The wardrobe malfunction, her dress falling off during the
performance yesterday really knocked them, but still, less than a point
in it.
APPLAUSE
It's silky, it's smooth, it's sublime. From the off, this was
billed as a battle for gold between them and their training partners,
Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue. Papadakis and Cizeron saying there,
"Beat that." It is exquisite to watch them. Individually, strong,
good, solid skaters. Together, it's special. And that's what happens.
The music will start and then you see, and it is the detail, for me.
Even the way their fingers intertwined in the opening move. It
just draws you in, commands your attention. They say they want to be
- skate at one, and be seen as one dance unit. And it is kind of how
they move. Yeah, you said the right word there - it's entwining, isn't
it? They gel. Level fours for everything they could possibly get a
four on.
four on. I'm seeing two tens in the component score for performance and
interpretation and timing. Well, this is gonna be so tight for that
gold medal. It absolutely is. And such a contrast in the two teams.
Yeah, you're either Team Moir and Virtue or Team Papadakis and
Cizeron, aren't you, when it comes to what you like to see out on the
ice?
Certainly more contemporary dance than traditional. It's so musical,
and they feel every moment that they are together. There is that
connection.
Just those limbs encircling each other, and then coming apart and
then meeting again - it's beautiful to watch.
Well, they hold the free dance record. 121.87.
So, let's see. ANNOUNCER: Gabriella Papadakis and
Guillaume Cizeron have earned in the free dance 123... Oh! They've broken
that record. A new season's best. A new record. 123.35. And it is gonna
be a very, very, very big ask now for Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir to
claim their second Olympic title.
ANNOUNCER: The next skaters represent the United States of
America, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue. So, Tessa and Scott just
one couple away, then. They will skate last, desperately trying to
save their gold medal chances. But Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue
currently sit in the bronze medal position that they saw that
performance and they want to be brilliant here.
It was fabulous and dramatic. But putting her hands down on the ice
makes it an instant one-point deduction, because it was considered
a fall. And I had written a note here that there is never anything
tentative about those two when they hit the ice. It is gang busters of a
quality, and they wanted to make that happen right there. And they
needed it to happen. They did need it to happen. And just level two on
the twizzles. There was no room for error at all in that programme if
they wanted to beat Alex and Maia Shibutani on to the podium, but that
is going to be a problem.
They know. You can tell it. Well, there was only two one-hundredths of
a point in it. And a deduction for hands down on the ice is a bronze
medal gone.
Even without the deduction, I think they're gonna be off the pace of the
Shibutanis. And I guess the question will be, will they - where will they
fit with Bobrova and Soloviev? Could their third place become a fourth,
or will it become a fifth? It's gonna be close.
ANNOUNCER: The scores, please. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue
have earned for the free dance 109.94 points. It's 109.94, so they
slot into third place, then, with Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir yet to
skate. So, it's that heartbreaking, agonising fourth position, then, for
Madison and Zachary. They've let that bronze medal position, fine
though their grasp was on it, slip through their fingers.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE ANNOUNCER: Representing Canada,
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, then,
the world champions, the 2010 Olympic champions, in the gold medal
position coming into this free dance. But they are going to be
extraordinary if they want to win this gold medal. They're going to
need to beat the new world record laid down by Gabriella Papadakis and
Guillaume Cizeron just two routines ago.
MUSIC PLAYS
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE It's brilliant! But is it enough for
Olympic gold?! For the world champions from Canada. Well, they
wanted to deliver, and they certainly did. I tell you, I'm
looking at the screens, trying to do the maths, and it's tight at the
top. Goodness me. They know they could not have done any more. Well,
both couples had the exact same base score - 44.90.
score - 44.90. At the end, Papadakis and Cizeron, that 44.90 became
63.98. And at the moment, for Virtue and Moir, it's 63.34. However...
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE You have to remember, coming into
this as well that there was less than two points between them as
well. Virtue and Moir had no wriggle room. There was nothing for them to
play w they could leave nothing out on the ice. And they didn't. They
absolutely smashed it. But so did Papadakis and Cizeron. Yes, they
did. A new world record in free dance.
If Virtue and Moir hold them off, this will be remarkable.
Robin has got the calculator out, there's paper everywhere, scribbling
of pens.
We saw them perform this routine in the team event as well, where Canada
won gold of course, and it was brilliant then. But there was
something else, a competitive push, during this performance as well.
Battling to save that gold medal. And perhaps the last time they'll
skate together competitively too.
Goodness me, it's close.
By my calculations, in the free dance we've got 122.39 playing
123.35. And where does that...? Right. What does that do to the
overall? Down to the wire, as it did in the men's event, as it did in the
pairs event. This is fantastic. It's the story we want.
Right, then.
Right, then. They've done it! 122.40! And the comeback is complete
for Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir! Silver in Sochi four years ago, they
took two years away from competition. They returned to win
World Championship gold last year. And now it's Olympic gold too!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Absolutely thrilling. Phenomenal.
Amazing champions, amazing performers. Yes, very different to
Papadakis and Cizeron, and that silver medal is so well-deserved.
But, goodness me, these two are supreme. It was always gonna be
cat-and-mouse between Moir and Virtue, these two couples, training
partners, rivals. They have chopped and changed on podiums all season.
But there are the Olympic champions. Whoa! What do you make of that,
then, Robin? I'm exhausted! It was a fantastic event. Some brilliant
skating at the top. And I think what's good, from an audience point
of view, the visible mistakes, so when there was movement, people were
able to see that was the mistake, that's why, that's why that, which
doesn't always happen in ice dance. I have to say, a lot of it, as I
said, joking at the beginning, a lot of what the judges are looking for
is not visible to the naked eye, it is something that is learned and a
craft in itself. And at the other end of the scale, to see Papadakis
and Cizeron skate the way they did, to see them set that new free dance
world record, and then to see Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, as you can
see there, confirmation that they are the Olympic champions for a
second time, adding gold here in Pyeongchang to the gold they won in
2010 in Vancouver. Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron
settle for the silver, but absolutely remarkable skating from
them. And it is Alex and Maia Shibutani finding something extra
when it counts to take the bronze for Team USA. Penny Coomes and
Murray Buchan -- Buckland just missing out on the top ten.
Bittersweet. Just a brilliant skate from them. They did everything they
could. And great to see them perform out on Olympic ice for a third time.
So, I'm not sure if you can hear in this commentary box, but there is
much shuffling of seats after we've seen the confirmation of those
results, then. Tessa Virtue celebrating Olympic gold for the
second time. Of course, Canada won the team gold at the very start of
this Olympic Games, so two gold medals for Scott Moir and Tessa
Virtue to take back home with them. And the shuffling of seats was
happening because, as I was confirming for you there, the
11th-position finish for Penny and Nick, they have slid in beside me in
the commentary box and about to talk us through what their experience has
been like. 11th position, guys. I know you desperately wanted to be in
that top ten, so a bittersweet finish, perhaps, or does this story
have a happy ending? Slightly, slightly bittersweet. I think, you
know, we have to remember what we felt like doing the performance
today and what we felt like when we immediately finished. I think we
felt we did a really, really great job today. All the technical stuff,
we hit and we were pleased with. So, just a couple of things that were
out of our control. But we're really pleased. You looked absolutely
delighted out there. We were absolutely thrilled as well with
that performance. As you said, it was a great skate. It certainly
looked that way from up here, Penny. I was so taken in in the moment, I
thoroughly enjoyed myself. And I was just so elated to actually be here,
be a three-time Olympian and just finish the way that they wanted to
-- that wepted to skate and do our best. There were some things out of
our control, but we were happy with the things that we could control.
It's a very difficult question, given you are pretty much fresh off
the ice, through doping, back up here to speak to us, but I know it's
that element of disappointment that it's an 11th place, but you'll look
back on this, I think, and feel very positive, won't you? I think so. At
the end of the day, when we go back and watch our performances, I think
there will be something that we can be really proud of. We got out here,
after all we've been through, put out two strong performances that
we'll remember forever. And what a competition to have been part of.
You will be able to look back and say, you know, it was a world record
in free dance, and that still wasn't enough to claim Olympic gold.
Absolutely. I mean, we are huge skating fans as well as ice skaters.
So, I thoroughly enjoyed watching that last group. It was so - as an
emotional roller-coaster and everybody came out and gave
everything they had and left it all out on the ice so, to be part of
that is very special. Yeah... Look at you looking at each other. You
must be so proud, not only of yourself but of each other. The two
of you and the support you've given to each other throughout these -
beyond the 20 months. I mean, let's look at Nick's heart surgery, the
gastroenteritis, the pneumonia as well. The odds have been stacked
against you at times, but you made it, Penny, you did it. Thank you.
Our journey has been one that has been at the full of ups and downs,
it's been crazy, so hard at times. But through it all, we've always had
each other, and I think we both feel very lucky to have each other, no
matter what. You know, where we came today, how we performed before we
skated, Nick said to me, "Look, no matter what, we have each other, and
that's special in itself." So, we're very, very lucky. I think we just
want to be an inspiration to people. No matter what people go through, if
you set your mind to something, you can do it. I think we did that
justice today. Absolutely. I mean, it's such a story. Penny, you were
saying yesterday before the short dance you were reading Twitter in
tears. I hope that wasn't the case this time. All those people sending
their support, their love. Did you? Actually, I didn't look on it today,
because I'm so emotional. Throughout this journey, there have just been
times where if I thought about this moment I would well up and I would
envision myself here, and it would just create this sort of release of
adrenaline into my body, because I just wanted it so much. And while
I'm so happy to be here, you know, it is a little bit disappointing to
come where we did and get the scores we did, but, you know, it's just
been so emotional. And I'm so thankful for everyone's support,
because I couldn't have got through it without everyone. I have a great
team, a great partner, and I'm just really, really lucky. But, you know,
I worked hard too, so...! I think you've probably earnt it. It's not
just everyone else carrying you through. So, you've made it, Penny.
The goal was to get here, to skate as well as you could. You felt you
skated as well as you could. What do you do now? What's next? Well, we
have World Championships in about four weeks. There's no rest for the
wicked. First of all, we need to enjoy the rest of the Games, we need
to soak it in. The last at least two days has been extremely focused. You
know, we enjoyed the Opening Ceremony, but these last two days
we've had to be totally focused on what we're doing on the ice. Now we
can take in the Games a little bit more. What are you gonna watch?
We're trying to get tickets to see a little bit of everybody. We want to
go into the mountains to watch the guys there. We want to watch the
short track later. And we want to soak in as much as we can. We're
part of a great team, there are some great athletes T we're 100% behind
them and we're here to support them now. When do you get back on the ice
now, with those World Championships looming, they don't give you much of
a break at all, do they? And there is a suggestion that perhaps Moir
and Virtue won't be there, because could that have been their last
competitive skate together? No confirmation yet. What do you think?
I think they would be silly to carry on. I think that is a fantastic end
to a fantastic career they've had. You know, a gold medal at the
Olympic Games, maybe they'll choose to do World Championships, who
knows, but there is practice ice at the end of this week for all the
competitors going on to World Championships. We might find
ourselves out there, practising to ensure the next four weeks is as
strong as they could be. I know the World Championships is very special,
but not as special as the Olympic Games. How do you regroup and go
again? You know, every four years, those weeks leading up to World
Championships after the Olympic Games, they are really difficult.
I'd say they're probably one of the most difficult training weeks of our
career. But, you know, I think we feel a little bit like we've got
some unfinished business to do. You know, while we're really happy with
our performances, we're not happy with our scores. So, for us that's
gonna be our focal point and we're just gonna strive to go out there at
Worlds and hit higher scores and hopefully higher placement. We can
hear the announcers, about to get the venue ceremony under way. So,
the venue ceremony is just for the fans here, who have seen the
competition. Later, the couples will get their medals up in the mountains
in the official medal plaza. But what a competition this was, guys.
I'm still exhausted after that final. Absolutely. Trying to keep
ahead. Robin, frantically doing the calculations on his phone and on the
computer. What was the standout performance for you? I mean, I know
that it's either Team Papadakis and Cizeron or Team Moir and Virtue for
a lot of people, because their styles are so different. Yeah. But
it's the right winner? I think it's the right winner. I mean, that
performance to finish the night just took me emotionally, and when
something like that happens, it's just, they finished the night, it
was theirs to lose, and they came out and delivered possibly the best
performance of their whole career, and that's what Olympic champions
do.
What kind of inspiration is that for you? What I took away from Tessa and
Scott, they almost forgot it was competition. They were dancing for
themselves, skating for themselves, and they put out the best
performance and it was so emotional and so amazing to watch. Speaking of
a fantastic performance, Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani. They
did bring some extra sparkle. Something in the performance that
was special tonight.
was special tonight. Such clean precise skaters. The performance
elevated to another level and that means they climb onto the bronze
medal position then, on the podium.
ANNOUNCER: Second place, France. And there have been tears from Gabriella
Papadakis and Cizeron, because what more could they do? They broke their
own free dance world record in that competition and it still wasn't
enough. Do you think we'll see them winning Olympic gold, come Beijing,
perhaps. No doubt. They have taken skating to a different level. They
have brought their own style. They were a little bit unlucky with Tessa
ask Scott coming back. They gave them a run for their money and they
didn't give up the whole season. They still broke a world record on
Olympic night. ANNOUNCER: First place, Canada. And
it's the fairy tale finish then, to the comeback for Tessa Virtue and
Scott Moir. They got silver in Sochi, they were disappointed with
that. They took two seasons away from competition but they kept
working, they kept training. Behind the scenes, they were still
performing. Honing their craft to make their comeback, win the world
championship last year. And here in Pyeongchang, to deny their great
rivals and training partners, the gold medal. Gabriella Papadakis and
Guillaume Cizeron, a new free dance world record, but Moir and Virtue
hung onto the lead, less than two points between them.
points between them. And Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are the 2018
Olympic champions. 2010 gold medallists as well. Team gold as
well for Canada at this Olympics. What a story, what a comeback and
what a finish.
Thank you very much indeed. Now, a couple of updates for you. Over on
the red button, you can watch the men's ski halfpipe qualification,
and some hopeful news. Elise Christie, we know that she has had
her medal today. While we -- medical today. She did test her foot on the
ice, and she will be giving it the absolutely beans to make sure she is
there and make it, that third time lucky. Now, much of you have getting
in touch with us via social media and our #BBCOlympics. And she's been
curling in the supermarket. Look at the broom, which they have
definitely purchased and gone back into the aisle before using. That's
the focus you need to be an Olympic champion. And sad news from Ros, we
got our last picture from the night shift crew. They're saying they love
the show. They will be cheering us on from home. Safe travels and thank
you for being such legends. Now, over my right shoulder there is the
Olympic Sliding Centre. And that will be host, it will be the venue,
in fact for the women's bobsleigh, that will kick off later on.
Yesterday were the final two runs of the men's bobsleigh. And Brad Hall,
and the driver Joel Ferin. This is how they got on.
Welcome to the Olympic slider centre for runs three and four of the
two-man competition. Great Britain are currently in seventh, with
Germany dominating. It's bobsleigh time.
time. The leader after run number 2, he made early mistakes. His lead He
-- evaporated. He drops to fifth. Justin has a podium or bust attitude
and a really strong run to take him to the lead. He continues to
slightly overachieve. He goes third after another consistent run. Oscar
of Latvia, struggling with corner two all week, much better to hold
fourth place. So disappointing in Sochi, put himself right back into
the game, the only man to go under 49 second. And Brad Hall was to lose
ground, starting seventh, the slowest run of three so far. Now
dropping to 11th.
The British will be disappointed they have fallen back to 11th, but
still in a strong position, leading into this fourth and final heat.
Brad Hall now to come for Great Britain. He's got all of Great
Britain behind him. Hall needs a really good one here. His start
time, 4.97. That's decent. It is. But he needs to get through that
corner. That's not going to help. Just that little tap. He's got a big
lead over the Swiss, but I don't know if that tap is going do help
him out. He needs to tune into the track and make sure he's perfect
from now on. He's been really good on the track, been good through this
point of the track coming up now. Just a little bit late coming in. I
don't know whether he's got the speed to stay in front of the Swiss.
It's dropping away. This will be down to the hundredths. Can he do
enough to stay in front of him Fading away, maybe. Oh, it's not to
be.
be. That run was only good enough to secure them a top 12 finish. Strap
yourself in for a fantastic race for the medals now.
the medals now. Twice he's been 49.08. He needs his usual 4.9 start.
4.92. Fine. There's a start difference between the Germany in
the lead and this sled here. Is he going to drive well enough? It's
good through there, he made a mistake yesterday. Is he good enough
to stay in front of the German at the bottom, who had a perfect run.
All of these top pilots, there's nothing between them. Absolutely
nothing. The skill level these guys have is amazing. That's another
perfect run into the corner. He's got that absolutely nailed.
got that absolutely nailed. Slightly better than Mikael Walter. 15 clean.
16, does he take the lead? He does. Guaranteed fourth at worst. He has
done all he can.
done all he can. He finished 0.15 ahead of Nico. The Germans so want
to get this gold medal. They had three chances. They only have one
more chance of gold, and it
more chance of gold, and it remains in the hands of Francesco Frederich.
Let's see how he starts. One thing we know for certain, Germany are
going to get a medal. Because Nico Walter is in second. If he comes
down in front or behind him, they've got a medal. He's not bothered about
Nico Walter winning a bronze medal. He lit the afterburners on round
one. The only person under the 49 seconds. That was almost perfect. He
is starting to pull away. Has he come into the corner just a little
bit late? It's dropping off. Has he got enough track left to stay in
front? Clean out of 15, has he got enough in the belt? He has, just! He
moved just ahead of the Latvian. Frederich goes to the front.
Guaranteed silver. Are we going to get one final uphalfal -- upheaval,
as Justin Cripps for Canada waits in the side lines. Will Canada win gold
with this man, Justin Kripps. He is attending to win gold for this
two-man event for Canada, for the first time since 1988, when Pierre
Luders did it. He had identical starts in all his runs. He's capable
of a 49.09, which of course, will do it. If he can repeat it. The start
is all important.
is all important. 493 as Kripps goes for gold. He'll fall back into the
red, as they have done, because of the start deficit between him and
Frederich. He has to drive, the run of his life, to come down. He's been
so consistent this year. He's been on the podium nearly every race. His
worst result is top four. He is nailing this. He's starting to pull
in front of the Germans. They had made mistakes at this point. You
can't afford to make any mistakes. This is going to be gold for Canada,
unless he makes a mistake down the bottom. Gone on, Kripps! It's a dead
heat! It's a dead heat, with Frederich. For the first time in 20
years... We have a dead heat! That is absolutely extraordinary. That
1998, the Italians dead heated with the Canadians. And now we have the
same scenario again.
same scenario again. Kripps and Frederich share the gold. Oscar is
in bronze medal position. Astonishing drama once again at the
sliding centre. Guys, congratulations on an amazing
performance and a joint gold medal. Thank you. How is your final run?
The final run and the third run was so clean and so good. And I don't
thought that Justin can tie in the last run.
last run. But he has one-hundredths, two-hundredths in front. I knew I
needed everything for the last run. To come down for a tie with these
guys is incredible. We cannot be upset about that. We know the
two-man is not where we shine. That's been our position by one
place, like our season's best. If we beat our position for one place in
the four-man, I think that makes number one. Can't be too upset about
that. What an outcome on the podium and what a sport bobsleigh is. Time
now for curling. And earlier on, we saw GB take on Norway. We rejoin the
action at the start of the sixth end, where GB lead six stones to
three.
Great Britain in a wonderful position leading this 6-3. Norway up
against it. A bit a high risk strategy employed by Thomas Ulsrud
in the fifth end to try to get them back in the match. They did pick up
their one. But Great Britain now just need to concentrate, keep
playing the way they're playing because they've been playing very
well indeed, keeping control of this match, don't let Norway get a sniff
of a chance. Pick up a two here.
And this is really building into a performance which, they set up very
nicely indeed. The win is the most important thing. Another nice start
from Smith.
from Smith. That's 4-3 to Canada. Although Canada have the hammer, so
very much in control of that one. Korea still leading Switzerland in
the fifth. Just about to - the last stone about to be played there.
Which is a Korean stone. They do have the hammer there. Sweden find
themselves in a comfortable lead over Italy.
It was kicked away with a certain amount of anger. That's a massive
mistake. Petersson, the lead for Norway, and things not going well.
As they're walking back, they're watching the other match. They
almost look like they're giving this one up already. Great Britain have
to concentrate and not get over-confident here.
over-confident here. Great Britain, with Muirhead, the Canada and Japan
match, it does have a bearing on the table.
It's been a have lacklustre performance from the 2010 Olympic
silver medallists. Going to be backs against the wall, really, if they
want to go into the next game. If they drop this one, the Norwegians.
That would put them to four losses, wouldn't it? They have to win their
last two matches, one is against Italy, fair enough, but one against
Sweden. You imagine that Sweden wants to keep on winning, avoid
Canada in the semifinal. We're assuming that Canada will carry on
winning and get themselves into a qualifying position, either second
or third. So Norway, if they lose this, well, they will have to come
up with something exceptional to beat Sweden. To even have a chance.
And the good thing about, the way you and I keep looking at the way
that things can happen, the teams that can end up on five and four,
where Great Britain to lose their last match, the teams that could be
in the mix with them are Japan and of course Norway. Who could end up
with a 5-4 record, if Great Britain beats both Japan and Norway, that
puts them above them. And USA, I think, could also get to five. So -
and that's - well, potentially more likely. Exactly. I think the point
is, this is all in Great Britain's hands. Win this one, and make sure
you beat USA, and then you don't even give them a chance of
qualifying. Yeah, it's a good couple of games to win, these ones again
Norway and USA, being in the mix.
So there's no guards in play here in six. And Norway have to try and do
something a little bit crafty in the house to try and make it work for a
multiple score to get back into the game.
game. GB do have the last stone here. And Norway, the lead
effectively lost a stone, and Great Britain,000 way they've been plays,
Thomas Muirhead, the only end where he came off his superb record so far
this match. , great shot from Thomas Muirhead. Now there's nothing left
there for Norway. They've really got their sights set today.
Only three stones left and three reds for Great Britain.
What do you do in this situation? I mean... You're really up against it,
you're 6-3 down. All of a sudden, you have nothing out there. Two
stones in. Do you make any attempt to... A little bit of mirth still
there. What does the strategy book say? The strategy book says you just
got to keep trying, really. One thing is for sure, he doesn't want
to play takeouts. They want more stones in place. The difficulty of
the shots go up, and they're more likely to get a miss from GB.
They've been a bit crafty there. They would like to push it behind
the teal lines to get a better chance for a steal. By pushing it
behind the red -- try to freeze it with the next one.
with the next one. They have chosen to hit the back one to live three.
They could have slashed it to the back. May have gotten them a better
result than what we're getting here. I think sometimes you need to be
aware of what your opposition are trying to do. And almost negating
that opportunity. GB always knew that Norway were going to try to
make a freeze on the one on the bottom, their biggest danger. And
they've kind of let them do it here. That being said, the rest of the top
isn't going to be far away from it, so it will just be a short run back.
And I think the way that Thomas has been playing, as good as he is, as
experienced as he is, he's just been missing, hasn't he, and maybe Callum
Smith said go on, have a go.
Switzerland have restored order in the match against core They --
Korea. They now trail Switzerland 5-4.
Too far away. Great shot. Nicely done.
done. Still lying shot here but not much in it here. That was almost
"well I'm trying."
Time out for Great Britain while they have a little think about this.
They know, let's know open the door for Norway, it's the sixth end. Keep
control of this match. And this is kind of what I was talking about.
This was almost inevitable. They could have predicted this was going
to happen. Not sure they played the right shot with the last one.
I always think he's like a policeman coming on duty. Arms behind,
marching out there, good evening, all.
I just want to get rid of the sixth one. I want to get rid of that other
one. I feel like... And starve this one and then he's around again. All
right. If we split, we got the same shot. Has he picked up that aye?
They don't say that in Sweden, do they? Aye. Yes, he's saying, let's
get rid of it.
So Britain using their time-out. They're using it at a good time.
They don't want to allow Norway back in this and find themselves in a
sticky situation a little bit later.
Just inside the nose here for Callum Smith. He hits it right on the nose.
It's a good shot there. Well, only one stone left for Norway. Think
he's just going to... He's going to take that one and try to come in
behind that red. Is he? No, they're just going to play the straight draw
here, Steve. If you played the takeout, it's much more difficult to
control where the throwing stone goes. He's just played a draw down
the line, so probably thinking I know what this is like. They really
need to steal here. There's no benefit in them removing red stones.
It doesn't matter. I was going to say, if he loses 3 three, it's game
over. You don't have the last stone. You need to take every single
opportunity to score that you can.
Well, this needs to be good then. It needs to be tucked away. It's
curling a lot already. An awful lot. He's on the top one. He is. This
could be curtains. It could be a situation that Norway decide there's
no way back from. After six ends, you can shake hands and decide
enough is enough. You can't see Norway coming back from 9-3. At the
worst, it's going to be 8-3. So a straightforward shot here for Kyle
Smith to pick up three. A little discussion going on between the nor
-- Norwegian team. It's probably along the lines of "let's just get
out of here, guys, it's been a rotten day at the office. Let's
regroup." It's been an excellent performance and Smith wanting to put
the icing on the cake. He thinks he's a bit heavy, he says. Should be
OK, though. Just going to come in nicely and pick up his three.
Well, Norway couldn't come back from that unassailable lead, conceding
after the seventh end. The score finished 10-3, giving GB their all
important fifth win, and afterwards, they spoke to Steve. Another great
win. Do you think it was your best performance? so. There were a couple
of slack ones, but we made the next one after to apply the pressure.
Very pleased with that performance. Were you out of the blocks like
Usain Bolt there. Three from the first? We managed to win the hammer,
and get a good three on the board straightaway. It's great to get a
head start like that and we managed to keep it going. And of course now,
you're sitting in a very comfortable position in terms of qualification,
because you know it's in your hands. One more win and you're through.
Exactly. If we came into the last game needing a win, and it's all in
our hands, we could be happy. We put ourselves in a great position. Going
to give you a technical question here, do you think you play better
in red? Red is my favourite colour, to be honest. I really enjoy playing
in red. We were saying you played so well today, it maybe would've been
good to be coming back tonight. I guess it's a case of gathering
yours, ready for tomorrow. It's nice to have a bit of a break. It's nice
to enjoy the rest of the day, support the girls later on, and
focus for your game tomorrow.
That final match will be against the USA. In terms of the women's results
table, well, after seven games, they have four wins and three losses to
their name. Next, they play Japan, also hoping for a fifth win
themselves. And to talk us through the women's progress, we have Steve
and Jacky. Thank you for joining us, guys. It appears the men have
possibly been doing the business, but it seems more of a mixed bag for
the women? Yeah, I think that's probably fair. Possibly because we
were expecting a little bit more from the women. They obviously were
medallists last time around. High expectation for Muirhead's team.
They've got a difficult finish. Their last match is against Canada,
who themselves got off to a poor start. In contrast, the men had a
difficult front end to their matches, the round robin. They're
now finishing well. They look in a very good position. Beat the USA and
they're through. But we've got a couple of tough matches for the
women. This one against Japan, I wouldn't want to go into the Canada
match knowing you have to win that just to have a chance of going
through maybe in a tie break. With that in mind, how would Eve Muirhead
be feeling actually being in this position. Sorry, my mike is not on.
I think she'd like to be in a better position, but at the end of the day,
again, it's all in her hands. So, she had a really good game last
night, the team had a really good game last night. I think they're
gonna carry this through into today. They know they can perform really
well on the big stage. Let's see if they can pull this one off and then
put themselves in a better position for that last game against Canada.
Just an interesting question - Eve Muirhead has two brothers in the GB
men's team. They have been in the shadow, the long, cast, dark shadow,
do you think they've come out from behind that now? This week has given
them the opportunity to do that. You've heard Thomas in his
interviews saying that he looks up to his big sister and he really
wants to try and be as good as she is. This is when they get the chance
to be just as good as their big sister. It's a fantastic thing
they've got, with three members of the family all here at the Olympic
Games. I mean, their mum and dad must be so, so proud. So, yeah, an
opportunity for them to shine, and I think they're doing that now. And,
finally, Steve, you touched on it earlier, two games left to go - what
do the GB women need from these two games? Well, win them both and
they're through. That's simple, straightforward. But the opposition
is not easy. Japan have probably sort of doing a bit better than we
thought they would here. The best they've finished in an Olympic
campaign is fifth. They are regulars at the Olympic competition. And
maybe we'd be surprised to see them as high at the table at this point.
Nail know -- they'll know, for them, a victory over Great Britain gives
them a huge opportunity for qualifying. Yes, a big match here.
You do two things if they beat Canada as well, of course. Not only
will they guarantee their own progress, but Canada are playing
China today in one of the other matches taking place this afternoon,
and, again, Great Britain might have a chance of making qualification
difficult for Canada, who undoubtedly would have come here as
favourites to win - or one of the favourites to win the gold medal.
So, that's the task at hand. Forget about the next match, win this one,
do exactly what the men did today. They came out playing their best
match of the tournament. They didn't even give Norway a chance, picked up
three in the first end, got themselves off to a cracking start.
So, let's hope we can see something similar from Eve Muirhead and her
team. As ever, I feel like saying "as ever", I cannot remember when we
didn't win the hammer. Actually, yesterday I think was the first
time. Anyway, never mind. We have the hammer in the first end. So, Eve
Muirhead down the far end of the ice from where Jacky and I are watching.
We've got a great view. We sit right behind this one. A little bit of
stretching for Eve right in the very beginning. Let's hope it's not a
stretch to win this match. We have had some close affairs, none more so
than that game last night.
What about this Japanese team, Jacky? They have been performing
pretty well. They've had big wins, they beat Sweden. They're certainly
no pushovers by any stretch of the imagination? No, they're definitely
not a pushover. Actually, they are sitting in a position where they've
still got two more games to play v they? -- have they? Apart from Great
Britain, they have to play Switzerland, which in normal
circumstances that would be a difficult match. But Switzerland are
now out of qualification after Great Britain beat them. So, not sure how
hard a match that's gonna be. Yeah. This young team, they've come
through the Japanese Women's Curling Academy. I think I'm right in saying
it's the only women's curling academy there is in the world, and
it was set up after Nagano 1998. They've got a good programme in
place. None of these teams out here are bad. They're all the top of
their level, top of their sport, play the world tour all of the time.
So, we're really going to have to dig hard. But what I'm really
impressed about was the girls showed real team performance yesterday, and
if they can just pool that in again today, they're peaking just at the
right time. Well, that was the essence of this
morning, Kyle Smith was incredibly good this morning. But he was
following on from good shots being played by the rest of the team. They
all gelled together. They got off to a cracking start, and 3-0 up in the
first, four shots up before we had even got going, and away they went.
Yes, coming back to your point about Japan, this is the first time
actually since Nagano when they were the host nation that they've
qualified both men and women's teams. The women have been much more
consistent over the years. Won a silver medal at the World
Championships in 2016. And by doing that pretty much confirmed their
participation here, because all the teams had to qualify in terms of the
ranking as to who would be here, and they got enough points actually just
by winning that silver medal to get themselves into the top ten ranked
teams.
We've only got two other matches in play. USA are playing Korea. That
could yet figure. Canada against China. Well, Canada with three
defeats, have picked up three victories since then. It was a shock
to see them with a 0-3 record, if you like, after three matches
everyone was wondering what was happening to the team. They will
play Great Britain, our final match in this round robin competition
against Rachel Holman. And who knows what, or how important, how
significant, that will be. It will be a much easier match to play if
they win this against Japan. A nice opportunity for Great Britain to
come down and rest on that yellow stone in the back of the house from
Japan. We do have the hammer, and if we can create a two here right away,
then we're really showing this Japanese team that we mean business.
That's a nice shot there from Vicki. Yeah, I mentioned the USA. They sit
tied fourth with Great Britain. You saw the table there beforehand. And
USA have got two difficult matches to finish with. They're playing
Korea, this women's team from Korea who have been impressing everybody,
sitting top of the table at the moment. They also have to play
Sweden in their last match. All sorts of permutations still
possible. There is a tie break scenario, in case you're not aware.
If we have ties, if there's just two teams tied for fourth place, then
they will play off in the tie break. If there are more teams on a
win-loss record, they get separated first of all by their win-loss
record against each other in the round robin. If that still can't
break the ties and create a ranking, then they use the last known draw
before each end, both teams send two stones down and the players have to
alternative that, clockwise at the in-turn and out-turn. Yeah, every
player has got to play two, an in-turn and an out-turn.
Slightly overthrew that there, but the girls made a judgement to take
it right to the back.
Japan just looking to remove that red and roll into the centre. Just
playing a nice half weight.
Chinami Yoshida, one of the two sisters in this team. Yurika, the
lead. She's the younger of the two, Yurika. Chinami, 26.
Then along with Suzuki, who played second. And the skip, Fujisawa. The
three of them have been together many years playing together as
juniors. And similar to the British team, the
three who were in Sochi playing, of course, Lauren Gray now the lead,
was the ultimate. An awful lot of experience in this British quartet.
The girls there just shouting the weight of the stone for Eve.
APPLAUSE Really could have done with these
stones in the front of the house. This gives the opportunity for Japan
to come in, sit on top of them and actually discard these two red
stones. Yeah, by contrast to the men this morning, who, you know, hit the
straps straightaway, they were - in fact, the first end almost went by
in a whiz and we were three up. So, a bit of work to do. Yoshida,
playing her second stone.
Looks good.
Yeah, that's a nice stone. Wouldn't be easily removed, so just choosing
to come in and sit on top of it. This is where Anna needs to be right
on her game from the beginning. Get your draw weight right. You don't
want to be chasing the game from early stages. We know they can. We
know they're obviously capable of winning when they're not playing so
well. It's so early in this one, obviously. This has got plenty on
it. Oh, the girls buckled into that maybe just a little bit early there,
and it stopped it from coming across onto the face of that, and it's just
rolled off. The girls apologising. They just thought she'd delivered it
a little bit lighter and swept too quickly there. This is when you
realise it is a real team sport. Anna has to lead the stone, and then
hopefully your sweepers will help manage it down the ice.
Well, that looks pretty good in the sense there are three British stones
in there, they're not where they want them to be. And the button
there is vulnerable. It's not gonna be clear for Eve Muirhead. No
question of being able to blank the end, so she will be trying to score.
But getting two at this point is beginning to look difficult.
So, Fujisawa, you can see her tournament, the team have been
playing very well, setting things up, but she's had some big shots
which just at the right time she's played. She's struggled at other
times.
Just nudges one back, there, the other one. It's still an opportunity
for us to... Still can get on top of that. Don't forget, Eve has got two
to come. And the one thing you could say about Eve's play yesterday,
right from the beginning, remember that little tap in the first end?
Yes, I do, yeah. It was the Eve Muirhead that we know and love.
So, a clear run in, just to follow the last three or four stones that
have gone down exact lib the same line. You see that tournament
accuracy, 79%, the last couple of matches she has been playing above
that.
I think they quite like this. It's sitting a little high at the moment.
As the weight comes off, we need to to pool. Yeah, that's good.
Eve Muirhead with a nice first stone.
So, we're lying shot, so the question is that there's not much
gonna move there. That yellow one is jammed in there. It's just a case of
whether they can get and sit on top of that British stone and then make
sure that it can't be moved, or not moved easily. And... Really
important where Japan place this stone now. She will want to sit just
right on the top of it. She may not get shot out of it. But if she flops
off either way, there's an opportunity then for Eve to chip it
out, and her red is gonna jam anyway, because it's sitting right
in front of another red. So, still an opportunity here to pick up her
two. It just depends where Satsuki puts her stone.
So, Fujisawa, the Japanese skip, well wrapped up, isn't she? Some
people out there in T-shirts. So, the final stone for Japan in the
first end, just seeing how close she can get. Plenty of stones around the
button there. Great Britain would still like to see a way through.
She's just gonna catch that guard. If nothing else, she's blocked the
way in. She was overcurling. I think if she got past the guard, she would
have left room in. As it is, she's blocked up that hole. Eve looking at
the other side, seeing whether she can come in and sit on top of those
yellows, get her two. Yeah. It depends how much pool is on this
side of the sheet. No-one's come down this side really, so... Yeah,
Vicki just saying, "Nobody's really been down this side of the sheet at
all since practice." Kind of guessing they've got to make a go at
it. Well, if she can give it a little bit more weight, because she
can come into those two stones. Has she gotta be careful...? Well, she
can't nudge the shot stone. If she gives it too much weight, you're not
gonna get the pool. She really just has to get past the top yellow guard
by a fraction and hope that it finishes, cos she needs to bite the
one foot. Has Eve Muirhead started in the same way that she did
yesterday? Yeah, as you see, passing the top guard there with a lot. And
you really had a long, long way to come. I think, actually, that would
have come if she had just been a little tighter. But, unfortunately,
that's... Unlucky. So, it's just the one in the first end. It's a
difficult task for Eve Muirhead to come down first time of asking down
that side. So, a good first end for Japan, though, and the high fives
all around. But it was solid enough from Great Britain.
First end in the match between Canada and China was blanked. Canada
still have the hammer. Very colourful fans of Japan and
Great Britain, thankfully. A smattering of Union Jacks around.
That's Eve's mum there, and Anna's mum, and Eve's uncle. Supporting.
They've just arrived the other day, so that's lovely to see.
If you haven't got used to this yet, you will hear cheers reverberating
around, as Korea, as and when they score. They are playing the USA.
So, not quite the start Great Britain wanted. So, the hammer now
with Japan. First stone from Lauren Gray.
A big crowd in today. They've become stars, this Korean women's team.
They're top of the rankings, Jacky. And when you get kind of an odd
table in the sense that everybody thought Canada would be right up
there and maybe Great Britain with Eve Muirhead, on top of the rankings
you have Korea and Japan. I know. I think we wouldn't have thought that
before we came here, and the Korean team have got - they're a game
behind everybody else, so they've got three more games to go. So,
they're in a very good position, being top of the table still with a
game in hand against everybody else. Yeah, they're playing... Likewise
the Canadians, they've still got three games to go. They are at the
bottom of the table but they're charging up the rear to get their
position and get that last play-off place.
Yeah. And sadly, from a British perspective, both Canada and Korea
play OAR, who cannot qualify. And you just wonder about the motivation
of the teams who, you know, you know they're not gonna go through, you're
relying on them to - you'll play a tough match.
tough match. Britain always looked as though they have the tougher
finish. Japan and Canada not an easy way, and, indeed, Switzerland
yesterday.
Lauren's shot didn't quite come far enough across there to guard. Eve
was ready to catch the guard there in case it caught, but the girls
swept it really well.
So, just a controlled weight here from Great Britain just to come
down, tap that yellow through.
She won't be able to see it all. She won't be able to see, I think, about
three-quarters of it T -- of it. We've just seen how tight that
Japanese stone was to the British red out there, and this is even
closer. It's gonna just catch it.
They're still in the rings. Yeah, they just need to not be making even
little errors. You know, they're not gonna be able to beat this Japanese
team if they're not matching them at the very least. Eve Muirhead always
capable as the type of skip she is at making the big shots, but you
don't want to keep asking Eve to rescue you. You've got to help to
set things up, so the other three have a real job to do.
I think I'd like to see maybe Eve, let her take a little bit more ice,
play more controlled weight. She didn't really have to play that hack
weight to push it right through. You can set the end up early and wait
for somebody else later on in the team to make the big shot and set
your end up. And just a minute before, we've seen how tight the
line was, the Japanese stone. I mean, it missed the British stone by
an inch. Not even an inch, less than a centimetre, probably.
So, if we can get a little hit here and a roll across to sit in front of
the yellow stone. It just makes it a little bit more difficult then for
Japan to try and remove it and not jam it back. The girls working this
really hard to try and get a bit of a roll. A chance. Unlucky. Just
across the top. Well, again, close but not quite. So, that's the
support staff there. Kelly Schafer, the alternative for Great Britain.
Lives in Canada now. This is her third Olympics. A very experienced
member of the team to add to Eve Muirhead's team. And then Glenn
Howard, the coach, from Canada also. Four-time world champion. Brought in
for his tactical knowledge for the team.
By contrast, this one might just go a little bit, but the Japanese team
look to be making the shots nicely. So, the Japanese support team coach,
JD Lind, a Canadian, who now lives in Japan.
Does a lot of work for the academy.
So, Anna Sloan playing third. Yesterday she was playing much
better. She needs to find that sort of form as well. Chinami Yoshida
playing third. She herself spent a year in Canada. As a teenager, she
was about 18, 19, to improve her English and, primarily, to improve
her curling, went to live over in Canada for a year.
So, at the moment, everybody playing the simple shots well.
Getting a little higher in the house with each takeout here.
The closer we can get to that yellow helps us get a double set up. She
wants to go the other way. So, Yoshida. So, she wants it to go
with... Are they...? See, I nearly said purple, but I know you're gonna
say something like "electric pink" gloves, the skip. Oh, I missed them.
Have a look in a second. We're having a real battle of
colours this week!
It just sits there. Didn't get the rollover she wanted. To the right.
So, is it worth having a go at this or is she just gonna try and hit and
roll, or hit and roll and either sit on it or move it? Oh, my goodness,
they are electric pink. Yeah. OK.
There you go. A good look at the gloves. She's well wrapped-up. She's
not doing any sweeping, of course. And as a skip, when you're standing
about, you can get quite cold. So, Eve Muirhead going for the double
here. But it is a nice, controlled-weight double. They're
holding it on the right side of the line at the moment. This must be
close. Keep it there. Oh, it's... Well, it just gets a little tap.
It's gonna lie shot... That's important. Yeah, and that's good,
and it's right in behind the guards as well. So, Plan A didn't work, but
Plan B has been executed, so gotta be happy with that. If it could
force the one here, that would be excellent.
So important that it stayed as the shot stone. Not much in it.
That red of Great Britain's is tucked right in behind, which is
great. It will be quite difficult for her to come in and try and move
it. She's really just gonna come in and sit in front of it. Yeah, not an
easy shot here for the skip for Japan, Fujisawa. If she gets this a
little bit wrong...
Great Britain trying to force just - Japan just to take one here in this
second end in response to the one that they managed in the first.
It's a little bit wide of the mark. Yeah, that's a nice-played stone,
because if Eve does try to perhaps go for it, she could, if she doesn't
get it right, put it on to the red. Just depends on how much she can see
from the other side. Seemed happy with that. Eve's maybe got the
chance to use that red above the - at the top of the house. Or is she
looking at a straight...? Let's listen.
Yeah, because she doesn't want to put it on to the back, because it
would then still lie second shot, depending what a shooter does. And
she doesn't want to angle it into the red either. It's important here,
because as you said, the room for error here is not - the reward is
good, but the room for error is pretty narrow here.
She's got to ... She was looking at that red to force it up on to the
yellow, but, actually, from the other end of the ice, she may not
see enough of it. It may look like it in the head, but once you get to
the other end, the angles of the stone ever so slightly change. There
we see the flashing LED lights on the eye of the stone.
She needs to... She needs to remove this yellow and try and sit there.
And certainly avoid her own red as the yellow exits the house,
hopefully. Vicki is trying her hardest to try and make this move as
much as possible. Oh, that wasn't what we wanted to do. No.
So that's... I thought the risk of that shot versus the reward was just
a little bit too thin on that. Yeah, she had to very tight past the guard
to get the inside. Eve thought it was going to be to come across the
centre line, with the weight, it held. So chance here for Japan to
remove that Great Britain stone in line three, and take a two-shot
advantage going into the next end. Of course, still got to make the
shot. It's not that difficult, just wants to hit and stay. It seems it's
been fairly straight down the middle here. And this one, you and I have
got a great view, looking absolutely fine.
fine. Whelm, that's a disappointing start for Great Britain in all sorts
of ways. I don't think that anyone can hold their head up and say they
played that well. But the other three can't expect Eve Muirhead to
dig them out of a hole. They're 3-1 down. It's three for Japan and any
time that anyone is getting a three, you know you've got to play well to
claw it back. Failed to make two in the first end, only picking up one,
and Japan have picked up three for a two-shot lead. And China have picked
up two in the second end against Canada. And you can probably hear
the cheers there approaching the last couple of stones, US against
Korea. USA leading that one, 2-0. A long way to go here, but this is now
already a game in which we're going to be chasing. Yeah, unfortunately,
it did look like we were going to lose a two, and that would've been
OK, because sometimes when you have got the hammer, that's what the team
is looking for. We could have retorted back with another two, and
we still can. It could even up the game. Sometimes you just finish a
little bit of disappointment when you know you shouldn't have lost
that three there, that was really an error on Eve's part, where she
jammed and gave them the opportunity.
opportunity. Still everything to play for in this end. Right back in
it if we can pick up two. It was a bit like the guys today. You get off
to a good start, it helps, but it affects the opposition. It's the
same here - a good start for Japan, it's lifted their confidence.
They're in a brilliant position in terms of qualifying. They know if
they win this, they're pretty much through. It's a bit ego boost there.
If you're performing really well, you're sending a message to the
opposition to say, we're on our game here, you guys have to dig deep to
beat us. So long as the girls keep their confidence, I own this space,
this is my area, we have the passion to be here, all of that kind of
stuff, mentally, can also affect your opposition.
So, corner guard put in place by Great Britain. They do have the
hammer on the second stone just coming in. They're going to be a tad
short there.
So Eve isn't going to remove the yellow stones. Going to ask Lauren
to play a nice controlled shot, and tap them back, and then we can
utilise them as protection. And hopefully the Japanese will jam some
of their stones against them. She could ask for a nice controlled half
weight. And this might actually do that. It's pulling now.
So we've been saying all week how well Lauren's being playing and
obviously, Eve, they looked really good yesterday. It was the first
time though that all four have looked on their game, all playing
well at the same time. It wasn't like that all the way through the
match, but the way they finished it, it was very impressive. And may have
to come up with something similar in this match here.
this match here. So Japan taking off that corner guard there, because
that's that guard we need to help us create our two.
create our two. Vicki just being asked to replace that.
Three, maybe four. Three is just sits outside of the house. That
stopped at 2.5, three there. The girls talk about numbers, the first
zone, the white zone before we get to the actually rings, we chop up
into 1, 2, and 3, and then in the house is four, the 12-foot, and then
the eight-foot is five, six, 7, all the way through the house, so the
girls know a calling zone. So a little bit of cat and mouse at the
moment. We're going to continue to try to put on that corner, and hope
for a mistake from Japan. Yumi Suzuki, playing second.
Suzuki, playing second. I think several years ago, you know that the
Asian Pacific teams were so well trained and coached, they
technically threw very, very good stones. Where you could catch them
out was an on strategy. They brought in a Canadian to change the dynamics
of how they play the game. In the last couple of years, caught up with
everyone else on the world circuit. A guard being put there. Quite a
long one this time.
long one this time. Satsuki Fujisawa, the skip for this very
good Japanese team. The fifth place, they achieved in Sochi, the same as
they made in Nagano, back in 98. Their best performance in the Winter
Olympics. They never made the semifinals. Just missed out on a
couple of occasions. That's the error we were looking for. I think
it was a hair's width. That they missed about. Just checking.
OK, well here is the first opportunity for Great Britain. That
guard left in place. Something for Anna Sloan to work from. On for Eve
as well. So now the chance to move these Japanese stones.
OK, that's good. She would have liked to have hit and rolled across
the guard, because she's sitting just high the yellow, it's in a good
position at the moment. So still an opportunity here for Japan to run
that red back into the yellow and split them both out. Yeah, or to the
British red, to second red, see what happens here. So Chinami Yoshida.
Oh! Takes her own. And she's left that yellow out there. Well, just
one or two little errors for Japan. Just caught that a little flush on
the nose. So if we can just split the house, put it - we won't even
mind if it's set in the back of the rings, so long there's no double
left on or a raise in the yellow.
Well... Two in... Just the skips to play now. So an opportunity here for
a two, depending on Fujisawa. She's having a long look at that. There's
a lot of distance between those two. And she won't be able - she can't
see the inside edge. Although she doesn't need the inside edge. She
just needs the half of it. If it's a little tight, she may catch the
yellow guard. She can see it probably two thirds of that. The
sort of view she was from the hack.
So Fujisawa here, trying to play a big shot here. See if she can catch
this red correctly. To move across and take the other British red. Just
the one.
So Eve just wanting to make sure she doesn't make that sort of shot easy.
Try to come across back to the other side of the house, make sure also
she's lining two though. Trying to get her two in response to that
three they gave up in the second end.
So Anna Sloan just showing the line to set the stone off and hopefully,
it will end up on the right-hand side. As we were looking at the
house.
She's got her guard out there as well. Always useful in terms of
hiding this one a little bit. Important, as I said, that it lies
shot or second.
shot or second. They like the line, they're sweeping this well. Keep it
going...
That's pretty good. She's still got a chance though, a very similar shot
to last time. She would have liked to have hidden in right behind that
guard. Just taking a look. Fujisawa will be able to see all of that, and
she perhaps can get the hit and roll she's looking for.
Well, depending on where her shooter ends up here will determine the type
of shot that Eve Muirhead will have. Whether there's still an opportunity
to get two. That yellow at the top sadly, if it was in the house, it
would be a chance to run that back of where the two stones there, but
then her shooter will not be in anyway. So this is a big shot for
Japan. If they can limit GB to one here, they would be sitting very
pretty indeed.
She may just skip past that one... That was close. Well, it's in line.
Sitting first shot at the moment. It is. We have an opportunity, we just
need to tap it a little. She doesn't need to move as much. But the angle
has to be right. If she taps it onto the... Well, to get a two anyway -
it's not an easy shot for Eve Muirhead. And this was the side she
came down last time. So the girls, with that ice they've taken, look to
be playing a heavier weight to it. If you're confident with the ice,
and just a heavy draw would be good. You only need to tap it. But playing
this weight, you have to be careful you don't catch the back one and you
keep your shooter in to get your two of. But you need to make sure you
get rid of that yellow Japan stone.
So this is sitting high at the moment. It's coming, is it coming
enough? It needs to turn more. Needs to turn a bit more. OK. So just the
one. Had a chance there. Well, it's not quite working yet for Eve
Muirhead. They're still very much involved in this match, obviously.
3-2. But the hammer now transfers to Japan and two in this will maintain
their three-shot lead, and I would say by the time we get to five ends,
you don't want to be going in with too much of a deficit.
Well, it hasn't been the best of starts for Great Britain. I can tell
elsewhere, USA and Korea, it's 2-1. And Canada, China, as I said, China
picked up 2 in the second end. They're still playing the third end.
And I'm just looking down over there, it looks as though Canada may
have a last stone to pick up two.
So what is the issue here, Jackie? I think all of them, Eve included, not
quite making their shots. By the time we get to Eve, you know,
yesterday, she responded so well, but the other three have also got to
pick up their game. You can't rely on Eve all the time. Yeah, Eve's
just down at 54%. Her second shot is just that half shot. They're not far
away. I think the girls - I mean that end was kind of set up for us
to get our two there. Tried our best. Eve just didn't get behind the
guard. She didn't get the chip and lie there. But we often see these
girls perform much much better in the latter half the game. At the
moment, it seems like they're taking too long to settle into the game.
But they're getting settled in. But it general is eight, nine, 10,
before we see them stringing their shots together. I think I agree. I
say with the matches before, the one they played yesterday, because I
thought yesterday they, the last match, where they started well and
maintained that momentum, there was a lot of, good shots here, Eve
particularly started really well. But you're right, we've got to find
that ability to lift it in the second half that they found earlier
in the week. The problem then is, if you're starting from a position as
we are now, where we're down one here, could well be three at the end
of this, who knows, as well you can lift your game and play better, if
the opposition is doing the same, if they're playing well, it doesn't
matter sometimes if you lift your game. You're coming from a position
of deficit of two or three, not easy to turn that around. So let's hope
that they can force one here.
Pick up two in the fifth and we'll all be tied. That's nice.
Yeah, there girls swept that really well. They were needing to sweep
that really hard to get it past the reds. Didn't want to chip off it.
So Canada just picked up one in the previous end, so China leaded Canada
2-1. It's early stages. China with the hammer in the fourth end. So
advantage, early advantage with China in that one.
China in that one. Can't quite hear what Eve was saying, there. So we
don't have the hammer in this end. There are some guards out there, one
of our own and one of the Japanese teams. We're going to try to up life
them to -- utilise them to our advantage. Try to sit in the four
foot, just around the back. Vicki only 67% at the moment. We need her
to start finding her form as well. Just get the right placement... Are
we past... No, we're not.
Now, we're going to see Japan clear up something of these, the stones at
the front? Yep. The stones in the four foot at the top there, just
outside the circles, are really a danger to Japan at the moment. They
want to be able to see the four foot with the last stone.
By contrast, if you match player against player, then Suzaki,
already, made some nice shots for her skip. Could be another one here.
That doesn't get the other one. Eve wants to try to make sure that one
goes. It does. She was after all three there.
Just going to try to put one out in front again. A little bit more ice.
Yeah, she doesn't want to take that Japan stone at the moment. If she
brings the stones into the house, it makes it much easier for Japan to
score. She's just going to guard her red, even though it's sitting in
second shot at the moment. Got to create the end, try to steal a shot
here.
Change of mind for Eve, asking them to sweep it in. She was worrying it
wasn't going to curl enough. Want to try to bring it right in.
Yeah, so they made a correction there. The girls shouted they were
going to come in too far. And it has. They brought it right into the
top of the end, so quite hard for them to remove it. She has got the
opportunity to play a nice controlled weight there, catch half
the red, roll across, behind the corner guard, and remove the back
red.
So Yumi Suzuki playing second.
Well... Great Britain have not been playing that well. By contrast,
Japan is really making their shots. There's no protection for that red
stone there.
Right, Anna is not sure what she can see from the far end. Just wants to
come have a look. Eve's suggestion, come all the way around, try to come
onto the four foot. Just seeing whether she could through ask catch
that yellow. Or come onto the yellow, even. We don't have the
hammer here. Which is - and we're not sitting in the best position at
the moment. And they may have to play quite offensively here, and
come right in behind them all. Because... She hasn't really got a
hit on the top either.
First things first, let's get, what did she say? Buried. Buried right in
behind the mess at the front there. Just a slight accent thing.
LAUGHS That will add that to her curling
glossary. We're adding quite a lot of new terminologies here. Have to
be really careful with the weight here. You don't want to put too much
on and you slide right through the house. You've got to be sitting in
the back. Anna could do with a good one here. Have they got enough of
this? Got to keep it going as far as they can. Squeeze past, keep going,
keep going, keep going. Yes. That's a great effort there.
We've left a very difficult shot now for Japan. They either have to make
a play in the top yellow, and still leave the red short, but maybe roll
across. Keen to keep all their shooters in play. That's all you can
do. Make it, just make it more difficult, make it a trickier shot.
But they have been making them, up to this point. Chinami Yoshida. Her
game accuracy may not suggest it, and her skip, the percentages
haven't been great, but there's still early in the match. The odd
bad shot. That's why it affects your percentages. Just misses that red.
It's opening things up a little better for them. They're leaving
their shots in the right place at the moment. That little red is
looking pretty lonely in there at the minute, especially when we don't
have the hammer. Really key here for Anna to try and come in, half hide
behind the top yellow.
Important shot here for Anna Sloan, the game is poised with just one
shot between them, but Japan are leading this 3-2. As Anna's stone
comes down, she knows she has to try to set things up. And then up to Eve
Muirhead to turn things around in the fourth end. Apologies for the
terrible timing, but we've got to make channel change. Joins us on BBC
two in just a second.