It’s crunch time for Great Britain’s curlers on day 12 as they aim to progress to the gold medal matches later this week.
Both the men’s and women’s teams have reached the semi-finals and are one game away from giving themselves the chance to become Olympic champions.
First up at 10.00am will be Eve Muirhead’s team as they take on the unbeaten and strongly fancied Canadian side, then at 3.00pm it is the turn of David Murdoch and his team as they take on Sweden.
Great Britain’s women have not reached this stage since 2002 when Rhona Martin’s team beat Switzerland with the last stone of the game to take a memorable gold in Salt Lake City.
Murdoch’s men had a thrilling last stone win in the tie-breaker against Norway and they will be full of confidence going into today’s semi-final, buoyed by the prospect of playing for an Olympic title.
The Scot will want to avenge the agony he suffered in losing a semi-final in Torino 2006, while in 2010 – as the world champions and hot favourites for gold – GB failed to progress past the round-robin stage.
Can they book their final spot and go on to become the first British male curlers to win a medal since 1924?
Elsewhere on day 12, the two-woman bobsleigh competition reaches its climax with Britain’s pairing of Paula Walker and Bex Wilson in 12th place going into the final two runs.
Watch out for American sprinter-turned-brakewoman Lauryn Williams in the top US sled with pilot Elena Meyers, while Lolo Jones, who finished fourth in the 100m hurdles at London 2012, will also be in action for the US.
In alpine skiing, American Ted Ligety is the world champion in giant slalom and will now be looking to claim the Olympic title in the disciplin today, joining a roll of honour that includes Jean-Claude Killy, Alberto Tomba and Hermann Maier.
For the first time at a Winter Olympics, a mixed-gender biathlon event will take place today featuring three loops of a 2km course for women and three 2.5km loops for men.
Host Russia will be under pressure to perform after considerable investment from oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov, but the Czech Republic won this season’s only World Cup mixed relay to date, ahead of Norway.
Ice skating sensation Yulia Lipnitskaya, 15, is expected to draw Russia’s biggest sporting TV audience over the next two days as she returns to the ice in the women’s short program.
She became the youngest skating gold medalist in 78 years when anchoring Russia to team gold on the ice earlier in the Games, is set to have the biggest impact on an Olympics for Russia since gymnast Olga Korbut enchanted the world and take gold as a 17 year-old at the Munich Olympics in 1972 for the Soviet Union.
Finally, today sees the men’s quarter finals in the ice hockey competition take place with the three big hitters Canada, United States and Russia all in contention.
You can access all the action from the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics across BBC TV, Red Button and radio, with up to six live streams available online, connected TVs, mobiles, tablets and the BBC Sport app.
SOTB’s TV viewing guide to Day 12 of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games below:
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DAY 12: WEDNESDAY 19th FEBRUARY
06:45 – 13:00 |
ALPINE SKIING, SNOWBOARD & CURLING Presenter: Hazel Irvine |
It is another busy morning in Sochi and Hazel Irvine is the guide through the various sports taking place.
One of the highlights is sure to be up at the Rosa Khutor resort, where the men’s skiing giant slalom is taking place.
American Ted Ligety is the world champion and will now be looking to claim the Olympic title, joining a roll of honour that includes Jean-Claude Killy, Ingemar Stenmark, Alberto Tomba and Hermann Maier.
There is also sure to be non-stop action in the battle for the parallel giant slalom medals in snowboarding.
The sport sees athletes race each other down separate but identical courses – cue thrills and spills galore.
Plus the semi-finals of the curling, and the quarter-finals in the men’s ice hockey.
.| 07:00 |
ALPINE SKIING – LIVE Men’s Giant Slalom (Run 1) |
| 08:00 | ICE HOCKEY – LIVE Men’s Quarter Final |
| 09:00 | SNOWBOARD – LIVE Parallel Giant Slalom |
| 10:00 | CURLING – LIVE Women’s Semi Final – GBR v CAN |
| 10:45 | ALPINE SKIING – LIVE Men’s Giant Slalom (Run 2) |
| 12:00 |
CURLING – LIVE Women’s Semi Final – GBR v CAN |
| CROSS COUNTRY – Team Sprint Classic Finals |
13:00 – 16:00 |
ICE HOCKEY & CURLING Presenter: Jonathan Edwards |
The men’s curling competition reaches the semi-final stages as Jonathan Edwards takes over presenting duties on BBC Two.
Having missed out on a medal at Vancouver 2010, Team GB are involved in both the men’s and women’s semi finals today.
It is the men’s turn this afternoon as skip David Murdoch, who won World Championship bronze in 2013, aims to back up his team’s tag as one of the favourites for the Olympic title by progressing through to the gold medal match with a win over Sweden.
The men’s ice hockey tournament has now moved into the quarter-final stage, meaning the sport’s heavyweight nations are closing in on a place in the final four.
Canada won Olympic gold on home soil in 2010, a feat current hosts Russia will hope to emulate in Sochi.
There are also updates from the speedskating and the biathlon, with gold medals at stake in both.
| 13:00 | ICE HOCKEY – LIVE Men’s Quarter Final |
| 15:00 | CURLING – LIVE Men’s Semi Final – GBR v SWE |
16:00 – 19:30 |
CURLING, BOBSLEIGH & FIGURE SKATING Presenter: Clare Balding |
The ladies’ figure skating begins with the short programme this evening in Sochi, which signals the start of what should be a fascinating competition.
South Korea’s Yuna Kim is the reigning champion and won the 2013 World Championships in comprehensive fashion.
However, her season has been hit by injury, allowing her main rival and 2010 silver medallist Mao Asada of Japan to stake her claim.
Up at the Sanki Sliding Centre, the third run of the women’s bobsleigh is taking place, while there is also a chance to see what is happening in the semi-finals of the men’s curling.
.| 16:00 |
CURLING – LIVE Men’s Semi Final |
| BOBSLEIGH – Two-Women – Run 3 |
| 17:30 | BOBSLEIGH – LIVE Two-Women – Run 4 |
| 18:15 | FIGURE SKATING – LIVE Women’s Short Program |
19:30 – 20:00 |
TODAY AT THE GAMES Presenter: Clare Balding |
Clare Balding rounds up the news and results from day 12 at the Winter Olympics.
Eight more gold medals were decided today, including in the men’s giant slalom, plus final places were booked in the men’s and women’s curling competitions.
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| 05:00 | SNOWBOARD | LIVE Parallel Giant Slalom Qualification |
| 07:00 | ALPINE SKIING | LIVE Men’s Giant Slalom – Run 1 |
| 09:00-11:00 | SNOWBOARD | LIVE Parallel Giant Slalom Finals |
| 11:30-13:00 | CROSS COUNTRY | LIVE Team Sprint Classic Finals |
| 13:30 | SPEED SKATING | LIVE Women’s 5000m |
| 15:05-19:30 | FIGURE SKATING | LIVE Women’s Short Program |
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| 08:00 | ICE HOCKEY |
LIVE Men’s QF – SWE v SLO |
| 10:20-12:05 | ALPINE SKIING |
LIVE Men’s Giant Slalom – Run 2 |
| 12:30 | ICE HOCKEY | LIVE Men’s QF – FIN v RUS |
| 15:00 | CURLING |
LIVE Men’s Semi Final – SWE v GBR |
| 18:00-19:30 | ICE HOCKEY | LIVE Men’s QF – USA v CZE or CAN v LAT |
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Alongside BBC TV’s main coverage on BBC Two, Winter Olympics fans have the chance to become their own TV directors and choose which event they want to watch at the touch of a button.
Full uninterrupted coverage of each individual session and event at the Sochi Games can be accessed in a number of ways.
Selected events can be found via the BBC’s two Red Button streams on TV – available via Freeview, Freesat, BT Vision, Sky, Virgin Media and YouView – by simply pressing the red button on your remote control (see Red Button 1/2 listings above).
All six live streams, featuring access to every Sochi 2014 event, will be made available via the BBC Sport website on all devices.
These streams can also be accessed through the BBC’s Connected Red Button service on TVs via Virgin Media TiVo and Sony Freeview Smart TVs and via the BBC Sport app for connected TVs.
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Men’s Giant Slalom – Run 1
LIVE: 7.00am-9.00am BBC Red Button 1
Men’s Giant Slalom – Run 2*LIVE: 10.20am-12.05pm BBC Red Button 2
2x6km Women + 2×7.5km Men Mixed Relay*
LIVE: 2.30pm-4.30pm BBC Sport Online
16:15 Women’s Heat 3
17:25 Women’s Heat 4*
Paula Walker & Rebekah Wilson (GBR 1)
LIVE: 4.15pm-6.20pm BBC Sport Online
Team Sprint Classic Semi Finals – Men’s / Women’s
Andrew Musgrave / Andrew Young
LIVE: 9.15am-11.00am BBC Sport Online
Team Sprint Classic Final – Men’s* / Women’s*LIVE: 11.30am-1.00pm BBC Red Button 1
Great Britain v CanadaWomen’s Semi Final
Skip: Eve Muirhead
LIVE: 10.00am-1.00pm BBC Sport Online
Sweden v SwitzerlandWomen’s Semi Final LIVE: 10.00am-1.00pm BBC Sport Online Sweden v Great Britain
Men’s Semi Final
Skip: David Murdoch
LIVE: 3.00pm-6.00pm BBC Red Button 2
Canada v ChinaMen’s Semi Final LIVE: 3.00pm-6.00pm BBC Sport Online
Women’s Short Program
Jenna McCorkell
LIVE: 3.05pm-7.30pm BBC Red Button 1
Sweden v SloveniaMen’s Play-offs Quarter Final LIVE: 8.00am-10.20am BBC Red Button 2 Finland v Russia
Men’s Play-offs Quarter Final LIVE: 12.30pm-3.00pm BBC Red Button 2 Canada v Latvia
Men’s Play-offs Quarter Final LIVE: 5.00pm-7.30pm BBC Sport Online United States v Czech Republic
Men’s Play-off Quarter Final LIVE: 5.00pm-7.30pm BBC Sport Online
Parallel Giant Slalom Qualification – Men’s / Women’s
LIVE: 5.00am-7.00am BBC Red Button 1
Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom – Last 16 / QFs / SFs / Finals
Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom – Last 16 / QFs / SFs / Finals
LIVE: 9.00am-11.00am BBC Red Button 1
Women’s 5000m*LIVE: 1.30pm-3.05pm BBC Red Button 1 All timings/channels listed above subject to change. *denotes event finals.
