Key events
Men’s Slopestyle snowboarding: While GB’s women hope for a mistake from the USA, 12 men are flying through the air for gold at the Livigno Snow Park. Oliver Martin of France over-rotates as he flies, and is disappointed with his marks that leave him sixth in round one. Glorious twirls from Canada’s Cam Spalding, but he slips on his backside at the last and is only seventh.
Japan’s Ryoma Kimata claps his gloves as he crosses the line. The commentators are impressed by his “ clean teardrop” and the judges quite like it, he goes fifth.
Women’s curling: more chances slip through team GB’s chilly fingers, but they take two points going into the final end. The USA have the hammer.
Cross-country skiing: GB have qualified for the team sprint finals, finishing just ahead of the cut off in 13th place. The finals start at 11.15am GMT, with Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo searching for a tenth career gold as part of the Norwegian duo.
Women’s Curling: A point for the USA at the end of the eighth end, none for GB, which leaves the US 7-4 up with two ends to go. Cram isn’t optimistic. “It’s like trying to climb up one of the slopes out here without any crampons.”
South Korea have duly gone on to beat Sweden 8-3, in one of the upsets of this competition.
Women’s Curling: “Hard, hard!” shouts Rebecca Morrison to her teammates brushing away. Steve Cram sighs.
Curling: Things have gone downhill quite fast for GB’s women. From a 4-3 lead, they’re now 6-4 down. They cross their arms and stare at the stones, willing them into position in the eighth end. GB need to win this game to have a chance of making the knock-outs, though they also need other results to go their way.
Women’s aerials: hmmm, turns out what iplayer says is live, isn’t quite, and the top six athletes are already through: with Marion Thenault of Canada topping the tree by almost ten points, and three Chinese skiers in the top six.
Women’s aerials: the qualifying rounds of accelerating down a ramp and flying through the air. Hanna Huskova, gold medallist in 2018, does a triple somersault, or the “the kiss arse blaster” in the commentator’s words, but it is only enough to leave her seventh.
Women’s curling: Back to the brushes, where Rebecca Morrison posts the final stone of the sixth end into perfect position, Team GB take two and go into a 4-3 lead against the USA with four ends left.
Women’s slalom: Sweden’s Hanna Aronsson Elfman covers her head in her hands as she skies off the course like a woman tripping up on the front steps.
I’m a big fan of the Hazel Irvine-Chemmy Alcott double act in the BBC studio. “I was quite fruity as she [Shiffrin] was going down,”says Alcott, “as I just wanted her to silence everyone, and today, finally, she’s had the freedom to fly.”
Some gorgeous pictures from yesterday’s action – including Jürgen Klopp ringing the bell for the final lap of the men’s biathlon and flying ice skaters.
Women’s curling: GB’s women are 3-2 down to the USA at the Milano curling centre. Denmark lead China 6-3 and, in a complete surprise, South Korea are thrashing unbeaten Sweden 8-0.
Women’s slalom: over the radio, the French skier Marion Chevrier, is told to take ‘some really risky lines.’ Down she goes, zig and zag, and then out – as her skis straddle one of the control gates.
Women’s slalom: Austria have set the course for this run, Sweden will for the second run. It’s a process chosen by draw. With 13 athletes gone, Shiffrin is still in the lead, with Germany’s Durr second, and Öhlund of Sweden delighted to have just skied into third.
A new leader in the slalom and it’s the woman with a point to prove, Mikaela Shiffrin – who slides over the line with an advantage of 0.82 seconds. The stars and stripes in the crowd wave cheerfully.
Forget-me-not skies and icing sugar snow in the mountains, where run one of the women’s slalom has already started. Switzerland’s Camille Rast, the slalom world champion, is currently the quickest. She puts handfuls of snow down the back of her neck before she starts – an unpalatable pick-me-up.
Preamble
Good morning! We’re racing towards the finishing line now in Milan, stylish snow suit in one hand, espresso in the other. Nine golds hang glistening on the line to be claimed .
The final snowboarding events swoosh onto our screens soon, with the men’s and women’s slopestyle; while out on the mountains, cowbells and exhaution in the cross-country team sprint skiing.
Ice-hockey punctuates the day, with the men’s quarter-finals – expect the usual brutality: Slovakia v Germany, Canada v Czechia, Finland v Switzerland, and USA v Sweden.
And skill of a different sort, weather permitting, in the women’s aerials final. All eyes are on almost-veteran Xu Mengtao of China who is hoping, and loop the looping, to retain her title.
Just after lunch, the USA’s Mikaela Shiffrin goes for gold in the women’s slalom final. After the disappointment of Beijing “its not so much about unfinished business, she has said, it’s more about making peace. Then another relay: after the excitement of France’s comeback in the men’s biathlon, the women’s event..
Two short-track speed skating finals draw the curtains on the day, the men’s 500m and the women’s 3000m relay.
There’s also more of the endless curling round robins. GB’s men have had a disappointing few days and need to beat USA to be in with a chance of making the semi finals.
Thrills, spills, bellyaches, we’ll be covering it all. Do join us.
