Korea opportunities

GREAT BRITAIN has sent its biggest ever Winter Olympics squad to South Korea - and it also stands a good chance of being its best ever too.

Four years ago in Sochi, Team GB equalled its best Winter Games performance with one gold, one silver and two bronze.

And, despite being a non-Alpine nation with little winter sports pedigree, there are realistic hopes of the team going at least one better at Pyeongchang 2018.

The official target, set by governing body UK Sport, is indeed for five medals to be won - and skeleton and curling would be two of the more obvious places to find British success.

In fact, since the tea-tray sport skeleton was re-introduced into the Olympics in 2002, Team GB has always won a medal in the women's competition.

Alex Coomber won bronze in Salt Lake City in 2002, four years before Shelley Rudman took silver in Turin, and eight years before Amy Williams became the first British individual gold medallist at a Winter Olympics for 30 years.

Lizzy Yarnold ensured we would not have to wait as long for the next individual Winter Olympic title with a dominant victory in the same event in Sochi.

Flagbearer Yarnold will defend her title in Pyeongchang alongside Laura Deas, while Dominic Parsons and Jerry Rice will partake in the men's competition.

Curling - with its instantly recognisable combination of brushes and polished granite stones - has also supplied its fair share of success in recent Games.

In Sochi, both the men's team and the women's team finished on the podium with the men taking silver and the women winning bronze.

Further back - in 2002 - housewife Rhona Martin famously caused a national sensation in the wee hours by leading Team GB to its first Winter Olympics gold since Torvill and Dean in 1984.

Of course, this time, it might just be that Britain cannot claim a medal in either skeleton or curling.

Winter sports, by their very nature, are highly unpredictable - and that certainly is something which short-track speed skater Elise Christie does not need to be told twice.

Christie, frankly, suffered a nightmare Games four years ago in Sochi. First, she was penalised in the 500m final, in which she had finished second, as she was deemed to have caused an early crash.

Then, two days later, she was eliminated in the qualifiers of the 1500m when she was adjudged to have failed to cross the official line marked in the ice. She was wide by 1cm.

An understandably emotional television interview followed in which a devastated Christie mentioned that she had also been the target of abuse from internet trolls.

Many of her abusers were Korean followers of Park Seung-hi who had been one of the skaters caught up in the early chaos in the 500m final.

But, with all of that now consigned to the past, Christie is back for a third Olympics at the age of just 27.

The Nottingham-based Scot is part of a five-strong short-track speed-skating squad - and happily, in the intervening period in South Korea, she has gone from receiving death threats to giving out autographs.

Hopefully, in the days to come, her remarkable redemption story will be completed in style - and in Korea itself.

In all, Team GB sent a total of 59 athletes to the Games in Pyeongchang so there is the exciting possibility that Britain may even break new ground.

Notably, Britain has never won a ski medal but freestyle skiers James Woods and Izzy Atkin could make history in slopestyle.

Slalom specialist Dave Ryding finished second in the Kitzbuhel World Cup last year and has recorded top 10 results this season - while, in cross-country skiing, Andrew Musgrave just missed out on a medal at the World Championships.

Snowboarding makes its debut as an Olympic sport at these Games - but already Britain's best hope has been dashed with Katie Ormerod unable to compete after fracturing her heel in practice.

It is a heart-breaking injury for the 20-year-old especially with it coming merely hours before the official opening of the 23rd edition of the Winter Olympiad.

Yes, it really is that close now - a fact which will no doubt gladden the hearts of the the organisers of the Games for whom the build-up has been unsurprisingly difficult.

Even the weather gods have not been particularly kind. Pyeongchang is set to be the coldest Olympics on record with wind chill temperatures in the mountains making it feel as chilly as -25C.

Indeed, there are genuine fears that it might even be too cold to snow - although organisers are prepared with snow guns which can produce the white stuff artificially albeit at a total cost of £4.4m.

Perhaps inevitably, sports and politics have also mixed - and the prelude to the Games has been dominated by the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban the Russia team.

The ban followed an investigation into state-sponsored doping at their home Games in Sochi in 2014. However, the IOC subsequently invited 169 "clean" Russians to compete as independent athletes.

A further 47 athletes and coaches are also still hoping to compete if they win the appeals which they have made to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

But the decision is not expected until 2am British-time - only nine hours before the opening ceremony tomorrow - and the whole thing has become a bit of a farce which surely should have been sorted by now.

Separately, there is the rather awkward fact that, technically at least, South Korea is still at war with its neighbours North Korea.

Only a truce stopped the fighting in the Korean War in 1953, rather than a peace agreement, and the tension between them became further heightened during the course of 2017.

In early September, North Korea really ramped up its aggression by conducting its sixth nuclear weapons test to the dismay of the international community at large.

United States president Donald Trump responded by threatening to “totally destroy” North Korea in his first address to the United Nations.

But, thankfully, the rhetoric since the New Year seems to have cooled somewhat.

In a surprise move, North Korea has agreed to send a team to compete, something which it pointedly refused to do for the 1988 Summer Olympics which were held in the South Korean capital Seoul.

Indeed, the two nations will march together at the opening ceremony under a unified flag and will even field a unified women's ice hockey team at the Games.

President of the IOC Thomas Bach described the agreement as "a milestone in a long journey".

He added: "The Olympic spirit is about respect, dialogue and understanding. The Winter Games [in] Pyeongchang are hopefully opening the door to a brighter future on the Korean peninsula, and inviting the world to join in a celebration of hope."

Raise a glass to diplomacy then - it appears, in this regard, as if it has achieved the necessary.

Now, though, it really is time for the talking to stop - and for the Games to begin!

Coverage can be found across the BBC (and Eurosport) with a nightly hour-long highlights show showing the best bits on BBC Two every evening at 7pm

TEAM GB  

2018 WINTER OLYMPICS

PYEONGCHANG

CURLING
Team Smith Kyle Smith, Thomas Muirhead, Kyle Waddell, Cameron Smith, Glen Muirhead

			Score
14-Feb	00:05	SWITZERLAND	W6-5 OT
14-Feb	11:05	CANADA	L4-6
15-Feb	05:05	JAPAN	W6-5
16-Feb	11:05	SWEDEN	L6-8
17-Feb	05:05	SOUTH KOREA	L5-11
18-Feb	11:05	ITALY	W7-6 OT
19-Feb	05:05	DENMARK	W7-6
20-Feb	00:05	NORWAY	W10-3
21-Feb	05:05	UNITED STATES	L4-10
22-Feb	00:05	PLAY-OFF: SWITZERLAND	L5-9

Team Muirhead Eve Muirhead, Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams, Lauren Gray, Kelly Schafer

			Score
14-Feb	05:05	OLYMPIC ATHLETES RUSSIA	W10-3
15-Feb	00:05	UNITED STATES	L4-7
15-Feb	11:05	CHINA	W8-7 OT
17-Feb	00:05	DENMARK	W7-6
17-Feb	11:05	SOUTH KOREA	L4-7
18-Feb	05:05	SWEDEN	L6-8 OT
19-Feb	11:05	SWITZERLAND	W8-7
20-Feb	05:05	JAPAN	W8-6
21-Feb	00:05	CANADA	W6-5
23-Feb	11:05	SEMI FINAL: SWEDEN	L5-10
24-Feb	11:05	BRONZE MATCH: JAPAN	L3-5

  

ALPINE SKIING
Dave Ryding	Men's slalom	1:40.16 (9th)
Laurie Taylor	Men's slalom	1:43.41 (26th)
Charlie Guest	Women's slalom	1:48.26 (33rd)
Alex Tilley	Women's slalom Women's giant slalom	DNF DNF
Dave Ryding Laurie Taylor Charlie Guest Alex Tilley	Mixed team event	beat United States in R16 lost to Norway in QF (5th)
BIATHLON
Amanda Lightfoot	Women's sprint Women's individual	24:15.3 (67th) 49:14.7 (73rd)
BOBSLEIGH
Brad Hall Joel Fearon	Two-man	3:18.34 (12th)
Brad Hall Greg Cackett Joel Fearon Nick Gleeson	Four-man	3:18.26 (17th)
Lamin Deen Andrew Matthews Toby Olubi Ben Simons	Four-man	3:18.29 (18th)
Mica McNeill Mica Moore	Two-woman	3:24.07 (8th)
CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING
Andrew Musgrave	Men's 15km freestyle Men's 30km skiathlon Men's 50km mass start	35:51.0 (28th) 1:16:45.7 (7th) 2:20:57.9 (37th)
Callum Smith	Men's 15km freestyle Men's 30km skiathlon	38:20.9 (75th) 1:23:49.9 (57th)
Andrew Young	Men's 15km freestyle Men's sprint	37:13.1 (57th) 3:21.50 (45th)
Andrew Musgrave Andrew Young	Men's team sprint	16:30.62 (15th)
Annika Taylor	Women's 10km freestyle Women's 15km skiathlon	30:52.9 (75th) 48:09.1 (60th)
FIGURE SKATING
Nick Buckland Penny Coomes	Ice dancing	170.32 (11th)
FREESTYLE SKIING
Lloyd Wallace	Men's aerials	100.03 (14th)
Murray Buchan	Men's halfpipe	66.00 (14th)
Alexander Glavatsky-Yeadon	Men's halfpipe	15.00 (26th)
Peter Speight	Men's halfpipe	64.60 (15th)
Rowan Cheshire	Women's halfpipe	75.40 (7th)
Molly Summerhayes	Women's halfpipe	66.00 (17th)
Emily Sarsfield	Women's ski cross	lost in QF
Tyler Harding	Men's slopestyle	21.00 (29th)
James Woods	Men's slopestyle	91.00 (4th)
Isabel Atkin	Women's slopestyle	84.60 (3rd)
Katie Summerhayes	Women's slopestyle	71.40 (7th)
LUGE
Adam Rosen Rupert Staudinger	Men's singles Men's singles	2:25.167 (22nd) 2:27.842 (33rd)
SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING
Joshua Cheetham	Men's 1000m	1:26.223 (Heats)
Farrell Treacy	Men's 1000m Men's 1500m	1:25.080 (QF) DNF (Heats)
Elise Christie	Women's 500m Women's 1000m Women's 1500m	1:23.063 (4th) PEN (Heats) PEN (SF)
Charlotte Gilmartin	Women's 500m Women's 1000m Women's 1500m	PEN (Heats) 1:32.899 (Heats) 3:00.691 (SF)
Kathryn Thomson	Women's 500m Women's 1000m Women's 1500m	1:08.896 (Heats) 1:32.150 (Heats) 2:32.891 (Heats)
SKELETON
Dominic Parsons	Men's event	3:22.20 (3rd)
Jerry Rice	Men's event	3:24.24 (10th)
Laura Deas	Women's event	3:27.90 (3rd)
Lizzy Yarnold	Women's event	3:27.28 (1st)
SNOWBOARDING
Rowan Coultas	Men's big air Men's slopestyle	84.50 (8th) 23.58 (18th)
Billy Morgan	Men's big air Men's slopestyle	168.00 (3rd) 56.40 (10th)
Jamie Nicholls	Men's big air Men's slopestyle	81.25 (11th) 71.56 (8th)
Aimee Fuller	Women's big air Women's slopestyle	25.00 (25th) 41.43 (17th)
Zoe Gillings-Brier	Women's snowboard-x	lost in QF

Winter Olympics 2014: Britain's finest for 90 years

SOCHI 2014 WINTER OLYMPICS

Preview - Hockey/Curling - Results/Medals - Review

GREAT BRITAIN delivered its best Winter Olympics performance in 90 years, winning four medals over the last 17 days in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Lizzy Yarnold became only Team GB's 10th ever Winter Olympic champion, winning gold in the skeleton, while Jenny Jones won a first ever medal for Britain on snow in the slopestyle snowboarding.

Both of the curling teams also made it onto the podium. David Murdoch's men took silver and Eve Muirhead's women won an emotional bronze as Britain matched exactly their record in the inaugural Games in Chamonix with one gold, one silver and two bronzes.

In doing so this time, Team GB importantly exceeded the minimum medal target of three, set by UK Sport, the country's high-performance funding agency.

The investment of almost £14m over the past four years has paid off then, and now winter sports rightly looks set to receive a boost for the next Games in Pyeongchang in South Korea in 2018.

Yes, Britain is never really going to compete right at the top end of the Winter Olympics medal table against the likes of Russia, Norway, Canada and United States.

But the signs are already there that those glorious British sporting moments which seemed to come around all too sparingly at Winter Olympics may start to happen just a little more regularly.

Certainly, that has been the case for the last two-and-a-half weeks, and it began at the very beginning. The Games were officially only two days old when Britain first tasted success.

Jenny Jones, a 33-year-old from Bristol, had blazed a trail in her sport over the years, winning three gold medals at Winter X Games having learned her trade while working as a chalet maid in the French Alps.

Finally, in Sochi, her sport had received Olympic recognition, and Jones did not miss her chance.

She even held the lead following her score of 87.25 on her second run but then had to watch and wait while 10 athletes tried to beat her score.

Only two managed it, and Britain's historic first medal on snow was secured when the final contender, Austrian Anna Gasser fell.

Sadly, that moment was spoilt slightly for me by a jingoistic BBC commentary team who roundly celebrated Gasser's demise by screeching hysterically down the mike.

The incident showed the risks behind employing close friends and team mates to deliver the commentary.

And, while it was hardly the crime of the century and may have even added to the event for some, it was just as well the BBC could excuse the behaviour on this occasion by admitting "[the] excitement got the better of them".

Strangely enough, rather more measured tones greeted Lizzy Yarnold's gold though this was as much as a result of the 25-year-old's own dominance than anything else.

Yarnold led by almost half-a-second following the first two runs, and then extended this to 0.78 seconds after setting a track record in her third run.

The fourth run thus became something a procession for the former heptathlete from Sevenoaks in Kent, who was introduced to skeleton in 2008 by the UK Sport-backed programme Girls4Gold.

Hardly at her best, Yarnold actually stretched out her margin of victory still further, ultimately winning by a massive 0.97 seconds.

And, consequently, she maintained Great Britain's brilliant record of having won a women's skeleton medal in every Winter Olympics since the event was introduced in 2002.

Curling has also been a sport which has furnished Britain with a good helping of success over the years, notably in 2002 when skip Rhona Martin famously led her team to Olympic gold.

Martin is now a coach to her team's youthful successors who are themselves spearheaded by their determined skip Eve Muirhead, competing at her second Olympics at the age of just 23.

The women came into the event as reigning world champions but found the round-robin stage tough going, eventually qualifying for the semi finals in fourth with a 5-4 win-loss record.

Nevertheless, there had been some notable signs of their talent, no less than when they took a record seven from one end in a 12-3 victory over the United States.

But, having given away a 3-0 headstart after two ends, Canada were just too strong in the semis, and Muirhead's tearful team were a picture of devastation.

They showed some guts then not just to limp over the line when 3-1 down after four ends of the bronze medal match against Switzerland.

Level at half time after taking a two in the fifth, Britain began to control the match, blanking the seventh end and restricting the Swiss to one with the hammer in the ninth.

It meant Britain had the hammer, the vital last stone, going into the final end - and Muirhead used it to her full advantage with a nerveless draw into the house with her last shot for bronze.

The men's team, led by David Murdoch, also endured some torturous tussles in the Ice Cube Curling Centre, and they too finished the round-robin with a 5-4 win-loss record.

In the men's competition, though, that was not good enough for an automatic place in the semi finals with Norway finishing with an identical 5-4 ratio after a costly defeat to Denmark. 

Britain thus faced a playoff against the flamboyant Norwegians for a place in the last four, and a tight match again went down to the last end.

Norway led 5-4 going into it but Britain had the hammer. Nevertheless, the pressure was all on Murdoch who had been left with a tough double take-out to leave Britain lying two for victory, or a simpler draw shot for one to take the tie into an extra end.

Murdoch had been attacking throughout the competition, narrowly missing a similar death-or-glory shot against Canada in the round-robin. Bearing that in mind, would he stick to his principles or play it safe?

The Lockerbie man thankfully chose the former - and, this time, he made it to ensure Britain had both of its teams in the semi finals.

Arguably, given the elation from their playoff success, the men had more momentum heading into their semi final, and it showed as they beat reigning world champions Sweden.

Again, it came down to Britain needing a two with the hammer from the final end. Again, Murdoch delivered, drawing into the house and perfectly leaving his stone on the button.

Victory had guaranteed Britain a medal but, sadly, the final was a journey too far for Murdoch and his men, as Canada ruthlessly took advantage of a slow start to lead 5-1 after three ends and 8-2 after six.

There were no death-or-glory shots to be made this time - nevertheless, Murdoch could still afford a smile.

This was his third Olympics and finally he had achieved a medal after disappointments in Turin in 2006, and particularly in Vancouver in 2010.

For the rest of the team, though, this was a first Olympics experience - and, indeed, much of the Team GB squad in Sochi has youth on its side.

Teenager Katie Summerhayes finished seventh and 20-year-old James Woods was fifth in the slopestyle freestyle skiing event

Meanwhile Billy Morgan, just 24, was 10th in the final of the men's slopestyle snowboarding having come top in the semi final round.

Overall, there were 13 top-eight finishes from British athletes and teams. The spirit of London 2012 was very much present in the British camp in Sochi.

Then, of course, there was poor Elise Christie, the short track speed skater.

Understandably disqualified in a racing incident in the 500m final, the 23-year-old was bizarrely adjudged not to have completed her heat in the 1500m after skating 1cm to the left of the finish line.

An emotional interview followed, as a clearly distraught Christie tried to make sense of the ruling while she also revealed that she had been the target of cyber bullying on Twitter.

Christie subsequently deleted her account and Team GB asked for social media providers, such as Twitter and Facebook, to offer more protection to its athletes.

Overall, though, it must be said that there has been excellent support for the British team, especially on Twitter.

#YarnyArmy and #lovecurling have trended, and followers of snowboarder Jones soared from 8,453 on 8 February to over 45,000 on the day she won her bronze.

For Christie, though, these seemed destined to be the Olympics that never were - and so it proved in her favoured event, the 1000m, where she received a penalty for the third time, despite being taken out by China's Jianrou Li.

A heartbreaking series of events then, and one can only hope Christie refuses to wilt and instead comes back stronger at a future Olympics.

Time is certainly on her side too, and Britain's reputation in the Winter Olympics is growing again so it would be a crying shame if she continued to miss out.

GREAT BRITAIN AT THE WINTER OLYMPICS

Year	Hosts	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE	TOTAL
1924	Chamonix (FRA)	1	1	2	4
1928	St Moritz (SUI)	0	0	1	1
1932	Lake Placid (USA)	0	0	0	-
1936	Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER)	1	1	1	3
1948	St Moritz (SUI)	0	0	2	2
1952	Oslo (NOR)	1	0	0	1
1956	Cortina d'Ampezzo (ITA)	0	0	0	-
1960	Squaw Valley (USA)	0	0	0	-
1964	Innsbruck (AUT)	1	0	0	1
1968	Grenoble (FRA)	0	0	0	-
1972	Sapporo (JPN)	0	0	0	-
1976	Innsbruck (AUT)	1	0	0	1
1980	Lake Placid (USA)	1	0	0	1
1984	Sarajevo (YUG)	1	0	0	1
1988	Calgary (CAN)	0	0	0	-
1992	Albertville (FRA)	0	0	0	-
1994	Lillehammer (NOR)	0	0	2	2
1998	Nagano (JPN)	0	0	1	1
2002	Salt Lake City (USA)	1	0	1	2
2006	Turin (ITA)	0	1	0	1
2010	Vancouver (CAN)	1	0	0	1
2014	Sochi (RUS)	1	1	2	4

GREAT BRITISH WINTER OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS
1924 Men's curling
1936 Men's ice hockey
1952 Jeannette Altwegg (figure skating)
1964 Tony Nash & Robin Dixon (two-man bobsleigh)
1976 John Curry (figure skating)
1980 Robin Cousins (figure skating)
1984 Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean (figure skating)
2002 Women's curling
2010 Amy Williams (skeleton)
2014 Lizzy Yarnold (skeleton)


Away from Team GB, and Russia topped the Sochi 2014 medal table following a late rush of gold medals including the four-man bobsleigh on the final day.

To President Vladimir Putin's obvious delight at the closing ceremony, the hosts finished with 13 golds, two ahead of long-time leaders Norway.

Previous hosts Canada were third with 10 golds including all four in the men and women's hockey and curling events. That left the United States down in fourth, their worst ranking since 1998.

Beaten in both hockey tournaments by the Canadians, some of the other big American stars - like Alpine skier Bode Miller and snowboarder Shaun White - failed to shine.

The biggest medal table shock, though, was Germany being beaten to a top-five placing by their neighbours Netherlands, a result of total Dutch domination in the speed skating events.

In all, the Dutch won 23 of their 24 medals from speed skating including all eight of their golds.

By contrast, the Germans dominated the luge, winning all four events in the sport for half of their golds - but it was still not enough to beat the Dutch.

Realistically, though, all eyes in these Games were on the Russians.

And, while Putin may not have got his wish for Russian hockey gold, the hosts' overall showing was much improved on their efforts four years ago in Canada when they finished down in 11th.

The staging of the event also passed off without any major incidents, the biggest faux-pas being an embarrassing malfunctioning hydraulic Olympic ring in the opening ceremony.

Yet even this had been turned on its head with unexpected good humour at the closing ceremony as the dancers arranged themselves to replicate the error in a self-depreciating manner.

If that had raised a smile or perhaps even a chuckle, attention now turns again to Putin and the Kremlin in respect of much weightier matters following the events over the last week in Ukraine.

Already, the rhetoric from Moscow appears to be escalating as the sun sets on Sochi and life moves on...

Winter Olympics 2014: Genuine Sochi hopefuls

SOCHI 2014 WINTER OLYMPICS

Preview - Hockey/Curling - Other results - BBC coverage

GREAT BRITAIN holds high hopes of achieving its best Winter Olympics result in decades at the controversial Games which officially begin today in Sochi.

The British team - or Team GB as it is better known - features genuine medal contenders in skeleton, curling, snowboarding, and short-track speed skating as well as further hopes in freestyle skiing and at a bobsleigh meet which will also feature Jamaica.

Never mind Cool Runnings, though - from a historical perspective, any British success would be a bit of a turn up for the books in a competition historically dominated by North America, Russia, and the Alpine and Scandanavian countries.

After all, Britain has only won more than one medal at three post-war Games, and has failed to win any at all on six occasions.

The last triple haul came at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Nazi Germany in 1936 while, Britain's best performance was back in the very first Winter Olympics in 1924. In those first Games, in Chamonix, France, Britain won four medals - one gold, a silver and two bronzes.

Remarkably, that total stands a chance of being beaten - at least, according to UK Sport, the high performance funding agency, which has set a target of between three and seven podium finishes.

However, long-time readers of this blog may recall me writing of similar expectations four years ago for the Games at Whistler near Vancouver in Canada.

As it turned out, Britain came away with only one medal - though it was a gold - from Amy Williams as she became Team GB's first individual Winter Olympic champion for 30 years by winning in skeleton.

The 'tea-tray' sport again provides perhaps Britain's best chance for success this time too, with 2006 Olympic silver medallist Shelley Rudman competing as the reigning world champion and Lizzy Yarnold recently winning the season-long World Cup title.

In the more sedate - but no less competitive - sport of curling, both the women and men's teams are very much in the running.

The women, coached by 2002 Olympic champion Rhona Martin, are skippered by Eve Muirhead and head to Sochi Winter Olympics as the reigning world champions after success in Riga last year.

Meanwhile, David Murdoch skippers the men, still looking to break his Olympic duck despite having won two world and three European titles in his career.

On the slopes, Jenny Jones and Billy Morgan should be competitive in the snowboarding while, in the freestyle skiing, teenager Katie Summerhayes and 20-year-old James Woods could post incredible early career markers.

Short-track speed skater Elise Christie won European gold in the 1000m last month and the four-man bobsleighers were silver-medallists at their European Championships, as well as at a World Cup event in Lake Placid.

So, there we go, then. Plenty of chances over the next 17 days for this to be a memorable Games for Britain.

For Russia, and president Vladimir Putin, the importance of these Winter Olympics simply cannot be understated. Putin's reputation is effectively on the line, the event having come at a cost of $51bn.

Already, though, Sochi 2014 has been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Anti-gays laws, brought in last summer, banned the promotion of homosexuality to children, something which seems completely out of kilter with the Olympic charter.

Principle Six of the charter reads: "Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement."

And yet, despite a shocking Channel 4 Dispatches documentary exposing the everyday persecution of gay people in Russia, the Games remain there.

Stephen Fry wrote an open letter in August calling for a boycott of Sochi 2014, stating an absolute ban was "simply essential".

It would surely be better, though, if the issue could be highlighted during the course of a Games.

The old cliche that sport and politics do not mix is certainly one of the most hackneyed in the book. Perhaps, in an ideal world, they should not - but they always have and always will.

Therefore, it must be hoped there there will be a moment just as powerful as the 'Black Power' salutes of Tommie Smith and John Carlos after they won medals in the 200m at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico.

Demonstrations and protests, organised in 19 cities across the globe including in Downing Street, London, are a good start, and it is commendable to see a big firm like Google make its point.

But how much more remarkable would it be if there was something done in Sochi itself - and how shameful would it be if the Russian authorities clamped down on it.

Coming away from that issue, and there have also been significant fears about a terrorist attack striking at the event following three recent bombings in the city of Volgograd which killed 42.

Ex-CIA boss Mike Morrell has even described the Games as being "the most dangerous Olympics ever", though his world view can hardly be described as an unbiased one.

Instead, the athletes and spectators should be reassured by Sochi's 'ring of steel' of approximately 100,000 police, security agents and army troops. 

If anything, and without wanting to tempt fate, it seems to me as if these Games will be particularly difficult to disrupt. 

The last of the worries from the hosts is with regards to the actual performance of the Russian team.

The Soviet Union dominated the Winter Olympics to such an extent that, between 1956 and 1988, it failed to finish top of the medal table just twice - in 1968 and 1984, finishing second on both occasions.  

A Unified Team in 1992 also finished second before the Russians finished top in 1994 without the assistance of medals from the other ex-Soviet republics. 

Since then, though, performance has slipped to such an extent that only three gold medals were won at Vancouver in 2010 as the Russians ended up ranked 11th.

In the hockey, neither the men or the women's team even made it to the semis, with the men humiliated 7-3 in their quarter final against Canada. 

A similar performance level across all the sports simply will not do for Russia or Putin - though it would be only natural to expect an improvement from a host nation. 

One of the most wonderful things about the Winter Olympics, however, is that the snow and ice makes the sports so much more unpredictable than the summer event. 

Just witness how this gold medal was won by Australian speed skater Steven Bradbury in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. 

Hopefully, fortune will favour the British team over the next two-and-a-bit weeks and my review blog at the end of the month charts some significant success. 

In the meantime, the results of all of the events and a medal table will be recorded on this page here - except for the team sports of hockey or curling, which are here. 


The full list of Team GB members at Sochi 2014 is:
Alpine Skiing (m) David Ryding (w) Chemmy Alcott 
Biathlon (m) Lee Jackson (w) Amanda Lightfoot
Bobsleigh (m) Ben Simons, Stuart Benson, John Jackson, Bruce Tasker, Craig Pickering, Joel Fearon, John Baines, Lamin Deen (w) Paula Walker, Rebekah Wilson
Cross-country skiing Andrew Young, Andrew Musgrave, Callum Smith, Rosamund Musgrave
Curling (m) David Murdoch, Greg Drummond, Michael Goodfellow, Scott Andrews, Tom Brewster
Curling (w) Eve Muirhead, Anna Sloan, Claire Hamilton, Lauren Gray, Vicki Adams
Figure skating (pairs) David King, Stacey Kemp (mixed) Nick Buckland, Penny Coomes (m) Matthew Parr (w) Jenna McCorkell
Freestyle skiing Murray Buchan, James Woods, James Machon, Emma Lonsdale, Katie Summerhayes, Rowan Cheshire
Short track speed skating (m) Jack Whelbourne, Jon Eley, Richard Shoebridge (w) Elise Christie, Charlotte Gilmartin
Skeleton (m) Kristan Bromley, Dominic Parson (w) Shelley Rudman, Lizzy Yarnold
Snowboarding (m) Jamie Nicholls, Dom Harrington, Billy Morgan, Ben Kilner (w) Zoe Gillings, Aimee Fuller, Jenny Jones

Winter Olympics 2014 results

FINAL MEDAL TABLE

Rank	Country	G	S	B	Total
1	RUSSIAN FEDERATION (RUS)	13	11	9	33
2	Norway (NOR)	11	5	10	26
3	Canada (CAN)	10	10	5	25
4	United States (USA)	9	7	12	28
5	Netherlands (NED)	8	7	9	24
6	Germany (GER)	8	6	5	19
7	Switzerland (SUI)	6	3	2	11
8	Belarus (BLR)	5	0	1	6
9	Austria (AUT)	4	8	5	17
10	France (FRA)	4	4	7	15
11	Poland (POL)	4	1	1	6
12	China (CHN)	3	4	2	9
13	South Korea (KOR)	3	3	2	8
14	Sweden (SWE)	2	7	6	15
15	Czech Republic (CZE)	2	4	2	8
16	Slovenia (SLO)	2	2	4	8
17	Japan (JPN)	1	4	3	8
18	Finland (FIN)	1	3	1	5
19	Great Britain & NI (GBR)	1	1	2	4
20	Ukraine (UKR)	1	0	1	2
21	Slovakia (SVK)	1	0	0	1
22	Italy (ITA)	0	2	6	8
23	Latvia (LAT)	0	2	2	4
24	Australia (AUS)	0	2	1	3
25	Croatia (CRO)	0	1	0	1
26	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	0	0	1	1

SKIING

ALPINE
Men

Downhill (9 Feb)
GOLD	Matthias Mayer (AUT)	2:06.23
SILVER	Christof Innerhofer (ITA)	2:06.29
BRONZE	Kjetil Jansrud (NOR)	2:06.33
Super-G (16 Feb)
GOLD	Kjetil Jansrud (NOR)	1:18.14
SILVER	Andrew Weibrecht (USA)	1:18.44
BRONZE	Jan Hudec (CAN)/Bode Miller (USA)	1:18.67
Giant slalom (19 Feb)
GOLD	Ted Ligety (USA)	2:45.29
SILVER	Steve Missillier (FRA)	2:45.77
BRONZE	Alexis Pinturault (FRA)	2:45.93
Slalom (22 Feb)
GOLD	Mario Matt (AUT)	1:41.84
SILVER	Marcel Hirscher (AUT)	1:42.12
BRONZE	Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR)	1:42.67
Super Combined (14 Feb)
GOLD	Sandro Viletta (SUI)	2:45.20
SILVER	Ivica Kostelic (CRO)	2:45.54
BRONZE	Christof Innerhofer (ITA)	2:45.67

Women

Downhill (12 Feb)
GOLD	Tina Maze (SLO)	1:41.6
GOLD	Dominique Gisin (SUI)	1:41.6
BRONZE	Lara Gut (SUI)	1:41.7
Super-G (15 Feb)
GOLD	Anna Fenninger (AUT)	1:25.5
SILVER	Maria Hoefl-Riesch (GER)	1:26.1
BRONZE	Nicole Hosp (AUT)	1:26.2
Giant slalom (18 Feb)
GOLD	Tina Maze (SLO)	2:36.87
SILVER	Anna Fenninger (AUT)	2:36.94
BRONZE	Viktoria Rebensburg (GER)	2:37.14
Slalom (21 Feb)
GOLD	Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)	1:44.54
SILVER	Marlies Schild (AUT)	1:45.07
BRONZE	Kathrin Zettel (AUT)	1:45.35
Super Combined (10 Feb)
GOLD	Maria Hoefl-Riesch (GER)	2:34.62
SILVER	Nicole Hosp (AUT)	2:35.02
BRONZE	Julia Mancuso (USA)	2:35.15

CROSS-COUNTRY
Men

15km classical (14 Feb)
GOLD	Dario Cologna (SUI)	38:29.7
SILVER	Johan Olsson (SWE)	38:58.2
BRONZE	Daniel Richardsson (SWE)	39:08.5
30km skiathlon (9 Feb)
GOLD	Dario Cologna (SUI)	1:08:15.4
SILVER	Marcus Hellner (SWE)	1:08:15.8
BRONZE	Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR)	1:08:16.8
50km freestyle (23 Feb)
GOLD	Alexander Legkov (RUS)	1:46:55.2
SILVER	Maxim Vylegzhanin (RUS)	1:46:55.9
BRONZE	Ilia Chernousov (RUS)	1:46.56.0
4x10km relay (16 Feb)
GOLD	Sweden (SWE)	1:28:42.0
SILVER	Russian Federation (RUS)	1:29:09.3
BRONZE	France (FRA)	1:29:13.9
Sprint (11 Feb)
GOLD	Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR)	3:38.4
SILVER	Teodor Peterson (SWE)	3:39.6
BRONZE	Emil Joensson (SWE)	3:58.1
Team sprint (19 Feb)
GOLD	Finland (FIN)	23:14.9
SILVER	Russian Federation (RUS)	23:15.9
BRONZE	Sweden (SWE)	23:30.0

Women

10km classical (13 Feb)
GOLD	Justyna Kowalczyk (POL)	28:17.8
SILVER	Charlotte Kalla (SWE)	28:36.2
BRONZE	Therese Johaug (NOR)	28:46.1
15km skiathlon (8 Feb)
GOLD	Marit Bjoergen (NOR)	38:33.6
SILVER	Charlotte Kalla (SWE)	38:35.4
BRONZE	Heidi Weng (NOR)	38:46.8
30km freestyle (22 Feb)
GOLD	Marit Bjoergen (NOR)	1:11:05.2
SILVER	Therese Johaug (NOR)	1:11:07.8
BRONZE	Kristin Stoermer Steira (NOR)	1:11.28.8
4x5km relay (15 Feb)
GOLD	Sweden (SWE)	53:02.7
SILVER	Finland (FIN)	53:03.2
BRONZE	Germany (GER)	53:03.6
Sprint (11 Feb)
GOLD	Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR)	2:35.5
SILVER	Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg (NOR)	2:35.8
BRONZE	Vesna Fabjan (SLO)	2:35.8
Team sprint (19 Feb)
GOLD	Norway (NOR)	16:04.0
SILVER	Finland (FIN)	16:13.1
BRONZE	Sweden (SWE)	16:23.8

FREESTYLE
Men

Aerials (17 Feb)
GOLD	Anton Kushnir (BLR)	134.5
SILVER	David Morris (AUS)	110.41
BRONZE	Jia Zongyang (CHN)	95.06
Halfpipe (18 Feb)
GOLD	David Wise (USA)	92
SILVER	Mike Riddle (CAN)	90.6
BRONZE	Kevin Rolland (FRA)	88.6
Moguls (10 Feb)
GOLD	Alex Bilodeau (CAN)	26.31
SILVER	Mikael Kingsbury (CAN)	24.71
BRONZE	Alexandr Smyshlyaev (RUS)	24.34
Slopestyle (13 Feb)
GOLD	Joss Christensen (USA)	95.8
SILVER	Gus Kenworthy (USA)	93.6
BRONZE	Nicholas Goepper (USA)	92.4
Ski cross (20 Feb)
GOLD	Jean Frederic Chapuis (FRA)
SILVER	Arnaud Boloventa (FRA)
BRONZE	Jonathan Midol (FRA)

Women

Aerials (14 Feb)
GOLD	Alla Tsuper (BLR)	98.01
SILVER	Mengtao Xu (CHN)	83.5
BRONZE	Lydia Lassila (AUS)	72.12
Halfpipe (20 Feb)
GOLD	Maddie Bowman (USA)	89
SILVER	Marie Martinod (FRA)	85.4
BRONZE	Ayana Onozuka (JPN)	83.2
Moguls (8 Feb)
GOLD	Justine Dufour-Lapointe (CAN)	22.44
SILVER	Chloe Dufour-Lapointe (CAN)	21.66
BRONZE	Hannah Kearney (USA)	21.49
Slopestyle (11 Feb)
GOLD	Dara Howell (CAN)	94.2
SILVER	Devin Logan (USA)	85.4
BRONZE	Kim Lamarre (CAN)	85
Ski cross (21 Feb)
GOLD	Marielle Thompson (CAN)
SILVER	Kelsey Serwa (CAN)
BRONZE	Anna Holmlund (SWE)

NORDIC COMBINED
Men

Normal hill 10km (12 Feb)
GOLD	Eric Frenzel (GER)	23:50.2
SILVER	Akito Watabe (JPN)	23:48.4
BRONZE	Magnus Krog (NOR)	22:55.3
Large hill 10km (18 Feb)
GOLD	Jorgen Graabak (NOR)	22:45.5
SILVER	Magnus Moan (NOR)	22:43.1
BRONZE	Fabian Riessle (GER)	22:33.1
Team large hill 4x5km (20 Feb)
GOLD	Norway (NOR)	46:48.5
SILVER	Germany (GER)	47:13.8
BRONZE	Austria (AUT)	47:09.9

SKI JUMPING
Men

Normal hill (9 Feb)
GOLD	Kamil Stoch (POL)	278
SILVER	Peter Prevc (SLO)	265.3
BRONZE	Anders Bardal (NOR)	264.1
Large hill (15 Feb)
GOLD	Kamil Stoch (POL)	278.7
SILVER	Noriaki Kasai (JPN)	277.4
BRONZE	Peter Prevc (SLO)	274.8
Team large hill (17 Feb)
GOLD	Germany (GER)	1041.1
SILVER	Austria (AUT)	1038.4
BRONZE	Japan (JPN)	1024.9

Women

Normal hill (11 Feb)
GOLD	Carina Vogt (GER)	247.4
SILVER	Daniela Iraschko-Stolz (AUT)	246.2
BRONZE	Coline Mattel (FRA)	245.2

SNOWBOARDING
Men

Parallel slalom (22 Feb)
GOLD	Vic Wild (RUS)
SILVER	Zan Kosir (SLO)
BRONZE	Benjamin Karl (AUT)
Parallel giant slalom (19 Feb)
GOLD	Vic Wild (RUS)
SILVER	Nevin Galmarini (SUI)
BRONZE	Zan Kosir (SLO)
Halfpipe (11 Feb)
GOLD	Iouri Podladtchikov (SUI)	94.75
SILVER	Ayumu Hirano (JPN)	93.5
BRONZE	Taku Hiraoka (JPN)	92.25
Slopestyle (8 Feb)
GOLD	Sage Kotsenburg (USA)	93.5
SILVER	Staale Sandbech (NOR)	91.75
BRONZE	Mark McMorris (CAN)	88.75
Snowboard cross (18 Feb)
GOLD	Pierre Vaultier (FRA)
SILVER	Nikolay Olyunin (RUS)
BRONZE	Alex Deibold (USA)

Women

Parallel slalom (22 Feb)
GOLD	Julia Dujmovits (AUT)
SILVER	Anke Karstens (GER)
BRONZE	Amelie Kober (GER)
Parallel giant slalom (19 Feb)
GOLD	Patrizia Kummer (SUI)
SILVER	Tomoka Takeuchi (JPN)
BRONZE	Alena Zavarzina (RUS)
Halfpipe (12 Feb)
GOLD	Kaitlyn Farrington (USA)	91.75
SILVER	Torah Bright (AUS)	91.5
BRONZE	Kelly Clark (USA)	90.75
Slopestyle (9 Feb)
GOLD	Jamie Anderson (USA)	95.25
SILVER	Enni Rukajarvi (FIN)	92.5
BRONZE	Jenny Jones (GBR)	87.25
Snowboard cross (16 Feb)
GOLD	Eva Samkova (CZE)
SILVER	Dominique Maltais (CAN)
BRONZE	Chloe Trespeuch (FRA)

---

SKATING

FIGURE SKATING

Men's singles (14 Feb)
GOLD	Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)	280.09
SILVER	Patrick Chan (CAN)	275.62
BRONZE	Denis Ten (KAZ)	255.10
Ladies' singles (20 Feb)
GOLD	Adelina Sotnikova (RUS)	224.59
SILVER	Kim Yuna (KOR)	219.11
BRONZE	Carolina Kostner (ITA)	216.73
Pair skating (12 Feb)
GOLD	Tatiana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov (RUS)	236.86
SILVER	Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov (RUS)	218.68
BRONZE	Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy (GER)	215.78
Ice dancing (17 Feb)
GOLD	Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA)	195.52
SILVER	Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN)	190.99
BRONZE	Elena Ilinykh/Nikita Ilinykh (RUS)	183.48
Team event (9 Feb)
GOLD	Russian Federation (RUS)	75
SILVER	Canada (CAN)	65
BRONZE	United States (USA)	60

SPEED SKATING
Men

500m (10 Feb)
GOLD	Michel Mulder (NED)	69.312
SILVER	Jan Smeekens (NED)	69.324
BRONZE	Ronald Mulder (NED)	69.46
1000m (12 Feb)
GOLD	Stefan Groothuis (NED)	1:08.39
SILVER	Denny Morrison (CAN)	1:08.43
BRONZE	Michel Mulder (NED)	1:08.74
1500m (15 Feb)
GOLD	Zbigniew Brodka (POL)	1:45.006
SILVER	Koen Verweij (NED)	1:45.009
BRONZE	Denny Morrison (CAN)	1:45.22
5000m (8 Feb)
GOLD	Sven Kramer (NED)	6:10.8 OR
SILVER	Jan Blokhuijsen (NED)	6:15.7
BRONZE	Jorrit Bergsma (NED)	6:16.7
10000m (18 Feb)
GOLD	Jorrit Bergsma (NED)	12:44.45 OR
SILVER	Sven Kramer (NED)	12:49.02
BRONZE	Bob De Jong (NED)	13:07.19
Team pursuit (22 Feb)
GOLD	Netherlands (NED)	3:37.71 OR
SILVER	South Korea (KOR)	3:40.85
BRONZE	Poland (POL)	3:41.94

Women

500m (11 Feb)
GOLD	Sang Hwa Lee (KOR)	74.70 OR
SILVER	Olga Fatkulina (RUS)	75.06
BRONZE	Margot Boer (NED)	75.48
1000m (13 Feb)
GOLD	Hong Zhang (CHN)	1:14.0
SILVER	Irene Wust (NED)	1:14.7
BRONZE	Margot Boer (NED)	1:14.9
1500m (16 Feb)
GOLD	Jorien Ten Mors (NED)	1:53.51 OR
SILVER	Ireen Wust (NED)	1:54.09
BRONZE	Lotte Van Beek (NED)	1:54.54
3000m (9 Feb)
GOLD	Irene Wust (NED)	4:00.34
SILVER	Martina Sablikova (CZE)	4:01.95
BRONZE	Olga Graf (RUS)	4:03.47
5000m (19 Feb)
GOLD	Martina Sablikova (CZE)	6:51.5
SILVER	Irene Wust (NED)	6:54.3
BRONZE	Carien Kleibeuker (NED)	6:55.7
Team pursuit (22 Feb)
GOLD	Netherlands (NED)	2:58.05 OR
SILVER	Poland (POL)	3:05.55
BRONZE	Russian Federation (RUS)	2:59.73 (small final)

SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING
Men

500m (21 Feb)
GOLD	Victor An (RUS)	41.312
SILVER	Dajing Wu (CHN)	41.516
BRONZE	Charlie Cournoyer (CAN)	41.617
1000m (15 Feb)
GOLD	Victor An (RUS)	1:25.325
SILVER	Vladimir Grigorev (RUS)	1:25.399
BRONZE	Sjinkie Knegt (NED)	1:25.611
1500m (10 Feb)
GOLD	Charles Hamelin (CAN)	2:14.985
SILVER	Han Tianyu (CHN)	2:15.055
BRONZE	Victor An (RUS)	2:15.062
5000m relay (21 Feb)
GOLD	Russian Federation (RUS)	6:42.10 OR
SILVER	United States (USA)	6:42.37
BRONZE	China (CHN)	6:48.34

Women

500m (13 Feb)
GOLD	Jianrou Li (CHN)	45.263
SILVER	Arianna Fontana (ITA)	51.25
BRONZE	Park Seung-Hi (KOR)	54.207
1000m (21 Feb)
GOLD	Seung-Hi Park (KOR)	1:30.76
SILVER	Kexin Fan (CHN)	1:30.81
BRONZE	Shim Suk-Hee (KOR)	1:31.03
1500m (15 Feb)
GOLD	Zhou Yang (CHN)	2:19.140
SILVER	Shim Suk-Hee (KOR)	2:19.239
BRONZE	Arianna Fontana (ITA)	2:19.416
3000m relay (18 Feb)
GOLD	South Korea (KOR)	4:09.5
SILVER	Canada (CAN)	4:10.6
BRONZE	Italy (ITA)	4:14.0

---

BOBSLEIGH & LUGE

BOBSLEIGH

Two-man (16-17 Feb)
GOLD	Russian Federation-1 (RUS)	3:45.39
SILVER	Switzerland-1 (SUI)	3:46.05
BRONZE	United States-1 (USA)	3:46.27
Four-man (22-23 Feb)
GOLD	Russian Federation-1 (RUS)
SILVER	Latvia-1 (LAT)
BRONZE	United States-1 (USA)
Two-woman (18-19 Feb)
GOLD	Canada-1 (CAN)	3:50.61
SILVER	United States-1 (USA)	3:50.71
BRONZE	United States-2 (USA)	3:51.61

SKELETON

Men's singles (14-15 Feb)
GOLD	Alexander Tretiakov (RUS)	3:44.29
SILVER	Martins Dukurs (LAT)	3:45.10
BRONZE	Matthew Antoine (USA)	3:47.26
Women's singles (13-14 Feb)
GOLD	Lizzy Yarnold (GBR)	3:52.89
SILVER	Noelle Pikus-Pace (USA)	3:53.86
BRONZE	Elena Nikitina (RUS)	3:54.30

LUGE

Men's singles (8-9 Feb)
GOLD	Felix Loch (GER)	3:27.526
SILVER	Albert Demchenko (RUS)	3:28.002
BRONZE	Armin Zoeggeler (ITA)	3:28.797
Women's singles (10-11 Feb)
GOLD	Natalie Geisenberger (GER)	3:19.768
SILVER	Tatjana Huefner (GER)	3:20.907
BRONZE	Erin Hamlin (USA)	3:21.145
Doubles (12 Feb)
GOLD	Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt (GER)	1:38.933
SILVER	Andreas Linger/Wolfgang Linger (AUT)	1:39.455
BRONZE	Andreas Sics/Juris Sics (LAT)	1:39.790
Team relay (13 Feb)
GOLD	Germany (GER)	2:45.649
SILVER	Russian Federation (RUS)	2:46.679
BRONZE	Latvia (LAT)	2:47.295

---

BIATHLON

Mixed

Relay (19 Feb)
GOLD	Norway (NOR)	9:17.0
SILVER	Czech Republic (CZE)	9:49.6
BRONZE	Italy (ITA)	10:15.2

Men

Individual (13 Feb)
GOLD	Martin Fourcade (FRA)	49:31.7
SILVER	Erik Lesser (GER)	49:43.9
BRONZE	Evgeniy Garanichev (RUS)	50:06.2
Sprint (8 Feb)
GOLD	Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (NOR)	24:33.5
SILVER	Dominik Landertinger (AUT)	24:34.8
BRONZE	Jaroslav Soukup (CZE)	24:39.2
Pursuit (10 Feb)
GOLD	Martin Fourcade (FRA)	33:48.6
SILVER	Ondrej Moravec (CZE)	34:02.7
BRONZE	Jean Guillaume Beatrix (FRA)	34:12.8
Mass start (18 Feb)
GOLD	Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR)	42:29.1
SILVER	Martin Fourcade (FRA)	42:29.1 (photo finish)
BRONZE	Ondrej Moravec (CZE)	42:42.9
Relay (22 Feb)
GOLD	Russian Federation (RUS)	1:12:15.9
SILVER	Germany (GER)	1:12:19.4
BRONZE	Austria (AUT)	1:12:45.7

Women

Individual (14 Feb)
GOLD	Darya Domracheva (BLR)	43:19.6
SILVER	Selina Gasparin (SUI)	44:35.3
BRONZE	Nadezhda Skardino (BLR)	44:57.8
Sprint (9 Feb)
GOLD	Anastasiya Kuzmina (SVK)	21:06.8
SILVER	Olga Vilukhina (RUS)	21:26.7
BRONZE	Vita Semerenko (UKR)	21:28.5
Pursuit (11 Feb)
GOLD	Darya Domracheva (BLR)	29:30.7
SILVER	Tora Berger (NOR)	30:08.3
BRONZE	Teja Gregorin (SLO)	30:12.7
Mass start (17 Feb)
GOLD	Darya Domracheva (BLR)	35:25.6
SILVER	Gabriela Soukalova (CZE)	35:45.8
BRONZE	Tiril Eckhoff (NOR)	35:52.9
Relay (21 Feb)
GOLD	Ukraine (UKR)	1:10:02.5
SILVER	Russian Federation (RUS)	1:10:28.9
BRONZE	Norway (NOR)	1:10:40.1

Winter Olympics 2014 hockey/curling results

HOCKEY

Men

GROUP A

Time	Date		Venue
12.30pm	Thu 13 Feb	RUSSIA 5-2 SLOVENIA	Bolshoy
12.30pm	Thu 13 Feb	SLOVAKIA 1-7 UNITED STATES	Shayba
8am	Sat 15 Feb	SLOVAKIA 1-3 SLOVENIA	Bolshoy
12.30pm	Sat 15 Feb	UNITED STATES 2-2(4-3) RUSSIA	Bolshoy
12.30pm	Sun 16 Feb	RUSSIA 0-0(2-0) SLOVAKIA	Bolshoy
12.30pm	Sun 16 Feb	SLOVENIA 1-5 UNITED STATES	Shayba

GROUP B

Time	Date		Venue
8am	Thu 13 Feb	FINLAND 8-4 AUSTRIA	Bolshoy
5pm	Thu 13 Feb	CANADA 3-1 NORWAY	Bolshoy
5pm	Fri 14 Feb	CANADA 6-0 AUSTRIA	Bolshoy
5pm	Fri 14 Feb	NORWAY 1-6 FINLAND	Shayba
8am	Sun 16 Feb	AUSTRIA 3-1 NORWAY	Bolshoy
5pm	Sun 16 Feb	FINLAND 1-2(OT) CANADA	Bolshoy

GROUP C

Time	Date		Venue
5pm	Wed 12 Feb	CZECH REP 2-4 SWEDEN	Bolshoy
5pm	Wed 12 Feb	LATVIA 0-1 SWITZERLAND	Shayba
8am	Fri 14 Feb	CZECH REP 4-2 LATVIA	Bolshoy
12.30pm	Fri 14 Feb	SWEDEN 1-0 SWITZERLAND	Bolshoy
5pm	Sat 15 Feb	SWITZERLAND 1-0 CZECH REP	Bolshoy
5pm	Sat 15 Feb	SWEDEN 5-3 LATVIA	Shayba

QUALIFICATION ROUND

Time	Date		Venue
8am	Tue 18 Feb	SLOVENIA 4-0 AUSTRIA	Bolshoy
12.30pm	Tue 18 Feb	RUSSIA 4-0 NORWAY	Bolshoy
5pm	Tue 18 Feb	SWITZERLAND 1-3 LATVIA	Bolshoy
5pm	Tue 18 Feb	CZECH REPUBLIC 5-3 SLOVAKIA	Shayba

QUARTER FINALS

Time	Date		Venue
8am	Wed 19 Feb	SWEDEN 5-0 SLOVENIA	Bolshoy
12.30pm	Wed 19 Feb	FINLAND 3-1 RUSSIA	Bolshoy
5pm	Wed 19 Feb	CANADA 2-1 LATVIA	Bolshoy
5pm	Wed 19 Feb	UNITED STATES 5-2 CZECH REPUBLIC	Shayba

SEMI FINALS

Time	Date		Venue
12pm	Fri 21 Feb	SWEDEN 2-1 FINLAND	Bolshoy
5pm	Fri 21 Feb	UNITED STATES 0-1 CANADA	Bolshoy

BRONZE

Time	Date		Venue
3pm	Sat 22 Feb	FINLAND 5-0 UNITED STATES	Bolshoy

GOLD MEDAL FINAL

Time	Date		Venue
12pm	Sun 23 Feb	SWEDEN 0-3 CANADA	Bolshoy

Women

GROUP A

Time	Date		Venue
8am	Sat 8 Feb	UNITED STATES 3-1 FINLAND	Shayba
3pm	Sat 8 Feb	CANADA 5-0 SWITZERLAND	Shayba
10am	Mon 10 Feb	UNITED STATES 9-0 SWITZERLAND	Shayba
3pm	Mon 10 Feb	FINLAND 0-3 CANADA	Shayba
8am	Wed 12 Feb	SWITZERLAND 3-4(OT) FINLAND	Shayba
12.30pm	Wed 12 Feb	CANADA 3-2 UNITED STATES	Shayba

GROUP B

Time	Date		Venue
8am	Sun 9 Feb	SWEDEN 1-0 JAPAN	Shayba
3pm	Sun 9 Feb	RUSSIA 4-1 GERMANY	Shayba
12pm	Tue 11 Feb	GERMANY 0-4 SWEDEN	Shayba
3pm	Tue 11 Feb	RUSSIA 2-1 JAPAN	Shayba
8am	Thu 13 Feb	JAPAN 0-4 GERMANY	Shayba
5pm	Thu 13 Feb	SWEDEN 1-3 RUSSIA	Shayba

QUARTER FINALS

Time	Date		Venue
8am	Sat 15 Feb	SWITZERLAND 2-0 RUSSIA	Shayba
5pm	Sat 15 Feb	FINLAND 2-4 SWEDEN	Shayba

SEMI FINALS

Time	Date		Venue
5pm	Mon 17 Feb	CANADA 3-1 SWITZERLAND	Shayba
12.30pm	Mon 17 Feb	UNITED STATES 6-1 SWEDEN	Shayba

BRONZE

Time	Date		Venue
12pm	Thu 20 Feb	SWITZERLAND 4-3 SWEDEN	Bolshoy

GOLD MEDAL FINAL

Time	Date		Venue
5pm	Thu 20 Feb	CANADA 3-2(OT) UNITED STATES	Bolshoy

---

CURLING

Men

ROUND ROBIN

Time	Date
5am	Mon 10 Feb	RUSSIA 4-7 GREAT BRITAIN
		SWITZERLAND 5-7 SWEDEN
		DENMARK 4-7 CHINA
		GERMANY 8-11 CANADA

Time	Date
3pm	Mon 10 Feb	UNITED STATES 4-7 NORWAY
		DENMARK 11-10 RUSSIA
		CANADA 4-5 SWITZERLAND
		SWEDEN 8-4 GREAT BRITAIN

Time	Date
10am	Tue 11 Feb	CANADA 6-7 SWEDEN
		UNITED STATES 4-9 CHINA
		GREAT BRITAIN 7-6 GERMANY
		NORWAY 9-8 RUSSIA

Time	Date
5am	Wed 12 Feb	DENMARK 5-9 UNITED STATES
		NORWAY 8-5 GERMANY
		CHINA 5-4 SWITZERLAND
		NONE

Time	Date
3pm	Wed 12 Feb	GERMANY 7-11 CHINA
		SWITZERLAND 2-4 GREAT BRITAIN
		RUSSIA 4-7 CANADA
		DENMARK 8-5 SWEDEN

Time	Date
10am	Thu 13 Feb	SWITZERLAND 6-7 RUSSIA
		CANADA 7-6 DENMARK
		NORWAY 4-5 SWEDEN
		GREAT BRITAIN 5-3 UNITED STATES

Time	Date
5am	Fri 14 Feb	SWEDEN 6-5 CHINA
		UNITED STATES 8-5 GERMANY
		CANADA 10-4 NORWAY
		NONE

Time	Date
3pm	Fri 14 Feb	GREAT BRITAIN 8-6 DENMARK
		RUSSIA 7-6 UNITED STATES
		CHINA 7-5 NORWAY
		SWITZERLAND 7-8 GERMANY

Time	Date
10am	Sat 15 Feb	SWEDEN 8-4 GERMANY
		DENMARK 3-9 SWITZERLAND
		CANADA 7-5 GREAT BRITAIN
		RUSSIA 6-9 CHINA

Time	Date
5am	Sun 16 Feb	UNITED STATES 6-8 CANADA
		GREAT BRITAIN 6-7 NORWAY
		SWEDEN 8-4 RUSSIA
		NONE

Time	Date
3pm	Sun 16 Feb	NORWAY 5-3 SWITZERLAND
		CHINA 8-9 CANADA
		GERMANY 3-6 DENMARK
		UNITED STATES 4-6 SWEDEN

Time	Date
10am	Mon 17 Feb	CHINA 6-5 GREAT BRITAIN
		GERMANY 7-8 RUSSIA
		SWITZERLAND 6-3 UNITED STATES
		NORWAY 3-5 DENMARK

TIEBREAK

Time	Date
5am	Tue 18 Feb	NORWAY 5-6 GREAT BRITAIN

SEMI FINAL

Time	Date
3pm	Wed 19 Feb	SWEDEN 5-6 GREAT BRITAIN
		CANADA 10-6 CHINA

BRONZE

Time	Date
8.30am	Fri 21 Feb	SWEDEN 6-4 CHINA

GOLD MEDAL FINAL

Time	Date
1.30pm	Fri 21 Feb	GREAT BRITAIN 3-9 CANADA

Women

ROUND ROBIN

Time	Date
10am	Mon 10 Feb	CHINA 2-9 CANADA
		SWITZERLAND 7-4 UNITED STATES
		SWEDEN 6-4 GREAT BRITAIN
		RUSSIA 7-4 DENMARK

Time	Date
5am	Tue 11 Feb	SWITZERLAND 7-6 DENMARK
		SWEDEN 3-9 CANADA
		RUSSIA 9-6 UNITED STATES
		SOUTH KOREA 12-7 JAPAN

Time	Date
3pm	Tue 11 Feb	GREAT BRITAIN 12-3 UNITED STATES
		SOUTH KOREA 6-8 SWITZERLAND
		DENMARK 3-8 JAPAN
		CHINA 7-5 RUSSIA

Time	Date
10am	Wed 12 Feb	JAPAN 8-4 RUSSIA
		UNITED STATES 4-7 CHINA
		SOUTH KOREA 4-7 SWEDEN
		CANADA 9-6 GREAT BRITAIN

Time	Date
5am	Thu 13 Feb	CANADA 8-5 DENMARK
		CHINA 7-8 GREAT BRITAIN
		SWITZERLAND 8-9 SWEDEN
		NONE

Time	Date
3pm	Thu 13 Feb	SWEDEN 7-6 DENMARK
		RUSSIA 4-8 SOUTH KOREA
		SWITZERLAND 5-8 CANADA
		JAPAN 6-8 UNITED STATES

Time	Date
10am	Mon 14 Feb	SOUTH KOREA 3-11 CHINA
		GREAT BRITAIN 12-3 JAPAN
		UNITED STATES 2-9 DENMARK
		RUSSIA 6-3 SWITZERLAND

Time	Date
5am	Sat 15 Feb	CANADA 8-6 JAPAN
		CHINA 7-6 SWEDEN
		GREAT BRITAIN 10-8 SOUTH KOREA
		NONE

Time	Date
3pm	Sat 15 Feb	UNITED STATES 6-7 SWEDEN
		CANADA 5-3 RUSSIA
		GREAT BRITAIN 6-8 SWITZERLAND
		DENMARK 9-6 CHINA

Time	Date
10am	Sun 16 Feb	DENMARK 7-4 SOUTH KOREA
		JAPAN 9-7 SWITZERLAND
		SWEDEN 5-4 RUSSIA
		UNITED STATES 6-7 CANADA

Time	Date
5am	Mon 17 Feb	RUSSIA 6-9 GREAT BRITAIN
		SOUTH KOREA 11-2 UNITED STATES
		JAPAN 8-5 CHINA
		NONE

Time	Date
3pm	Mon 17 Feb	CHINA 6-10 SWITZERLAND
		DENMARK 8-7 GREAT BRITAIN
		CANADA 9-4 SOUTH KOREA
		SWEDEN 8-4 JAPAN

SEMI FINAL

Time	Date
10am	Wed 19 Feb	CANADA 6-4 GREAT BRITAIN
		SWEDEN 7-5 SWITZERLAND

BRONZE

Time	Date
8.30am	Thu 20 Feb	GREAT BRITAIN 6-5 SWITZERLAND

GOLD MEDAL FINAL

Time	Date
1.30pm	Thu 20 Feb	CANADA 6-3 SWEDEN