Here goes Frida Karlsson. After breathing down fellow Swede Ebba Andersson's neck for most of the race, Karlsson makes her move on the incline and charges in front.

The race for the bronze medal is getting tense too, with Switzerland's Heidi Wang closing the gap on Astrid Oeyre Slind of Norway.

Less than 5km left to go.

Germany are 5-2 up against Japan going into the third period of the preliminary game.

Finland play the US at 15:40 GMT, having had their previous match postponed because of a norovirus outbreak in their squad.

There's also Sweden v Italy (13:40) and Switzerland v Canada (20:10).

Image source, Getty Images

It will be interesting to see if anyone can catch up with these top three and challenge for a place on the podium. Or is the race already decided?

Sweden's Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson are neck-and-neck, while Norway's Astrid Oeyre Slind is 20 seconds further back in third.

However, the rest of the field are 43 seconds behind the leading Swedish duo.

The skiathlon is a bit like the triathlon when it come to these transitions.

Instead of changing your swimming cap for a bike helmet, though, the athletes are swapping skis.

So they go from skiing the classic technique to the freestyle technique.

Sweden's race-leaders Ebba Andersson and Frida Karlsson come through the pit stop smoothly and retrain their lead.

BBC Two

Image source, Reuters

I tell you what, this skiathlon looks like hard work. You can tune into it now on BBC Two

The field has already been spread wide open, with Sweden's Ebba Andersson and Frida Karlsson neck and neck at the front.

We're approaching the halfway point, where the athletes swap their skis for the remaining 10km in freestyle technique.

The 2026 Winter Olympics is up and running, but can you name all 16 sports that are on show?

We've already covered a few off this morning.

Eight on snow, eight on ice. Go, go, go!

Image source, Getty Images

• Team GB's mixed doubles curlers Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds are on the brink of the semi-finals after beating Canada 7-5. They take on the US at 13:35 GMT.
• Britain's Kirsty Muir is through to the final of the women's freeski slopestyle after finishing third in qualifying.
• Chinese favourite Eileen Gu fell on her first run but recovered to come second.
• Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen won the first gold of the Games in the men's downhill and Italy's Giovanni Franzoni and Dominik Paris took silver and bronze respectively.
• Veteran skier Lindsey Vonn has disputed a doctor's claim that her anterior cruciate ligament injury is not a "fresh tear", saying her ACL is "100% gone." She clocked the third-fastest time of today's practise session ahead of Sunday's downhill competition.

We've just reached the halfway point of the race that use the classic technique.

At 5km, Sweden's Ebba Andersson is leading the race by a mere 0.1 second, with her compatriot Frida close behind and Norway's Astrid Oeyre in third.

Great Britain's Anna Pryce is 58 seconds behind in 35th place.

David McDaid
BBC Sport in Cortina

Image source, BBC Sport

Anna Pryce is the first of the four Team GB cross country skiers to compete when she races in the 10k+10k skiathlon, and the only woman in the team.

She speaks with a North American accent, but Pryce was born in Aberdeen and learned to ski in Huntly, before her family moved to Canada when she was five.

The 24 year-old switched to represent her birth country just last year and now finds herself at her first Winter Olympics. On top of that, she only began full-time training after finishing her nursing studies last summer.

“It’s been so much fun. I wasn’t sure how it would go, but I went over to Norway in November and I’ve been really well taken care of by all the GB staff.

“It’s been great and it’s pretty cool that it’s brought me here. Skiathlon is hard, maybe not my best event. I want to feel like I’ve left it all out on the course and not have anything left in the tank when I’m done - which will probably be the case because it’s going to be really hard.

“I just want to have a good body feeling to give me some confidence going into the next two races [the sprint classic and 10k interval start].

“Sprinting is probably one of my stronger areas. And the 10k skate next week, I hope is going to be a good one.

“I think those two are more suited to me but I’ll be trying my best in the skiathlon.”

Great Britain's Anna Pryce was on the start line for the women's 10km + 10km skiathlon, so we'll keep a proper eye on her progress throughout the race.

The 24-year-old ]switched allegiance to GB from Canada last year, and this will be her maiden Olympic Games.

Image source, Getty Images

The 10km + 10km skiathlon is a cross-country skiing event that sees athletes swap technique midway through the race.

All the athletes start together, and they will do the first 10km of the race using the classic technique - where they glide along pre-made tracks in the snow. Then, for the final 10km, they switch to freestyle.

There is a pit-stop at the halfway point, where athletes can change skis and poles to go from the classic to free technique. The clock keeps running, so time is of the essence!

And at the risk of stating the obvious, the first athlete to cross the finish line wins gold.

Image source, Getty Images

Chemmy Alcott
Four-time Olympic alpine ski racer on BBC Two

Giovanni Franzoni is an incredible character. He races with such intensity.

He carried the bull in that tuck position. He almost compensated his clean turns by fighting for that aerodynamic position. We are used to seeing him skiing with no outside ski pressure.

He has so much strength and normally skis with such finesse. That was not his tactic today - he threw everything at it.

There are four more gold medals up for grabs on day one in Italy.

• 12:00-14:30 - Women's cross-country skiing - 10km + 10km skiathlon
• 15:00-16:00 - Women's 3,000m speed skating
• 17:45-20:00 - Women's ski jumping - normal hill
• 18:30-20:30 - Men's snowboard - big air

What a treat! A gold medal before midday.

One down... I'm not even going to count how many to go...

The next one up for grabs is in the women's 10km+skiathlon, which is starting right now.

It's worth mentioning that Franjo von Allman's winning time of one minute 51.61 seconds is 3.35 seconds faster than the slowest time recorded in that final.

3.35 seconds doesn't seem a long time, but in downhill it really is!

Chemmy Alcott
Four-time Olympic alpine ski racer on BBC Two

Franjo von Allmen is normally really wild and ends up in the net. But he pulled that back today and had that Swiss precision.

He took a higher line and was rapid through the speed gun. That was the gold medal defining moment for me. An almost perfect run.

Home nation Italy are off to a great start at these Games as Giovanni Franzoni takes silver in the men's downhill and Dominik Paris clinches bronze.

BBC Red Button

Image source, Reuters

There are four matches in the women's ice hockey today, one of which is already under way on the BBC Red Button.

Germany are 3-0 up against Japan in Milan while Finland play the US at 15:40 GMT, having had their previous match postponed because of a norovirus outbreak in their squad.

There's also Sweden v Italy (13:40) and Switzerland v Canada (20:10).