AS IT HAPPENS: Day eight from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver

GOLDEN GIRL: Great Britain's Amy Williams slides her way to an emphatic and historic gold medal in the women's skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre (Getty Images)

 

 KEEP REFRESHING FOR REGULAR UPDATES FROM VANCOUVER

 

23:13 (-8 GMT): And the Finns have now completed a 5-0 victory over Germany, bringing an end to a breath-taking day in Vancouver

Be sure to join us for more of the same tomorrow!!!!

23:00 (-8 GMT): The action is almost over at Canada Hockey Place and Finland are 5-0 up and cruising against Germany

22:45 (-8 GMT): The picture gallery from the skeleton competitions in Whistler is in - take a look here

22:35 (-8 GMT): John and Sinead Kerr have been speaking after their compulsory dance in Vancouver, and their promising more to come.....

22:15 (-8 GMT):  Good news! As expected Canada's rather pitiful attempt to have Amy Williams disqualified has flopped - she keeps gold

21:55 (-8 GMT): The picture gallery is in from Aksel Lund Svindal's super-G victory over Bode Miller, take a look here

21:43 (-8 GMT): The match report from the curling is in - read it here

21:30 (-8 GMT): Great Britain look like they're creeping back into it but a stunning shot from Japan clears two British stones and hands Eve Muirhead a thumping 11-4 defeat

Elsewhere, Sweden's defending champion Anette Norberg continued her 100 per cent record with a 6-4 win over China while Canada's Cheryl Bernard needed an 11th end to follow suit, seeing off Denmark 5-5.

And Swtizerland's Mirjam Ott collected a routinr 8-5 win over Russia's Anna Sidorova.

21:15 (-8 GMT):  After a very lengthy discussion, Eve Muirhead produces an excellent cannon (do they call it a cannon?) to reduce to deficit - it's 6-4 with two ends to go

21:01 (-8 GMT): A great shot from Japan and it goes pear-shaped - It's 6-3 eith three ends remaining

20:55 (-8 GMT): What a stone from Eve Muirhead! But Japan's reply is just as good - this match is going to go to the wire

20:45 (-8 GMT): Curlo update - Great Britain's women are 5-3 down in the seventh end

20:32 (-8 GMT): Martins Dukurs buckles under the pressure - gold goes to Jon Montgomery

Read the report here

20:31 (-8 GMT): Jon Montgomery ratchets up the pressure on Martins Dukurs with a blistering second run of 52.36

20:24 (-8 GMT):  Kristan Bromley's stay in the winner's enclosure did not last long. He pays the price from that wild finish and the USA's Zach Lund goes above him by 0.03 - if the Brit ends up fourth then it's going to hurt

20:23 (-8 GMT): A quick interlude and over to the curling now, Great Britain's women are 4-3 down to Japan in end six

20:22 (-8 GMT): 52.80 for Kristan Bromley, a wild line through corner 16, it could have been better for the Brit but he leads. Errors will have to be made if he is to get his hands on a medal

20:20 (-8 GMT): Kristan Bromley now - he needs to drive of his life to put any pressure on the bronze medal postion - Frank Rommel is the current leader but the Brit is set to overtake him

20:10 (-8 GMT): Canada's Jeff Pain delights the home crowd, rolls back the years and clocks 52.65 - he currently leads but don't expect him to stay there

20:00 (-8 GMT): Men's skeleton back underway now. Great Britain's Adam Pengilly goes early - 53.23 - a little better from him but let's be honest, he won't have enjoyed his Vancouver experience 

19:49 (-8 GMT):  Here come John and Sinead Kerr now. And that's a very promising start. They're eighth after the compulsory dance - a top eight finish was their aim so no complaints

Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin lead from Canadian duo Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir

19:38 (-8 GMT): While Domnina and Shabalin have a commanding lead, there's an intriguing battle for second place brewing between the American pairs - Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto score 40.83 to go third

19:30 (-8 GMT): A bit disappointing from another Russian pair - Jana Khokhlova and Sergiy Novitski, they're in fourth

19:23 (-8 GMT): Curlo update - Japan take an early lead against Eve Muirhead and co after the first end - it's 1-0

19:22 (-8 GMT): Huge from Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin! They've notched up 43.76 points

19:17 (-8 GMT): How long will that lead last though? Up next is Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia. They're European and world champions but don't forget, he does have a dodgy knee

19:16 (-8 GMT): American champions and Grand Prix Final winners Meryl Davis and Charlie White move into the lead after their compulsory dance with a mammoth 41.47

19:14 (-8 GMT): Sportsbeat's James Toney as caught up with Great Britain chef de mission Andy Hunt, who is predicting Amy WIlliams' medal is just the tip of the iceberg

19:04 (-8 GMT): Eve Muirhead and co are getting underway now in their second match of the day - they've already picked up one victory on Friday against Germany

18:56 (-8 GMT: So there's a lot of work to do for Kristan Bromley with one run to go. There should be some excitement at the top of the leaderboard though - Jon Montgomery has closed the gap on Martins Dukurs

18:45 (-8 GMT):  There's a break before the final eight pairs take to the ice at the Pacific Coliseum - Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland have been speaking about their Olympic debut however:

Coomes said: "I'm generally pleased; it's very different being at the Olympic Games with all the top skaters and the big crowd so maybe we were a little bit more tentative than we are in practice but we've got a lot to look forward to in the rest of the competition."

Buckland added: "It's good to get that under our belt. It's been our first time doing the compulsory dance in front of such a big crowd, so it was a great experience.

"You obviously prepare as well as you can do, so it's nice when you get here, get your costumes on and it all falls into place."

18:33 (-8 GMT): Over at the Pacific Coliseum and it's French duo Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder lead the way in the compulsory dance - ten pairs still to go including Sinead and John Kerr

18:32 (-8 GMT): And Tomass Dukurs has leapfrogged Kristan Bromley by 0.06 seconds

18:30 (-GMT):  Not bad from Kristan Bromley. He moves into fourth position and he's into fourth. Still work to do to snatch bronze though - he's 0.45 behind Russia's Alexander Tretyakov though - he was only 0.05 over night

18:28 (-8 GMT):  The door has opened for Kristan Bromley, can he go through it?

18:27 (-8 GMT): Some good news for Kristan Bromley, both Russia's Alexander Tretyakov and Matthias Guggenberger fail to set the world alight

18:22 (-8 GMT): But Jon Montgomery has lifted Canada's spirits and has reeled Martins Dukurs in

18:20 (-8 GMT): The action is comgin thick and fast at the Whistler Sliding Centre and it's leader Martins Dukurs off first.......a blistering run of 52.28

17:59 (-8 GMT): Bit of a fightback from Latvia. Girts Ankipans punishes on the power play to make it 4-2.

Representing Hungary (which reminds me I haven't eaten anything this evening), Nora Hoffman and Maxim Zavozin.

17:58 (-8 GMT): Czech Republic's Kamila Hajkova and David Vincour are on the ice at the moment. They're the eighth pair. Not very rousing that one, and there was a bit of a stumble between the two phases. Let's see what the judges think.

They score 23.19 - that's below Coomes and Buckland.

17:55 (-8 GMT): Kristaps Sotnieks has pulled a goal back for Latvia. It's now 4-1 to Czech Republic coming towards the end of the second period.

Bromley's third run is at 18:20.

17:53 (-8 GMT): The show must go on and that's definitely not it for the night! Do try and stay up for the ice dance competition.

Sinead and John Kerr are up later and have a shot at a medal if things go their way. Shelley Rudman's partner Kristan Bromley is also in action in the men's skeleton - he's fifth at the moment and also has a shot at a medal. That would cap a good day wouldn't it!

17:44 (-8 GMT): Feel free to leave your comments today, many Brits following the skeleton? Is this going to be a 'where were you when Amy Williams struck Winter Olympic gold for Great Britain?'

I'm looking forward to reading tomorrow's headlines in the UK nationals to see their reaction.

Good effort from Germany as well who are having a stormer at the Whistler Sliding Centre - how many medals is that now from three events!?!?

Shame for Hollingsworth - did she push too hard? Should she have tried to consolidate and stick with silver?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

17:42 (-8 GMT): Tomas Kaberle has notched another for the Czech Republic - it's 4-0 at the Canada Hockey Place.

17:39 (-8 GMT): There's a bit of a break as the ice is treated at the Pacific Coliseum. Couple eight start after the resurfacing with Pechalat and Bourzat starting the medal contenders at 16.

17:37 (-8 GMT): Wonderful, wonderful result for Great Britain's Amy Williams who wins Olympic gold on her debut appearance. The 27-year old finishes 0.56 seconds ahead of Germany's Kerstin Symkowiak and Anja Huber.

That's Great Britain's first women's individual Olympic gold for 58 ruddy years. What an achievement.

17:35 (-8 GMT): GOLD FOR GREAT BRITAIN AND AMY WILLIAMS

17:33 (-8 GMT): Really disappointing from home favourite Mellisa Hollingsworth. She's made the course her second home for the past four years and just pushed too hard there.

Respect to her for going for gold and not settling for silver though.

Amy Williams is off. The Brit can take it easy and as long as she stays on the sled, she'll be fine.

17:31 (-8 GMT): Hollingsworth is flying......and it's cost her. She slips up midway through. Takes a couple of hits and lands fourth.

To give you an idea of time, Williams' track record from the third run was 53.68 seconds.

17:30 (-8 GMT): Huge start from Symkowiak - she's miles ahead of Huber at the m idway point.

And she cruises home in 54.03. Not the perfect finish though. She takes first and is guaranteed bronze on 3:36.20 minutes.

17:28 (-8 GMT): Not quite as good as Huber. The American goes second overall, 0.10 seconds behind the German.

Here comes the big three though. In this order - Kerstin Symkowiak, Mellisa Hollingsworth, Amy Williams.

If you're not biting your nails, you're doing a better job than me.

17:25 (-8 GMT): Germany's Anja Huber takes over at the top in the skeleton. She was only 0.04 quicker at one point but finishes 0.33 seconds ahead overall.

USA's Noelle Pikus-Pace is next. She's in fourth before this medal run.

17:24 (-8 GMT): Ukraine's Anna Zadorozhniuk and Sergei Verbillo go first in the ice dance with a 33.87 performance.

I'm really hoping that's the last time I have to write out their names.

17:23 (-8 GMT): Canada's Amy Gough fails to displace Rudman! She finishes 0.32 behind Rudders' overall time!

17:21 (-8 GMT): Best start so far. She said she'd been improving with every run and her times reflect that.

Great Britain's Shelley Rudman is in gold position in the women's skeleton with six sliders left. 3:36.69 minutes to beat.

17:19 (-8 GMT): Marion trot's into the lead (see what I did there?) - Trott leads on 3:37.11 minutes.

HEEEEEEEEEEEERE'S Shelley. Olympic silver medallist (for how much longer???) Shelley Rudman is up next. She lies seventh.

17:18 (-8 GMT): World champion from Germany, Marion Trott has just set off in the skeleton.

Meanwhile, a couple from Ukraine have just taken to the ice at the Pacific Coliseum.

17:17 (-8 GMT): Australia's Emma Lincoln-Smith can't beat Pedersen's time. She goes second, 0.12 secs back.

17:16 (-8 GMT): For any Kerrs fans out there, check out Sportsbeat's James Toney's exclusive interview with Scottish siblings - it's here.

17:15 (-8 GMT): We're down to the best of the best (nearly) in the skeleton. USA's Katie Uhlaender was tenth and goes second behind defending champion, Switzerland's Maya Pedersen after a somewhat scrappy run.

Pedersen's marker is 3:37.51 minutes.

17:10 (-8 GMT): The main contenders in the ice dance don't start until the 14th contenders - that's USA's Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates.

France's Natalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat are 16th, then there's Davis/White, Domnina/Shabalin in 17th and 18th.

Belbin and Agosto go 20th with Faiella/Scali 21st, the Kerrs 22nd and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir wrap things up in 23rd - believe me when I say they're worth staying up for.

17:09 (-8 GMT): The next four couples are warming up. 2007 world champions Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev go first.

Michelle Kelly's time of 55.01 keeps them ahead of everyone else. Australia's Melissa Hoar is up now.

17:07 (-8 GMT): Let's head to the Whistler Sliding Centre - Canada's Michelle Kelly is in 13th and she's just set off.

Remember the competitors go in reverse order so Shelley Rudman will go seventh from last and Williams last.

17:06 (-8 GMT): Germany's Christina and William Beier just completed their tango romantica compulsory dance - 30.31 isn't a bad score for them and season's best.

17:04 (-8 GMT): The remaining men's curling matches have been wrapped up. Well done to USA who scored their first win of the tournament by taking their winning point against the hammer to beat France.

17:01 (-8 GMT): 25.68 for their tango romantica. Not a personal best and they look a little disappointed as well they might be.

But it was a promising start from the young couple.

16:58 (-8 GMT): Great Britain's Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland are making their Olympic debut.

They've just gone second in the compulsory dance. A few shakes but all-around pretty good.

16:56 (-8 GMT): Welcome if you've just joined us. It's time for the medal run of the skeleton and Great Britain's Amy Williams is the current leader by more than half a second!

She'll go last at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

Meanwhile, you might be here for the ice dance compulsory dance and I'll be keeping that updated throughout the competition.

16:44 (-8 GMT): Czech Republic are 3-0 up against Latvia in the first period. Goals from Jaromir Jagr, Tomas Plekanec and David Krejci.

Curling matches are all in their tenth ends. Germany lead the Swiss 7-5, Norway and China are locked at 5-5, USA are back to 3-3 but France have the hammer.

16:24 (-8 GMT): We've got Czech Republic against Latvia in the men's ice hockey preliminaries starting in five minutes at Canada Hockey Place.

Latvia took a bit of a hammering from Russia in their opener (if you call 8-1 a hammering) whereas Czech Republic started with a bang, beating Slovakia 3-1.

16:22 (-8 GMT): We're cracking on with the curling though. Canada have already beaten Denmark 10-3 but the three other matches have continued.

Switzerland lead Germany 5-4 after eight ends. USA have got some work to do to claim their first win of the competition. They trail France by 3-1 after eight ends.

Meanwhile, also in their ninth end, Norway are beating China 5-3.

16:17 (-8 GMT): Meanwhile, a couple of winter sports biggest stars have been speaking out today.

Double Olympic snowboarding halfpipe champion Shaun White, who won the second of his medals two days ago, wants to see slopestyle added to the snowboarding programme in 2014.

Triple ski jumping champion Simon Ammann has had to defend the legality of his bindings after complaints from the Austrian team.

16:15 (-8 GMT): The last few are coming through now in their third runs. The big news is Great Britain's Amy Williams stays top and increases her lead after the third run.

She'll go last in the medal run - due at about 16:55 - and will have 0.52 seconds to spare.

16:08 (-8 GMT): Defending champion Maya Pedersen has just set off. The 37-year old is lying 12th.

And a time of 54.24 seconds means she stays there.

16:05 (-8 GMT): Germany's world champion Marion Trott moves into eighth with a good time of 53.88 seconds.