RIO DE JANEIRO -- Trailing by nearly a point entering the final rotation and his chances of a second Olympic all-around title very much in jeopardy, Kohei Uchimura pondered what for the last seven years has been unthinkable. Pablo Armero Colombia Jersey .He thought about losing.I felt really close to admitting that it might be really difficult, Uchimura said.It was. It just wasnt impossible. Not for the greatest mens gymnast of all time. Delivering a fearless high bar with a gold medal on the line, the Japanese superstar put all the pressure on Ukraines Oleg Verniaiev. And when Verniaievs routine minutes later ended with a small hop and an ever-so slight lean to the left on his dismount, Uchimura was back where hes always been while Verniaiev shrugged his shoulders.What are you gonna do? Its Uchimura. Maybe thats why Verniaiev couldnt stop smiling even though Uchimuras total of 92.365 was less than a tenth ahead of Verniaievs 92.266.I think this is really the coolest thing in the world, Verniaiev said. The very fact we can compete with him is amazing. Today we managed to put on an amazing show.One that ended the way it always has since Uchimura captured his first world championship in 2009: with the supremely elegant Uchimura standing atop the podium with a gold medal around his neck and the Japanese anthem playing over the loudspeakers.This really was the trickiest for me, Uchimura said after becoming the first man in nearly 50 years to repeat as Olympic champion.Looked like it. Verniaiev led from the second rotation on, answering every time it seemed Uchimura was ready to take over. When Uchimura drilled a 15.566 on vault, Verniaiev responded with a 15.5. Verniaievs precise parallel bars routine -- his body pencil straight as he pressed into a handstand, his legs seemingly duct taped together -- put him up by .901 points heading into high bar. When Uchimuras high-flying set ended with a stuck landing and a 15.8, Verniaiev needed a 14.9 to win Ukraines first all-around Olympic title.Instead, he got a 14.8. And he seemed kind of pumped up about it.Im quite happy I managed to make Kohei very nervous, Verniaiev said with a laugh.Max Whitlock earned Great Britains first all-around medal in 108 years by taking bronze, just ahead of Russias David Belyavskiy. American Sam Mikulak recovered from a fall on vault to rally to seventh. Chris Brooks finished 14th while capping a memorable rise through the qualifying process to make his first Olympic team at 29.Really, though, the night belonged to Verniaiev and Uchimura. Their two-hour duel provided the closest call in Uchimuras run of two Olympic crowns and six world all-around championships.Theres only the tiniest gap, a 0.1 gap, Uchimura said. I really have no confidence I should say, that I can beat Oleg.Verniaiev equated Uchimura to the gymnastics version of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, territory the ever gracious Uchimura shied away from immediately.Everybody in the world knows these names, he said. But Kohei Uchimura? Who is this man? I dont think Im well known in the world.Theres time. Uchimura will take a break following the Rio Games but has no plans to retire. The next Summer Olympics are back home in Tokyo. The opportunity to finish things off in front of his fellow countrymen -- and his daughter -- will be far too attractive to pass up.By then my daughter would be old enough so that I really hope I will be able to show her what her father can do, he said.Heres the answer: pretty much whatever he wants.Uchimura arrived in Rio as the overwhelming favorite to back up the all-around gold he won in London four years ago. Yet he stressed repeatedly the only thing that mattered was the team gold. That triumphant moment happened on Monday when Japan soared to victory.While Uchimura was exulting in triumph, Verniaiev was basically just warming up. Ukraine qualified for the team final but basically gave up when Maksym Semiankiv couldnt participate in the finals due to injury. Rather that put in a replacement athlete to fill in for Semiankiv, Ukraine instead just entered two athletes instead of three, dooming whatever medal chances they had.Verniaiev shrugged off the decision and insisted his team did not tank on purpose so he could prep for the all-around.We never blew a single contest, he said, calling it a silly and unpredictable situation. Teofilo Gutierrez Colombia Jersey . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record. David Ospina Colombia Jersey . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. http://www.soccercolombiamart.com/world-cup-radamel-falcao-football-jersey/ . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. CHICAGO -- Put Yadier Molina down for four more hits. Four RBIs, too. Add another clutch hit to Allen Craigs total. The majors last game before the All-Star break sure had a familiar feel for the St. Louis Cardinals. Molina hit a three-run homer in St. Louis four-run ninth inning, and the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 10-6 on Sunday night. "We never give up," Molina said. "Whatever happens in the game or the inning before were going to come after you." Craig lined a tiebreaking RBI single into left field before Molina drove an 0-2 pitch from Kevin Gregg (2-2) over the wall in left for his seventh homer. Pete Kozma added three hits and two RBIs as St. Louis finished with a season-high 21 hits. Chicago went up 4-3 on Darwin Barneys three-run homer off Adam Wainwright in the sixth, and pinch hitter Cody Ransom had a tying two-run double in the eighth. But the Cubs bullpen was unable to hold off the NLs highest-scoring team. "Obviously we lost, but I mean we showed a lot of fight," Barney said. "We showed maybe what kind of character we have in those kind of games." The Cardinals won for the seventh time in nine games to salvage a split of the four-game series. Edward Mujica (2-1) had his second blown save opportunity in 28 chances, but managed to get the win on the same day he was chosen to replace Wainwright on the NL All-Star team. Despite injuries to key pitchers Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia and Jason Motte, St. Louis heads to the All-Star break with baseballs best record at 57-36. It leads the NL Central by one game over surprising Pittsburgh, which lost 4-2 to the New York Mets earlier in the day. "I cant express how proud I am the way these guys play the game," manager Mike Matheny said. "It was a very fitting way to end before the break." A big reason for St. Louis success is the play of Craig and Molina, who are both headed to New York for Tuesday nights game at Citi Field. Craig is batting .489 (44 for 90) with runners in scoring position and leads the team with 74 RBIs. Molina leads the NL with a .341 batting average while playing his usual strong defence behind the plate. Wainwright, who allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings, said he thinks Molina is baseballs best all-around player. "What can you say?" Wainwright said. "He gets the big hits when he needs to and he calls greeat games. Edwin Cardona Jersey. " Barney also had a run-scoring single for the Cubs, who went 6-4 on a 10-game stretch in Chicago that included a makeup game at the crosstown White Sox last Monday. The four RBIs for Barney matched a career high set in a 14-4 victory against Pittsburgh on July 30, 2012. After a slow start, the Cubs (42-51) are a respectable 24-21 in their last 45 games. Its good enough for a four-game improvement compared to last year at this point, when the North Siders were 38-55 on their way to their first 100-loss season since 1966. "Its a half that could have gone a lot different, but I think a lot of guys have progressed, kind of taken strides in the right way," said first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who committed a mental gaffe in the eighth when he cut off a ball that might have got a runner at the plate. Travis Wood, who will represent the Cubs at the All-Star festivities, allowed three runs and a season-high 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings. It matched the shortest outing of the year for the consistent lefty, who pitched at least six innings in 17 of his first 18 starts. Molina was out of the starting lineup for St. Louis 6-4 loss on Saturday night and began the night in a 1-for-19 rut covering his previous seven games. But he singled in each of his first two at-bats, hit a leadoff double in the seventh and forced Bogusevic to make a leaping catch against the wall in centre in the eighth. "Tonight was me," Molina said. "Tonight I saw the ball pretty good and I made contact pretty solid." NOTES: Cardinals OF Matt Holliday (right hamstring tightness) missed his third consecutive game. "We need to be real careful so we can continue to progress, make sure we are aiming for that first day after the break," Matheny said. ... OF Cole Gillespie joined the Cubs, and reliever Henry Rodriguez was designated for assignment to make room on the roster. Gillespie was claimed off waivers from San Francisco on Saturday. He had a pinch-hit single in the eighth. ... Cubs RHP Scott Baker allowed four runs and six hits in three innings in his first rehab start with Class A Kane County. Baker missed last season with Minnesota after undergoing elbow-ligament replacement surgery. "Today was a big hump, to pitch against hitters and getting in a real game and the whole atmosphere and everything," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. 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 Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' ' 

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