No one is going to believe this but we just got stuck in an elevator. Ask @BOBSLEDR and @Crippsee who were there...
- Johnny Quinn has been stuck in a bathroom and in a lift. Where next? Will he get stuck halfway down the bobsleigh track I wonder...

Johnny Quinn stuck in a lift today ©Twitter





Suspected militants killed

19:20: It is being reported that Russian police today killed four suspected militants in a shoot out at a house in the volatile North Caucasus region - where much of the terrorist fears which have clouded the build-up to Sochi 2014 originate.

But despite toothpaste bomb fears and rumours of a failed plane high-jacking attempt and diversion to Sochi, which leaked through during the Opening Ceremony on Friday, there has been refreshingly little focus on security here over the last week. 

19:15 Big match just beginning over at the Ice Cube Curling Centre as Great Britain's men take on the world champions Sweden.

Britain's men will be seeking to avenge their female counterparts who lost out 6-4 to the Swedes earlier on.

On this day

19:08 At Nagano 1998 Masahiko Harada completed his remarkable transformation from zero to hero to help the host nation win team gold in ski jumping in front of thousands of ecstatic fans. Four years earlier at Lillehammer 1994, Harada had succumbed to pressure with an abject final jump which cost Japan gold when only an average one was required to win.

Check out a fascinating insidethegames blog by Mike Rowbottom last month on this, and the wider role of "sporting jinxes"

My 6th day in ‪#‎Sochi2014‬ & have to say Russians are doing fantastic job. Obtrusive security? Nah. Organization? Smooth & efficient. Bravo.
- St Lucia's IOC member Richard Peterkin is clearly impressed so far with Sochi 2014

18:46 The item at 18:04 about Vladislav Tretiak reminds insidethegames of the occasion at Turin 2006, during Sochi's bid campaign to host these Games when, along with several other journalists, we were invited along to interview him. A colleague asked him if he had played in the Soviet Union team beaten to the gold medal by a United States team made up of amateur and college players at Lake Placid in 1980 - the "Miracle on Ice". His face growing visibly redder Tretiak threw his arms up in the air and shouted: "I played in four Olympic medal winning teams! I won three gold medals!! And all you people want to talk about is the one I lost!!!"

It is probably safe to assume that Miracle, the Kurt Russell film about how the United States won the Olympic ice hockey gold medal at Lake Placid at 1980, is not one of Vladislav Tretiak's favourite movies ©Walt Disney Pictures

Video - Russian Police Choir sing Daft Punk's Get Lucky

18:26 Last Friday's Sochi 2014 Opening Ceremony continues to trend on social media networks with the Russian Police Choir's performance of Daft Punk's Get Lucky continuing to attract a lot of comments. Miss it on the night? Or just want to see it again? Check it out below.



18:18 Surprise, surprise, it's a Dutch one-two as their athletes continue their reign of dominance at the Adler Arena Skating Centre after race one of the men's 500m speed skating. Jan Smeekens leads Michel Mulder by 0.04 seconds. Japan's Keiichiro Nagashima is third. Their times will be combined to their result in race two, which begins at 6.55pm, to decide the medallists.

Russian nerves for ice hockey gold

18:04 Vladislav Tretiak, President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, has been at Sochi Airport greeting the Russian team's North American-based players who have come back for the Games.

A gold medal for the Russian team would be their first since the split up of the Soviet Union, who were Olympic champions seven times in nine Games between 1956 and 1988. Tretiak played in three of the winning teams - Sapporo 1972, Innsbruck 1976 and Sarajevo 1984.

The pressure on the Russian team here is huge. "I'm always nervous, but everybody will be nervous," said Tretiak, who lit the Olympic Flame at the Opening with former skater Irina Rodina. "We're all nervous because everybody wants to win, especially against us. All the teams want to face us in the final."

17:59 The first of two qualifying rounds in the men's moguls begin in a few moments. The three-stage finale will be on later.

"These guys are FAST! The Polish skater just skated 500m in 35.01 seconds!"
- Philippines IOC Member Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski


English the "enemy's language" says Tokyo 2020 President - your reaction

Yoshirō Mori has rounded on critics who have questioned his age and lack of language skills ©Getty Images



17:55 Plenty of reaction to our story yesterday that Tokyo 2020 President Yoshirō Mori claims he does not speak English because it is the "enemy's language". A couple of comments, posted on Facebook, below.

"Tokyo takes a step backwards, but it's their gig. Where'd all those young people go?
- Terence Burns, who has worked on several successful Olympics campaigns, including Sochi 2014.

"I found Chairman Mori was eight years old when the war was over in 1945 and he had a plenty of opportunities to learn English under the US-occupied democratised post-war Japan. He has very misconstrued and warped views of history. Embarrassing."
- Hidenori Arai

17:45 Halfway through race one of the men's 500m speed skating. Poland's Artur Was leads, with another 20 still to take to the ice. Roman Krech of Kazakhstan is second. Race two will begin just before 7pm.

"Stoked" Sage

Sage Kotsenburg is "stoked" after his slopestyle gold ©Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for USOC



17:12 American Sage Kotsenburg, winner of the first gold medal at Sochi 2014, when he won the slopestyle snowboard, has been appearing before the world's press at the Main Press Centre here today. He used the word "awesome" a lot and appears to spend a lot of time "stoked". Of Jenny Jones' bronze in the women's event yesterday, Kostsenburg said: "Great Britain, it's pretty sick to see on the podium in a slopestyle event." We think that means he thinks it is good...

Ticket sales

17:06 The number of tickets sold for yesterday was 59,395, Sochi 2014 spokeswoman Aleksandra Kosterina has revealed. "In most stadiums more than 90 per cent of the tickets were sold out," she said. "We have almost a complete sellout with figure skating, and 100 per cent sellout with luge.

"The medal ceremony celebration in the [Olympic] Park was massive. More than 70,000 people were there."

17:03 The first of two races in the men's 500m speed skating has begun at the Adler Arena Skating Centre. Forty men will race in pairs. The skater with the fastest combined time after the two races wins the gold. Will the Netherlands bag another skating gold?

IOC's helmet sticker ban

Helmet stickers were won by many at the Winter X Games last month out of respect for Sarah Burke ©Getty Images



16:58 The International Olympic Committee have defended their decision not to allow athletes competing here to use helmet stickers as a mark of respect for Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke, who died in an accident last month.

"For us it is a question of what is appropriate," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "We have huge sympathy and she [Burke] needs to be well remembered either individually or collectively. The competitions themselves are not the right place to do that and we would like to keep that separate."

He said the IOC could help organise another event or news conference to remember multiple X Games champion Burke, who died in January from injuries sustained in a training crash in Park city, Utah. She had successfully lobbied for the inclusion of the superpipe event at this year's Sochi Games.

But snowboarder Tora Bright hit out at the decision. "I ride with a Sarah sticker on my snowboard and helmet always. The IOC however, consider Sarah stickers 'a political statement' and have banned them. WOW," Bright wrote on social networking site Instagram.

Sweeping up the curling

Four men's and four women's matches have been played on day one of the curling competition in Sochi ©Getty Images



16:54 As tempting as it is to litter this blog entry with numerous sweeping/broom puns, we won't. What we will say is that the four women's curling round robin matches are complete. Reigning Olympic champions Sweden have got off to a perfect start up against one of the favourites, Great Britain, with a 6-4 win. Hosts Russia defeated Denmark 7-4, with Switzerland beating the United States by the same scoreline. Canada beat China 9-2.

Four more men's matches take place from 7pm.

"My grandpa is smiling down at me from heaven and saying I can be proud no matter what happens! This one's for you Grandpa Denny:) #discotime"
- Julia Mancuso of the USA before winning bronze in the women's super combined.

16:24 That's a third gold medal for Canada's Charles Hamelin. He won 500m and 5,000m relay gold in front of his home crowd in Vancouver four years ago. He also won silver in the relay in Turin 2006.

16:18 Charles Hamelin of Canada wins the gold - fine skating from him having led for much of the race. Tianyu Han of China wins silver, Victor An of Russia the bronze.

16:16 Seven speed skaters in this 1,500m final: Charles Hamelin of Canada; Jack Whelbourne of Great Britain; Tianyu Han of China; Victor An of Russia; J.R. Celski of the Untied States; Dequan Chen of China and Han-Bin Lee of Korea.

16:14 The B final has been won by Sebastien Lepape of France. A clash between Se Yeong Park of Korea and Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands saw the Korean penalised.

16:11 The next gold medal at play is at the Iceberg Skating Palace on Sochi's Olympic Park. The finals of the men's 1,500m short track speed skating are on now.

16:07 No surprises here, but America's women are thrashing Switzerland 9-0 in the hockey. A group match, of course.

Maria's seeing double

Maria Höfl-Riesch looks to the heavens as she celebrates her gold medal ©Getty Images



16:02 Back-to-back titles in the women's super combined has been achieved just once before since the event became a mainstay at the Winter Olympics in Calgary 1988. Janica Kostelić of Croatia won the event in 2002 and 2006. Maria Höfl-Riesch - who also won slalom gold in Vancouver 2010 - now joins her in that impressive feat.


15:45 Maria Höfl-Riesch of Germany successfully defends her Olympic title! Julia Mancuso has more than a second to play with on her slalom run, but it's untidy and she falls to bronze medal position. Nicole Hosp of Austria takes the silver.

15:43 Half a second in her pocket, and well up on the first split, Lara Gut is looking good before losing control. She's out.

15:42 Lara Gut of Switzerland and Julia Mancuso of the USA to come next.

15:41 Slovenian Tina Maze, third after the downhill, is third overall after an untidy slalom run. Maria Höfl-Riesch is guaranteed a medal.

15:40 No medal for Austria's Anna Fenninger, who goes sixth.

15:37 Defending champion Maria Höfl-Riesch of Germany picks up good speed in the bottom half of the run to take the lead, by 0.40 seconds. Four to go.

15:33 Nicole's countrywoman Elisabeth Goergl straddles a gate - her medal hopes are over. Lotte Smiseth Sejersted of Norway suffers a similar fate. Five runners remain, the defending Olympic champion up next.

15:31 Nicole Hosp, of Austria, eighth after the downhill, takes the lead by more than a second.

We have a new leader

Austria's Michaela Kirchgasser has been bumped down to third in the super combined ©AFP Getty Images



15:29 It wasn't likely to last too long, as Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel takes the lead from Michaela Kirchgasser of Austria.

In the next run, Dominique Gisin moves into the lead, by a narrow 0.03 seconds.

15:22 Austria's Michaela Kirchgasser remains in the lead in the super combined, still 12 women who were faster than her in the downhill to come.

Curling update

15:21 Tearing ourselves away from the slalom briefly to see how the four women's curling matches are unfolding. Canada lead China 3-0, with Switzerland 3-2 up against the United States. Russia are 3-1 up on Denmark, while Sweden lead Great Britain 3-2. All to play for.

15:16 Canada's Marie-Michele Gagnon clutches her wrist as she picks herself up from a fall. Let's hope it's not too serious. She is followed by Leanne Smith, who aborts her run after missing a gate.

15:11 The early leader is Austria's Michaela Kirchgasser, but there's a long way to go.

15:06 Another Slovakian doesn't make it to the bottom - Jana Gantnerova is out after a fall. 

15:01 And first out is Kristina Saalova of Slovakia. And first OUT is Kristina Saalova of Slovakia. She goes tumbling after pummelling a gate. She looks distraught, but doesn't look to be injured.

15:00 Here we go, the slalom run in the women's super combined is on. The top five (see 12:34), will have their runs towards the end.

Balmy Sochi

14:43 It's a balmy 14 degrees Celsius in Sochi today - warmer than London, Paris, Rome and Mardrid. Temperature are forecast to reach 19 degrees Celsius on Thursday!

14:33 The heats of the women's 500m short track speed skating have begun. There are eight races each with four competitors. The top two in each race advance to the quarter-finals.

Get the elbows out!



14:18 It's a brutal business this short track speed skating. One minute you're out in front, the next you end up flat on the ice. The 1,500m heats have been completed, with 19 making it through to the the semi-finals which begin at just after 3pm.

OK, this is a bit amazing... journalist and Olympic pundit Philip Barker correctly predicted who would light the Olympic cauldron in Sochi back in September 2013 in a blog on insidethegames! We're off to ask him for the lottery numbers.

"Just waking up... Yesterday felt like a dream! So thankful it's actually reality!"
- Slopestyle gold medallist Jamie Anderson, of the USA, is still coming to terms with her historic win.

12:47 Time for a bit of a breather, before our next slice of sporting action in Sochi. The heats of the men's 1,500 metre speed skating will get underway in an hour, at 1.45pm. The semi-finals will start at 4.05pm, with the finals following on. The heats for the women's 500m will begin at 2.27pm.