Grassmarket

Have to say I’m a bit skeptical about this whole Levi reindeer thing. Not quite convinced that the reindeers won in previous years are not being made into burgers, hats & knife handles.

I do think that Shiffrin was on fire in the second run today, don’t think anyone could have beaten her.

Oh noes, just snatch Gold after a really hard-fought game. played really well, but....

Back to normal service as Shiffrin hammers the field.

Women's Run 2 starting...

Big blocks of Cheese are going to Sweden - 6-1 up after 6 ends. Swiss have to play another end for decency, then that will be it.

This morning's warm-up race from Beitostolen is on YouTube now. All in , of course.

Ooops, thought he retired last year.

Just about stagger over the line for bronze.

Men’s Bronze game finishes 7 2 Well done for a new Scottish combination!

Dearie me, this women’s bronze medal match just shows what it’s like to lose in a semi-final. Both teams were excellent all week, now they are playing like schoolkids.

Running late today because they underestimated the time the practice rounds would take. This never happened when Walter Hofer was in charge, one event after his retirement & it’s already a disaster.

Definitely have seen it used for CC, though. Teams like to train there because there are lots of different tracks, which you don’t get on every course.

Yes! Very tight game, but really big performances from all four. It’s a 50% new team, so really exceeding expectations.

So close for , extra end!

Anna unleashes the Hammer of Thor, scores 5 in the 9th end! Russians collapse in tears, slink away.

DQF, off to the Gulag!

Actually it was exactly my thought as well.

In your face, Tonga!

Well, China will be doing every kind of Winter Sport for the next three years. They have set up a massive James Bond-style underground secret bunker to teach women’s ice hockey to elite army units.

I also seem to remember that it used to be scheduled one week earlier, but there have been cancellations recently, so perhaps this is why. I also have the impression there is a generally lot more early snow in Europe this last three or four years. When I first started following all winter sports about 15 years ago there were a lot more early cancellations. Or races having to be held in the same venue two or even three weeks in a row because of lack of snow. Now, cancellations are more often due to blizzards, avalanche risks or too much unpressed snow.

Luge World Cup I from Innsbruck, Austria starts today. As usual in Luge, today's B-level non-televised Nations’ Cup races serve as the qualifiers for the World Cup at the weekend. FIL has great online streaming coverage of all the World Cup races - full commentary with expert analysis from one of the competitors - Ice Skating should be doing the same. https://video.fil-luge.org/index.html

Just don’t look at any pictures.

Actually this is wrong, although it was published on the WCF website. Must have misunderstood. Semis are v v To be played tomorrow morning, with the 2 bronze medal games in the evening & the Gold game on Saturday afternoon.

It would be like Women’s Ski Jumping. The first televised World Championships was just dreadful, with only about 4-5 able to do it properly. Took about 6 years to develop.