Rob Walker
BBC Sport commentator

"The more you rush, the more chance you have of incurring a penalty loop. You need to control the breathing when you are shooting."

The much-fancied Czech Gabriela Soukalova has a shocker on the shooting range, missing three of her five targets to incur three penalties. Tora Berger is not flawless either, missing one.

So, who would you be looking out for in the biathlon? Norway have never won the women's sprint but have a great chance of amending that statistic if Tora Berger repeats the form that earned her six World Championship medals last year, including four golds. Darya Domracheva of Belarus is probably her biggest rival for gold.

Colin Bryce
Former GB bobsleigher on BBC TV

"Felix Loch's run was unbelievable and it was nigh-on perfect. He really nailed it. For the oldest man in the field, Albert Demchenko was quick - very quick. If only he had a better start. Armin Zoeggler put in some brave sliding but he doesn't make any inroads into Demchenko's time."

The first of the female biathletes are out on the course with their rifles in their backpacks. British athlete Amanda Lightfoot hopes to be competitive, just seven years after learning to ski. The 26-year-old from South Shields said before the Games: "I was 19 before I even put any skis on and before that I had no real sporting background. I'm aiming for the top 30 in the long race, that'd be a real achievement."

Paul Dickenson
BBC Sport commentator

"Absolutely fantastic. Felix Loch has laid down a marker that everybody has to follow."

Thanks Lawro. Sterling work as ever. The men's luge has just got off to a stunning start at the Sanki Sliding Centre with defending champion Felix Loch zooming down the ice in a time of 51.6 seconds. The athletes will complete their third and fourth over two days before the winner is decided at about 18:00 GMT.

Right folks, I'm off for a spot of lunch. Sam Sheringham will be your man for the women's biathlon sprint 7.5km. Enjoy.

The sprint is a slimmed down version of the individual event, with only two shooting bouts and less severe penalties for missing a target. As a result, firing is often faster and riskier.

Women ski three 2.5km loops, shooting after the end of the first and second loops. Competitors must complete a 150m penalty loop, which generally takes 23 seconds, for each missed target.

Biathletes begin at 30-second intervals and the one with the quickest time wins gold.

Image source, Getty Images

We've got British interest in the women's biathlon 7.5km sprint coming up with Amanda Lightfoot set to become only the second British female biathlete to compete at the Olympic Games, after Emma Fowler, who competed in 2006. That starts at 14:30 GMT.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said allegations in the French newspaper L'Equipe of collusion between Russian and US figure skating judges was a matter for the International Skating Union (ISU) and the governing body would not be launching an investigation.

But Adams stated he believed the claims - which centre on a reported deal which would see the US help Russia in the team event with Russia returning the favour by helping America in the ice dance event - was merely "gossip".

"Cooperation between the US and Russia? In this case absolutely not," said Adams. "I have seen absolutely no evidence apart from the claim, so we would treat that as a bit of gossip, frankly, which is groundless."

It's that time of the afternoon when I come calling for your input into this very live text commentary.

What do you think of the Sochi 2014 Games so far? What are your favourite moments? What are you looking forward to watching? Who do you think is best placed to win Britain's second medal?

Tweet us using the #bbcsochi hashtag or text 81111 (UK only), remembering to put your name on those messages. The floor is yours.

Actor Simon Pegg:, external Congrats to @jennyjonessnow for scoring snowboarding bronze in #Sochi2014. Would be delighted to posses a fraction of her skill.

Image source, Getty Images

Olympic bronze medallist Jenny Jones could be in for quite a reception when she returns to her home city of Bristol if the mayor gets his way.

George Ferguson has floated the idea of covering a hill or the city centre's steep Park Street in snow using a snow machine if the weather is cold enough, to celebrate 33-year-old Jones' success.

"We have got to do something really good to celebrate this," he said. "It will be better than doing an open bus tour, although I'm sure we can do that."

Brent Pope
BBC Sport ice hockey commentator

"It was coming, you feared this. The Germans were making some good play and there is the reward. Franziska Busch takes full advantage of a half opportunity."

At last, we've got a goal at the Shayba Arena, with Germany going ahead against hosts and World Championship bronze medallists Russia courtesy of Franziska Busch. You can follow the action with the video stream at the top of this page.

Britain's Callum Smith finished 62nd in the 30km cross-country skiing skiathlon earlier today.

The 21-year-old, who was the fifth youngest athlete to start, said: "My race was pretty tough. It was OK but maybe not my best performance ever. I started off pretty hard and I think maybe that was a little bit of a mistake.

"The selection to get into this race is pretty hard, a lot of the smaller nations don't even compete. Even not to be at the back you have got to do reasonably well."

Matthew Pinsent
BBC Sport reporter in Sochi

More mixed zone emotion planned - have Felix Loch's (GER) auntie Gertrude, fave mountain cheese & fluffy toy bear he thought he'd lost aged five.

The men's luge competition reaches its climax later today with the final two runs from 14:30 GMT and 16:41 GMT respectively.

Germany's defending champion Felix Loch leads after Saturday's two runs and is 0.294 seconds clear of home favourite Albert Demchenko, who is appearing in his seventh Games while Italy's Armin Zoeggler is currently a further 0.450secs behind Demchenko in the bronze medal position.

Sunday's first run will see the 39 competitors go out in the order they finished Saturday's two runs, so Loch will be the first man out on the course, while the fourth run will see them go in reverse order. Find out more about luge on the BBC Sport cheat sheet.

Image source, Reuters

Irene Wust of Netherlands, with her fingernails painted red, blue and white in the colour of the Dutch flag, won her third Winter Olympic gold medal and fourth overall, with victory in the women's 3,000m speed skating earlier today.