dancingbrogues

I didn't thing anyone could top Rogge in having little personality, but our favourite 1976 gold medal winner just about triumphs,

Chagall and Rach II, unapologetically high brow, with a light touch, I'm liking this CC more and more

Thomas Bach could have picked a less cheap looking suit.

Canada's flag-bearer is keeping to the beat, New Zealand's stopped trying!

The Europop is channelling an early 90s roller disco, love it.

I'm no great fan of Meryl and Charlie, they're a bit too plastic fantastic for my tastes, but had it by a country mile in my (inexpert) opinion.

I don't feel very patriotic about Austria these days having lived outside for a long time, but really pleased for Fenninger and Hosp as we were having a bit of a poor games, but I don't like the fact that one of the Austrian coaches designed the super g course, seems a bit of an advantage. Amazing come back from the Swede in the women's x country, watching her reel them in and take out the German has been my favourite moment of the games so far!

1cm inside the line is harsh, but she should have made contact. I know there are now pictures of skaters who skated even more inside in other races and qualified, but that's a referee issue and doesn't make her infringement less. There was no appeal, Team GB did the right thing. I hope she can keep concentration next week for her best event and not let the weight of expectations get to her. Short track is a rollercoaster - look at Hamelin crashing out in the 1000m - several disqualifications, penalties and advances all round. It's pretty thrilling.

I've been impressed by the australians taking losses on the chin. Torah B and Dale BS were gracious and funny, unlike Bode 'the clouds, the clouds' Miller!

Clare has got balls of steel, all those outside broadcasts snubbed by russians, in a fuschia fleece jacket with a stolen shopping trolley for company.

The judging seemed patchy, but great news about Jenny Jones - even if there are no other medals, Sochi will now go down as one of the better British outings.

I'm flipping between the Beeb and ORF (Austria) for my coverage - thank god for Robin and his expert commentary in the pairs skating. Grew tired of the maths errors during the luge - how hard is it to read the screen?

I love the fact that the luge has uphill sections, but the look is rather rough compared to the Whistler slides for Vancouver. Lots of unfinished wood, and random debris in the sight lines as the camera followers the competitor round the track. One might argue it doesn't matter if the course is great ...

I liked the use of the visual space, where vast 'floats' were drawn across the air, reminding me of the May Day Parades in the Soviet era. Wonderful to showcase the depth of the repertoire in Russian classical music - particularly good in the 'elegant' sections - like the voyna-i-mir Ballroom and the constellations. Less sure about the kitsch elements. I didn't mind the simplicity of the lighting of the flame, but yep, surrounded by a sea of people would have made a more lasting impression than 2 Olympian Putinistas navigating an empty plaza. . My favourite bit was the oath - we had the athlete who sped through the thing, then the official who ponderously incanted his memorisation, and then the coach who managed to croak it out through the botox - most human thing of the night.

Athan. thanks for an informative post. The information here in the English press is slightly coloured, often with distaste for Rajoy, because he has been difficult about Gibraltar *lol*. The British media seem to want to tie in Catalunya with Scotland, and the comparison isn't a good one, mainly because Artur Mas is an opportunist, whereas the Scottish Nationalist Party has wanted independence since the 1970s. It is interesting that the Spanish government can prevent a referendum. The British government realised it could not and surveys suggest the majority of English people now favour an independent Scotland. i wonder if this will affect the IOC members' preferences - I guess it depends on how things develop. Certainly riots and demonstrations would not be good press.