Day nine of Sochi 2014 sees the start of the unpredictable and exciting snowboard cross competition up in the mountains.
First up is the women’s competition and American rider Lindsey Jacobellis will be aiming to enter the annals of Winter Olympic history for entirely different reasons this time around as she chases an elusive gold medal.
Jacobellis, best known for the ‘A Question of Sport’ style ‘What Happened Next’ when she three away the 2006 gold medal in Turin after falling within yards of the finishing line, recently raced to a record eighth career victory at the recent X Games in Colorado.
Britain’s Zoe Gillings competes in her third Olympics, having come 15th in her sport’s Olympic debut at Turin 2006, then eighth in Vancouver four years later.
Despite suffering a fall at the X Games last month, she enters the Olympic competition with high hopes of making it to the latter stages of the event.
The first part of the blue-riband ice dance competition – the event won by Britain’s Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean 30 years ago in Sarajevo – takes place today and is expected to be one of the biggest battles for gold in the sport’s history.
Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are the defending Olympic champions, but American duo Meryl Davis and Charlie White are the 2013 world champions and may have the edge.
Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland will represent Great Britain in the contest and will hope to make an impression with their routine.
As the women played twice on Saturday, the only British curling match of the day pits David Murdoch and his team against a Norwegian line-up famed for their daring and elaborate trousers.
Norway first made a splash with crazy clothing four years ago in Vancouver and such is their fame that a Facebook group dedicate to the trousers has more than half a million likes on the social networking site.
Today also sees the Bobsleigh events begin with the first two heats of the Two-Man competition, featuring Team GB’s Lamin Deen and John Baines.
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 9 of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games below:
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DAY 9: SUNDAY 16th FEBRUARY
05:00 – 12:30 |
ALPINE SKIING, SNOWBOARD, CURLING & ICE HOCKEY Presenter: Hazel Irvine |
It is the turn of the men’s alpine skiers to tackle the super-G course on the morning of day nine at the Games.
Norwegian skiers have a good record in this event, and Aksel Lund Svindal will be hoping to retain the title he took from compatriot and three-time champion Kjetil Andre Aamodt in Vancouver.
Also taking place in the mountains outside of Sochi is the women’s snowboard cross, one of the most exciting sports on the Winter Olympics programme.
One of the memorable moments of the 2006 Games came when Lindsey Jacobellis crashed out after showboating on her way to what seemed a certain gold.
The American has recently been battling serious injury but will be back in Sochi, still searching for that elusive gold – were she to achieve it, it would be one of the storylines of these Games.
Britain’s Zoe Gillings will also be competing at her third Games, where the Isle of Man snowboarder will be looking to land a first Olympic medal.
The curling competition continues apace, and there is live coverage of Great Britain’s match with 2010 silver medallists Norway in the men’s event.
.| 05:00 |
CURLING – LIVE Great Britain v Norway (Men) |
| 05:45 | ALPINE SKIING – LIVE Men’s Super-G |
| 08:15 |
ICE HOCKEY – LIVE Austria v Norway (Men) |
| 09:00 | SNOWBOARD – LIVE Women’s Snowboard Cross |
| 10:00 | ICE HOCKEY, CROSS COUNTRY & CURLING |
12:30 – 16:00 |
ICE HOCKEY, SPEED SKATING & BIATHLON Presenter: Jonathan Edwards |
Speed skating is one of the most popular sports in the Netherlands, and reigning 1,500m Olympic champion Ireen Wust is one of their biggest medal hopes in Sochi.
The 27-year-old is heading to her third Olympic Games, and already has three medals to her name – including two golds.
Her biggest rivals are likely to be Canada’s Christine Nesbitt and another Dutchwoman, Marrit Leenstra.
Biathlon is one of the toughest winter sports, and requires incredible levels of strength, endurance and composure.
Competitors have to be both excellent cross-country skiers and crack shots with the rifle – any missed targets at the shooting range will cost them time.
The 15km mass start event was won by Russia’s Evgeny Ustyugov at the last Olympic Games, and he will be hoping for a repeat performance on home soil in Sochi.
However, in-form Frenchman Martin Fourcade, who claimed silver in Vancouver, will also be a name to watch out for.
| 12:30 | ICE HOCKEY – LIVE Russia v Slovakia (Men) |
| 15:00 | SPEED SKATING – LIVE Women’s 1,500m Final |
| 15:40 | BIATHLON – LIVE Men’s 15km Mass Start |
16:00 – 19:00 |
FIGURE SKATING & SNOWBOARD Presenter: Clare Balding |
Ice dance is always one of the most watchable of winter sports and has provided some great Olympic moments.
Who can forget Torvill and Dean storming to gold with their Bolero routine 30 years ago in Sarajevo?
Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland are representing Team GB in Sochi and will be boosted by their bronze medal in 2014’s European Championships.
However, the gold medal will probably come down to a showdown between defending champions Tessa Moir and Scott Virtue of Canada and their American training partners Meryl Davis and Charlie White.
Davis and White had to settle for silver in 2010 but arrive in Sochi as the world champions.
There is another chance to catch the thrills and spills of the morning’s snowboard cross action, and the bobsleigh gets under way up at the Sanki Sliding Centre, with the opening runs of the two-man competition.
.| 16:15 |
SNOWBOARD – Women’s Snowboard Cross Highights |
| 17:15 | FIGURE SKATING – LIVE Ice Dance – Short Program |
19:00 – 20:00 |
TODAY AT THE GAMES Presenter: Clare Balding |
Clare Balding looks back at the action on day nine of the Winter Olympics from Sochi’s Olympic Park.
Highlights include alpine skiing, the start of the always eventful snowboard cross events, plus ice hockey and the first stage of the ice dance competition in figure skating.
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| 05:00 | CURLING | LIVE Great Britain v Norway (Men) |
| 08:00 | ICE HOCKEY | LIVE Austria v Norway (Men) |
| 10:30-12:15 | CROSS COUNTRY | LIVE Men’s 4x10km Relay |
| 14:00 | SPEED SKATING | LIVE Women’s 1500m |
| 16:15-18:50 | BOBSLEIGH | LIVE Two-Man – Heats 1 & 2 |
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| 06:00-08:15 | ALPINE SKIING |
LIVE Men’s Super-G |
| 09:15 | SNOWBOARD |
LIVE Women’s Cross Finals |
| 10:00 | CURLING | LIVE USA v Canada (Women) |
| 13:00 | ICE HOCKEY |
LIVE Men’s Match TBC |
| 15:00-19:00 | FIGURE SKATING | LIVE Ice Dance – Short Program |
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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 Super-G*
LIVE: 6.00am-8.15am BBC Red Button 2
Men’s 15km Mass Start*
LIVE: 3.00pm-4.20pm BBC Sport Online
16:15 Two-Man – Heat 1
17:50 Two-Man – Heat 2
Lamin Deen & John Baines
LIVE: 4.15pm-6.50pm BBC Red Button 1
Men’s 4x10km Relay*
LIVE: 10.30am-12.15pm BBC Red Button 1
Great Britain v Norway
Men’s Round Robin
Skip: David Murdoch
LIVE: 5.00am-8.00am BBC Red Button 1
United States v CanadaWomen’s Round Robin LIVE: 10.00am-1.00pm BBC Red Button 2 CLICK HERE for full Curling match schedule
Ice Dance – Short Program
Penny Coomes & Nick Buckland
LIVE: 3.00pm-7.00pm BBC Red Button 2
Austria v NorwayMen’s Group B LIVE: 8.00am-10.30am BBC Red Button 1
Russia v Slovakia or Slovenia v United States
Men’s Group A LIVE: 1.00pm-3.00pm BBC Red Button 2 CLICK HERE for full Ice Hockey match schedule
Women’s Cross – Seeding Zoe Gillings
LIVE: 7.00am-8.10am BBC Sport Online
Women’s Cross – Quarter Finals / Semi Finals / FinalsLIVE: 9.15am-10.00am BBC Red Button 1
Women’s 1500m*LIVE: 2.00pm-4.15pm BBC Red Button 1 All timings/channels listed above subject to change. *denotes event finals.
