Probleme » is almost like there was this burning fire

VANCOUVER -- Maelle Ricker is confident shell be able to defend her womens snowboard cross gold medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics. The 35-year-old from West Vancouver, B.C., broke her wrist in training Jan. 28 and required surgery to repair the compound fracture. "Ive been training everyday, Ive been doing physio everyday. My arm is getting better and better, its getting more range and getting the swelling out," Ricker said during a conference call Wednesday. "Everybodys done such an amazing job just as a team, as a whole support network to get me out the door and get me on the plane Saturday to get me over to Russia." Snowboard cross involves four athletes racing down a course at the same time, often jockeying for position. Rickers accident happened when she lost her balance during a training run on the X Games course in Vail, Colo. "It was in a section that Ive ridden dozens of times previous to that run. It was nothing new or surprising. I didnt control my speed as I should have," said Ricker, who won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. "I did the exact opposite of what youre supposed to do -- I put my arm out to break the fall and unfortunately it broke me." Despite having a bone sticking of the side of her arm that "was crazy looking" less than three weeks before she was scheduled to compete in Sochi, Ricker said she was never concerned about her ability to participate. "I wasnt worried about that because I had so much support and reassurance right away that I was getting the absolute best medical care on the planet," she said. "I definitely felt that support and reassurance right away." Ricker said she wont get back on her snowboard until she reaches Sochi. She expects there to be some pain when she competes, mainly at the top of the course when she pulls herself out of the start gate. She said some of the exercises shes been doing since the injury involve simulating a snowboard cross start using bungee cords and pulleys. "I think its going to be better than maybe what I think, based just on my progress the last few days," said Ricker. "Everything is moving so much better than what I would ever imagine a week (post-operation) from breaking an arm. "I think its going to go quite well. Im really positive about this." Ricker and her fellow womens snowboard cross competitors will get their first look at the Sochi course Feb. 12, with the initial training session scheduled for two days later. The race is scheduled to go Feb. 16. Ricker has fought through injuries before -- including a crash right before the Vancouver Games as well as a concussion this past December -- and expects to be able to do the same in Sochi. "Id be lying if I said it wouldnt be in the back of my mind," she said. "Im hoping everything will go as a usual competition and thats where I spend a lot of time visualizing and thinking about the race and technically what Im doing on the board. Usually that overpowers any pain or anything else thats going on." Ricker made her Olympic debut in 1998 on Canadas halfpipe team at Nagano, Japan. She returned to the Games in 2006 at Turin, Italy, with the snowboard cross team but crashed and had to be airlifted to hospital. She returned in 2010 to win gold and it sounds like shes equally motivated this time around. "It sounds crazy, but its helped me," said Ricker of the injury. "This is almost like there was this burning fire, desire. Its almost like somebody doused a bunch of gasoline on the fire so Im pretty ready to go. I can feel the adrenaline and I can feel the excitement of going over to Russia. "Im actually just going to use that as a positive and use that for motivation to just get me through these couple of weeks and hopefully have the race of my life." Aaron Dell Sharks Jersey . -- Jaye Marie Green shot a course-record 10-under 62 on Wednesday to take the first-round lead in the LPGA Tours qualifying tournament. Timo Meier Sharks Jersey . Patrik Bartosak turned away 50-of-52 shots for the Rebels (28-26-4), who halted their losing streak at seven games. Trailing 2-1 after 40 minutes of play, Feser forced overtime with his second goal of the game at 5:35 of the third period. http://www.officialsharksnhlshop.com/brent-burns-jersey/. The 22-year-old Kreider was injured Friday night in New Yorks win at Columbus, but played in the next two games -- including Monday nights win over Phoenix. But the left winger, who has 17 goals and 37 points this season, was limited to about 10 minutes of ice time in each of the previous games. Brent Burns Jersey .com) - Nicklas Backstrom scored a pair of goals and Alex Ovechkin notched a highlight-reel tally, leading the Washington Capitals to a 4-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday at the Prudential Center. Brenden Dillon Jersey .com) - Jeff Teague had 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 90-85 on Saturday night.BOLZANO, Italy -- Emma Friesen of North Vancouver and Aimee Harrison of Winnipeg took fourth spot on womens three-metre synchro on Friday to open the sixth and final stop on the FINA Grand Prix diving circuit. Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallape of Italy won the gold with 311.10 points, Liu Tian and Luo Ying of China second at 287.70 and Maria Marconi and Elena Bertocchi of Italy third at 254.40. Friesen and Harrison, who were sixth entering their last dive, nearly snared the bronze finishing at 254.19. On womens 10-metre tower, Celina Toth of Victoria posted the second best score in the semifinal to advance to Saturdays final. Jiaming Zhu of China is in first place after scoring 311.00 in the semis followed by Toth at 292.20 and Villo Kormos of Hungary is third at 276.95. Taylor Olanski of London, Ont., was 12th overall in the semis and did not advance. The final is Saturday. The competition was heeld outdoors and featured rain and cool weather in the morning preliminaries before clearing up in the afternoon.dddddddddddd "This afternoons semi was perfect weather and I was a little more nervous but I was confident in what Ive done to prepare for this," said Toth. "I was consistent throughout the event and nailed the dive I missed in the morning. I scored better in the semi which is an improvement for me over the past few Grand Prix Ive been to." Toth ranked fourth in the prelims. "We started off stressing about the weather but I wasnt letting that bother me," she said. "I was laughing it off and ready to dive. I missed one dive this morning but I was sharp and confident." On mens three-metre springboard, Nicholas Beaupre was 11th overall in the semis and did not advance and Vincent Riendeau of Pointe-Claire, Que., was 16th in the prelims. ' ' '