Dein erstes Forum » ho also is still alive in the Chase, finished 22n

AMSTERDAM -- Ostracized by many in her native Russia for blowing the whistle on doping practices, Yulia Stepanova finally had a chance to run, in the European championships, but was let down by her body.She pulled up in her 800-meter heat when she tore a ligament in her right foot, further endangering her chances of taking part in the Rio Games.While I was running there was a snap that I heard and I could not understand what happened, she said through a translator. It happened some 200 meters from the finish but by then she was already in last place in her heat, where she had been since the start.She limped to the line, bent on finishing her race, but it was another setback among many that have turned her career from a promising middle distance runner into an athlete primarily known for what she did off the track.Stepanova is half of the husband-and-wife team that has blown a Russian doping scandal wide open. Her husband is Vitaly Stepanov, a former Russian anti-doping official and between them, they were able to gather a trove of evidence on how doping has worked in Russia.Stepanov provided information on the manipulation of samples to ensure Russias sports stars didnt fail doping tests, while his wife shot undercover footage of athletes and coaches apparently discussing how to dope.That evidence was crucial to a documentary broadcast in Germany in December, which in turn sparked a World Anti-Doping Agency inquiry and subsequent damning report.The pressure was very hard, I had a lot of people who did not believe me, she said. Russia still does not believe this. Before the race, other athletes had already come over to congratulate her for being a lynchpin in exposing the scandal.When I was sitting in the changing room, all the girls from the direct opposition I had today came up to me and said thank you for what youve done, she said.In Amsterdam, she was competing as a neutral athlete under a special exemption since her nation is barred from competing because of the doping scandal.Even if the IAAF world athletics federation allowed her to compete and the Europeans welcomed her, it is still unclear how and if she will compete in Rio.The injury did not improve her chances.First of all I don t know yet whether I will be at the Olympics, she said in the bowels of the Amsterdam Olympic stadium, sitting on a chair for comfort.Secondly I have to see how my injury improves.Stepanova said she came into Wednesdays race with a painful inflammation in her foot, and her lack of form showed. She had come from North America only days before her race and the jetlag showed.Stepanova is the only Russian at the European championships running under such a special neutral flag exemption.Im very happy to have been able to compete here, she said.On the first day of the championships, Yasemin Can of Turkey won the first gold, when she tore away from the pack early on and took the 10,000 meter title well ahead of Dulce Felix of Portugal. Paul LaDue Jersey . -- James Young couldnt wait to apply those tweaks to his jump shot, and the first one he made against UT Arlington told him it could be a good night. Trevor Lewis Jersey . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. http://www.cheaplosangeleskingsjerseys.com/?tag=adidas-anze-kopitar-jersey . 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Hed just completed a frustrating 500 laps -- make that 498 laps, two laps down -- at Martinsville Speedway, where he finished 20th.He has had worse finishes in Chase for the Sprint Cup races this year, but this marked the first time Harvick probably finished where he deserved. He had a speeding penalty early in the race, but that didnt impact his finish.The rare just-missed-it kind of day has put Harvick in a 16-point hole from the current Chase cutoff. Sure, Harvick has faced must-win situations and moved on in the past and Phoenix (where he has won five of the last six and six of the last eight) follows this weekends race at Texas, but how many times can he snatch wins and save his season?Harvick was asked about the challenge Sunday, how he views his chances of making up the points or earning the win necessary to be one of the four drivers with a shot to win the championship in a couple of weeks at Homestead-Miami Speedway.I havent really looked at it, Harvick said. We will see.And then he walked away.Now heres what makes Harvicks challenge possibly even greater: He might not get much help from his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates. None of them comes off Martinsville feeling all that well and none has any momentum that Harvick can feed off of this weekend at Texas.Kurt Busch, who also is still alive in the Chase, finished 22nd and sits 18 points behind the current Chase cutoff.Tony Stewart finished 26th at Martinsville -- after appearing fairly stout in practice -- and remains 14th in the standings in his final season.Danica Patrick was 24th, and sits 23rd in the standings.We were slow all weekend, Harvick said about Martinsville. We could just never get the handle on it.If there is any good news for Harvick and Busch, its that nothing from the short-track Martinsville correlates for the next couple of tracks.Harvick said hhe will try to focus himself and not the other Chase competitors.ddddddddddddIts really about being intense in our own little bubble, he said in a news release. I know, for us, it seems like there is more to navigate than there was last year just for the fact that weve had so many things go wrong up to this point.Weve been fortunate to win a couple of races, but it seems like every other week weve had to navigate something or work through something to get the best finish we can. Hopefully, we can clean all those things up and do a little better over the final couple weeks.Busch sounds a little less optimistic.I have no idea [how we bounce back], but we will figure something out, Busch said. We came all this way, we wont give up now.Harvick already has won two Chase races this year after round-opening frustrating events. He won at New Hampshire the week after losing a lap early at Chicagoland. And he won at Kansas after a Charlotte race where an oil pump seal came apart.Hell have to dig deep again now at Texas, where he started 22nd and finished 10th earlier this year. Busch was ninth.They most likely need top-5 finishes or other drivers to have trouble to enter Phoenix with a shot to advance by points instead of facing a must-win situation.They at least have the solace of knowing theyre not the worst off among the Chase finalists. Carl Edwards had a tire issue at Martinsville that relegated him to a 36th-place finish, and he sits 32 points behind the Chase cutoff.Were going to continue to give it our best and go after it, Busch said. A win would be wonderful. But still, at the same time, guys like Carl Edwards [also] had trouble last weekendMy teammate Kevin Harvick, we all struggled at SHR. But you never know whats going to happen when you go into the next race. You go business as usual, but [with] not too much stress. ' ' '