Pirate Galaxy » ame to North Americans is Yi Jianlian, the

RIO DE JANEIRO - What is not to like about Sir Bradley Wiggins? Five Olympic gold medals to his name and three of other colours -- hes just a good, old fashioned ordinary superhero.His British teammates speak of an aura, but also of him being one of the guys, mucking around and joking at least as much as the rest. As he talked to the media after his latest stunning achievement, it was like he was addressing his mates in a pub. ?Wiggins and his British team had just won the team pursuit final for the third successive time, and yet again in a world record time. They had beaten their long-time rivals Australia in a pulsating race that was agonisingly close until the final few hundred metres, and he couldnt have been more relaxed. ?The way he stuck his tongue out on the podium on Friday night might not be to everybodys taste, but that was for his children, Ben and Bella, watching on the TV. To fans in the UK and so many others who like their sports stars grounded and accessible, he is really hard to beat. ?I wanted to go out with this, said 36-year-old Wiggins, who confirmed he was retiring from professional cycling shortly and the track immediately. I wanted it to end like this, not some crappy little race in the north of France in the rain. ? ?It was never about that [becoming Britains greatest, most decorated Olympian] for me. The first people I bumped into when I came off the track were Steve Redgrave and Chris Hoy. Theyre my heroes in Olympic sport. Just to be in the same breath as those guys is an honour. ?It [the race and victory] was more about personally what it meant to me. I take myself [back] to Sydney in 2000 and what that meant to me as a 20-year-old kid wandering around there, watching Steve win his fifth gold and thinking how incredible it was. ?Id come away with a bronze medal and thought thats it. If I have to go to the job centre on Monday morning, I can always say Ive got Olympic bronze. To be here 16 years on, with five gold medals myself, I never imagined that for one minute. Its just something to tell the kids about when theyre older. ?Thank f--- for that, was Wiggins overwhelming feeling at the end of the race, when the rest of the team were celebrating. He was relieved his decision to leave the road and his big Team Sky salary to return to the track two years ago, to tackle his doubters and just be a number again, had worked out so brilliantly. It had become a burden, and it was clear just looking at him that it had lifted. ? ?As a result, Wiggins will enjoy riding the Tour of Britain and the Six-Days race in Ghent. The latter will be his very last competition, a nostalgic ride full of childhood memories of watching his dad race there.Itll be a nice end to my career, back where I was born, back where it started, he said. ? ?But will he take part in those races thinking he is Britains greatest Olympian? Definitely not, he insisted, because Hoy has one more gold. Who counts bronzes and a silver, joked the rider, who has eight Games medals to Hoys seven. ?Wiggins could afford to be generous to his teammates but his tributes to the underrated Ed Clancy and Steven Burke, and the cool approach of Owain Doull, were genuine. ? ?He sat back from them at times as they talked to media in the Velodrome, let them get their fair share of glory, and the friendly, and relaxed demeanour he adopted was no great surprise. Wiggins has been tetchy with reporters and disagreed with them forcefully over the years, but much of the time it has been part of an honest exchange. ?There have been tensions with other riders, too, notably Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish, although they have seemed like par for the course for stars at the top of their sport.Wiggins wife Cath, to whom he is devoted, has said there is a selfish streak that sometimes surfaces. But in cycling terms, Wiggins has something of a genius about him, and there is often a flipside to brilliant or creative people at the top of their professions. Achieving all he has, after all, has required great dedication and brought great strain before he succeeded in his latest bid for glory. ?Regardless, what people seem to like about him is that he is very much his own man, different to so many platitude-peddling sports stars who take refuge in the sanitised public relations arena that the most popular professional games are played out in. ? ?When the Britons fame at home peaked in 2012, having become the first man to win the Tour and Olympic gold in the same year, he memorably celebrated at the Games in London by sitting on a throne at Hampton Court. That colourful character has seldom been far from view and it has fuelled his popularity, made him stand out. ?The media, in the UK at least, have loved his funny soundbites, the smiles as he delivered a risqué comment -- witness his colourful language in the Rio Velodrome on Friday night -- and the manner which makes people feel like they have been friends with him for years. ?The son of an Australian rider, he has earned the respect of the British teams greatest rivals, the guys who been pushing them so close, and occasionally beating them, over the last few years. ?When youre that confident and you throw it out there and you pull it off, well, congratulations, said Jack Bobridge.?We got beaten tonight by a better country, a better team on the track.?We could go back over and over it but theres nothing else we could have done. We left it all out there. ? ?The respect is mutual, with Wiggins saying: They [the Australians] are the reason we got out of bed in the morning, they motivated us.?They are the reason we have trained so hard over the last two years. ?We never underestimated them for one minute. I said it would take a world record to win an Olympic gold -- they were not going to go out and take silver and it was one of the best finals weve been in. ?Two world-class times in the final after putting in an hour and a half before - I have to congratulate them and thank them. They didnt make it easy for us and every session weve done in Manchester or wherever has been because the Aussies were out there doing the same thing. ? ?Australias team pursuit squad, however highly they regard Wiggins, will probably not be sad to see the back of him after he helped inflict so many Olympic disappointments. ?But the British sporting landscape and the cycling world will be a little less fun without him in the saddle.Black Friday Shoes China .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. Black Friday Shoes Deals . 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The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov.LOS ANGELES -- Just two games into the U.S. basketball teams pre-Olympic tour, coach Mike Krzyzewski already sees the start of something big.Kevin Durant scored 19 points, Klay Thompson added 17 and the Americans rolled to a second straight blowout exhibition victory, 106-57 over China on Sunday night.DeMar DeRozan scored 13 points in his hometown, and DeMarcus Cousins had 12 points and seven rebounds in the second stop on the five-city tour leading the Americans to Rio de Janeiro. The victory over an overmatched opponent was impressive, but Krzyzewski liked it more for the composed, cohesive manner in which the new teammates worked together.We should have won, but the way we won was excellent, Krzyzewski said. Were really growing together as a group.After opening their showcase tour by trouncing Argentina in Las Vegas on Friday night, the U.S. team posted another rout at a packed Staples Center. Krzyzewski is finding it difficult to disguise his early optimism, praising his teams work in their brief practice time together.And while theyre still learning their teammates tendencies and solidifying player rotations, the U.S. team looked remarkably connected for long stretches against China, which has no current NBA players.Durant noticed it, as did Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, who kicked off the festivities by blocking a shot on Chinas first possession and throwing down an alley-oop dunk on the Americans first possession.Weve only been together a week, but it seems like weve been teammates for years, Jordan said.Jordan scored 12 points and led a strong defensive effort with three blocks for the Americans, who held the Chinese to 30.9 percent shooting. Krzyzewski believes the American team will excel at defensive switching because of its abundance of versatile players.I think were learning more about one another, and our defense was there pretty much the whole game, Krzyzewski said.The Americans havent lost a game since the 2006 world championships, winning 65 straight games. Theyre 47-1 in exhibitions since NBA sstars took over the roster in 1992, going undefeated since 2004.ddddddddddddWhile LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kawhi Leonard all declined the chance to play in Rio, the Americans who accepted the opportunity appear to be serious about winning without some of the nations top stars.Were young, but weve got a bunch of seasoned pros, said Kyrie Irving, who had 10 points and four assists. Weve been on a lot of journeys, and weve crossed paths before, but now were all coming together at the right time.Anthony was the only holdover in the Americans starting lineup from Las Vegas while Krzyzewski works on chemistry and coordination. He put Paul George in with the starters alongside Anthony, Jordan, Kyle Lowry and DeRozan, whose family watched from courtside.Both teams had early shooting struggles, but the Americans took charge with impressive speed late in the first quarter.Durant, one of the two returning American gold medalists from London, heard boos from the LA crowd during pregame introductions. He quickly found his outside stroke with 14 points and four assists in the first half, and Cousins overpowered the Chinese down low for 12 first-half points on the way to a 55-29 halftime lead.The Chinese teams most recognizable name to North Americans is Yi Jianlian, the Milwaukee Bucks choice with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2007 draft. He spent five seasons with four NBA teams before heading back to the Guangdong Southern Tigers.Yi led the Chinese with 18 points. Zhou Qi, the 7-foot-2 center drafted by the Houston Rockets in the second round last month, scored two points on 1-for-6 shooting. Exciting guard Zhao Jiwei scored 14 points.The teams meet again Tuesday in Oakland, where Durant will play in front of his new home fans for the first time since defecting from Oklahoma City to the Golden State Warriors earlier this month.Theyll also meet Aug. 6 in the opening game of Olympic competition in Brazil. ' ' '