Nick Hope
BBC Sport in Sochi

Image source, NICK HOPE

The stands are absolutely packed full of excitable Russian fans for this first men's run. They celebrate wildly as Vancouver Olympic bronze medallist Alexander Tretiakov opens with an impressive 55.95 seconds.

With all of the extra ice-time the Russian team are rumoured to have had you'd be surprised if he wasn't on the podium again when this event finishes on Saturday evening!

Image source, @amandabiathlon1

British biathlete Amanda Lightfoot:, external A morning photo shoot. Now time to prep for my race.

Lightfoot will be competing in the women's 15km individual event from 14:00 GMT.

At the 1908 summer Olympics in London, figure skating was part of the Games, some 16 years before the first Winters. The skating, held in October, saw Britain's Madge Syers win gold in the ladies' singles.

You read right...held in October. The closing ceremony was held on the 31st of that month, nearly six months after the 27 April opening ceremony.

Yarnold, the 25-year-old from Maidstone, is aiming to become the 10th Briton to win gold at a Winter Olympic Games. There have, however, been more Britons to win gold at winter Olympic events. Check this out for a humdinger of a boring fact you can bore people in the pub with...

Carly Baldwin:, external Winter Olympics do weird things to you; I'm counting down until someone I've never met throws herself down an icy slope on a tray.

And this is what Lizzy Yarnold is sliding for. An Olympic gold medal. The women's skeleton is one of four events with golds still on offer today. We have the lung-busting women's biathlon, the twisty-turny flying bonkersness of the women's aerials and the graceful elegant emotion of the men's figure skating. Eclectic.

Image source, AFP

Richard Conway
BBC Radio 5 live sports news correspondent in Sochi

On Twitter:, external Hearing Lizzy Yarnold has requested her family not to celebrate/cheer after her third run in skeleton. Wants to retain focus for final heat.

Repeat after me. 15:30 GMT, BBC Two, then 16:30 on BBC One. At work? Don't worry, you can watch right here at the top of this page. Tell people to gather round your desk. If the boss asks, say you're reviewing the quarterly accounts. At school? Tell your teacher that the class deserves to watch. It's so much more important than learning Venn diagrams.

Aimee Lewis departs with that super combined gold in her back pocket, leaving Stephan Shemilt to come in for the afternoon. Let's be honest, there's one major event dominating our thoughts this afternoon - Lizzy Yarnold in the women's skeleton.

Image source, AFP

And that's that, then. The 28-year-old Sandro Viletta, who finished 14th in Vancouver four years ago, becomes the men's super combined Olympic champion thanks to a courageous slalom run. His combined time of 2:45.20 was 0.34 seconds quicker than silver medallist Ivica Kostelic, of Croatia, and 0.47 seconds ahead of bronze medallist, Italy's Christof Innerhofer.

Graham Bell
Five-time Winter Olympic skier on BBC TV

"Italy's Christof Innerhofer can be very, very happy with his slalom performance. He is over the moon with it, he cannot believe that he took bronze in a discipline he is ill-suited to."

Emma Carrick-Anderson
Four-time Winter Olympic skier on BBC TV

"What a shock, it was not the outcome we expected. Gold winner Sandro Viletta went in the middle of the field, and he knew he had to go for it to maximise his advantage not going down when the conditions were not chopped up."

Image source, AFP

Sandro Viletta watches Kjetil Jansrud cross the finishing line and breaks out in a broad smile because the Norwegian's time of 53.02 seconds is not good enough. In fact, the downhill leader finishes outside the medals in fourth.

Odrej Bank, second after the downhill section, is a tad too conservative, weaving through the gates like a geriatric negotiating a zebra crossing. It's only good enough for sixth overall. Kjetil Jansrud is the only man who can knock Viletta off the top spot.

Current leader Sandro Viletta looks into the camera and bashfully smiles at learning he has at the very least won a bronze medal. Two racers to go until we can crown the Olympic super combined champion.

Image source, AFP

Aksel Lund Svindal, the reigning Super-G gold medallist, is just 12th quickest in the slalom (+2.83) and, with a combined total of 2:46.88, he currently occupies sixth place along with Switzerland's Carlo Janka.

Nick Hope
BBC Sport in Sochi

Understandably most of the talk here in Sochi from a British perspective focuses on Lizzy Yarnold's gold medal bid later, but lets not forget the men's skeleton racing starts soon.

Great Britain boasts a former world champion in Kristan Bromley, who at 41 is competing in his last Games, whilst Dom Parsons, 26, won a world cup bronze medal earlier this season.

They'll start 11th and 13th respectively in the 27-strong field.

While our main focus is on the men's super combined, we shouldn't forget about Kristan Bromley and Dom Parsons who will get their skeleton campaign under way in 15 minutes or so. Former world champion Kristan Bromley will be hoping for a fairytale ending to his career, but it's Latvia's Martins Dukurs who is the hot favourite.

Rob Hodgetts
BBC Sport in Sochi

The sun has just dipped behind Rosa peak, plunging the course in the shade. Bode Miller has been saying all week how he doesn't win when the light isn't perfect, says he regrets not having eye surgery a while back when he had a slot in his diary. Is that Bode stuffed then? Well, he gets down and places third, but he's there for the taking. Miller shakes his head. Shortly to lose his Olympic super-combined crown.

Chris Brown:, external What a run from Sandro Viletta of Switzerland! Perfect slalom run to end Adam Zampa's long-time lead.