Programme Information

Olympia – The Puissance

Saturday 19 December

1.00-1.45pm BBC ONE

• www.bbc.co.uk/sport

BBC One brings viewers highlights from last night's Puissance at the London International Horse Show. The Puissance – best described as equestrian high jumping – is always one of the highlights of the Olympia show and last year's was an especially exciting competition between young cousins William and Ellen Whitaker.

Teenager William, riding Insul Tech Leonardo, cleared 7ft 2in but Ellen and Ladina B matched him in dramatic fashion, with one of the top layer of bricks teetering on the brink before eventually staying put.

Live coverage can be seen via the Red Button on Friday 18 December from 9pm.

Commentary comes from Michael Tucker and Andy Austin.

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Swimming – Duel In The Pool

Saturday 19 December

1.45-4.30pm BBC ONE

• www.bbc.co.uk/sport

Clare Balding is at the Manchester Aquatics Centre where Europe – represented by Great Britain, Italy and Germany – are taking on the USA in what has been dubbed the "Ryder Cup of swimming". The main attraction is sure to be 14-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps, who will be competing in Britain for the first time.

The USA have always been a strong force in the world of swimming and, with the likes of Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Aaron Peirsol on their team in Manchester, they will be hard to beat. But British swimming has been making big waves in recent years, as proven by the seven medals – including two golds – won in the pool at the World Championships earlier this year, on top of Olympic success in Beijing in 2008. Britain's double Olympic champion, Becky Adlington, is part of the European team, along with new world champions Liam Tancock and Gemma Spofforth.

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Jake Humphrey hosts live coverage of the Championship clash between North-East rivals Newcastle and Middlesbrough. It's 18 years since these two teams met at the second tier of English football and both are desperate to bounce straight back into the Premier League.

Newcastle are going well in their efforts to make an immediate return to the top flight, despite the turmoil that plagued the club over the summer, and it is Middlesbrough who have had to deal with recent upheaval after Gordon Strachan replaced Gareth Southgate as manager.

Former Celtic boss Strachan will be used to visiting big grounds such as St James' Park but he will be hoping his players can reverse the club's recent form on Tyneside – Boro haven't won on their last eight visits to Newcastle.

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Graham Bell and Ed Leigh present coverage of the Men's Downhill from Val Gardena in the Italian Dolomites as the world's top racers tackle the infamous Camel Bumps.

Graham is on hand to see if Austria's Michael Walchhofer can once again hold off American rival Bode Miller to win on the Saslong piste.

Meanwhile, Ed catches up with some of Britain's Olympic medal hopefuls as they gear up for the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver at the end of the season.

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Olympia – World Cup Show Jumping

Sunday 20 December

2.50-4.50pm BBC TWO

• www.bbc.co.uk/sport

Clare Balding presents live coverage from the London International Horse Show

Clare Balding presents live coverage from the penultimate day of the London International Horse Show, where the feature event is the Rolex FEI World Cup.

Some of the biggest names in show jumping battle it out in the sixth of 13 legs, ahead of next April's global final in Geneva. Record crowds of around 80,000 flocked to Olympia during the course of the 2008 show and similar numbers are expected this year, with today's World Cup action bound to be a big draw.

There is live coverage of the whole of Monday's programme from Olympia, via the Red Button. This features the traditional final class of the week, the Olympia Grand Prix.

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