Protection » as opposed to two; coach Kyle Whittingha

RIO DE JANEIRO -- To understand how double Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong can look so perfectly still in the saddle while rocketing along a time trial course, it takes spending at least a day or two in the place she found her balance.That would be Boise, Idaho, where Armstrong settled after enrolling at the University of Idaho for the simple, practical reason that she could get in-state tuition after a childhood and adolescence of ricocheting between the United States, Asia and Europe with her military family.Boise is where Armstrong, a swimmer and a runner in her youth, took a job as aquatics director for the local YMCA in her 20s with no intention of morphing into an elite athlete. On a lark, she entered a local triathlon called the Y Not Tri.She got through the 400-meter swim just fine, pulled a pair of soccer shorts over her bathing suit, laced up tennis shoes and hopped on a fluorescent green mountain bike for the 7-mile ride -- and got waxed. Armstrong wound up walking half of the 2-mile run, but she crossed the finish line. She nearly always does.Three days after playing a key leadership role in the U.S. cycling teams strong road race showing, Armstrong duels for a third straight Olympic time trial championship Wednesday, the day before her 43rd birthday.?The Rio course -- which the riders traversed as part of Sundays epic road race -- promises to be tougher than either Beijing 2008 or London 2012, where Armstrongs margins were a whopping 24 and 15 seconds, respectively. There are climbs, flats, technical sections and a freshly paved-over stretch of cobblestones. The forecast is for temperatures in the high 60s and a chance of rain first thing in the morning when the women start.Armstrong and her husband and partner-in-all-things, Joe Savola, prepared in their trademark methodical fashion by overlaying the course topography on a local loop so she could train until it became rote. She loves those Idaho roads even though they become impassable in the winter and are almost never populated by other riders near her level. One stretch is named the Kristin Armstrong Bikeway in her honor and has her winning 2008 and 2012 times embedded in small type on the multi-colored road sign.When ice and snow descend, I take a break, Armstrong said. Good for my mind. Im not one to be around a lot of other people who do what I do.Armstrong is a throwback -- an Olympic champion with a family and a flexible-hours but very real job. As community health director for the St. Lukes health system, she works on wellness initiatives and is a liaison between the hospital and non-profit organizations.It doesnt take long, listening to her erupt in peals of joyous maternal laughter on the sideline of her 5-year-old sons soccer game, or watching her go over renderings and budget for a new capital project with St. Lukes CEO Chris Roth, or seeing her navigate a long meeting with community groups, to realize that personal equilibrium really is what keeps Armstrong upright.Her ice-blue eyes and businesslike, clipped-speaking cadence can create a certain remove for those who dont know her well. She has an unapologetic competitive edge, giving no quarter to anyone when she has an individual goal, whether its a bike race or a game of dominoes with her in-laws.She doesnt like second place, said her father, retired Marine Col. William Dean Armstrong Jr., who watched her jump in the water as a 5- or 6-year-old, following her older brother Eric onto the Zukeran Sharks swim team on the U.S. Marine base in Okinawa. She hasnt sunk since, parlaying her talent in triathlon into a brief professional stint before a diagnosis of osteoarthritis in her hips ended her running days and diverted her to her true athletic strength.Armstrong calls his daughter the hardest worker he has ever seen, which covers some ground, given what he did for a living. She briefly considered a career in the military and attended a summer session of officer candidate school when she was 18, but decided it was not for her.Characteristically, shes still a little peeved with herself that she didnt see it through. I think I just had a weak moment where I just cracked, Armstrong said. Im not a quitter. Thats probably the one thing Ive quit that was significant.Armstrong has won two world championships along with her pair of Olympic golds -- the second of which came two years after her son, Lucas, arrived. Close friend Nicola Cranmer, owner of the Twenty16 cycling trade team, helped sneak Lucas into the finish line area in London so he could run to the flower ceremony podium for a hug, completing Armstrongs dream. Minutes later, she was in the back seat of an official car, medal still around her neck, changing her boys diaper.Yet as much as that individual success has meant to Armstrong, she takes enormous pride in being a team player. She coaches a couple of younger riders on the side and came into Rio, after coming out of retirement a second time, utterly determined to show her true colors on the road course as well as in her solo specialty.Armstrongs selection for the 2016 team raised some hackles, partly because she had a subpar ride at the spring national championships and partly because her longtime coach, Jim Miller, is a USA Cycling executive, which inevitably raises the issue of conflict of interest. (Miller recused himself from the actual selection process, but many critics were not appeased.)That was on her mind when she arrived in Rio, even though she said she didnt feel pressure to prove anything in the road race. On a punishing, dramatic day of racing, Armstrong set her jaw and stuck it into the wind. She worked tirelessly on the front of the peloton, earning public kudos from her teammates, especially Mara Abbott, who finished a heartbreaking fourth.That was my contribution, Armstrong said at the finish line, and then briefly choked up. I did the breaks, I covered the moves, I chased in the end, and at the base of the big climb I was depleted completely. She pulled out at that point -- only the second time in her career she has abandoned a race. The other was in 2002.Armstrong said she knew some cycling fans and probably some teammates of mine questioned her commitment. I hope I dont have to say anything else anymore, she said.She gets to express herself with one more monologue in motion Wednesday. Miles Sanders Eagles Jersey Andre Dillard Womens Jersey . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. http://www.eaglesrookiestore.com/Eagles-Brian-Dawkins-Jersey/ . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Foles Womens Jersey . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. Fletcher Cox Youth Jersey . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. UCLA?coach Jim Mora was issued a public reprimand by the Pac-12 after he referred to the officiating as criminal in a postgame radio interview following the Bruins win against Arizona?on Saturday.Mora received a 15-yard penalty for disputing a non-call by the officials late in the first quarter and, after the game, was told by UCLA sideline reporter Wayne Cook, That [penalty] was a crazy call. We still cant figure it out.Youre talking about when they had a lineman 8 yards downfield blocking the linebacker and they threw the ball? Mora said. Yeah, I guess maybe I dont know football very well. I dont know.Arizona was initially penalized for an ineligible receiver downfield, but the call was changed, according to a statement from the conference.The flag was picked up when it was determined that the Arizona quarterback was out of the pocket and legally threw the ball away out of bounds, the statement said. Per the CCA Officiating Manual, If the passer is legally throwing the ball away and it lands near or beyond the sideline, do not penalize the offense for having ineligible players downfield.The conference said it received confirmation from the NCAA that the play was ruled correctly.Mora also made a reference to the end of the Cal-Utah?game, in which Utah was mistakenly charged its secoond timeout with 14 seconds left.dddddddddddd. The Utes had first-and-goal from the 2-yard line at the time with one timeout left, as opposed to two; coach Kyle Whittingham said it changed his play-calling.Utah ran it unsuccessfully on first down, called a timeout, threw an incompletion on second down, and the Utes were stuffed on a run play to end the game in a 28-23 loss.Kyle Whittingham is a heck of a football coach and a very smart man, and I saw the words come out of his mouth as he looked at the official: This ones on you, Mora said. So, Im going to press for answers. I think that our players deserve answers. They invest way too much in this game to not have answers. To not have it done the right way. Its criminal.This is the second time Mora has complained publicly about the conferences officiating this season. After the Bruins overtime loss to Texas A&M, he accused a Pac-12 official of tapping center Scott Quessenberry near the end of the game, thus inadvertently triggering the teams silent snap count and leading to a premature snap in the final minute of regulation. Replay of the sequence, however, did not indicate any wrongdoing by the official. ' ' '