Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Things are still going okay here for Team GB... but it's a wee bit more nervy than they'd like.

Norway are 7-2 up on Canada after five ends and looking good to win. That means the British lads need to rely on unbeaten Switzerland doing the business against Italy.

Six ends played and the Swiss are 4-3 ahead. Keep the heid...

Image source, EPA

We said Germany and Norway - along with Austria - were the leading contenders and so it is proving after the ski jumping stage of this Nordic combined team sprint.

Germany are in the gold medal position with the jumps of Johannes Rydzek and Vinzenz Geiger giving them a score of 246.5 and a lead of 9.5 points over Norway and individual champion Jens Luras Oftebro.

That gives them a 13-second head start to begin the cross-country, which begins at 13:00 GMT today.

Japan are third with Finland fourth and Austria fifth.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Andy Bateson in Sussex has suggested that it would be in Switzerland's best interests to lose and keep GB out of the semi-finals.

Andy is right, but curling is very heavy on etiquette. Bear in mind this is a sport that is self-governed, with minimal input from the umpire.

Now, the cynic in me would suggest that this is the elite level, these guys want to win, and will do whatever it takes... but maybe the Swiss lads are better human beings than me.

Image source, Getty Images

Frenchman Thibault Anselmet has won the last three overall World Cup crystal globes, while he was the sprint champion in the last World Cup event before the 2026 Games.

Oriol Cardona Coll of Spain is a sprint specialist and won the World Cup title last season, with four victories.

Switzerland's Jon Kistler was second at the Olympic test event last year, while he won his first World Cup event in December.

Image source, EPA

The podium has always been graced by at least one of Austria, Germany or Norway since the introduction of the team event 38 years ago and in 2014 and 2018 all three claimed a medal.

Finland were the last country to win Nordic combined Olympic team gold that wasn’t one of the previously mentioned powerhouses of the sport and that triumph occurred back in 2002.

The dominance of the ‘big three’ is expected to continue in 2026 and beyond but a change in format could open the door to other less traditional nations. The event now effectively features a sprint relay completed by two competitors instead of a longer, four-leg race with four athletes.

Jens Luras Oftebro won gold in both individual events, though, so if he maintains that kind of form, Norway will be hard to beat.

Six golds are up for grabs on day 13:

• Now - Ski mountaineering: women's & men's sprint heats
• Now - Nordic combined: team sprint, ski jumping

• 11:55-14:00 - Ski mountaineering: women's & men's sprint finals
• 13:00-13:30 - Nordic combined: team sprint, cross-country
• 15:30-17:30 - Speed skating: men's 1500m
• 18:00-21:30 - Figure skating: women single skating - free skating
• 18:10-20:00 - Ice hockey - women's gold medal game

Plus, Team GB's fate will be decided in the men and women's curling as the round robin phase concludes.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Speaking to a few of the Team GB boys last night, they said they wouldn't bother coming to watch this morning. And given how heavy the snow is in Cortina this morning, you can't blame them.

Safe to say they'll be keeping across the action from the village, though.

The two team members each have one practice ski jump on the large hill and one that counts towards the score. The athletes in each group (starting with group 1) then compete in the reverse order of the team’s World Cup ranking, with the top-ranked team’s athlete going last.

The scores of both team members count and are added together to give a combined total.

The cross-country race that follows has a staggered start, with the first athlete from the leading team after the ski jumping going first. The other teams start with time handicaps based on how many points behind the leader they are.

One point equates to 1.33 seconds in this event, meaning a team with a 45-point deficit to the leaders starts one minute in arrears.

Each athlete then completes five 1.5km laps of a circuit, totalling 7.5km before handing to a team

Image source, EPA

Also under way is the Nordic combined team sprint.

Nordic combined remains the sole Olympic sport – summer or winter – in which only men compete. It also combines two entirely contrasting skills: ski jumping and cross-country skiing.

Jumps are judged on length and style, with the points awarded converted into a time handicap for the cross-country race.

The ski jump leader sets off first in a staggered start; the first athlete to finish wins. It is one of six sports that has featured in every Winter Games.

Each of the three medal events are held in one day, with ski jumping always before the cross-country skiing. Ski jumping is held on a normal hill or a large hill, which are on adjacent ramps.

The start gate and take-off point for the large hill are higher up and athletes typically travel further through the air as a result. Cross-country is raced using the freestyle technique, where forward motion is created using the edge of the skis. This is also known as skating.

Image source, Getty Images

France's Emily Harrop has qualified safely for the ski mountaineering semi-finals which will take place at 11:55

Harrop, who has English parents but was born and bred in France, won the first of three heats finishing in three minutes 3.34 seconds - 7.9 seconds ahead of Tatjana Paller of Germany with Caroline Ulrich of Switzerland in third with all three advancing.

Also through are Switzerland's world champion Marianne Fatton, the winner of heat two ahead of France's English-born Margot Ravinel, and heat three winner Giulia Murada of Italy who edged out Spain's Ana Alonso Rodriguez for victory leaving Harrop as the fastest qualifier.

Next up it's the men's heats.

Image source, Getty Images

There are no British athletes competing in the inaugural Olympic skimo, but one of the favourites has a strong British connection.

Emily Harrop, the three-time world champion, was born and bred in France, but her parents are both English and she was downhill British champion in 2015.

Switzerland's Marianne Fatton is also among the contenders as the reigning sprint world champion and runner-up at last year's test event in Bormio.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

It sounds like every schoolkid in Cortina is inside this stadium this morning. What a racket the young team are making.

Can the Italians give them even more to cheer? Currently no... the hosts are 3-1 down to unbeaten Switzerland after four ends. Good news for Team GB.

Less good is the fact Norway are beating Canada 5-2 at the same stage of that game.

Remember, GB need one of Italy or Norway to lose if they are to make tonight's semis...

On day 13 of these Games, it's finally time for ski mountaineering - or 'skimo' as it's known - to make it's Olympic debut. So what is it?

The sprint races consist of an ascent and descent.

The ascent has three stages...

1. The athletes begin the race with skis equipped with skins (strips of fabric that are attached to the bottom of skis to give them more grip.
2. The athletes remove the skis, place them on their backpacks and tackle a set of steps.
3. The athletes put their skis back on for a final ascent.

The descent is simple... Ski down as fast as you can to the finish line.

The normal duration of a race is about three and a half minutes.

Image source, Getty Images

The good news is that despite those postponements, there is still plenty going on this morning...

Image source, PA Media

For those of you hoping to watch the men's aerials qualifying and final and the men's freeski halfpipe qualifying runs, which were due to take place on Thursday morning, we bring you bad news.

They have been postponed because of the heavy snow that has hit Livigno.

The aerials have been rescheduled for Friday and when we know more about the halfpipe qualifying, we will let you know.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Team GB are not playing this morning but events on the ice right now will make or break their medal hopes.

The status is quite simple: Bruce Mouat's rink need EITHER Italy to lose to unbeaten Switzerland OR Norway to be beaten by already-qualified Canada.

If one of those things happens, the British quartet will be in the semi-finals tonight (18:05 GMT).

We'll keep you updated over the next hour or two...

Image source, Getty Images

It's day 13 of these Winter Olympics and, with not too long left in these Games, we've got to make the most of them while they're here!

There are still plenty of medals to be won and despite the weather causing a couple of postponements, there are six golds up for grabs today.

On top of that, Team GB's men face an anxious wait to see whether they will sneak into the curling semi-finals and the women's team are in action against Italy later on, bidding to keep their own qualification hopes alive.

With all that to look forward to, let's crack on...