"In the first round you go in not knowing exactly how

CALGARY -- Canadas cross-country ski team is poised to make Olympic history next month. Mats Hummels Jersey . While Canadian women have stood on the Olympic podium in the sport, a Canadian man never has. Led by Alex Harvey of St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que., and Devon Kershaw of Sudbury, Ont., that drought could end on the Psekhako Ridge in Sochi, Russia. The hard goal of Canadas cross-country team is to claim at least two medals in Sochi. Its the men who have the best chance at winning them this time. "I really feel if this team doesnt get two medals Ill feel a bit of disappointment or maybe we did something wrong," Canadian head coach Justin Wadsworth said. "That doesnt mean were incapable of four or five medals. "This is an amazing team. We could do better than two medals. We could blow other teams out of the water if everything comes together." The 11 skiers wholl represent Canada in Sochi were introduced Tuesday at an elementary school with six being present for the announcement. Harvey, Kershaw, Ivan Babikov of Canmore, Alta., Daria Gaiazova of Banff, Alta., and Perianne Jones of Almonte, Ont., were in Europe and en route to a World Cup event in Poland. Chandra Crawford and Jesse Cockney of Canmore, Torontos Lenny Valjas, Graeme Killick of Fort McMurray, Alta., Heidi Widmer of Banff and Emily Nishikawa of Whitehorse will join their teammates in Italy next week for pre-Games training. Cockney, Killick, Widmer and Nishikawa claimed their Olympic berths at last weeks trials in Canmore. They, along with Valjas, will make their Olympic debuts while the rest of the team has previous Games experience. Harvey won two races and finished in the medals four times in this seasons Tour de Ski, which is a gruelling series of 10 races spread over 16 days and three countries. Harvey and Kershaw finished first and second, respectively, in the series opening race. "I feel like our team is in a really good place," Wadsworth said. "We started out slowly this year. The results werent good early and weve built and built. I feel like were in a place where were building still in confidence. We havent peaked out in any way shape or form. "I feel like the whole team is starting to rise and its how we wanted to time it." Wadsworth is married to Canadas Beckie Scott, whose bronze at the 2002 Winter Games was eventually upgraded to gold when two Russians ahead of her were disqualified for doping. Scott was the first North American woman to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing. Scott and Sara Renner combined for team sprint silver in 2006 before Scott retired. Canadas cross-country skiers were shut out of the medals at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., although the men posted seven top-10 finishes. Harvey and Kershaw were fourth in the team sprint and Babikov fifth in the 30-kilometre event. Kershaw was fifth and an agonizing half a second from the podium in the 50-kilometre event. Harvey and Kershaw won world championship gold in 2011 in the team sprint. The mens sprints are fertile ground for Canada, but Babikov is also a contender in distance events. Those three and Valjas also give the Canadian squad a strong mens relay team. Medal prospects are thinner on the womens side, although Gaiazova and Jones won World Cup bronze in a team sprint in Sochi last year. Crawford, the 2006 Olympic womens sprint champion, is a wildcard. The womens sprint Feb. 11 will be a skate-ski race again as it was in 2006. The womens sprint in 2010 was a classic race and not Crawfords forte. The 30-year-old is more in her element in skating races than in classic, the striding technique requiring more finesse and less power. But Crawford has struggled first with injuries and then burnout since 2006, to the point where she cut her 2012-13 European racing season short and returned to Canmore. She trained on her own last summer instead of joining the national team at training camps. The 30-year-old isnt shouldering the same weight of expectation she did prior to 2010. "Its so different than Vancouver. Its not our Games. We have to . . . there was more of a have-to feeling," Crawford said. "Just the amount of interest was hard to process as well. "This feels like a real gift and I really appreciate the opportunity." Cockney is the first athlete of Inuit descent on the Olympic cross-country team since sisters Sharon and Shirley Firth raced in their fourth Winter Games in 1984. Cockneys father, Angus, is Inuit. Cockney was born in Yellowknife and learned to ski there before his family moved to Canmore. "Its great to have a strong connection to distinct people," the 26-year-old said. "You kind of feel a little bit more unique and for sure a different experience growing up. "My dad was a cross-country skier at a high level when he was younger and he got my sister and I involved when we were quite young. We had ski trails behind our house when we lived in Yellowknife all the way to the nordic centre. "A lot of dark, cold days in Yellowknife, cross-country skiing in the middle of winter, but that hardened us up and made us stronger." Killick beat decorated Paralympian Brian McKeever out for a spot on the Olympic squad by winning the 30-kilometre event and finishing second to McKeever in the 15k at trials. McKeever was eighth in the 30k. McKeever, from Canmore, is a legally blind skier and winner of 10 Paralympic medals who qualified for Canadas 2010 Olympic team. He was poised to become the first Paralympian to compete in a Winter Olympics, but the teams coaches decided to enter four other skiers in the 50k and not McKeever. The 2014 Olympic cross-country ski competition opens Feb. 8 with the womens 15k race. Kingsley Coman Jersey . Costa Rica followed up its wins over Uruguay and Italy by holding England to a dour 0-0 draw on Tuesday, enough to finish first in Group D. Niklas Sule Jersey . As the schedule flipped from November to December, they would go on to drop five straight, falling six games below the .500 mark before a franchise-altering trade turned them into an unrecognizable team. http://www.fcbayernsoccerproshop.com/c-32-corentin-tolisso-fc-bayern-munich-jersey.aspx . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell. PARIS -- Milos Raonic hopes his recent success on clay leads to a long run at the French Open. The Canadian star won his opening match at the second Grand Slam of the year on Sunday, beating Australian wildcard Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 to reach the second round. Raonic, the eighth seed from Thornhill, Ont., needed exactly two hours to advance against one of the games rising young stars. He also beat an Australian opponent for the first time at a Grand Slam after losing to Carsten Ball at the 2010 U.S. Open and Lleyton Hewitt at the 2012 Australian Open. He won on his third match point, sealing victory with a 27th ace. Raonic, who came to Roland Garros from a Rome semifinal last weekend, finished with 50 winners and 30 unforced errors, breaking on four of ten chances. "I felt very good, I was able to do the things I wanted to do," said Raonic, who next plays one of two Czechs, Lukas Rosol of Jiri Vesely. "In the first round you go in not knowing exactly how things are going to play out. When it mattered, I was able to put forward the right attitude and the right level of tennis. Im happy with that." Raonic has a career record of 32-23 on clay courts, compared to 100-42 on hard surfaces that dont deaden his powerful serve. But Raonic had two quarter-final appearances as well as the Rome semifinal in four clay-court tournaments leading up to the French Open. Hes trying to go beyond the third round at Roland Garros for the first time in his career. Later Sunday, sixth seed Tomas Berdych beat Canadian qualifier Peter Polansky of Thornhill 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Polansky, ranked 137th and playing in only his sixth career singles main draw at a major, last played a Grand Slam at the 2010 US Open. He was successful on only one of six break points while committing 21 unforced errors with 15 winners. James Rodriguez Bayern Munich Jersey. "Its good to be back in the main draw of a slam," said Polansky. "I played well and enjoyed it. I was hoping to get a better draw, there are a lot of guys I could have beaten today. "I played well, I just came up a it short. But I take a lot of positives out of the last few weeks. Maybe I have more belief in my game now that Im older." Raonic said that despite heavy conditions in wet Paris, the courts held up well compared to Rome. "Theyre quite similar, though here they can change a little bit more due to the cloud coverage and not really that much sun the last few days," he said. "The ball wasnt bouncing as much as it had actually the last days on the outside courts. The 23-year-old Raonic used his experience against the young Australian, reducing Kyrgios to racket-hurling frustration after breaking immediately after losing serve in the second set. Raonic began the third set with a break for 2-0, lost it, but again gained the lead 4-2 on his way to victory. Raonic said that he was having trouble at times on serve, but managed to fight through the problem. "I was getting it together when it mattered, and thats all I can really ask," he said. "There was some moments where I was losing a little bit of concentration on my level, and I was able to put it together when I was in the important moments." After answering on-court questions in French, Raonic then said he would tweet a message in the language later. He said he would have the tweet proofed by an expert speaker before broadcasting it to his 143,000 followers. 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