Russians your nation needs you, so turn up early at Sochi! How full the venues are at any Olympic event is always a big talking point. Have corporate sponsors been given too many tickets or are ticket prices too high? Well, here’s a new reason why there were a few empty seats on day one at Sochi when, despite 92% of tickets being sold, venues on Saturday were only 81% full.
"We might have lost around 10% of people who actually showed up,” said Sochi spokeswoman Aleksandra Kosterina. "Russians like to come to the event not prior, but as close as possible to the event, and that is why we had an issue of a lot of spectators being late for the Games."
Sochi News: Canada athletes who were planning to pay tribute to freestyle skier Sarah Burke, who died in an accident in 2012, have been discouraged by the International Olympic Committee. The team’s freestyle skiers and snowboarders had planned to wear helmet stickers in memory of Burke but the IOC said it was not appropriate. “The competitions themselves, which are a place of celebration, are probably not the right place,” an IOC spokesman told reporters in Sochi.
The curling competition is played over a series of round-robin matches with the top four teams advancing to the semi-finals. Some results for you from today's action in men’s competition:
China 7-4 Denmark
Canada 11-8 Germany
Sweden 7-5 Switzerland
Great Britain 7-5 Russia
In the absence of injured American star Lindsey Vonn, Julia
Mancuso is flying the flag for the U.S. what can she do in her first event of
the Games?...
The first alpine medal in the women’s skiing will be handed
out today and it will be won in the Super Combined event – where speed is what
is needed in the downhill before the skiers tackle the weft and weaving skills
of the slalom. So, two disciplines, within a few short hours and one gold
to be won.
By Tom McGowan and Eoghan Macguire
Event: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Day Two
Get in touch: Post a comment below; tweet #CNNSochi
-Austria's Matthias Mayer takes men's downhill gold
-Bode Miller and Aksel Lund Svindal both miss out on medals
-Jamie Anderson is the first women's slopestyle Olympic champion
-Dario Cologna of Switzerland wins gold in the 30km skiathlon
- Irene Wust of the Netherlands claims gold in the ladies' 3,000m speed skating
- Slovakia's Anastasiya Kuzmina wins women's 7.5 km biathlon sprint
- Russia wins the team figure skating event as President Putin watches on
- Felix Loch claims gold in the men's singles luge for Germany
- Kamil Stoch soars to victory in the men's normal hill individual ski-jump
That's all from me today folks.
And what a day it's been. Eight events reached their climax in dramatic fashion and the hosts sealed their first gold thanks to a 15-year-old figure skater.
Tune in tomorrow to see if anything can top that! I won't be here unfortunately (sad face) but the coverage doesn't stop at CNN. The blog will be up and running as soon as festivities commence in Sochi.
Medals are up for grabs in the women's downhill, men's 12.5 km pursuit, men's moguls, short-track skating and speed skating events.
If you can't wait until then, however, you can amuse yourself with some of the most spectacular photos of the Sochi Games so far here and images of the most painful falls here.
Thanks for your company and comments as ever. Keep them coming tomorrow via the comments box or hashtag #CNNSochi on Twitter and Instagram.
Bye for now!
