Dutchman Sven Kramer has really put the hammer down now and is nearly seven seconds up with one lap to go. It's been a beautifully judged race from the Olympic champion.

And there we have it. Sven Kramer has stepped it up and is 1.93 seconds up on the current best time with three laps to go. The Olympic champion had a plan.

With six laps to go, the Flying Dutchman Sven Kramer is 1.77 seconds down but considering he has won his last 15 5,000m races, you would assume he knows what he is doing.

Hugh Porter
BBC short track and speed skating commentator

Image source, Getty Images

"Sven Kramer is arguably the greatest 5,000m skater of all time, but it's not a good start. I expected him to go quicker for this part."

Caitlin:, external If Sven Kramer doesn't win I will be raging!

Sean McDonagh:, external Speed Skating looks ACE!!

Marius Hollenga:, external These last four pairs will be epic.

Right then, time for things to get interesting at the Adler Arena as the Olympic champion, Sven Kramer, who has won 15 5,000m events in a row since 2012, steps onto the ice.

In just over an hour, we'll see the first biathlon event on the schedule with the men's 10km sprint. Norway's Ole Einar Bjorndalen may not be favourite, but should he win a medal of any colour, he'll equal cross-courty skier Bjorn Daehlie's Winter Olympic record haul of 12. We've got British interest in this event - which starts at 14:30 GMT - in the form of Lee Jackson. He finished 55th in the sprint in 2010.

The marching band and their quartet of cheerleaders are back to entertain the crowd at the Adler Arena. Their first number is a rendition of Tom Jones' Sexbomb.

In actual sporting news, I'm told we'll see the first of the final four pairs in just under six minutes' time.

Image source, Getty Images

The opening ceremony didn't all go to plan for the organisers with one of the snowflakes failing to open to form one of the Olympic rings.

However, Russian TV viewers were oblivious to the malfunction after the show's producers decided to run in pre-recorded footage to cover the glitch.

Executive producer Konstantin Ernst said: "When we realised, just several seconds in advance, that the ring would not pop up we told the mobile van that broadcasts to the Russian channel.

"They used the footage that we recorded before [of the rings opening properly]. This is an open secret. We did not try to hide this fact."

X Games silver medallist Maggie Voisin has withdrawn from the women's ski slopestyle event after suffering an injury in training on Friday.

The 15-year-old, who was set to become the USA's youngest Winter Olympian since 1972, injured her right ankle on a rail feature on the course at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park and will not recover in time for the first qualification run on Tuesday.

Katie Summerhayes is Britain's medal hopeful in the event. You can find out more about her here.

Image source, Getty Images

Olympic champions Canada's group match against Switzerland is under way in the Shayba Arena, with the North Americans taking an early 2-0 lead through Jocelyne Larocque and Tara Watchorn. You can watch via the link above.

The third Russian - Aleksandr Rumyantsev - can't match his team-mates strong performances and slots into fifth. Denis Yuskov retains the lead with eight skaters still to go. The defending champion Sven Kramer has just strolled into the arena. He'll be next on the ice once they've resurfaced the ice.

Ollie Williams
BBC Sport in Sochi

"Britain does have a long track speed skating programme, even though you won't see anyone from GB competing in Sochi 2014.

"A 15-year-old named Sam Airey is currently one of the top British prospects, racing at regional level in the Netherlands, which of course is the sport's spiritual home.

"The programme currently has no funding and is looking for sponsors, with a view to getting a skater like Airey to Pyeongchang 2018 or the 2022 Games beyond that.

"There have been several plans to build a long-track rink in the UK in recent years. Sir Steve Redgrave, for example, discussed a winter sports complex that would have included a long-track rink while he was at Vancouver 2010.

"None of those plans have yet come to fruition, but the new leaders of the British long track programme hope a British full-size rink might be built before the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea four years from now."

It's a Russian 1-2 as Ivan Skobrev goes second quickest, just 0.32 seconds slower than his his compatriot Denis Yuskov.

Interesting race strategy there from the 31-year-old, who skated a negative first half of the race and then put the hammer down in the second half, only to leave himself with slightly too much to do and fail to beat Yuskov.

Here comes Russian Ivan Skobrev, the Vancouver Olympic bronze medallist in this event, who is celebrating his 31st birthday today. Can he make it a day to remember? Huge roar of appreciation from the crowd.

Hugh Porter
BBC short track and speed skating commentator

"The crowd are loving it. The Russian is really started to hurt - he had to dig deep. It's still a good time."

Image source, Getty Images

Huge roar as Denis Yuskov stops the clock at six minutes 19.51 seconds to go quickest. The Russian was seven seconds up at one point, but started to flag in the closing laps and lost around four seconds. Nonetheless, he looks pleased with his effort, removing his sunglasses and raising his hands aloft to take in the plaudits.

We've just had the biggest cheer of the day in the Adler Arena as Russia's Denis Yuskov glides onto the ice to take his place on the outside lane. Can the home support inspire the 24-year-old to deliver a medal-winning performance?

Wilf O’Reilly
Former Olympic short track speed skater on BBC TV

"The Norwegian coach was advising Bokko to use the swing of his arm to bring his back leg back onto the ice. He did a very good job indeed."

We've got a new leader, in the form of 1,500m specialist Havard Bokko of Norway. He clocks a time of six minutes 22.83 seconds, with Moritz Geisreiter slotting into second.

"They won't win medals, but it is evidence that this competition is really hotting up," says BBC speed skating commentator Hugh Porter.