Britain beat the Netherlands 3-2 last night, so go into the final match with Lithuania at 16:00 today needing just a point to win the gold and secure promotion to Ice Hockey's global second division.

Unfortunately GB have just fallen at the final hurdle in the Ice Hockey Worlds - they dominated against Lithuania, but lost 3-2. South Korea had already won their final game, so they get promoted.

That was gut wrenching, totally had the game and subsequently the gold medal stolen from us. We just didn't generate enough clear cut chances to put the puck in the back of the net. Great effort by the team this week, and huge credit to the new coach Pete Russell, who has stepped up from the U20's where he took them to gold to taking the seniors to silver. We'll be back next year for sure.

Good news for fans of Thai slalom racing - Vanessa Mae has had her 4-year ban for match-fixing overturned. She will be able to resume her battle with Tina Maze et al next season.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/winter-sports/33218200

I suspect a fiddle there somewhere.

Looks like the British skeleton squad may be set for a relatively quiet season.

After many a strong rumour going around fans, London nor the UK will be host a Crashed Ice event this year. Closest is going to be a Riders Cup event in France, and a big Red Bull event some where in Germany.

Hopefully we'll see a return to these shores next year.

I suppose it makes commercial sense for them to align the spectator events with places where there are more competitors.

Only 50 days to the first event!

http://www.redbullcrashedice.com/en_GB

Though Belfast was a resounding success, the track and the spectators. The only real disappointment was Edmonton. They were having a mild spring and the ice was melting like mad, and it was a free event. I've got plenty of friends who went, and were left with sour memories. The races was slow, and the crowds just too big. I think in the UK, the big cities could host, and we'd have some really nice tracks, but it depends on how those in charge see the event taking place.

The need for more natural tracks like those on the Riders cup, will help as the Crashed Ice tracks will cost a fortune to build and transport around the world. If as I expect they make a play for Olympic inclusion at some point they'll have to make the championship bigger than it already is. I'd love to see something say in Manchester at Old Trafford, starting off outside the stadia and coming in to finish inside. That would create better viewing lines and more spaces.

Problem is they can only make natural tracks in places where they won't get crowds. It needs to be an urban sport at the top level, really.

Here we go at last, season 2015-2016 gets underway* for real

Alpine skiing

Men's and Women's Giant Slaloms from Solden Austria

Saturday, 15:00 Eurosport Women's GS highlights only
Sunday 08:15 & 11:30 Men's GS

Figure Skating

Skate America, first of the six meet Grand Prix series, from Milwaukee. Not live on Eurosport, but lots of coverage throughout the weekend. No Brits involved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Skate_America


*Well, OK there have already been some Southern Hemisphere World Cups.

Women's GS now live on Eurosport 1, presumably cricket is finished. Hadn't realised that Tina Maze is taking a year off this year.

AARGH!!! Young British skier Alexandra Tilley had qualified 22nd for the 2nd run, but didn't make it down, so misses out on her first ever WC points.

And seemingly Anna Menninger will also miss the whole season through an injury she got in practice earlier this week, so there will be a lot of podium places on offer to new faces this year.

The ones not occupied by Lindsey Vonn.

Two things this weekend

Short Track World Cup - First Short Track World Cup of the season from Montreal, Canada. The first British winter sports team in action for the year, should be looking for medals and ranking points. Elise Christie resumes her battles with her opponents, and the judges.

Live streaming on the Web for the finals, starting at 18:00 Saturday

http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesu...isu/index.html

Figure Skating - The Skate Canada Grand Prix from Lethbridge, Alberta starting on Friday evening. It's all live in European prime-time, so must be starting at about 09:00 in the morning local time. All on Eurosport and also live streaming from the address above. No Brits yet.

And not off to a great start as Elise slides out of the Quarter Finals of the 1000m.

Things improved a bit on Sunday - Elise got through to the A final of the 500m, but again slid out, so finished fourth. The men's relay squad got through to the B final, so finished 8th.

On to Toronto next week, it's a busy pre-Christmas season in Short Track.

Same menu as last week.

Short Track World Cup - This time from Toronto, so same time-zone as last time. Web streaming starts at 18:00 Saturday

http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/isu/index.html

Figure Skating Grand Prix - From Beijing China, so starting at about 06:00 in the morning. On Eurosport, and also live streaming at the same address.

Not much else going on I can see, things get busier next weekend with the first Alpine slaloms, lots of regional cross-country races, and the lower division bob/skeleton meets.

Some tweets on the British Bobsleigh website to say that our Youth Bobsleigh teams are doing well in the Calgary qualification races for the Youth Olympic Games in February.

Next weekend's slaloms in Levi, Finland are off - no snow. They'll be rescheduled for later in the season.

Elise Christie takes GOLD!!! in the women's 500m in the Toronto Short Track World Cup - fair enough, only after the Pole and the the Chinese girl took each other out, but she's so often been on the bad side of those breaks that she deserves it.

And Elise Christie follows up tonight with a SILVER medal in the 1000m in Toronto, so a good weekend all in all.

Two main things this weekend

Figure Skating from Bordeaux, France. The Trophee Eric Bompart. Live on Eurosport all weekend, but will probably be geo-blocked on Eurovision Sports.

Long Track Speed Skating from Calgary, Canada. First long track World Cup of the season, streaming coverage starting at 20:00 Friday on

http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/isu/index.html

Just a reminder that the Alpine Slalom from Levi, Finland was cancelled, although it's probably still in most listings. There are also the first pre-season Cross Country races in Norway and Finland. Brits will be in action in Norway according to their Facebook page.

Only Brits in action are Penny Coomes and Nick Buckfield in the Ice Dance.

Two good early Cross Country results for Team GB in the Beitostolen 15k classic race. In a field of 134, Andrew Young was 14th and Andrew Musgrave 20th, both beating lots of well-established international names. Therese Johaug won the women's race, Britain's Annika Taylor 37th.

http://data.fis-ski.com/dynamic/resu...C&raceid=25881

Freestyle races over the same distance tomorrow, then classic sprints on Sunday.

The remainder of Trophee Eric Bompard has been cancelled after the events in Paris. Penny & Nick were in 4th place after the Short Dance & those rankings will be used for the final standings.