After 16 sensational day’s of sport, Sochi’s Winter Olympics comes to a spectacular end today with the final three gold medals to be decised as well as the closing ceremony that will signal the conclusion of the 2014 Games.
Great Britain’s haul of four medals so far equals the record set in the first Winter Games in Chamonix 90 years ago, but this could yet be broken as two GB teams could be in contention for the medals in the four-man bobsleigh competition.
John Jackson, pilot of GBR 1, has faced a tough year of recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon to reach this point.
But he won silver at a World Cup in Lake Placid at the back end of 2013, suggesting he still has a chance of pulling off a remarkable comeback in Sochi.
However, the favourite for gold will be Russia’s Alexander Zubkov. His home track knowledge proved decisive as he won the two-man event by 0.66 seconds.
Tellingly, he only felt the need to complete four training runs, finishing first twice and second twice.
Dubbed ‘Minister for Bobsleigh’ after a brief foray into politics back home in Siberia, Zubkov is again joined by former arm wrestling world champion Alexey Voevoda – despite the mutual antipathy between the pair.
The last skiing event of the 2014 Winter Olympics is the straightforward 50km men’s mass start, the longest distance race of any sport at the Games, where athletes start together, ski for 50km and the first across the line wins.
Norwegian superstar and favourite Petter Northug has long maintained a fierce but respectful rivalry with his Swedish neighbours, whose hopes here are led by Johan Olsson.
Then at 12.00pm, the men’s ice hockey final wraps up Sochi’s Winter Olympics ahead of the closing ceremony.
One gold medal is left to be won by this point, and it may well be the most important for at least two nations.
Canadians cannot consider a Winter Olympics to be a success if they have not claimed hockey gold and they are in the final against Sweden.
The last hurrah of the Sochi Olympic Games comes in the closing ceremony from 4.00pm, featuring speeches, the lowering of the Olympic flag and a ceremonial handing-over to Pyeongchang, South Korea, which will host the next Winter Games in 2018.
Scroll down for further details of the Sochi 2014 Closing Ceremony:
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The 22nd Olympic Winter Games officially draws to its conclusion on Sunday evening with the Closing Ceremony at the 40,000-seater Fisht Stadium, live on BBC Two from 4.00pm.
Following on from the spectacle of the Opening Ceremony two weeks ago, which was given largely positive reviews ,Sochi’s closing number promises to another colorful show featuring a range of acclaimed artists and performers.
Thousands of athletes will be taking part in closing parade of nations as they say a firm goodbye to the thousands of fans inside the stadium.
Olympic skeleton champion Lizzy Yarnold (above), who dominated her event on the middle Friday of the Games to register Britain’s second consecutive women’s sliding gold, has been chosen to carry the Union flag and lead Team GB into the Closing Ceremony.
The 25-year-old, winner of one of only 10 gold medals in British Winter Olympic history, was selected by Team GB chief Mike Hay and his deputies, and she will be joined by her 55 team-mates including the men’s curling rink, who won silver, their bronze medal-winning female counterparts andsnowboarder Jenny Jones, who took bronze.
The Sochi 2014 Olympics will be officially concluded when Thomas Bach, the new president of the IOC, gives a ceremonial speech looking back at the 17-day event.
Alongside the speech by the President of the IOC, the Closing Ceremony also includes a number of official elements, including the performance of the national anthem and the Greek national anthem, as the birthplace of the first Olympic Games.
There will also be lowering of the flags and the iconic Olympic flame will be extinguished.
Also part of the Closing Ceremony is a short artistic display put on by the next host city of the Games – Pyeongchang, South Korea – which will be performed after the flag handover ceremony, and gives Winter Olympic fans the chance to sample what lies in store in four years time.
Live coverage will be shown on BBC Two from 4.00pm, with a special build-up and review show starting at 2.30pm, all presented by Clare Balding.
She will be joined by various BBC Winter Olympics pundits and reporters to look back at the Games, including Amy Williams, Graham Bell, Ed Leigh and Wilf O’Reilly.
Hazel Irvine will again lead the commentary team inside the Fisht Stadium alongside Sir Matthew Pinsent. If you prefer, a commentary-free option will be available to watch via the BBC Red Button from 4.00pm.
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 16 of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games below:
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DAY 16: SUNDAY 23rd FEBRUARY
09:30 – 14:30 |
BOBSLEIGH, CROSS COUNTRY & ICE HOCKEY Presenter: Jonathan Edwards |
The final medals of the 2014 Winter Olympics are decided today and coverage begins with the four-man bobsleigh reaches its conclusion with the third and fourth runs.
American Steve Holcomb is the defending champion but has a poor record outside of his own continent. John Jackson and the GB crew will be hoping to still be in the mix.
The final cross-country skiing medals will also be decided in the men’s 50km mass start.
While endurance is obviously key for this discipline, so is a sprint finish, as was evident in Vancouver 2010 when Norway’s Petter Northug chased down Germany’s Axel Teichmann on the final straight in a thrilling end to the competition.
The sporting action of the 2014 Winter Olympics comes to a spectacular end with the men’s ice hockey, which for many is the most important gold medal of the Games.
It is hoped the final will match the 2010 decider in Vancouver for excitement, when hosts Canada beat the USA in extra time.
The 2014 edition sees the defending champions take on Sweden.
.| 09:30 |
BOBSLEIGH – LIVE Four-Man – Run 3 |
| 10:40 | CROSS-COUNTRY – Men’s 50km Mass Start |
| 11:00 |
BOBSLEIGH – LIVE Four-Man – Run 4 |
| 11:50 | ICE HOCKEY – LIVE Men’s Gold Medal Game – CAN v SWE |
14:30 – 16:00 |
REVIEW OF THE GAMES Presenter: Clare Balding |
With all the sporting action now over, Clare Balding and guests look back at all the incredible sporting highlights of the 22nd Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Over 16 days of competition, 98 Olympic titles have been decided, and there will have been tears of triumph and despair.
Here is a chance to relive the moments that have shaped these Games, including Team GB’s four medal triumphs in what has been the most successful Games for British athletes since the inaugural Winter Games in 1924.
The programme will also look ahead to what lies in store at the Closing Ceremony, where the Olympic flame will be extinguished.
There is also action from the figure-skating gala, the traditional finale to the Winter Olympics, which showcases the grace, glamour and gymnastic ability of the world’s best skaters.
| 14:30 | FIGURE SKATING – Gala Highlights |
| 15:30 | GAMES REVIEW |
16:00 – 19:00 |
CLOSING CEREMONY Presenter: Clare Balding |
The 22nd Winter Olympic Games come to a close after 16 days of sporting highlights with a spectacular closing ceremony.
Celebrating Sochi’s hosting of the Games, the Olympic flame is extinguished outside the Fisht Stadium and thoughts will turn to the next Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in South Korea in 2018.
Clare Balding presents live coverage alongside various guests, while Hazel Irvine leads the commentary team alongside Sir Matthew Pinsent.
.| 16:00 |
CLOSING CEREMONY – Official Start: 4.14pm |
| 09:30-12:05 | BOBSLEIGH | LIVE Four-Man Heats 3 & 4 |
| 16:00-19:00 | CLOSING CEREMONY | LIVE No commentary option |
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| 07:00-09:45 | CROSS COUNTRY |
LIVE Men’s 50km Mass Start Free |
| 12:00-14:30 | ICE HOCKEY |
LIVE Men’s Final – CAN v SWE |
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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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09:30 Four-Man Heat 3
11:00 Four-Man Heat 4*
GBR 1 – John Jackson, Stuart Benson, Bruce Tasker & Joel Fearon
GBR 2 – Lamin Deen, John Baines, Andrew Matthews & Ben Simons
LIVE: 9.30am-12.05pm BBC Red Button 1
Men’s 50km Mass Start Free*
Andrew Musgrave
LIVE: 7.00am-9.45am BBC Red Button 2
Sweden v Canada*Men’s Gold Medal Game LIVE: 12.00pm-2.30pm BBC Red Button 2 All timings/channels listed above subject to change. *denotes event finals.
