Wilf O’Reilly
Former British short track speed skater on BBC iPlayer

Japan led for a long while - a good recovery after the middle skater almost fell over about three metres in.

It was a huge gap for the USA to try to make up - there was lot for them to do and you need good sprinters at the end of a team pursuit. They will be disappointed.

Next is the women's final, which is over six 400m laps.

The Canadian trio of Ivanie Blondin, Valerie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann are aiming to defend their title after winning gold in this event in Beijing four years ago.

The Dutch are the current world champions but had to work extremely hard a couple of hours ago to see off Japan in their semi-final - how much will that have taken out of them?

Japan, runners-up in Beijing four years ago, take home the bronze medal on this occasion.

They finish more than 3.5 seconds clear of the United States.

Hi Anthony. In the team pursuit, I think the different coloured armbands are just to help with differentiating between team members (in the men's bronze medal race, Netherlands went blue at the front, then white, then yellow and China opted for white, yellow, blue).

In the individual events, where the skaters race in pairs (in a time trial format), the armbands tell you who started in which lane.

The skater starting in the inner lane wears a white armband and the skater in the outer lane wears red. The skaters switch lanes in the back stretch of every lap to ensure they compete over the same distance.

The victorious Italian trio of Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti have been taking in the acclaim of the crowd - but not for too long, as the women's bronze medal race between the USA and Japan is about to begin...

Coming up at 15:40 GMT is the third of four play-off qualification matches in the men’s ice hockey, with Czech Republic taking on Denmark.

The winner of this match will face Canada in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Play-off fixtures

FT: Germany 5-1 France (Germany will face Slovakia in quarter-finals)

FT: Switzerland 3-0 Italy (Switzerland will face Finland in quarter-finals)

15:40: Czech Republic v Denmark (winner faces Canada in quarter-finals)

20:10: Sweden v Latvia (winner faces USA in quarter-finals)

That's Italy's third gold in the long-track version of speed skating, their men's team pursuit trio adding to Francesca Lollobrigida's two victories in the women's 3,000m and 5,000m.

It's their ninth gold of this year's Winter Olympics - only Norway (13) have won more.

Wilf O’Reilly
Former British short track speed skater on BBC iPlayer

Italy and USA were neck and neck for a lot of that race - it was so hard to call.

USA were ahead for a while. Casey Dawson stayed very close to the inner blue line which means you travel less distance.

You could hear the crowd erupting as Italy took the lead. What a finish!

Image source, Getty Images

Although Italy were the quickest qualifiers for the semi-finals, the United States are favourites for gold in the men's team pursuit.

Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran are reigning world champions, world record holders and have not lost for more than 12 months.

Wilf O’Reilly
Former British short track speed skater on BBC iPlayer

Image source, Getty Images

The Dutch were expected to show their form later into the race. They left themselves with a lot of work to do - at 1.2 seconds behind China.

The China team were going to have to do something dramatic to not win that!

Wow - China win the bronze but only just! By 0.09 seconds!

The Dutch trio were a long way back with a couple of laps remaining but almost snatched it on the line.

China finished well adrift of the United States, the current world champions, in their semi-final - perhaps they were saving something for that bronze medal race? If so, that decision has paid off handsomely.

It's the men's bronze medal race between the Netherlands and China first up - eight laps of the 400m track to be completed by the teams of three skaters.

There's a bit of Carly Rae Jepsen blasting out over the PA system at the speed skating venue in Milan, where it's almost time for the medal races in the men's and women's team pursuit.

Here's what's coming up over the next 30 minutes or so:

Men's team pursuit

• Bronze - Netherlands v China
• Gold - USA v Italy

Women's team pursuit

• Bronze - USA v Japan
• Gold - Canada v Netherlands

Interesting you should ask that, Laura. There is an article on the BBC Sport website which answers your question - take a read here.

A formal proposal was made to include it in Italy this year, but it was denied.

Four gold medals are still up for grabs on day 11:

• 15:20 - Speed skating men's team pursuit
• 15:40 - Speed skating women's team pursuit
• 18:00-21:00 - Bobsleigh two-man
• 18:30-20:30 - Freestyle skiing men's freeski big air

Plus, GB's Kristen Spours is in figure skating action (women's singles short programme) from 17:45 and GB face Canada in the men's curling from 18:05.

Image source, Getty Images

• Norway's Jens Luraas Oftebro won his second gold of the Games with victory in the Nordic combined large hill
• Women's snowboard slopestyle final and freestyle skiiing men's and women's aerials qualification were postponed because of heavy snow in Livigno
• France won gold in the biathlon men's 4 x 7.5km relay in front of final-lap bell-ringer Jurgen Klopp - it was France's ninth medal (and fourth gold) across the biathlon events

Rob Walker
Biathlon and cross-country co-commentator on BBC Two

Sebastian Samuelsson has cut a dejected figure at times, but he is soaking up the applause of the crowd.

He is on the podium this time for Sweden. He was involved in their gold medal-winning exploits eight years ago and he will be over the moon to be on the podium again with a brave, brilliant bronze.

A great day for biathlon - a brilliant race with great skill and stamina. A world class sport.

Image source, Getty Images

No-one can accuse Jurgen Klopp of not taking his bell-ringing duties seriously...

Rob Walker
Biathlon and cross-country co-commentator on BBC Two

Eric Perrot anchors France home in style. He collapses to the snow, with a huge hug.

Well done to Vetle Sjastad Christiansen. Norway had a fifth member watching over them today and he may have well have been in the team today, but he has been in their hearts all throughout.

The two dominant nations have done it again.