bout young people getting carried away or if they were going to move forward with actions,

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Katherine Grainger is undoubtedly a fantastic Olympian, you dont win medals in five successive Games unless you are a special athlete.But what place she takes in the pantheon of British sporting heroes, and indeed among the worlds most impressive achievers, is hard to call. How, exactly, do you measure Olympic greatness?That question arose in the aftermath of Graingers latest success, her silver-medal winning run in the womens double sculls with Victoria Thornley.The victory brought her a medal for the fifth successive Games, four of them silver and a gold from London 2012. At the age of 40, it also brought a commitment to finally quit competitive rowing and the admiration of many.Grainger has overtaken swimmer Rebecca Adlington in the medal count to claim the title of most decorated female British Olympian of the modern era. But Team GB were slightly embarrassed to find out after declaring her outright all-time leader that tennis player Kitty Godfree also won five medals in the 1920s.The owner of a PHD in criminology and current chancellor of Oxford Brookes University could claim a better record as Godfree has two bronzes among her tally, to go with two silvers and a gold. Their claims to the title, however, may well be debated until another woman wins six medals.Grainger will inevitably be mentioned in dispatches with another Briton, too: five-time Olympic gold medal-winning rower, and single bronze-medal holder Steve Redgrave, whose greatness appears to be, well, greater.But she was happy regardless of what official historians decide and was too busy celebrating to worry.Asked about sharing the mark, Grainger said: Its good company. It feels good ... Its not something you set off to do. I started off as a student and at my first Olympic Games, it was just incredibly to be selected for and to get a medal back in Sydney, which is now 16 years ago.I continued because I love this sport and being in a boat with people like Vicky: the passion and the excitement, the pressure of these big Olympic moments. Thats what drives me. By following that dream, its got me to this place but I never set out to do it.Putting her achievements into context is the job of others and another British rower, James Cracknell, who helped Redgrave win his fifth gold in the coxless fours in Sydney and finished first again in the same discipline in Athens, had a good handle on it.Is Michael Phelps, with 25 Olympic medals, nearly five times the Olympian Redgrave is? More than twice the Olympian Carl Lewis [who won 10 games medals] is? he asked. It doesnt matter. What Katherine has done is immense.At the start of the week there was a question mark over whether she and Vicky would even make the final because of their form. They won the silver by backing themselves in a way no one else backed them.Cracknell wasnt kidding. It was only in June that Grainger was not going to the Olympics. Her and Thornley had been moved from the pairs to an eight-woman team by British Rowing and it hadnt worked; when the initial squad for Rio was named, they were left out.The pair held a meeting with self-confessed straight-talking coach Paul Thompson and only when they showed their commitment to succeeding as a two-woman team were they invited to challenge in Rio.That crisis of confidence followed Graingers two-year sabbatical after 2012, a period which inevitably had an impact on her form when she returned.There was talk of tension, between the pair and between them and the coach, but on Thursday they all seemed to have been better for getting through it.There have been so many hard days in the last year or two when it [winning a medal] seemed the furthest thing from reality; that we wouldnt come away with anything, Grainger said.There was a point when we werent in an Olympic boat, we werent selected. Two months out its not the place you would want to be, so it was hard to see how to get through it.At some level, I thought it would come good, we just had to hold our nerve and keep on course. In a way it makes the results all the more sweet if youve been through the mill and come out.Sport is a very tough, intense environment to work in. Weve all said and done things that have been particularly tough along the way, but it proves what a great working relationship [we have] to come out with a result like that.Grainger and Thornley led for a large part of Thursdays race and were less than 200 metres away from winning gold at the Lagoa Stadium before being pipped at the last by the Polish pair, Magdalena Fularczyk-Kozlowska and Natalia Madaj.But somehow it didnt matter. One of Britains big medal hopes had delivered against what had been long odds just a few weeks ago, and the Team GB bandwagon was rolling on with another impressive success story on the books.I thought Katherine made a mistake by taking two years out but she has proved me wrong, said Cracknell. To come back at the back end of your 30s makes it hard to regain that kick you need in rowing. She didnt have it last year but she has this year and they put the kick in in the first half of the final to give themselves a chance.Katherine can look in the mirror and know she delivered the best she could. They raced the best race of their career together and the best of the last few years, and there is pride in watching someone from your sport perform so well.Whatever your take on measuring greatness and wherever Grainger fits in the history of British sporting achievement, her Rio rowing final performance was one to celebrate. Reggie White Jersey . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Dexter Williams Jersey . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Jace-Sternberger-Jersey/ . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Elgton Jenkins Womens Jersey . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. Paul Hornung Jersey . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. LONDON -- Andy Murray?will take on Novak Djokovic in the World Tour final on Sunday.The two best players in the world will compete in a straight shootout for the year-end No. 1 ranking in the championship match at the O2 Arena.Seems like a movie story scenario. Its a script, Djokovic said. A romance Ill call it. Bromance, let me be correct.He added: Im really privileged and honored to be part of history tomorrow with Andy. Weve known each other for many years. This is one of the biggest matches we will ever play against each other, so lets enjoy it.In their respective semifinals, Djokovic enjoyed a 6-1, 6-1 blowout against a gassed Kei Nishikori, who was 1-2 in three round-robin matches; Murrays knuckles were bleeding toward the end of a marathon 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9) win over Milos Raonic in the earlier match.It was a career-best 23rd straight win for Murray, who isnt letting go of the No. 1 ranking without a fight. He waited seven years and 82 days to obtain the ranking since first reaching No. 2 in August 2009.After reaching his first season-ending final, Murray needed 10 minutes in the ice bath for a second time this week.He had already broken the record for the longest three-set match in Tour finals history on Wednesday, a win over Nishikori that went 3 hours, 20 minutes. The semifinal win over Raonic lasted 3 hours, 38 minutes.Tired, Murray said, summing up his feelings after a 77th victory from 86 matches in 2016. Ive played so much tennis the last few months. Some long matches this week. Ill just give it my best tomorrow. Its gonna be tough.The second and third sets against Raonic had each gone 80 minutes. Murray eventually took his third-match point in an epic, third-set tiebreaker.I had to fight very hard to get over the line, Murray said. I was broken twice serving for the match. That was frustrating, but it was a pretty amazing tiebreaker. There were some great points. I just managed to get the break in the end.That was one of the harder matches Ive played. Three-set matches are never normally this long. I dont expect that, playing someone with a serve like Milos. But there were so many long games and long points.Djokovic, who had already benefited from an extra days rest, finished his job in just 66 minutes with ruthless efficiency -- the most drama in the match occurred when a spectator tried to run on the court.Nishikoris serve was broken six times, with Djokovic makking just 12 unforced errors compared to 24 by the Japanese player.ddddddddddddThe crowd erupted every time Nishikori managed to hold his serve. He looked far less elated with his efforts and trudged off court with his head bowed when it was all over.I started off very well, pretty much executed everything tactically that I planned to do before the match, Djokovic said. Last couple of matches have been pretty much flawless.But it was a battle from the first game for Murray. Raonic won 89 percent of points on his first serve in the first set, having broken the Scot in the 11th game and closed it out in 58 minutes.Murray gave a sarcastic thumbs-up to his team when he retreated to his chair. Seemingly rattled by an earlier time violation at 4-4, he gave chair umpire Damien Dumusois a verbal volley.You gave me a warning, but you didnt give him a warning, he said, turning to the umpire, with whom he has had a couple of other arguments in 2016.Dumusois was the umpire who accused Murray of having no respect in a Monte Carlo semifinal defeat to Rafael Nadal. Murray had lofted a ball toward he umpire -- he was frustrated that Dumusois did not give Nadal a warning for going over the allotted 25 seconds between points.Murray also volleyed a ball with his foot toward Dumusois chair in a Cincinnati semifinal against Raonic.The Scot managed to shake off the incident here, just when Raonic looked to have him on the rocks when he broke for 2-1 in the second set. Murray had slumped down in his chair but burst back to life by breaking to love and letting out a roar with a fist pump.Murray, who had a much easier time beating Raonic in straights in the Wimbledon final, then edged a tiebreaker to level the match.Raonic unexpectedly gifted Murray two breaks, and two chances to serve out the win in the decider, but Murray tightened up and failed to take either.Another tiebreaker was needed to separate these two. Raonic saved two match points and then failed to take one of his own, but he couldnt deny Murray a third time.I have to be proud that I finished the year with giving it every ounce of energy I had, Raonic said at a news conference. Im pretty sure Im going to feel like crap tomorrow.Ill look back at 2016 with a lot of good moments, a lot of pride, a lot to be proud of. ' ' '