competition. McNeils approach to Quarterpipe Big Air, a relatively new field in the realm of FMX, was to carve almost the entire width of the landing before reeling it back in, which when done

RIO DE JANEIRO -- One by one, as best they could, Emanuele Birarellis teammates made their way over to him for a hug or handshake.Their captain lay on the sideline with his right ankle elevated and freshly taped. He was injured in the third set of Italys 28-26, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23 victory over the United States on Tuesday, and his status for Thursdays preliminary match against Mexico is unclear.Whatever happens, Italy believes in its deep bench. The players assured their 35-year-old leader he need not worry.We have to wait the night. It seems swollen. Serious for sure, but we will see how it works, coach Gianlorenzo Blengini said. I have a team of 12 players.Birarelli was part of the Italian group that won a bronze medal four years ago at the London Olympics. On Tuesday, he pumped his right fist from his spot on the floor in one corner of the court at Maracanazinho arena. He motioned his hand back and forth to signal he felt so-so.The Americans -- ranked fifth in the world with eight first-time Olympians -- had to contend with a raucous crowd chanting Italy! They responded from a startling sweep by Canada in their Olympic opener two days earlier with a far more steady performance and improved serving, but it wasnt enough against powerful Italy.With the score tied at 23 in the fourth set, U.S. star Matt Anderson served into the net to give Italy match point. The Italians, ranked fourth in the world, closed it out to move to 2-0 in Rio. Birarelli stood and limped along, and teammate Simone Buti rushed over to embrace him.We are a team, Buti said. Injury, when it happens, its important to stay together.In London, Italy stunned the top-seeded U.S. in straight sets and eliminated the Americans in the quarterfinals before losing to silver medalist Brazil in the semifinals.Now, the winless Americans must figure out how to play better in a hurry because Brazil is up next Thursday night. They spent part of the off day Monday having a heart-to-heart talk, discussing what went wrong in the 3-0 loss to Canada on Sunday.U.S. coach John Speraw went with a youth movement from the start of this Olympic cycle and has known all along there would be growing pains. But to avoid an early exit from Brazil, things must come together now.The Americans won last years World Cup and didnt face the pressure of a last-ditch Olympic qualifier that might have prepared them for the task in Rio.For them to step out on this court with the balance between the moment and the expectation while being as inexperienced as they are, its been a really challenging thing for a lot of our young guys, Speraw said. This is what we signed up for. We knew this four years ago what we were going to do, and here we are. Its a tough journey.This is a strange position for U.S. captain and third-time Olympian David Lee, a gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Games. He has never been in the hole of an Olympic tournament in the group stage. He is trying to support his young teammates.I feel like these guys have the weight of the world on their shoulders because they dont want to let down these older players, (Reid) Priddys last Olympics, my last Olympics, Lee said. Ive never made them feel any pressure like that. I feel like weve created a culture we want these guys to feel free and be themselves, use that youth to your advantage and come out with fire and passion. I feel like theyre kind of crushed right now, theyre down. But theyre getting better. Chiefs Official Jerseys .Y. -- Jayna Hefford scored the winning goal Friday as Canada survived a scare with a 4-3 win over Sweden at the Four Nations womens hockey tournament. Chiefs Stitched Jerseys . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. http://www.authenticchiefsshopnfl.com/ . Ivanovic was leading 7-5, 1-0 when Hantuchova withdrew after falling 0-40 behind in the second game. The match started slowly for Ivanovic, who surrendered her first two serves as Hantuchova took a 5-3 lead. Armani Watts Jersey . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. Dorian ODaniel Jersey . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. There are two types of tricks in freestyle motocross competitions: those that are good under perfect weather conditions, and those that are doable when the winds are too high but the show must go on.Today in Las Vegas, at the Monster Energy FMX High Rollers competition, the show had to go on, and with it came the more conservative, less dangerous approaches to FMX riding.As Freestyle Motocross got underway early on Saturday, with winds gusting up to 20 mph, the approach for most of the riders in the field was to transform their competition runs into a one-way directional trick contest with the wind at their backs, including veteran riders such as Javier Villegas, Jarry McNeil and Nate Adams.But all that changed when Taka Higashino took to the course. Higashino faced the wind, rode the course in its entirety while landing more tricks than any other rider, and catapulted himself to the top of the start list after the end of round 1. Then, rather than rest on his laurels, Higashino came back for run 2 to best his previous score, winning the event with a final score of 92.33.I almost crashed on the second run, but Im glad I landed clean and finished, said Higahino.Following close behind Higahino was second place finisher Adam Jones with a 90.33, and third place finisher Levi Sherwood with an 89.33. Both of those riders followed Higashinos lead and transformed the one-trick approach into an overall FMX course, separating the top three from the remainder of the field.1. Take Higashino 92.332. Adam Jones 90.333. Levi Sherwood 89.334. Javier Villegas 84.335. Jackson Strong 79.00Dirt Sharks Best WhippIn Dirt Sharks Best Whip, Tom Parsons took the final win, followed by Jarryd McNeil in second and Destin Cantrell in third place.dddddddddddd The final event of the day, Best Whip followed the direction of the wind and managed to go off without too much of an interference from the shifting winds surrounding Las Vegas.1. Tom Parsons2. Jarryd McNeil3. Destin CantrellQuarterpipe High JumpWhile most of Las Vegas was either still in bed or just getting their morning coffee, the Monster Energy FMX High Rollers competition kicked off on Saturday morning with the debut of Quarterpipe High Jump at the Sam Boyd Stadium.Originally scheduled to run midday, the competition was moved to an earlier start because of high winds in the vicinity. And when a 200 lb. dirt bike is flying 30-feet in the air, thats definitely a safe bet to make.In the end, Australian Jarryd McNeil took the win with a quarter pipe air height of 152, even after dislocating a finger and popping it back in during the course of competition. McNeils approach to Quarterpipe Big Air, a relatively new field in the realm of FMX, was to carve almost the entire width of the landing before reeling it back in, which when done under 20 mph wind gusts, is not easy.Finishing behind McNeil was Axell Hodges with a height of 150 and Kris Foster with a height of 127.1. Jarry McNeil 1522. Axell Hodges 1503. Kris Foster 120For exclusive updates, visit Monster Energy or follow along on Monsters Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys China Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2019 ' ' '