Image source, Getty Images

Six wins out of seven in the round-robin stage means Great Britain are already assured of a place in Thursday's semi-finals.

But before they get to the pointy end of things, there are still a couple of pool-stage games to negotiate, starting off with the Russian Olympic Committee, aka Roc Nation.

The Russians have won four out of their eight matches so far. These two met in the World Championships semi-finals last year, where Britain prevailed 5-3.

It should be a decent contest.

Graham Bell
Five-time Olympic skier on BBC TV

I would put Johannes Strolz top here - he has started with a higher start number before so he's used to a rutted track, he's going to be going 30th on this second run. He's already won a gold medal in the combined - once you've got one you get more, it may not be fair but that's the way it seems to go.

I would go with Strolz but there are so many in there that could do it.

Great run from Austria's Marco Schwarz and his 50.35 means the target is now 1.46.61.

Donghyun Jung of South Korea sets the early pace after a handul of skiiers have headed out with a second run of 50.84, for a total time of 1.47.69.

Right then, the final runs are under way! The countdown to Dave Ryding is on...

Graham Bell
Five-time Olympic skier on BBC TV

Dave Ryding just needs to just ski more like he did at the top of the course, keep that going all the way to the finish - it's not a particularly difficult hill, there's a few little bits of terrain he's got to deal with going into the finish. He needs to get a big green light, a big one!

I think he's probably too far down for a medal, the race will be decided by the top eight who are all within half a second of each other. The top three are all separated by 100ths of a second and in a game of 100ths he is over a second back.

No British athlete has ever reached an Olympic cross-country skiing podium and changing that in Wednesday's team sprint will be a difficult task for Andrew Young and James Clugnet, but an entertaining one to watch (from 09:00, finals start at 11:00).

Two team-mates alternate short, ultra-fast laps at the same time as their rivals, often creating pandemonium at the finish and memorable finales like American Jessie Diggins plucking gold away from Sweden by a fifth of a second after nearly 16 minutes in 2018.

Kathryn Thomson then skates in the women's 1500m short track speed skating from 11:30.

Dutch skater Suzanne Schulting has obliterated the field over every distance in the past season and will be a favourite here. Unusually, Thomson tied with GB Olympian Elise Christie in August's British trials - a photo finish couldn't separate them.

Meanwhile, Great Britain's men's curlers have already sealed a spot in the semi-finals but play their penultimate group game against the Russian Olympic Committee 06:05 and will then Canada tomorrow as they aim to finish top of the standings.

And if you were not awake to witness it a couple of hours ago, here is the Rocket's first run...

"It is a type of snow I havent seen before but each day I am feeling more comfortable on it," Great Britain's Dave Ryding told Matthew Pinsent before his first run.

"While I lack youth and maybe kamikaze-style skiing, I know what's it like and know what is coming."

We've already had a gold medal this morning, that was in the men's ski slopestyle final where the USA's Alex Hall was the only competitor to break the 90-point mark.

Fellow American Nick Goepper took silver and Sweden's Jesper Tjader claimed bronze.

The men's slaloms second runs will be getting going in a moment for those that have made it through, unfortunately GB's Billy Major is not among them.

Flag-bearer Dave Ryding sits 16th after the opening run.

Anna Thompson
BBC Sport in Beijing

The first run of the men's slalom is complete and 52 out of the 87 skiers who started the race have made it down the course.

The top 30 will race in reverse order in the second run, with Briton Dave Ryding 15th out of the start gate after finishing 1.21 seconds adrift.

Although he would have wanted to be closer time-wise, Ryding will race down with the better course conditions, as it will deteriorate and ruts will form making it more difficult for those who finished in the top 10. That's what makes slalom racing so exciting!

The winner of the Wengen World Cup this season was only 29th after the first run. He went off second in the second run - and no one could better Lucas Braathen's time that day.

So it is possible for Ryding to get into the medal mix but he will need a second run charge.

A new gate pattern has been set and we get under way at 05:45 GMT.

Image source, Getty Images

Right, we're going to leave things there for the moment but we will be back with you on the live text from 05:15 GMT for the second runs of the men's slalom, which includes Great Britain's Dave Ryding.

You can still watch action from Beijing at the top of this page.

Steven: Curling is nerve wracking. Shame about the result but a great game from both #TeamGB and China

Here's GB's Eve Muirhead: "China played very well - we weren't bad out there, overall we can't be too disappointed for that performance, we gave ourselves a lot of chances but unfortunately weren't able to finish it off.

"All we can do is concentrate on ourselves, fingers crossed, we need to recharge and come back tomorrow against ROC, we have proved we can beat the best teams here but haven't managed the consistency. Overall we can manage it and will give it a go. It's sport."

Thomas Duncan
BBC Scotland in Beijing

That was a match of fine margins. Two of Eve Muirhead's crucial shots in the final three ends just missed, and that's the difference.

The GB skip looked understandably frustrated at the end.

Steve Cram
Curling commentator on BBC TV

That was so close! Great effort from Eve Muirhead - China had nothing to play for but pride and that's given the crowd something to cheer about.

GB never really got on top - they were just about controlling the game in the first half but in the second part of the match where China managed to get control. A valiant effort in the end, came so close but they end up defeated.