CBC'S COVERAGE OF THE SOCHI 2014 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES: PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS FOR WED. FEB. 12

Day 5 at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games is headlined by a marquee match-up in Women’s Ice Hockey featuring Canada taking on the United States. Medal events on Wednesday include Men’s 1,000m Speed Skating, Doubles Luge, Ladies’ Snowboard Halfpipe and Pairs Figure Skating.

In a match-up of Women’s Ice Hockey superpowers, Canada takes on the arch-rival Americans in the most anticipated game of the preliminary round. USA is the reigning World Champion while Canada is the defending Olympic Champion.

American Shani Davis is the two-time defending Olympic Champion as well as the world record holder in this event and is expected to be in the running for a third gold medal. Denny Morrison, Vincent de Haitine, William Dutton and Muncef Ouardi will skate for Canada.

Canadians Justin Snith and Tristan Walker won their first World Cup medal this season and are legitimate medal contenders in this event. They will face stiff competition from a strong German contingent including Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt as well as Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken who won gold and silver, respectively, at the 2013 World Championship.

Canadians Mercedes Nicoll, Alexandra Duckworth and Katie Tsuyuki go up against an impressive field of seasoned international competitors. Australia’s Torah Bright is the defending Olympic gold medallist, Arielle Gold of the United States is the reigning World Champion while teammate Kelly Clark - a two-time Olympic medallist and 2013 X Games champion - notched her 60th career halfpipe win in 2013.

Canadian duos of Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford and Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch hope to be in the medal hunt following Tuesday’s short program.

The Men’s Ice Hockey tournament gets underway with Czech Republic vs. Sweden.

TODAY ON CBC Radio Q (10 a.m. ET / 10:30 NT) on CBC Radio One: Jian will talk to the president of the Sochi Olympic Organizing Committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, about the controversies over LCBT rights, corruption and security, and how Sochi compares to the Vancouver games. He will also speak to Don Cherry, about the start of men’s and women’s hockey, going to Russia for the first time, and his opinion of the Russian players.

OLYMPIC PRIMETIME hosted by Ron MacLean, on CBC-TV and cbc.ca/olympics will be bringing Canadians context from the fifth day of Olympic Competition from Sochi. Check local listings for start times.

Canada’s women’s curling teams takes on their Danish counterparts on Day 6. The women take to the ice in what is expected to be a competitive match.

Sarah Reid and Mellisa Hollingsworth lead the way for Canada. Reid is having a breakout season and Hollingsworth hopes to improve on her fifth-place finish at Vancouver 2010.

CBC News Network is live from Sochi every weekday throughout the Olympic Games beginning at 5 a.m. ET with Heather Hiscox and continuing throughout the day. Each weeknight, Ian Hanomansing gives viewers a preview of the day ahead.

The National is available during the Olympic Winter Games on CBC-TV and CBC News Network as well as live and on-demand online at cbcnews.ca/thenational. For news any time, visit CBCNews.ca or download the CBC News app.

CBC Radio keeps listeners connected to the action from Sochi 2014 on World Report with David Common every weekday morning and Olympics Today - a highlights and results recap - 7 days a week at :25 minutes after the hour.

During the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, cbc.ca/olympics will offer Canadians a number of commentated, multilateral feeds—a Canadian first. A continuously updated version of the daily schedule across all networks is available at cbc.ca/olympics. The website will also feature the latest news, sports and videos from Sochi 2014. This will be the first Olympic Winter Games in which Canadians will be able to livestream all events directly to their smartphones or tablets.

CBC/Radio-Canada is the place to be as we count down to Sochi 2014. With coverage across all platforms—including TV, radio, online and mobile—Canadians can connect with the biggest stories and the latest content whenever and wherever they want. In addition to world-class storytelling and the best performance coverage available through CBC/Radio-Canada, Canadians can engage with the broadcasts throughout the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games online in English at cbc.ca/olympics as well as on Twitter @cbcolympics (#cbcolympics) and at facebook.com/cbcolympics and in French at olympiques.radio-canada.ca/ and on Twitter at @RC_Sports (#RColympiques) and on Facebook at facebook.com/radiocanada.sports.

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CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio, television, internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages.

For a complete list of publicity contacts and for more information including series synopses, press releases, hi-res images, video clips and bios, please visit the CBC Media Centre at cbc.ca/mediacentre. Follow CBC’s publicity team on twitter @CBC_Publicity.

Erin Richards, publicist, CBC Sports / Olympics

Erin.Richards@cbc.ca 416-205-7994 (Office) 416-627-5728 (Mobile)