Dein erstes Forum » -- Semyon Varlam

EUGENE, Ore. -- LaShawn Merritt considers his 200-meter races to be more of a lark than anything else.Think of the possibilities if they ever become a serious pursuit.Already qualified for the Olympics in his real race, the 400, Merritt pulled away for an easy victory in the opening round of 200-meter qualifying at the rain-soaked U.S. Olympic Trials on Thursday, posting the nights third-best time at 20.09 seconds.He already has the worlds best time this year, at 19.78 seconds, and if world-record holder Usain Bolts hamstring injury turns out to be worse than expected -- well, who knows what could happen?Its not really a serious thing for me, said Merritt, who also owns the fastest time at 400 meters this year. I just want to have some fun with it, and if I have the ability to do it, I figure Ill do it. Ill try to make it as light as possible.Among those who take the 200 more seriously are worlds silver medalist Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay, Mike Rodgers and Wallace Spearmon, who is trying to return to the upper-echelon of this race after struggling with injuries. All made it through their first-round heats with ease.Allyson Felix also views it as more work than play, and is trying to become the first woman to win Olympic gold in both events. Felix is already qualified at 400 meters and begins her quest in the 200, her specialty, on Friday.Merritt could become the first man to win a 200-400 Olympic double since Michael Johnson in 1996. But his specialty is the 400 and he still has some goals there.Among them: World record, he said. He won the Olympic gold in 2008, but pulled out of the first round in 2012 with a hamstring injury.In his world, the 200 is mainly good training.And yet, watching him pumping his fists as he hit the stretch, then steadily pulling away for a .44-second cushion over the second-place finisher, it was easy to see why hes at least giving this a try.If anybody can do it, LaShawn can do it, Gatlin said. To watch him run is amazing. I know hes got it in the tank. So lets see him put it out there.Gatlin, a more seasoned veteran than Merritt at both the distance and the art of the double, saved energy in his opener, especially with rain starting to soak the track at Hayward Field. He ran the 200 in 20.32 and finished .05 behind Ameer Webb. But all these prelim times go in the wastebasket almost as soon as theyre recorded.Just play it smart, Gatlin said. Im on to the next round. Almost a blueprint of what I did in the 100. Go faster. Rise to the occasion.Other happenings on Day 6 of Olympic Trials:SHOT DIVA: Michelle Carter (Twitter handle @shotdiva) already had her Olympic spot wrapped up. Then, she won the meet on the last throw of the night, just like she did at the world indoor championships this spring. Her mark of 64 feet, 3 1/4 inches beat out Raven Saunders and knocked Felisha Saunders into third. Veteran Jill Camarena-Williams finished fifth in what she said would be her last Olympic Trials. She also said, I always wait to see Michelles last throw. I would never, ever leave.TRIPLE JUMP: Two-time NCAA champion Keturah Orji, who once dreamed of being an Olympic gymnast, will get a chance at another kind of title. She won the womens triple jump and will head to Rio. On the mens side, Christian Taylors quest for an Olympic repeat is on track. He needed one jump to make it through qualifying and will try to secure his spot Saturday.THE TOUGHEST JUMP: Stephanie Garcia was in the mix for an Olympic spot in steeplechase until the final lap. First, she got passed for the third position. Then, in her quest to catch up, she stumbled over the last barrier and went tumbling. Emma Coburn, Courtney Frerichs and Colleen Quigley earned the trips to Rio. Garcia said she still recorded a victory of sorts: I knew if I didnt make it, then I was going to make those who did work very, very hard.MORE MEDALS: Among Olympic medal winners who made it through their qualifying rounds Thursday were Leonel Manzano (1,500), Bershawn Jackson (400 hurdles) and Dawn Harper-Nelson (100 hurdles). Harper-Nelson, the 2008 gold medalist, was in the same heat with American record holder Keni Harrison, but barely noticed. I tell my husband, `Tell me what lane Im in and what heat. The rest doesnt matter, Harper-Nelson said.QUOTABLE: With [Jamaicas] rules, hopefully theyll let him in. If not, it might be the first time the Olympic committee sends a personal invite to an athlete to come to the games. Theyd lose some money if he didnt show up. -- Wallace?Spearmon, on the chances of Usain Bolt making the Olympics despite his recent hamstring problems. Cheap Air Max 95 Mens . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. Cheap Air Max 1 . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. http://www.airmaxsneakersonsale.com/cheap-air-max-200.html . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Air Max 90 Free Shipping . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. Cheap Air Max 90 Mens . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves for his first shutout of the season, rookie Patrik Laine scored his NHL-leading 12th goal and the Winnipeg Jets beat the division-leading Chicago Blackhawks 4-0 on Tuesday night.Rookie defenseman Josh Morrissey scored his first career goal, while forwards Chris Thorburn and Nic Petan got their first scores of the season for the second-place Jets.Nikolaj Ehlers had two assists, helping Winnipeg stretch its points streak to five games.Chicago goalie Corey Crawford was replaced by Scott Darling after letting in four goals on 22 shots. Darling made two saves.It was the first of five games between the Central Division foes this season.LIGHTNING 4, RED WINGS 3DETROIT -- Nikita Kucherov scored his second goal of the game with 1:10 left to give Tampa Bay a win over Detroit.Lightning captain Steven Stamkos left in the middle of the first period after limping off the ice favoring his right leg following a collision with the Red Wings Gustav Nyquist along the boards. He did not return and the team said he has a lower-body injury.Stamkos and defenseman Nikita Nesterov also scored for Tampa Bay, which has won five of eight (5-2-1). Vladislav Namestnikov had two assists and Ben Bishop made 25 saves.Defenseman Ryan Sproul got his first career goal and had an assist, and Frans Nielsen and Henrik Zetterberg also scored for Detroit. Petr Mrazek stopped 18 shots.RANGERS 7, CANUCKS 2VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller scored two goals each, Henrik Lundqvist made 36 saves and New York beat Vancouver.Mats Zuccarello had a goal and two assists, Nick Holden had a goal and an assist and Brandon Pirri also scored for New York, which has won three straight and eight of its last nine -- with the lone loss in that stretch coming at home against the Canucks last Tuesday. Mika Zibanejad, Jesper Fast and Kevin Klein each added two assists.Brandon Sutter and Markus Granlund scored for Vancouver and Lucas Sbisa had two assists. Jacob Markstrom stopped 18 shots.MAPLE LEAFS 6, PREDATORS 2TORONTO -- James van Riemsdyk scored three goals and Tyler Bozak had four assists, helping Toronto beat Nashville.Van Riemsdyk added an assist and Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists. Leo Komarov and William Nylander also scored to help Toronto improve to 6-2-0 at home.James Neal and Viktor Arvidsson scored for the Predators, who had their three-game winning streak halted.Frederik Andersen made 32 saves for Toronto, and Marek Mazanec stopped 26-of-32 shots for Nashville.DUCKS 4, OILERS 1ANAHEIM, Calif. -- John Gibson made 33 saves, Cam Fowler and Ryan Kesler had goals and Anaheim gave Edmonton its fourth straight loss.Nick Ritchie and Antoine Vermette also scored for Anaheim, and Corey Perry had two assists to take the team lead with 15 points.Leon Draisaitl scored for Edmonton and Cam Talbot made 23 saves.Edmonton controlled play throughout much of the second period, outshooting Anaheim 18-9, but it was forced to climb out of a 3-0 hole after the Ducks capitalized on special teams chances to score twice in the second.PANTHERS 4, CANADIENS 3, OTMONTREAL -- Aaron Ekblad broke his stick on an awkward slap shot that sneaked by goalie Carey Price in overtime, helping Florida beat NHL-leading Montreal.Ekblad wound for a shot from the right hash marks, but his stick snapped and the puck slid slowly toward the net. It deflected off the boot of defenseman Nathan Beaulieu before sliding past Price 2:59 into OT.Alex Petrovic, Kyle Rau and Denis Malgin scored for the Panthers, and Roberto Luongo made 34 saves.Max Pacioretty, David Desharnais and Paul Byron had goals for Montreal, which is in its first two-game winless streak this season. Price made 20 saves in his first loss of the season.SENATORS 3, FLYERS 2, SOPHILADELPHIA -- Erik Karlsson scored the only goal of the shootout to lift Ottawa over Philadelphia.Mark Stone and Kyle Turris scored for the Senators, who have won three of their last four. Craig Anderson had 33 saves through overtime and stoppeed all five attempts in the tiebreaker.ddddddddddddNick Cousins and Michael Raffl had Philadelphias goals, and Steve Mason finished with 24 saves. The Flyers have lost four of five.Turris tied the score on a wraparound with 1:59 left in regulation. He then had a chance to get the winner in overtime on a 2-on-1 with Karlsson, but was stopped by Mason.DEVILS 2, STARS 1, OTDALLAS -- Adam Henrique scored 44 seconds into overtime to give New Jersey a victory over Dallas.Henrique and Kyle Palmieri skated in on Dallas goalie Antti Niemi on a 2-on-1. Palmieri sent a pass from the right side to Henrique at the edge of the left faceoff circle, and Henrique put the puck into the lower left portion of the net.The game had been tied since Patrick Eaves goal for Dallas at 10:33 of the first period.Damon Severson scored at 7:40 of the first for New Jersey, which won its fifth straight game.Niemi made 31 saves, including 16 in the second period.Cory Schneider had 23 saves for New Jersey.BLUES 4, SABRES 1ST. LOUIS -- Jaden Schwartz and Kyle Brodziak scored early in the third period to lead St. Louis over Buffalo.Robby Fabbri and Scottie Upshall also scored and Jake Allen made 23 saves for the Blues, who snapped a three-game skid and beat the Sabres for the ninth straight time.Sam Reinhart scored and Robin Lehner stopped 27 shots for the Sabres, who lost their fifth consecutive game.HURRICANES 1, SHARKS 0RALEIGH, N.C. -- Joakim Nordstrom scored with 9:12 left, Cam Ward made 22 saves in his first shutout in over a year and Carolina beat San Jose.Ward got the 24th shutout of his career and first since he blanked Colorado on Oct. 21, 2015, while improving to 6-1 in his career against the Sharks.That helped the Hurricanes win their second straight to escape last place in the Metropolitan Division, in the process snapping the defending Western Conference champions three-game winning streak.Aaron Dell stopped 32 shots in his third career game and his second start for the Sharks, who managed just two shots on goal in the second period before coming on strong in the third.BLUE JACKETS 2, CAPITALS 1, OTCOLUMBUS, Ohio -- Cam Atkinson scored 37 seconds into overtime as Columbus rallied to beat Washington.Atkinson buried a wrist shot off a faceoff from the right circle past goaltender Philipp Grubauer to extend Columbus home winning streak to six.Zach Werenski scored the tying goal with just under seven minutes remaining for the Blue Jackets, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots.Nicklas Backstrom scored late in the second period for Washington, and Grubauer finished with 20 saves.AVALANCHE 4, KINGS 1DENVER -- Semyon Varlamov had 32 saves, Patrick Wiercioch and Rene Bourque scored 22 seconds apart and Colorado beat Los Angeles.Gabriel Landeskog and Blake Comeau also scored for Colorado, and Wiercioch added an assist.Dustin Brown scored for Los Angeles and Peter Budaj stopped 26 shots. It was the Kings fourth straight loss after opening their five-game trip with a win in Toronto.The Avalanche had not scored a regulation goal for more than five periods before getting two quick ones at the start of the second period.FLAMES 1, WILD 0ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Johnny Gaudreaus goal early in the first period held up and Chad Johnson stopped 27 shots for Calgarys first shutout of the season, fueling a victory that ended a four-game losing streak.Outscored 17-4 over the skid -- with two of those goals from Gaudreau -- Johnson and the Flames gave their NHL-worst goals against average a big boost. Their scoring differential, now at minus-19, is last in the league.Flames goalie Brian Elliott, formerly of the St. Louis Blues, has an 8-2 record with a 2.18 goals against average in 12 career games against the Wild, but Johnson got the call from coach Glen Gulutzan instead.Devan Dubnyk made 26 saves for the Wild and has given up only nine goals in his last eight games, stopping 245 of 254 shots. ' ' '