Image source, Reuters

Earlier today, Jamie Nicholls placed sixth in the snowboarding slopestyle to secure Britain's best-ever snowboarding result. It's also the best result in a snow sport since Gina Hathorn's slalom fourth at the 1968 Grenoble Olympics.

"I did the best I could do," he said. "That was the best run of my life. Today is insane, the standard of riding was unreal.

"My first run was the best run I have ever done in my life. I landed a backside triple 1440 and that is the first time I have ever landed that trick in a contest.

"I am just happy to be in the Olympic final and I'll probably be in the next one. I am only 20 years old, it is a great experience that's for sure."

WelshRacer:, external Loved the Russian brass band entertaining the crowd on BBC Red Button!

Zach:, external I can't skate 10m without falling over so these athletes are just amazing. Great to watch.

Steve:, external Love the Winter Olympics - feel exhausted already especially after the cross country, amazing stamina. Snowboarding and speed skating great too.

And we're back under way at the Adler Arena, with Germany's Moritz Geisreiter and Norway's Havard Bokko, competing in his third Olympics, taking to the ice. Both are flying and comfortably inside the current leading time. It looks effortless out there - which suggests we can expect some very good times.

If it's Olympic sport of the snowy variety that tickles your fancy, you've not got long to wait as the women's moguls qualification starts at 14:00 GMT. American Hannah Kearney, who likes to knit in her spare time, has already qualified.

The organisers have done their job resurfacing the ice which means the men's 5,000m speed skating can resume with another five pairs in action fairly shortly. In the meantime, a sensational band are rocking out a rendition of Ottawan's Hand's up alongside a few cheerleaders to entertain the crowd.

Image source, Greg Drummond/Twitter

The curling competition starts on Monday and Britain's Greg Drummond has posted a picture on his Twitter feed, external of him getting ready for the Games.

"Signing the #TeamGB pennants for our opposition while watching some Slopestyle Snowboard highlights!" he says.

Norway have won more Winter Olympic medals than any other nation at 306, so it's perhaps unsurprising to see them perched that the top of the medal table after the opening two medal events with one gold, one silver and one bronze.

We're having a short pause in the action at the Adler Arena while they resurface the ice before the next batch of competitors lace up their skates. Poland's Jan Szymanski is sitting pretty at the top of the timesheets, but the big-hitters have yet to make an appearance.

The women's ice hockey competition got under way this morning with USA, the 2010 Winter Olympic silver medallists, getting their campaign off to the perfect start with a 3-1 win over Finland.

Next up will be Canada, who have won the last three Olympic gold medals. They'll take on Switzerland in their opener at 13:00 GMT. You can catch that live on BBC TV, online, Connected TV, mobiles and the BBC Sport app.

Nick Hope
BBC Sport in Sochi

"If you can't get enough of the Winter Olympics then Saturday Sportsday on BBC One at 12:45 GMT has a round-up of all the action so far and a feature on GB Bobsleigh 'power-couple' John Jackson and Paula Walker.

"'Is he (Jackson) a romantic?' I ask Walker. 'Erm, no!' is her rather blunt assessment.

"Good banter between the pair who are both have military backgrounds."

Sven Kramer's closest rival for the men's 5,000m gold medal is his countryman Jorrit Bergsman. The 28-year-old will make his Olympic debut having finished runner up to Kramer in the 2013 World Single Distance Championships.

He is the only man other than Kramer to win a long distance World Cup race this season - he won the 5,000m contest in Berlin - although it's worth noting Kramer chose to skip the event.

And as a random aside, Bergsma briefly attempted to qualifying for Kazakhstan, winning their national title, but gave up on the attempt when he discovered he would have to give up his Dutch citizenship as Dutch law does not allow for dual-nationality.

James Charman:, external I can see why Hugh Porter does the speed skating events, a lot of similarities to the track cycling in the Summer Olympics.

Rory Wade:, external Speed skating and snowboarding are actually pretty fun to watch!

Trish Isherwood:, external Speed Skating must be hard on your back, constant bending forward. Well done Syzmanski. I am cheering on Poland.

Image source, Reuters

Sadly, we've haven't got a British entry in the men's 5,000m but if there's one man worth watching gliding round the £20m Adler Arena, it's speed legend Sven Kramer.

Not only is the Dutchman the defending Olympic champion over this distance, but the 27-year-old is also the winner of five of the past six world titles (he missed out through injury in 2011).

In 2010, he hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, though. After winning the 5,000m in Vancouver, an NBC reporter asked him to identify himself, his country and the event he had won. Insulted, he replied: "Are you stupid?"

That comment came back to bite him as American media could not resist asking "Who is stupid now?" after he was stripped of 10,000m gold having incorrectly changed lanes on the advice of his coach Gerald Kemkers. Ouch.

Ollie Williams
BBC Sport in Sochi

"Speed skating is a lot like track cycling in many respects, not least the constant turning-left.

"The same goes for technology in the sport. You'll recall that prior to London 2012, there was a lot of attention on what Team GB called the "secret squirrels" coming up with technological advances to make British riders and their bikes quicker than anyone else.

"In speed skating, it's the suits that count at Sochi 2014, and a minor war of words has broken out between the Dutch and American teams.

US skater Brian Hansen said he had "the fastest skin" in an interview before the Games, referring to his team's new suits for 2014, but Dutch suit designer Bert van der Tuuk told the Associated Press: "They claim to have the fastest suit, but they haven't tested our suit yet."

After two pairs races, Jan Szymanski of Poland is our leader with a time of six minutes 26.35 seconds. "It was a well-judged skate," said BBC short track and speed skating commentator Hugh Porter. Szymanski looks exhausted, hunching over and resting his arms on his legs gasping for breath as he glides round on a warm down lap. Good effort.

Skaters will only compete once, so we'll have our third gold medal of the Sochi 2014 Games dished out in a couple of hours time.

How do they decide the pairs did I hear you ask? Well it's based on the 2013-14 World Cup rankings in order to avoid mismatches. The highest-ranked skaters -including the favourite Sven Kramer of the Netherlands - will appear at the business end of the event.

Skaters will race in pairs, one in the inner lane and the other in the outer lane. Rather than competing directly against each other in a knockout format, they're competing against the clock.

Morning all. We're whizzing over to the Adler Arena, located in the heart of the Olympic Park in Sochi's coastal cluster for the opening event of the speed skating schedule - the men's 5,000m.

We can expect the lads to hit speeds of 30mph as they navigate the 400m oval.

Ok folks, time for me to hang up my skates for a bit. King of speed Lawrence Barretto will be your guide through the winter wonderland.