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Page last updated at 17:31 GMT, Monday, 15 February 2010

As it happened - Winter Olympics day four

(All times local. GMT -8)


By Anna Thompson in Vancouver

2100: Wow, what a day we've had, with six medal events, the highlights for me being the men's downhill and the men's snowboard cross. I'll be at Cypress for the women's snowboard cross tomorrow but right now I'm signing off for the day. Bye.


2055: Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao have done it and won gold in the pairs figure skating. The three-time world champions came out of retirement for a crack at Olympic glory and have succeeded. Their long programme was not the best on the night but their overall score put them top and they celebrate their - and China's - first gold at the Winter Olympics.

Ice hockey

2050: Sweden are 5-2 ahead in the ice hockey and Canada men will start tomorrow against Norway and have selected goaltenders Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur.

Figure skating

2045: We are almost at the climax of the ice skating and penultimate pair Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China receive a standing ovation for a brilliant routine. They finished fourth in 2006 but with one pair left they leap into the gold medal position with a season-best score of 141.81. China are guaranteed gold but will it be Pang and Tong or Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao? We'll know in about five minutes.

Ice hockey

In the women's ice hockey it's 4-2 to Sweden with 18 minutes to go in the third period. The Swedes may be winning but it's a pretty rugged effort.

Figure skating

2020: There are just four pairs to go in the figure skating at Pacific Coliseum. You can keep up with the scores or we will keep you posted but we pretty much know British pair Stacey Kemp and David King will finish 16th unless something drastic happens.


2010: The first two heats of the women's luge have been completed and Germany's Tatjana Huefner produces a track record speed of 135.8kph to lead from Austria's Nina Reithmayer, moving from third to first. Natalie Geisenberger is still in contention, 0.050 seconds behind.

Speed skating

2000: Japan are also chuffed as they secure silver and bronze with Keiichiro Nagashima and Joji Kato. The highest placed Canadian was Jamie Gregg, with pre-race fancy Jeremy Wotherspoon ninth.


1955: South Korea make history in the men's 500m speed skating with Tae-Bum Mowinning the gold medal, the first time his country have succeeded at this distance.


1940: They have just had the medal ceremony up in Whistler and downhill winner Didier Defago is presented with his gold. Bode Miller accepts his bronze and throws the bunch of flowers he receives into the excited crowd. There's no chance for any partying tonight as all three go in the men's combined at Whistler Creekside tomorrow.

Speed skating

1935: Back at the speed skating and American Shani Davis has decided not to compete in the second race after finishing 18th in the first. He was using the sprint mainly to build up his speed for Wednesday's 1,000m, an event in which he holds the world record and is the defending Olympic champion.

Ice hockey

1930: Sweden and Slovakia have been playing in the women's ice hockey at Thunderbird Arena and with five minutes to go in the first period the score is 2-2.


1910: Over at BC Place in Vancouver they are having the medal ceremony for last night's men's moguls and there is a huge cheer as the gold medal is placed around Canadian Alexandre Bilodeau's neck. And what all Canadians have been wanting to hear, the national anthem, is played for the first time in a home Games. Bilodeau looks overawed by the adulation but manages to keep his tears in check. Stirring stuff to watch though.

Speed skating

1834: The medal race is under way in the men's 500m speed skating. The competitors will race in reverse order but the times from their first race will be added up to decide the winner.


1820: The women have completed their first run in the luge and Austria's Nina Reithmayer leads. She has never won a World Cup race but has twice finished on the podium. Her sister tried luge and decided to stick with her preferred sport - swimming. Reithmayer leads by 0.015 of a second from German - and favourite - Natalie Geisenberger and Tatjana Huefner, who is 0.032 behind. Second heat is at 1850 (0250 GMT).

Speed skating

1800: The first race in the men's 500m has been completed after all the ice-resurfacer problems. Finland's Mika Poutala is the fastest then Korea's Mo Tae-bum. Canadian hope Jeremy Wotherspoon was fifth fastest. This all means they will seeded and will race in reverse order in about 40 minutes time. If Poutala pulls it off he will become the first Finnish gold medallist in the sport for 72 years.

"Wonderful speed, and good control from David on the feet, but it is the solo work that lets them down," said BBC commentator Robin Cousins, who won gold at Lake Placid in 1980.

Figure skating

King and Kemp do a really good job but there are a couple of stumbles on the single jumps which will cost them points. BBC commentator Robin Cousins says they will need to work hard on their transitions. They are delighted as they go into the lead with 91.66, an overall score of 139.94, but the stronger skaters are yet to come

Figure skating

1745 Over at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver and British pairs skaters Stacey Kemp and David King are going through their warm-up before their free programme and will want to move up from their current 16th place.

1731: After an hour's delay, there is action again and Canada's Kyle Parrott, who hails from Vancouver, and Simon Kuipers. Parrott ends up fourth so far and is well down on his personal best, is the ice up to it?

It's all a bit confusing in the speed skating. BBC commentator Wilf O'Reilly says: "Usually when they re-ice, the machine strips off the top couple of millimetres and then lays fresh water on the top which refreezes. This machine, not the usual brand because of Olympic contractual reasons, broke down and spilled a load of water. They are now having to re-lay the entire track again, and they need to wait for the ice to freeze down to -9C.


British medal hope Shelley Rudman has completed her first two training runs in the women's skeleton and says: "It's not really my track but I'm working on it. There are sections that really suit me and sections that don't. I just need to work on my lines and when I get the complicated sections right I feel good." C'mon Shelley we need you to big yourself up as a nation expects.

Myles in London, who says he should be going to sleep because he has work tomorrow, texts us instead. "Looks like absolute shambles on the speed skating rink. Surface looks horribly bumpy on one corner (and) all coaches and competitors look thoroughly narked off and disgusted. Officials look like headless chickens. Think it may have to be rescheduled cos it will take lots of work to sort. Roll on the free skate of the pairs."

Speed skating

1705: There is a problem with the ice resurfacing machines at Richmond. Both have broken down and led to an hour's delay in the men's 500m. Dutch team coach Wopke de Vegt called it "incredible bad luck". Should be back racing at 1730 (0130 GMT), fingers-crossed.

Ice hockey

1700: It's all over at Thunderbird Arena where Switzerland will be pleased they restricted Canada to 10-1.

SilverNZ sends a Tweet to @annat1972 to say: "Danny Silva - only Portuguese and amateur rep at Games, tough coming last in 15km cross-countrylink text here , but he never gave up.That's the spirit."
Ice hockey

1630: Struggling to keep up with the ice hockey as ruthless Canada now lead 10-1

Ice hockey

1620: Back at the ice hockey and BBC commentator Bob Ballard tells me Switzerland have scored their first ever goal against Canada. he says: "Darcia Leimgruber is the Swiss hero. It was as if they had won gold the way they celebrated." Joy is short-lived as the Canadians now lead 6-1.

Speed skating

1610: The atmosphere is cranking up at Richmond Olympic Oval as medal favourites, South Korean world champion Kang-Seok Lee, United States' Shani Davis and Wotherspoon prepare to do battle. I'm still coming down from the high that is snowboard cross. I love it and can't wait for tomorrow when I'll be at Cypress Mountain for the women's race. What's the betting Lindsey Jacobellis will not try and showboat if she's in the gold medal position off the final jump this time around?

1550: It's coming up to midnight for our UK readers but there's plenty of action still to come. The men's 500m speed skating is just under way. No Brits are in this but the Canadians are hoping for a medal for their favourite Jeremy Wotherspoon.

1545: Hey up it's Anna here and if you do a refresh you will see my name at the top of the page. You can text me your thoughts on the day's action or Tweet me . While Rob and I switched you've missed two goals from the Canadian's in the women's hockey , they now lead Switzerland 5-0.

By Rob Hodgetts in Vancouver

1535: Thanks from your company, folks. I'm going to hand over to Anna Thompson who will guide you through the next few hours of action. There's pairs figure skating, women's ice hockey, men's 500m speed skating and women's luge. Enjoy.

1525: We've had a text from Neil who says: "I am in Jamaica and glued to the men's snowboard cross. Not a big sport here obviously but what a spectacle! Daniel in Aberdeen also texted to say: "Snowboard cross is simply exhilarating. Impossible to predict."

Well, team, there's more where that came from with the women's snowboard cross event from 1000 (1800 GMT in old money) on Tuesday. And to whet your appetite, you can watch that thrilling final from Turin four years ago, when Lindsey Jacobellis snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Over at the Thunderbird Arena Canada's women ice hockey team lead Switzerland 2-0 at the end of the first period. BBC commentator Bob Ballard texts: "Canadians not really out of third gear - need to step it up in the second period as they look a little disjointed against the Swiss."


1520: THAT IS SNOWBOARD CROSS! RIGHT THERE! American defending champion Seth Wescott wins a sensational men's snowboard cross final from Canada's Mike Robertson, Tony Boivin on France and Winter X Games winner Nate Holland of America. Robertson led out of the gate and had to fend off a tough elbow-to-elbow challenge from Holland. But the American span out, leaving Ramoin second and Wescott third. Westcott used all his experience and bided his time before cruising past Ramoin. He then lined up Robertson and broke Canadian hearts when he slid past on the final big left-hand berm and stayed on his feet over the last two giant jumps to win by a couple of metres.


1510: Canada's Robert Fagan wins the small final from Lukas Gruener, Mario Fuchs and David Speiser.

1505: Coming up straight after the B final, the Olympic final of the men's snowboard cross. The four combatants are Mike Robertson (Can), Nate Holland (US), defending champion Seth Wescott (US), Tony Ramoin (Fra).

1500: Canada's Mike Robertson and France's Tony Ramoin go through to the final from the second semi as Germany's David Speiser and Canada's Robert Fagan fall foul of a mid-race pile-up. In women's ice hockey, Canada go 2-0 up against Switzerland and you can follow updates on our live scores page.

1455: Americans Nate Holland and defending champion Seth Wescott reach the final of the men's snowboard cross from semi-final one. Austria's Lukas Gruener misses out in third as countryman Mario Fuchs spins out mid course and loses all his pace.

1448: Robert Fagan and David Speiser qualify from quarter-final four as Stefano Pozzolini and Francois Boivin miss out. In women's ice hockey, Canada go 1-0 up against Switzerland and you can follow updates on our live scores page.

Some quick news from men's skeleton training - Canada's Jon Montgomery and Jeff Pain are fastest in run one, with Briton Kristan Bromley eight and Adam Pengilly 12th.

And British downhill Ed Drake had this to say about his 38th place finish: "I would like to have finished in the top-30, but a top-40 is good ­it was better than my bib number (43). I've dreamed about being at the Olympic Winter Games. This is the biggest stage there is and I'm representing my country. It can't get much better than that, apart from winning a medal."

1445: Pierre Vaultier, the current World Cup tour leader, misses out after he is impeded when Drew Neilsen crashes in front of him. Canada's Mike Robertson wins from Tony Ramoin.

1440: Wow! Even tighter finish than earlier. Mario Fuchs stayed safely out in front but second and third is a real scrap. Michal Novotny crashes out but Lukas Gruener edges second place by inches from Markus Schairer.


1435: No time to catch our breath as we go straight into the first quarter-final of men's snowboard cross. Americans Nate Holland and Seth Wescott dominate as Fabio Caduff and Damon Hayler miss out.


1432: What a cracker - a photo finish in heat eight. American Graham Watanabe, the second fastest in qualifying, is edged out right on the line by Italian Stefano Pozzolini, behind winner Francois Boivin.


1430: Robert Fagan of Canada and David Speiser of Germany, the 26th-placed qualifier, go through from heat seven

Ice hockey

1426: Coming up at 1430 - Switzerland v Canada in women's ice hockey at the UBC Thunderbiord Arena.

1425: A real close one in heat six as Pierre Vaultier goes through in first with Canada's Drew Neilson second.

1422: The Cypress crowd roars Canadian Mike Robertson to victory in heat five. France's Tony Ramoin goes through in second.

1420: Bit of a delay as officials check out heat four. Alberto Schiavon could be in trouble for pushing, but he and Russian Andrey Boldykov go through.

1412: Austria's Lukas Gruener and Mario Fuchs qualify from heat three of the men's snowboard cross.


1405: American hot favourite Nate Holland and Australian Damon Hayler advance from heat two.

1340: Our first big drama of the demolition derby that is snowboard cross. Alex Pullin, fastest in qualifying, leads heat one from defending champion Seth Wescott, who only qualified in 17th. But Australian Pullin hits the deck as Wescott pressurises him and fails to advance. Swiss Fabio Caduff goes through in second.


1400: Strap yourself in, team, it's snowboard cross time. Remember Lindsey Jacobellis from Turin? She was the one who crashed on the penultimate jump, gifting an almost certain gold medal to Tanja Frieden. But today it's the men's turn and we begin with eight heats of four. Top two go through.

Cross country skiing

1340: Switzerland's Dario Cologna wins the men's 15km free cross country from Pietro Piller Cottrer of Italy and Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic. Britain's 18-year-old Andrew Musgrave was 2:56.1 behind with countryman Andrew Young, who is 18 this week, is more than five minutes adrift.

Alpine skiing

1325: Last week I wrote a blog about whether the downhill is losing its lustre as the blue riband event of the Games. I don't think it has for a minute, of course, and today's race showed exactly why not. It was a cracker, with the lead changing hands time and again and the top three separated by 0.09 seconds. I still don't understand what happened to World Cup leader Didier Cuche, who was up on all the splits before inexplicably losing a massive (relatively) amount of time on the lower part of the run. Here's Cuche: "It was really close and I can't really understand why I was slow on the finish part. Normally, I'm a good finisher. But when I saw the crowd really quiet down here, I knew that was not like I wanted. I'm going to enjoy the night with Didier. He deserved it and it's good for the Swiss nation."

Ice hockey

1315: BBC ice hockey summariser Brent Pope: "The NHL players have arrived. Canada men train at Canada Hockey Place at 1630 local time. Swiss are hoping to limit the damage against Canada - and score their first goal against them."

BBC ice hockey commentator Bob Ballard on his way to Switzerland v Canada in the women's prelims: "Swiss are hoping to limit the damage against Canada - and score their first goal against them."


1305: Bit of a shock at Cypress as Australian Alex Pullin tops qualification in the men's snowboard cross, from American Graham Watanabe. Canada's Mike Robertson was third with France's Pierre Vaultier sixth. Favourite Nate Holland was eighth and defending champion Seth Wescott 17th. Pullin will go in the same heat as Wescott as all 32 qualifiers race in eight heats of four, with the top two to advance. Boarder cross heats begin at 1400 (2200 GMT).


1255: News from the first training run of the women's skeleton and Canada's Melissa Hollingsworth, the World Cup champion this season, leads from compatriot Amy Gough. Britain's Turin silver medallist Shelley Rudman is 1.41 secs behind in ninth with Amy Williams 11th. Much controversy, of course, at the Sliding Centre, after Canada monopolised the track in the build-up to the Games. According to British slider Kristan Bromley, Rudman's fiance, they have had 10 times as many runs as any other nation. I met the sliding team in London before they flew out and this was the hot topic of conversation.

Cross country skiing

1245: The men's 15km free cross country is under way at Whistler with Czech skier Lukas Bauer currently leading as he looks to upgrade his Turin silver to gold. Britain is represented by two teenagers - 19-year-old Andrew Musgrave and Andrew Young, who turns 18 next week. Britain's Fiona Hughes was 68th in the women's 10km free cross country earlier.

1240: All 64 starters in the men's downhill have raced, which means Didier Defago is officially the Olympic downhill champion. Aksel Lund Svindal was 0.07 adrift in silver, with Bode Miller 0.09 back in bronze. Here's a good stat - Svindal's time gap equates to a distance of 1.9m, while Miller was 2.44m behind.

Several people have texted to ask why Defago was earlier being crowned gold medallist with skiers still on the course. Well, all those outside the top 30 starters have training times significantly slower than those ranked 1-30 so it is very unlikely a winner would come from this group. It's not a fact, of course, because miracles can happen, and that's why I've said he's the provisional winner. But he's the real winner now, and the top three are walking out for the flower ceremony in the finish area at Whistler.
Defago punches the air as he becomes the first Swiss downhill champion since Pirmin Zurbriggen won in Calgary in 1988. They must like Canadian snow, the Swiss.


1220: Over at Cypress Mountain, Australian Alex Pullin leads the timed qualification runs for snowboard cross from American Graham Watanabe. There are two qualification runs of 35 starters, with the top 32 moving into the eight knockout heats. The top two go through to the next round.

You can follow all the latest updates on our snowboard cross live page.

And you can have a crack at the next best thing to actually doing boarder cross with the Vancouver 2010 official mini game , where you can also try your hand at slalom and ski jumping, while remaining on the sofa and keeping up with the latest from Vancouver.

1210: Britain's Ed Drake is on course, in start bib 43. A cleanish run, he skis into 37th position, more than three seconds down on Didier Defago. The 24-year-old, who has been hampered by the collapse of Snowsport GB, grimaces in the finish, exposing a Union Jack gumshield.


1155: That's the top 30 done, and the remaining 34 skiers are unlikely to trouble the leaders. So we can fairly safely award provisional GOLD to Switzerland's Didier Defago , with Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal in second and American Bode Miller in third. That's Defago's first ever Olympic medal. He was 21st in 2002 and 26th in 2006, but won the classic Kitzbuehel/Wengen downhill double last year. Svindal also wins his first Olympic medal after being crowned world downhill champion in 2007. Miller disappointed in Turin, but won silver in the combined and giant slalom in Salt Lake City in 2002. That was a downhill to savour.

1145: News from women's downhill training on an adjacent course and American speed queen Lindsey Vonn is fastest, despite the shin injury that was threatening to rule her out of the Games. Britain's Chemmy Alcott is 11th.

1138: American Marco Sullivan is right in touch at the first check but loses a few precious seconds through Fallaway. The course is bathed in bright sunshine now, but Sullivan can't spot his landing off one of the big jumps and lands on one ski before hitting the deck and sliding through the control gate. He's OK and skis down smiling. The dangers to Defago, Svindal and Miller are receding.

1131: Italian Christof Innerhofer forces Didier Defago to stop chatting and put his phone away in the finish and pay attention. Innerhofer is up on the splits on the top part of the course, but then loses time and comes home down in 15th. Current top three: 1. Defago (Swi) 2. Svindal (Nor) 3. Miller (US). There are still plenty of racers to come, but what you'd call the "big names" are all down. Britain's Ed Drake goes off 43rd.

1126: Big groans on the Dave Murray downhill as Whistler local Robbie Dixon clips a gate and loses time. Dixon, who was second in both training runs, gathers himself and is in touch but loses balance coming over Fallaway and crashes into the netting. Canadian fans have their heads in their hand sat the finish. Remember, you can follow the race on our live page.

1121: Race favourite Didier Cuche pushes out of the starting gate. The sun is out and the former butcher, with his hand in a cast after breaking his thumb, is just adrift at the first split. He's still just 0.05 behind at the second and 0.03 at the third. Good line through Coach's Corner but he's lost a couple of hundredths. And inexplicably, he loses huge amounts of time over the last two jumps and can only cross the line sixth. That's a real shock. And this is a cracking race. Current top three: 1. Defago 2. Svindal 3. Miller

1116: Switzerland's "iceman", Carlo Janka, the 23-year-old wonderkid, is 0.6 down at the second split despite skiing now in patchy sunshine, the best conditions so far, but is well adrift. Ski jumping gold medallist Simon Ammann is in the crowd and roars his team-mate on. Big Italian hope Werner Heel is also well adrift.

1113: Swiss Didier Defago leans back and punches the air as he goes into the lead by 0.07 seconds. Defago won the classic Kitzbuehel/Wengen double last year. Next up, big Canadian hope Manny Osborne-Paradis, the Whistler local. Paradis is pushing hard but making mistakes and the crowd sense it as moans cry out around the course. Paradis crosses the line more than a second behind after making a mess of the line at Coach's Corner.

1110: Big Austrian hope Michael Walchhofer is cruising at the top and is fastest after both early splits, but he loses speed on the lower part of the course and can only come in eighth.

Alpine skiing

1105: Austria's Mario Scheiber goes second, 0.12 seconds behind Bode Miller. But next down is Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal… and he goes FIRST, pipping Miller by .02 secs. So it's Svindal, Miller, Scheiber.

Cross country skiing

1105: Barring a miracle from one of the also-rans, Sweden's Charlotte Kalla wins GOLD in the women's 10km free cross country. Kristina Smigun-Vaehi of Estonia is second with Norway's Marit Bjoergen third. You can check out the full results and standings on our live women's cross country page.

1056: Don't forget, team, you can follow the live timings of the men's downhill on our live page. Miller, Guay, Poisson the 1-2-3 for now with most the big names still to come.

1051: Erik Guay, the first of the Canadians, goes second behind Miller.

1048: Slovenia's Andrej Sporn, second behind Didier Cuche in Kitzbuhel last month, misses a gate and crashes out of the downhill. American maverick Bode Miller is down next, sporting a very spangly stars and stripes suit. Miller's flying by the seat of his pants and is almost a second up at the first split. Big sweep around the right-hander Coach's corner then flies over the jump at Boyd's Chin and leaps high and long over Murray's Hope. He screams over the line into first place, with a 0.42 second lead.

1042: Sweden's Charlotte Kalla is the new leader in the women's 10km free cross country and she beams through the pain as hot favourite Justyna Kowalcyzk can only cross the line fifth. There are still skier son course but all the top seeds have finished.

1037: Third man down France's David Poisson shaves almost a whole second off the time of Hans Grugger to lead early on. Some wispy cloud over Whistler makes it fairly overcast. The course is highlighted by blue lines sprayed onto the snow to differentiate the track. Estonia's Kristina Smigun-Vaehi leads the women's 10km free in a time of 25:05 minutes.

1032: Jaerbyn smashes into the barriers at the end of the finish area, exhausted, but beaming with delight. He clocks 1:56.58. Some great names on parts of this course - the Loveshack, the Toilet Bowl, the Weasel, Boyd's Chin, Fallaway, Coach's corner.

Alpine skiing

1030: We are GO in the downhill. Sweden's 40-year-old Patrik Jaerbyn, racing in his fifth winter Games, kicks off the blue riband event on the Dave Murray downhill. Murray, who is sadly no longer with us, was one of the famous "Crazy Canucks". His daughter will race in the women's snowboard cross. Manny Osborne-Paradis goes in bib number 19, Didier Cuche in number 22, Robbie Dixon in 23 and Britain's Ed Drake in 43.

1025: In case you didn't know, the men's downhill is on BBC Two on your TV if you're in the UK - and this website. It might not appear in some schedules because this event, remember, was due to go ahead on Saturday but got postponed because of the weather. There are some other changes to let you know about for TV coverage. Tomorrow - Tuesday 16 February - there is a Winter Olympics show on BBC Two between 2000-2230 GMT. This programme has now been extended by 30 minutes - 'Muslim Driving School' will now be shown on BBC Two on 1 March.

1020: Sweden's Charlotte Kalla is the early leader in the women's 10km free cross country after 1.3km but after 7.3km Germany's Stefanie Boehler setting the pace. Coming up, women's skeleton training starts at 1130 (1930).

1015: Austrian skiing legend Franz Klammer talking to Graham Bell on the men's downhill. "Were you scared before races?" asks Bell, himself, a five-time Olympian. "Sure, that's why I skied so fast, to overcome fear. It's over sooner," says Klammer, the 1976 Olympic downhill champion. "It's not actual fear, it's respect. This can hurt you if you do stupid things."

1000: If you prefer baggy pants instead of skin tight suits, you'll absolutely want to be glued to the men's snowboard cross first round, which begins at 1030 (1830 GMT). To get in touch text me on the numbers above, or via Twitter.

0950: Coming up in five minutes is the women's 10 cross country, with Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk the favourite. Fiona Hughes goes for Britain. You can follow the cross country on our live page , or if you like to roll at a slightly faster pace, check out our downhill live page.

0940: Fresh from winning their first gold, Canada are hungry for a second and focus is firmly fixed on the men's downhill. Vancouver local Manuel Osborne-Paradis is the big ahome hope and is third in this season's World Cup standings, while countryman Robbie Dixon was second in both training runs last week. But Swiss star Didier Cuche is favourite for the blue riband event of the Games. The 35-year-old former butcher leads the standings, but will be skiing with his right thumb in a splint after injuring himself at the end of last month. Fellow Swiss Carlo Janka is another to watch, while American maverick Bode Miller is always sure to entertain with his win-or-bust style.

0930: Morning everyone, and welcome to day four of the Winter Olympics here in Vancouver. It's a big day today, with the rearranged men's downhill set to start at 1030 (1830 GMT) up at Whistler. The recent warm weather system has moved over and last night was cold and clear. It's a water-injected course and will have frozen up, meaning a fast, icy track.

Downtown Vancouver was abuzz with medal fever last night after Alexandre Bilodeau's first ever Canadian gold on home soil in the moguls final . His face has been all over the news and sports channels out here with lots of attention paid to his older brother Frederick who has cerebral palsy. Alex says he is his "inspiration". AB went to bed on Saturday night a humble bumps skier. He'll wake up this morning to a new life of riches and possibilty. Good on him.

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