CALGARY -- Jeremy Wotherspoon remains committed to an Olympic comeback in speedskating despite a setback. The four-time Olympian from Red Deer, Alta., missed qualifying for Canadas World Cup team in the 500 metres Thursday In his first races since the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Wotherspoon needed a top-five result at trials to represent Canada in World Cup races this fall, but he finished 11th. The 36-year-old will race the 1,000 metres at the Olympic Oval on Friday, but the 500 metres is his specialty. Wotherspoon still holds the world record of 34.03 seconds set in Salt Lake City in 2007. The Olympic trials for Canadas long-track speedskating team are Dec. 28 to Jan. 3. Wotherspoon believes thats enough time to get his race legs back and compete for a medal at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. "As much as Id like to do 500-metre World Cups, its not my main goal," he said. "My goal is to build and build towards the Olympics. "I know theres still a couple of months before the Olympics trials. After that, theres a month and a half before the Olympics so, itll come quick, but its still a lot of days for me to focus and lot of days for me to build up to that competition." Wotherspoon announced in June he was coming out of retirement for another shot at Olympic glory. Hes earned more World Cup medals than any other man with a career 67. Wotherspoon won three 500-metre world titles and another in the 1,000, plus four world sprint championships during a career that spanned a decade and a half. He was inducted into Canadas Sports Hall of Fame last year. Wotherspoons Olympic silver medal in the 500 metres in 1998 is overshadowed by an absence of medals at three subsequent Winter Games. He was the favourite to win the 500 in 2002, but stumbled and fell. Wotherspoon was ninth in the 500 in both 2006 and 2010. When Wotherspoon announced in March, 2010, that he was done racing, he said then it would take a while to get used to the idea. The lure of competition and the desire to race for a medal in the Olympics continued to call to him while coaching in Inzell, Germany, the last three years. "I missed that feeling of excitement and adrenaline and then the relaxation you get after a competition," Wotherspoon explained. "Its a nice type of feeling to have. At the same time, Im committed to being the best I can at Sochi. I dont want to go there as a tourist getting experience because I have that experience. "I want to go there and be able to compete. If I feel theres no way I can go and compete, I dont want to take that spot away from someone else who could gain valuable experience." The mens 500-metre rankings were determined by the combined time of two races, but Wotherspoon stepped to the start line three times Thursday He was given a re-race of his opening 500 metres because the other skater in his pairing, Patrick Marsh, blocked him on the backstretch during the lane change. So after posting a time of 35.43 seconds in his second race, Wotherspoon skated alone in his re-race for a time of 35.69. "It was a tougher day than I expected," he said. "Its not a normal competition feeling when youre by yourself at the end. It feels a bit like the competition is over. "Its a good test, a good mental test. Even though Im old and experienced, it was a new experience. It was a good test to try and perform well under difficult circumstances." Edmontons Jamie Gregg, Calgarys Gilmore Junio, William Dutton of Humboldt, Sask., Laurent Dubreuil of Levis, Que., and Alexandre St-Jean of Quebec City finished first to fifth in the mens 500 metres. The Canadian trials continue Friday until Sunday. The top five racers in all distances qualify to race the first four World Cups of the season with the exception of the mens 5,000 and 10,000 metres, in which only three skaters will be named to the Canadian team. The World Cup season opens Nov. 8-10 in Calgary followed by stops in Salt Lake City, Astana, Kazakhstan, and Berlin, Germany. Olympic 1,000-metre champion Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., has already qualified to race the 1,000 and 1,500 metres. She won the 500 metres Thursday. Reginas Marsha Hudey, Wotherspoons sister Danielle from Red Deer, Calgarys Kaylin Irvine and Winnipegs Shannon Rempel were second to fifth respectively. Ottawas Ivanie Blondin won the womens 3,000 metres ahead of Winnipegs Brittany Schussler, Ottawas Lauren McGuire, Brianne Tutt of Airdrie, Alta., and Edmontons Nicole Garrido. Saskatoons Lucas Makowsky was the fastest in the mens 5,000 metres. Torontos Jordan Belchos finished second and Mathieu Giroux of Pointe-aux-Trembles, Que., was third. The top 500-metre men in the world currently includes 24-year-old Tae-Bum Mo of South Korea, 27-year-old Michel Mulder of the Netherlands and 28-year-old Joji Kato of Japan. Wotherspoon turns 37 later this month. Canadas Clara Hughes won an Olympic bronze medal in the 5,000 metres at age 37 in 2010, but distance racing favours older athletes because of the years it takes to build up a big aerobic engine. Sprinting requires fast-twitch muscles and explosive training on and off the ice. "Time will tell, but I dont think Ive lost my ability to move fast," Wotherspoon said. "I feel like I just need to get it back." . Its other five picks were all six foot or better, with three at 6-1 or above. Third-round pick Brett Lernout stands six foot four and weighs 206 pounds. . -- Josh Smith made a 3-pointer as time expired and finished with 20 points to lift the Detroit Pistons to a 99-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night in both teams exhibition finale.
http://www.cheaplsujerseys.com/?tag=lsu ... ege-jersey. "Yeah, [I heard them]," he said. "They made me miss the free throw." A year ago, Lowrys post-game antics may not have been so well received but what was snide and snarky is now endearing quick wit. . -- LeGarrette Blount wasnt satisfied with three short touchdown runs, not against a team coming off the second greatest comeback in playoff history. . Virtanen opened the scoring at 6:45 of the first period, then gave Canada a two-goal lead with a power-play goal 1:03 into the second. Sweden cut the lead in half when Daniel Muzito Bagenda scored a power-play goal at 10:57 of the second.SALT LAKE CITY - Now that Tim Duncan is playing well again, the last thing he wants to do is sit. Duncan told teammate Tony Parker he was "very convincing" when lobbying San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich to keep him in the lineup, even if it was the Spurs fourth game in five nights and they were facing the team with the worst record in the Western Conference. Popovich usually rests his 37-year-old forward during stretches like this, but Duncan rewarded the club with another double-double. He had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Spurs to their fourth straight victory Saturday night, 100-84 over the Utah Jazz. Sparked by his 23-point, 21-rebound performance against Atlanta on Dec. 2, Duncan has returned to vintage form after a slow start to the season. He is averaging 17 points and 13 rebounds over his last six games. "The first 20 games, its not really that hard to do much better," Duncan said. "Im still not shooting the ball well, but Im trying to play hard and find ways to contribute." Kawhi Leonard added 13 points to help the Spurs (19-4) coast comfortably past the Jazz (6-20) after a big first-half run. "We were never worried about Timmy. Ive been saying (it) since the beginning of the season," said Parker, who had 15 points. "Hes the last guy we ever need to worry about. But now hes getting aggressive and hes getting his shot back." From the beginning, the Jazz pressured Parker and dared Duncan to shoot open elbow jumpers. Duncan missed his first three outside shots. "He executed well, the shots just didnt go down. But he kept playing like he always does, so it was great," Popovich said. Trey Burke had 20 points and Gordon Hayward scored 18 for the Jazz, who shot 39 per cent from the field. The Jazz were coming off consecutive road wins, including a 103-93 victory Friday night in Denver. They had reached 100 points in three of the last four games but were no match for San Antonios smothering defence. "We didnt play with the pep we have had the last few games because of the back-to-back. But I thought the effort was there, just didnt have the same spark," coach Tyrone Corbin said. On the other end, the Spurs set a series of picks to allow penetration and then passes for open 3-pointers. If that failed, they went to their famously fundamental post player on the block. In just 28 minutes, Duncan showed much of his repertoire with bank shots, fallaways, hooks and tip-ins. "In the post, hes aggressive and making strong moves," said Parker, who was creative in getting Duncan the ball where he could gain confidence. San Antonio played its fourth consecuttive game without the defensive influence of starting centre Tiago Splitter, who has a strained calf.dddddddddddd The Spurs, per 100 possessions, score 14 more points than they give up when Splitter is on the floor. But they hardly missed him against the Jazz in the first of a four-game road trip for the Spurs, who are 10-2 away from home. "They are a veteran club. They know what to do, when to do it and how to do it. They showed us," Corbin said. On Nov. 15 in Utah, the Spurs needed a fourth-quarter rally to wipe away a seven-point deficit and win 91-82. Parker scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter of that one. After a dreadful start when Burke was out with a broken finger, the Jazz recovered enough to split their last 10 games. The rookie point guard was hot early and gave Parker a taste of his own medicine on a series of floaters and step-back jumpers in the first half. More than 6 minutes into the game, the Spurs had only six points. But over the remainder of the first half, they used an especially efficient offence to build a 55-40 lead at the break. The reserves, led by Marco Belinelli and Patty Mills, sparked a 21-6 run to help San Antonio gain control. "Our job is to come off the bench and bring that extra gear to turn it up a bit, intensity-wise. It starts on defence and if we can capitalize, it translates to good offence," Mills said. Belinelli and Manu Ginobili each had 11 points off the San Antonio bench, which contributed 47 points. The Spurs outrebounded the Jazz 55-42 and outscored Utah 50-36 in the paint. "They hit the glass really hard and they have a lot of big bodies, so we knew that was going to be a big part of us winning this game. But we had good focus from everybody and when the balls were there to be had, we just went and got them," Duncan said. Richard Jefferson made a 3-pointer to draw the Jazz within double digits for the only time in the second half at 61-52, but Duncan scored twice around a 3-pointer by Leonard and the Spurs were back in control. "It was a very good win against a young team that is starting to play better. We respect them and did a good job of playing horn to horn," Duncan said. NOTES: Utah C Rudy Gobert and G Ian Clark were assigned to the clubs D-League affiliate in Bakersfield. Both earned playing time earlier this season when the Jazz were dealing with multiple injuries. ... Belinelli made all three of his 3-point attempts to improve his NBA-leading mark to 56.5 per cent. ... Jeremy Evans matched his career high with 11 rebounds for Utah. . Oddly, the Jazz had a season-high 11 blocks to one for the Spurs. ' ' '
