Winter Olympics dwell: Curling rating and updates as Group GB attempt to attain ladies’s semi-finals after males scrape by way of

Ooooh, that’s finish for GB. Each groups are literally enjoying fairly effectively however a stunning draw into the home from Rebecca Morrison places the stress on Italian skip Stefania Constantini and she will be able to’t make the tough shot, ceding a steal of 1 to the Brits. The lead is now 4-1 though Italy retain the hammer.

There’s chants of “USA, USA” across the enviornment although which isn’t excellent news for GB. A steal of 1 within the fifth from the Individuals and so they lead Switzerland 3-1… They must lose that if the Brits are to undergo

Wow, the stress is palpable right here on the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.

A mistake by Italian skip Stefania Constantini along with her last stone, clipping her personal guard and never eradicating the British stone from the home.

That enables Rebecca Morrison – who starred with that “shot of a lifetime” in opposition to the USA yesterday – to attract into the centre of the home and earn a two. GB now lead 3-1 after 4 ends. That’s one thing to work with.

Within the different match, the US decide up one within the fourth finish to steer Switzerland 2-1. It’s so nervy!

That was properly performed by GB. Good stones by Sophie Morrison to solely go away Italy with a draw to take their one. Properly executed by the Italian skip Stefania Constantini nevertheless it’s only one – GB received’t thoughts that.

It’s 1-1 and GB can have the hammer within the 4th finish – can they rating a number of.

Within the different essential recreation, the US are locked at 1-1 with Switzerland by way of three ends as effectively. That one is within the stability. Bear in mind, GB want the US to lose that match in the event that they’re to make it by way of to the semi-finals

By the way in which, the job for GB ladies has turn out to be simpler. I received’t bore you with the main points of the draw stone problem that has given GB some face to face benefits nevertheless it has simplified what must occur this afternoon.

GB should beat Italy and have USA lose to Switzerland to achieve the semi-finals. If both of these issues don’t occur, then Group GB are out but when each do, then GB will attain the semi-finals because of head-to-head benefits over the USA, Canada and South Korea.

Issues regarded bleak yesterday morning however abruptly, the trail to the medal matches has turn out to be viable

Italy begin the second finish by placing one within the 4 foot, whereas Britain go away their first stone on the skin left.

They’re joined by an Italian guard shot within the centre, resulting in Sophie Jackson delivering a beautiful effort that goes by way of the hole and into the 4 foot, simply touching Italy’s yellow.

One other crimson goes by way of the guard to open up the home, however GB’s subsequent effort goes flawed, with Sophie Sinclair misjudging a launched throw and knocking two reds out of play with out impacting the yellows within the rings.

With Italy in a beneficial place, Dodds goes heavy once more to attempt to get the triple takeout – she will get two, even when it possibly wasn’t the 2 she would have needed.

However it retains GB within the recreation and so they pounce with their last stone, knocking out one of many yellows within the six foot and creeping their crimson into the 4 foot.

We go back-and-forth with the takeouts to begin issues off, with each groups knocking one another out of the home with every of their first three stones.

Italy observe this up by producing three guard photographs, all of that are promptly pummelled out of play by GB. It’s all very tactical, cat and mouse stuff.

With two stones every left to throw, neither group has a stone in the home, however that quickly modifications as GB and Italy battle for the button.

GB get the ultimate throw however voluntarily knock each stones out to clean the primary finish and due to this fact preserve the hammer.

And we’re off! GB have the hammer… and we start the primary of 10 ends.

We’re nearly to get underway in Cortina after appalling climate pushed again the beginning by 25 minutes.

The ladies are strolling onto the ice – it’s crunch time for GB of their last round-robin recreation in opposition to Italy. They have to win after which hope different outcomes go their solution to preserve medal hopes alive.

We’ll have all of the motion, up subsequent.

In near-blizzard situations, we’ve simply topped our first ski mountaineering Olympic champions.

Switzerland’s Marianne Fatton stormed to ladies’s dash gold, with Emily Harrop of France taking silver whereas Spain’s Ana Alonso Rodriguez in bronze.

And within the males’s dash, Spain shot to the highest of the rostrum as Oriol Cardona Coll, the oldest man within the subject at 31, claimed skimo gold.

Impartial athlete Nikita Filippov took silver and France’s Thibault Anselmet battled again from a poor begin to win bronze.

No Olympics is ever the identical: at each Video games the IOC tinkers with the format, including new occasions, dropping some sports activities and bringing in others.

Just one sport is model new in Milano-Cortina: ski mountaineering – ‘skimo’ to these within the know – which makes its debut this week in Bormio. Organisers hope it’s going to seize the general public’s creativeness in the identical means as biathlon, this Video games’ surprising hit, or skeleton within the UK after a gold rush on the Cortina Sliding Centre.

Olympic skimo works as follows: first, the athletes dash uphill on developed pistes with skins – which offer traction – on their skis, earlier than taking their skis off and operating in boots (‘bootpacking’) alongside a flat part of the piste. They then should full one other uphill part on skis, earlier than stripping the skins off to ski downhill to the end. In Bormio there are males’s and girls’s occasions, in addition to a combined relay.