Eileen Gu has crashed out on her first run!

She says "the quali's curse continues" when the camera pans to her.

That wasn't what we expected.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Eileen Gu is the first to go in this heat ... standby!

Tim Warwood
Snowboard and freestyle skiing commentator on BBC One

Image source, PA Media

Everyone except the competitors in the halfpipe are loving the snowy conditions.

The snow falls down and accumulates in the middle.

It makes the centre flat bit of the halfpipe very soft, and very difficult to keep your speed and keep your edge through there.

It does kind of play into Zoe Atkin's hands.

Ed Leigh
Snowboarding and freestyle skiing commentator on BBC One

In the last six World Cup's, Zoe Atkin has not finished lower than second place, but Eileen Gu has only been at one of those World Cup's.

Most people in the know say it is Gu's gold to lose.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Sitting right behind the Team GB bench, the thing that strikes you is just how relaxed the boys are.

Hammy McMillan and Kyle Waddell are telling stories and roaring with laughter; Grant Hardie and Bruce Mouat are picking out friendly faces in the crowd; and Bobby Lammie is scrutinising the Swiss warm-up.

No nerves, no anxiety, no tension. Just a group of pals out for their latest caper.

Great Britain's men weren't in action this morning but must surely have been watching on intently as they awaited their fate.

They needed either Italy or Norway to lose - and Switzerland's victory over the Italians sent Bruce Mouat's team into the final four.

And we won't have long to wait until that semi-final, as GB face the unbeaten Swiss in about 15 minutes' time.

Image source, Getty Images

GB's Zoe Atkin will be up against China's defending Olympic champion Eileen Gu in the freeski halfpipe.

Gu has two silver medal wins in the slopestyle and big air events at these Games and will no doubt want to leave Italy with a gold after coming so close in the other two events.

Known in China by her nickname "Snow Princess", Eileen Gu was born in California to a Chinese mother and American father.

She began freeskiing at the age of three in the Lake Tahoe region and joined the Northstar California Resort freeskiing team at the age of eight. She won her first national championship just a year later.

She initially skied for the US before switching to Team China in 2019 in preparation for the 2022 Winter Olympics, which took place in the Chinese capital Beijing.

She went on to win two golds and one silver in the 2022 Olympics.

If Canada are going to win this final, they'll have to somehow breach a USA team that has recorded five consecutive shutouts.

Remarkably, the only goal they conceded in this competition came before the opening ceremony.

USA are penalised early so Canada have a two-minute power play - meaning they have one more player on the ice that their opponents during that timeframe - but they can't take advantage on this occasion.

Twelve minutes of the first period to go.

Image source, Getty Images

The father of Winter Olympics freestyle skier Zoe Atkin has said he hopes his daughter will "focus less and worry less" about the pressure and expectations put on her.

Although Atkin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in the US, she holds British citizenship, as her father, Mike, is from Solihull and represents Team GB at the Games.

Mr Atkin said he was proud of his daughter's efforts so far in the competition and added: "She is nervous because this is a very big event, but we've always kept our expectations modest."

"We say, 'Just ski well; do try and put down a run you can be proud of,'" he said.

Last December, the 23-year-old narrowly missed out on gold at the freeski halfpipe World Cup event in China. She took home silver.

"She's had a good run; these past 12 months have really been some of her best results, some of her best skiing." he added.

"She's skiing very well, and she's trying to focus on that."

Read more here

Great Britain's Zoe Atkin is the reigning world champion in freestyle halfpipe and is a medal hope for Team GB at these Games.

The 23-year-old's father has been speaking to the BBC ahead of tonight's qualification heats ...

Image source, Getty Images

Away from the figure skating, curling and ice hockey - yep, we're busy in this office tonight - qualification for the women's freeski halfpipe gets under way at 18:30 GMT.

How does it work? Well, each competitor has two runs and their best scored one determines their ranking.

The top 12 skiers advance to the final which takes place on Saturday.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Walked past the Cateaters on the way in. They're a Venetian pipe band, so named because they derive from an army regiment who ate cats to sustain them during World War Two.

That's what one of the members told me, anyway...

They were knocking out all the bagpipe bangers, much to the delight of the hefty contingent of Scots who have followed Team Mouat out here. Including one or two brave boys wearing kilts. Not in a place as cold as this, lads...

Here we go then. France's Lorine Schild is the first to take to the ice.

It all comes down to this.

A four minute routine stands in the way of these figure skaters and an Olympic medal tonight.

USA in blue jerseys, Canada in white.

A Winter Olympics gold medal is at stake.

We're getting a first look here at some of the beautiful costumes we'll see through the course of the night.

The more sequins the better, in my opinion!

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Image source, Getty Images

Right, are we all squared up after the women's match? Might take a bit longer, huh?

Well, what better than to dive straight back into the drama with the men's semi-final?

Just a day or two ago, seeing Bruce Mouat and his team in these matches seemed a forlorn hope, but the world champions got themselves together just in time and found some favours elsewhere.

And, as lead Hammy McMillan says, it's a whole new competition from now on.

About half an hour to go until the first stone is thrown against unbeaten Switzerland.

Emma Smith
BBC Sport at Milano Ice Skating Arena

If Independent Neutral Athlete and Russian champion Adeliia Petrosian wins tonight, then the Olympic flag will fly and the Olympic anthem will play.

But it will be another PR nightmare for the IOC, given all the debate about Russian influence and involvement throughout these Games.

How likely is it that she wins? Well, Mikhail Shaidorov won the men's event after being fifth in the short program, while the Japanese pair were fifth after their first round.

Petrosian, after the women's short program, is in fifth.

The lights are dimmed and the first bunch of figure skaters are entering the rink one-by-one to begin their warm-up.

The gold medal contest is scheduled to get under way at 18:10 GMT.

Matches are played over 60 minutes, split into three 20-minute periods. If the score is level, overtime will be played - in the gold medal match, that's also 20 minutes long - and the first to score wins.

In previous rounds, a penalty shootout would have decided the victor if there was no score in overtime. However, in the gold medal match, additional 20-minute periods of overtime will be played until a goal is scored.