After 14 days of memorable sport, Sochi’s Winter Games is drawing to a conclusion as we reach the penultimate day where eight more gold medals will be won.
Great Britain’s men’s curlers were denied an historic gold medal following a crushing defeat by Canada on Friday, where a win for skip David Murdoch’s team would have given Britain more than one gold medal at a Winter Olympics for the first time.
Silver does, however, mean Team GB have won four medals in Sochi, matching their best ever Winter Games haul in 1924, and following on from Lizzy Yarnold’s skeleton gold and bronze medals for snowboard slopestyler Jenny Jones and the women’s curling team.
British representatives on the penultimate day include Dave Ryding in the men’s slalom, an event which brings the 2014 Olympic alpine skiing programme to a spectacular conclusion under the floodlights in the mountains.
Austria’s Marcel Hirscher is the reigning world champion and has been a regular presence on the World Cup podium all season.
Having narrowly missed out on a medal at Vancouver 2010, the slalom – Sochi 2014’s last alpine event – could be Hirscher’s last chance for another four years.
France’s Alexis Pinturault and Germany’s Felix Neureuther are in with a chance, while Europa Cup champion Dave Ryding goes for Britain.
Making its debut at Sochi 2014, the parallel slalom snowboarding is contested by many of the athletes who take part in the similarly named parallel giant slalom.
The difference here, as in alpine skiing, is the distance between the gates is shorter in slalom than in giant slalom. Riders race each other down separate but identical courses to determine a winner, with American Justin Reiter the one to watch for the gold.
The four-man bobsleigh begins today as the two British crews take to the ice at the sliding center, led by John Jackson and Lamin Deen.
Speed skating comes to an end with the team pursuit, a head-to-head knockout contest following an Olympic programme which is otherwise dominated by time trials.
Like track cycling, your team of skaters must get around the course (eight laps for men, six for women) before your rivals lined up on the other side of the ice.
The Dutch are the women’s favourites in the absence of Germany, who failed to qualify, while the US will give the Netherlands a fight for men’s gold.
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 15 of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games below:
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DAY 15: SATURDAY 22nd FEBRUARY
09:00 – 11:30 |
SNOWBAORD & CROSS COUNTRY Presenter: Hazel Irvine |
The penultimate day of action at the 2014 Winter Olympics begins with live snowboarding.
Parallel slalom was not an Olympic sport in Vancouver 2010, but will provide a thrilling addition in Sochi.
A faster version of the parallel giant slalom, the athletes race each other on separate, but identical, courses where speed is king.
Plus the curtain is brought down on a busy two weeks for the female cross-country skiers with the 30km mass start freestyle race.
Norwegian Marit Bjoergen won one of her five Vancouver medals over the same distance in 2010 and will want to go out on a high.
Coverage continues on BBC Two at 12.30pm.
.| 09:15 |
SNOWBOARD – LIVE Parallel Slalom Finals |
| 11:00 | CROSS-COUNTRY – LIVE Women’s 30km |
12:30 – 16:00 |
ALPINE SKIING, SPEED SKATING & BIATHLON Presenter: Jonathan Edwards |
The afternoon session includes live coverage of the men’s slalom, the last alpine skiing event of these Games.
Among the favourites will be Austrian Marcel Hirscher, and a gold for him here would create a contrast to the gloom that surrounded his nation when they drew a medal blank in the men’s alpine skiing events at the last Winter Olympics.
The speedskating reaches its conclusion with the team pursuit, while there is also a chance to catch up on the action in the final biathlon event of the Games, the men’s 7.5km relay.
| 12:45 | ALPINE SKIING – LIVE Men’s Slalom – Run 1 |
| 14:15 | SPEED SKATING – Team Pursuit Finals |
| BIATHLON – Men’s 7.5km Relay |
16:00 – 17:35 |
ALPINE SKIING Presenter: Clare Balding |
Clare Balding takes over for the penultimate day of coverage with the second run of the men’s slalom.
The first run took place in daylight but the skiers must now try to adapt to the floodlit conditions on the slopes of Rosa Khutor.
Slalom demands technical precision as the skiers weave in and out of the gates while trying not to lose too much speed.
The slightest error can result in medal chances disappearing in a flash.
Coverage continues on BBC Two at 6.00pm following Final Score.
.| 16:00 | ALPINE SKIING – LIVE Men’s Slalom – Run 2 |
18:00 – 19:10 |
BOBSLEIGH Presenter: Clare Balding |
Live coverage from Sochi continues at 6.00pm with the opening runs of the four-man bobsleigh.
Great Britain’s John Jackson and his crew will be looking for a good start, but the competition, which will include the likes of defending champion Steve Holcomb of the USA, will be tough.
.| 18:00 |
BOBSLEIGH – LIVE Four-Man – Runs 1 & 2 |
19:10 – 20:00 |
TODAY AT THE GAMES Presenter: Clare Balding |
Clare Balding rounds up what has been happening on the penultimate day of the Winter Olympics in the final Today at the Games from Sochi.
Highlights include the men’s slalom finals, parallel slalom snowboarding and the finals in the team pursuit speed skating.
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| 05:10-07:00 | SNOWBOARD | LIVE Parallel Slalom Qualification |
| 09:15-11:05 | SNOWBOARD | LIVE Parallel Slalom Finals |
| 12:45-14:15 | ALPINE SKIING | LIVE Men’s Slalom – Run 1 |
| 14:30-16:00 | BIATHLON | LIVE Men’s 4×7.5km Relay |
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| 09:30-11:15 | CROSS COUNTRY |
LIVE Women’s 30km Mass Start Free |
| 13:30-16:00 | SPEED SKATING |
LIVE Team Pursuit Finals |
| 16:25-19:05 | BOBSLEIGH | LIVE Four-Man – Heats 1 & 2 |
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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 Slalom – Run 1
Dave Ryding
LIVE: 12.45pm-2.15pm BBC Red Button 1
Men’s Slalom – Run 2* Dave Ryding
LIVE: 4.15pm-5.50pm BBC Sport Online
Men’s 4 x 7.5km Relay*
LIVE: 2.30pm-4.00pm BBC Red Button 1
16:30 Four-Man Heat 1
18:00 Four-Man Heat 2
GBR 1 – John Jackson, Stuart Benson, Bruce Tasker & Joel Fearon
GBR 2 – Lamin Deen, John Baines, Andrew Matthews & Ben Simons
LIVE: 4.25pm-7.05pm BBC Red Button 2
Women’s 30km Mass Start Free*
LIVE: 9.30am-11.15am BBC Red Button 2
Gala Exhibition EventLIVE: 4.25pm-7.00pm BBC Sport Online
United States v FinlandMen’s Bronze Medal Game LIVE: 3.00pm-5.55pm BBC Sport Online
Parallel Parallel Slalom Qualification – Men’s / Women’s
LIVE: 5.10am-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: 9.15am-11.05am BBC Red Button 1
13:30 Women’s Team Pursuit Semi Finals13:51 Men’s Team Pursuit Finals* 14:14 Women’s Team Pursuit Finals*
LIVE: 1.30pm-4.00pm BBC Red Button 2 All timings/channels listed above subject to change. *denotes event finals.
