aid he wasnt concerned about the Raiders lack of finals experienc | Forum
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Dec 13 '17
RIO DE JANEIRO -- When Michael Phelps arrived in Rio as a 31-year-old swimmer who retired once and endured plenty of turmoil away from the pool, everyone wondered just how many gold medals was a realistic goal. Nike Air Presto Triple Black Womens .How does six sound?In his first appearance of these Summer Games, Phelps showed he is still capable of the kind of jaw-dropping, did-he-really-just-do-that? performances that already made him the most decorated Olympic athlete of them all.Going second in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, Phelps produced the fastest split of his career and put the Americans out front for good against a powerhouse field that included defending champion France, Australia and Russia.It was a down-and-back swim that showed Phelps, as usual, is in peak form on the biggest stage and perfectly capable of winning every race he enters at his fifth Olympics.Michael usually works this way: When one thing is good, everything is pretty good, said his longtime coach, Bob Bowman. It doesnt usually work in parts. So I feel pretty good now.He has every reason.Phelps will be back at the pool Monday for the preliminaries of the 200-meter butterfly, a title he is especially eager to reclaim after an ill-timed finish let South Africas Chad le Clos snatch away the gold at the 2012 London Games.Phelps will also compete in the 100 fly and 200 individual medley, as well as two more relays.His confidence is soaring after he turned in a time of 47.12 seconds in the relay, which was faster than all but three other swimmers in the field -- all of them anchors on the medal-winning teams and specialists in the 100 free.In fact, it was faster than any of his relay splits at the last three Olympics. Yep, even faster than the one he produced at the height of his career in 2008, when he broke Mark Spitzs longstanding record with eight gold medals in the Great Haul of China.I hope thats a good sign, Phelps said. I guess well see over the next couple of days. But Im very pleased with the start.France had high hopes for defending the title it won four years ago in London, only to be doomed by another Phelps masterpiece.As fast as my teammates were, the extraterrestrial that is Phelps was faster, said Fabien Gilot, who had the unfortunate task of swimming the second leg for the now-silver medalists.Gilots time was more than a second slower than Phelps, which was essentially the deciding factor in the race. The French were faster on the first and third legs, and anchor Jeremy Stravius was only 0.14 slower than the last American swimmer, Nathan Adrian.The Australians, with plenty of big names of their own, settled for the bronze. They didnt mind being on a lower rung of the podium, considering who was on top.Its always great to see a fairytale like that unfold in a race youre a part of, James Magnussen said.Phelps showing was reminiscent of the dominance he showed last summer in San Antonio, where he competed in a low-level meet because he was banned from the world championships as part of his punishment for a second drunken-driving arrest. Thoroughly motivated, Phelps put up times that were faster than the ones winning at worlds.The DUI proved to be a turning point in Phelps life, prompting him to under six weeks of inpatient therapy, give up drinking, reconnect with his estranged father, and find a new purpose in his life away from the pool.He wound up getting engaged and becoming a father for the first time. His infant son, Boomer, was in the stands Sunday night, nuzzled in the arms of mother Nicole Johnson, the roaring crowd kept at bay by noise-canceling headphones.Still, this was all a bit of a surprise after Phelps turned in some rather lackluster times at the U.S. Olympic trials just a month before the Rio Games.About a week ago, during a final training camp in Atlanta, Phelps did a 100 free time trial. At that point, according to Bowman, his spot on the 4x100 free relay was very much in doubt.He was very much into it, Bowman said. He wanted to do it. I felt like we had to give him that chance. He hadnt really done a good 100 free in the season. I felt like after we got out of San Antonio, I knew he was so much better. So he needed to do that.As usual, Phelps came through.It was the fourth-fastest flat-start time of the year, Bowman said. That kind of automatically put him in the game.Now, its clear that Phelps has peaked at just the right time, eager to close his career on top after initially retiring four years ago coming off the London Olympics.Hes in a good place now, Bowman said. Everything Ive asked him to do, hes been really good at, way better than before trials.Suddenly, six gold medals seem very much in reach.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . Nike Free Run 4.0 Womens Pink . Roman Josi had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night. Nike Free Flyknit Mens Sale .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later.http:///...e-rn-distance-2.html .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Coach Ricky Stuart has declared a new era of NRL success in the nations capital with Canberra securing a top-two finish with a final-round thumping of Wests Tigers.The Raiders ended the Tigers finals hopes with a 52-10 defeat of the joint venture at Leichhardt Oval before 18,634 fans on Sunday, with hooker Josh Hodgson starring.Canberras regular season points tally, which rested at 688 by games end, eclipses the club record of 677 set by the premiership-winning 1994 side, considered one of the best teams of all time.It underlined the strength of the Raiders performance this year over the premiership rounds as they set up a qualifying final with Cronulla at GIO Stadium on Saturday.I am really happy for the players, they deserve to be there, Stuart said.They have been very consistent this year. It was a professional performance today but another competition starts now.Stuart was at halfback under skipper Mal Meninga in the Raiders star-studded 1994 side, the clubs last title winning outfit.At the start of the year we spoke about creating our own piece of history, Stuart said.It will be good for Canberra and the community. I know what it (success) can do.There will be a really good vibe and it is a great opportunity for these boys to see what is on offer.Hopefully it will build a bigger and stronger supporter base.The Raiders win was built on a 30-4 first half lead in which Hodgson set upp two tries and scored one himself.Balenciaga Speed Trainer Black. ordan Rapana and Josh Papalii both scored twice for Canberra. Rapanas first try set up with a incredible swivel-flick pass from Joey Leilua.Jack Wighton was put on report for a second half shoulder charge on Joel Edwards but Stuart said he wasnt concerned his star fullback would miss week one of the finals.After dropping club legend Robbie Farah to reserve grade in July, Tigers coach Jason Taylor had hoped to create his own piece of history at the club this season.But they again failed to return to the finals for the first time since 2011.It is very disappointing, Taylor said.We beat ourselves that is the thing. We just made too many errors.We havent had a game like that for the last couple of seasons.It was unforced error after unforced error. The harder we tried the worse it got.The Tigers would have knocked Gold Coast out of eighth spot if theyd won.You could say the situation got to us but we have been playing under that sort of pressure for several weeks now, Taylor said.Stuart said he wasnt concerned about the Raiders lack of finals experience.Beating the Sharks twice in a month will be a tough ask, he said.Being at home is an advantage and I hope youth and enthusiasm can overcome that lack of experience. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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