Image source, PA

There was better news for Jamie Nicholls, though, as the 20-year-old gave Britain the perfect start to the Games with a stunning second run yesterday to automatically qualify for the slopestyle final.

It was the first time in 30 years that events took place before the opening ceremony.

"I can't believe what I've done," said Nicholls. "My dream was to get to the final, I'm so happy to make it in my first Olympics."

One member of Team GB who won't be in the stadium tonight is former sprinter turned bobsledder Craig Pickering.

The 27-year-old was set to compete in the two and four-man event in Sochi, but has returned to the UK after sustaining a back injury during a training session on 2 February.

"I am devastated," said Pickering. "We worked so hard to qualify the 'GBR 2' sled for the Games and I am gutted that I won't be on the start line with Lamin [Deen], John [Baines] and Ben [Simpson]."

Don't forget to share your predictions for the Winter Olympics using #bbcsochi or by commenting on the BBC Sport Facebook, external page. You can also follow all the behind-the-scenes photos from the opening ceremony on the BBC Sport Instagram, external page.

Great Britain will be the 17th nation to walk up the ramp and into the stadium, with speedskater John Eley having the honour of being flagbearer. They'll be the filling in a Macedonia and Hungary sandwich. We can expect Team GB to make an appearance at around 16:45 GMT.

Australia are second out. They've sent a 60-strong team - their largest ever - and it features two-time world 400m hurdle champion Jana Pittman. She will become the first Australian woman to compete at a summer and winter Games after being selected in the two-woman bobsleigh.

As is tradition, Greece are the first team to walk out into the stadium. The nation - who have sent six athletes to Sochi - have won 39 golds at summer Games, but they are still waiting for their first Winter Olympic medal.

It's almost time for the athletes parade to begin. As expected, an image of the earth is projected onto the floor of the stadium, with a ramp appearing in the centre to allow the athletes to filter into the stadium.

Robin Cousins
1980 Olympic figure skating champion on BBC TV

"There is such a great pride when the flame is carried around the country. I was lucky to carry it in 2012 in my adopted hometown of Brighton."

Image source, Reuters

The Olympic torch has taken on its most ambitious and longest journey ever, clocking up over 40,000 miles on its way to Sochi.

It popped over to the North Pole before heading up to the International Space Station. Cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazanskiy then took the torch on an unprecedented spacewalk.

Russian mountaineers then scaled the 18,510ft Mount Elbrus - Europe's highest mountain - before divers plunged 5,387ft in Lake Baikal - the world's biggest and deepest freshwater lake - using special torches which burn under water.

Its journey into the Olympic Stadium remains a closely guarded secret.

Anna Thompson
BBC Sport in Sochi

"Oops, the fifth of the Olympic rings fails to work properly as the opening ceremony gets off to a spectacular start... It's snowing inside the Fisht Stadium - that was meant to happen!"

Danielle Plat, external: It will be emotional, it will be glorious, it will be fantastic.

ja'mie king, external: Olympic opening ceremony, Olympic blanket from Turin and my Olympic mascot from Vancouver, I am ready.

As is tradition, it's time to hear the national anthem of the hosts. As the choir begin their rendition, a group of 240 volunteers come out dressed in red, white or blue LED coats and hats and line up to form the Russian flag.

Image source, Getty Images

A trio of mascots have been chosen for Sochi 2014 - and they all look surprisingly normal. After over 24,000 ideas were submitted, the Russian public narrowed it down to the polar bear, hare and leopard in a national vote.

Five snowflakes descend into the stadium and then open up to form the Olympic rings. Unfortunately, we've got a technical malfunction and one snowflake fails to expand. Still, we get the idea.

We've got an 11-year-old girl floating (via a cable) high above the stadium, and occasionally singing, with nine different landscapes - to represent diversity across Russia - floating across the stadium.

Reigning world skeleton champion Shelley Rudman on BBC Two: It is pretty electrifying to be here and so proud to represent Team GB."

GB curling skipper Eve Muirhead: "It is like London, there is a fantastic atmosphere and tonight is super. We are going into the championship confident."

Image source, Getty Images

Based on the figures I've seen for the opening ceremony, the Russians are going big, very big. The showpiece event will last two hours and 40 minutes and see an impressive 3,500 fireworks, weighing 22.5 tonnes.

The heaviest piece of stage scenery in use is 4.5 tonnes, with 3,000 performers - donning 6,000 costumes - in action, delivering a show which will include a nine-part of exploration of Russian history, alongside the athletes' parade and, of course, the lighting of the Olympic flame.

Do you know your Russian Cyrillic alphabet? No? Well keep your eyes peeled to the video at the top of his page or alternatively, get BBC Two on...

Here we go, then. Let's see what an Olympics that has enjoyed a £30bn budget can deliver in terms of an opening ceremony. Russia, the stage is yours...

Rafael Saakov
BBC Russian Service in Sochi

"The Winter Olympics takes place not in Sochi itself, but in two suburbs - Adler, by the sea, and Krasnaya Polyana in the mountains. Greater Sochi sprawls for 90 miles along the shores of the Black Sea and claims to be the longest city in Europe. The Olympic events actually take place closer to Abkhazia, a disputed territory on the eastern coast which considers itself an independent state."