cation during warm-ups that was quickly extinguished by co

Woh joh paanch chhalle hote hain, woh bade saubhagya se milte hain (those five rings are reserved for a few fortunate ones), says Nitendra Singh Rawat, who will make up Indias first three-member mens marathon contingent at the Olympics in 56 years. Rawat will be competing alongside Gopi T and Kheta Ram at the Rio games and said ever since his qualification, I have felt an inner motivation, and my desire to work harder has also increased. I feel I must do something good, since I am going to represent my country there.A Havaldar with the Kumaon Regiment of the Indian army, Rawat was the first of the three Indians to qualify for Rio, at the 2015 World Military Games in Mungyeong, Korea in October 2015. His eighth-place finish came with a timing of 2h 18m 6s, well within the qualification mark of 2h 19m.The turning point for Rawats athletic career came when he represented India for the first time in March 2013 at a half-marathon in Korea, coming within seven seconds of the national record.For Rawat, the mark to aim for now in Rio is Shivnath Singhs 38-year-old national record for the marathon: 2h 12m, set in 1978. Shivnath also holds Indias personal best at the Olympics, where he finished 11th at the Montreal games in 1976. Rawat knows those numbers. After securing qualification for Rio in South Korea, Rawat notched up victories in the Delhi half-marathon in November 2015 and the Mumbai marathon in January 2016 -- setting an Indian course record of 2h 15m 48s in the latter -- before picking up the marathon gold at the South Asian Games in Guwahati in February, where he clocked 2h 15m 18s.Rupinder Singh, former national level middle-distance runner and athletics coach, considers Rawat one of the more consistent runners to have emerged from the Services. Hes a Physics graduate, which gives him a better insight into how to prepare. He trains the same way as the other marathoners, but he knows what is required to improve on his own performances, says Rupinder.Rawat grew up in Garur, a town in the Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand. Rawat played a lot of sport as a child, with hockey being his favourite through school. Iss desh mein cricket toh har koi khelta hai (In India, everybody plays cricket at some stage), he adds with a laugh.It wasnt until Rawat joined the Army that he took a liking to running long distances, though his initial distance of choice would be 5000 metres. It helped that if your name came up for a division-level meet, then you would get a vacation for 15 days to recover, Rawat says with a characteristic smile.Rupinder believes that Rawat could and should aim higher at the Olympics. Rio will be tough for our runners, because by and large, they have been clocking in excess of 2h 12m, whereas in Rio, I would expect the best runners to get close to 2h 7m and 2h 10m. The fact that Indian marathoners havent had more success internationally is quite surprising, says Rupinder.The national record was set by Shivnath Singh while running barefoot in Jalandhar in 1978.A discernible lack of ambition among Indian long-distance runners is the root cause for the lack of international medals says Rupinder, while highlighting how opportunities for them have increased within India.Though India have hosted so many marathons in the last few years, the focus is not on improving timing or encouraging younger marathoners. Theres so much of a hardsell to the corporates, thats theres often no incentive to improve on a best timing. Athletics is actually a sport where you can keep rewards much more quantifiable, so that young runners strive to improve their personal best. No doubt, there have been more rewards and more participation, but we still have a long way to go, says Rupinder.Nobody can blame Rawat for lack of ambition, or pragmatism, though. If I hadnt been a marathoner, I would have been running perhaps at the National championship. But I wouldnt have had the aim of doing something for my country, says Rawat. I had a limitation in the 5000m - I could have gone till Asian level, but not till a world level. I say this because I was aware of my speeds. I am what I am because of marathon.Massively inspired by Abhinav Bindras personalised message to all Olympians, and keen to rub shoulders with his track and field heroes including Haile Gebresselasie, Mo Farah and Usain Bolt in Rio, Rawat, whose favourite film Mohabbatein is a fair indication of his fondness for Hindi movies, signs off with a line that would not be out of place in a Bollywood potboiler.Jaise bola jaata hai dawaon se duayein zyaada kaam karti hain (they say prayers work better than medicines), so I would urge my countrymen that they should pray - not just for me but for each and every member of the Olympic contingent. Pray for us so that we can get more and more medals back for the nation. Custom Baseball Jerseys Store . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Custom Seattle Mariners Jerseys . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. http://www.customjerseysbaseball.com/custom-pittsburgh-pirates-jerseys-694x.html . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. Custom Tampa Bay Rays Jerseys . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. Custom Miami Marlins Jerseys . -- Anaheim Ducks captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf has been scratched from Sunday nights game against the Vancouver Canucks because of an upper-body injury. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- After the Buffalo Bills 16-0 win Sunday over the New England Patriots, Bills coach Rex Ryan said he expected to win because Tom Brady was serving the final game of his four-game suspension.Its satisfying, but lets face it, they had a player out, Ryan said, referring to the Patriots quarterback. They had a player out, and we had our team, so we expected to win.The Bills (2-2) held rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett to 17-of-27 passing for 205 yards and an 86.2 rating. Brissett (thumb) and Jimmy Garoppolo (shoulder) were listed as questionable on the Patriots final injury report, and the Patriots didnt announce their starter until Sunday. But Ryan repeated his statement from Wednesday that he knew in advance who would start for New England.My sources inside the New England Patriot building said that Jacoby Brissett would be the quarterback, Ryan said after Sundays game. How about that? Ill stir some stuff up. Who was it? Who was it? I dont know who it was.At Ryans news conference Wednesday, the Bills coach impersonated Bill Belichick, and as Ryan began his postgame news conference Sunday, he again imitated the style of the Patriots coach. In a dull tone, Ryan said, On to L.A., I guess, making reference to Belichicks memorable On to Cincinnati remark in 2014. The Bills travel to play the Los Angeles Rams next weekend.Ryan also brought a Clemson hat to his postgame news conference Sunday, placing it on the podium as he spoke. Ryans son, Seth, plays for Clemson.That was as good of a weekend as you can have, Ryan said, referring to his teams victory and undefeated Clemsons 42-36 win Saturday over Louisville.ddddddddddddrior to kickoff Sunday, Bills defensive backs and Patriots receivers were involved in an altercation during warm-ups that was quickly extinguished by coaches. Bills safety Robert Blanton and Patriots wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell were among those initially scuffling.We were out there doing our normal game routine, warming up as DBs, and a couple of Patriots guys ran through our DBs drills, Blanton said after the game. I told him, Hey, dont run through our DB drills. Can you run on the sideline? Its disrespectful and you can get somebody hurt, because DBs were backpedaling and stuff. And they decided to run through our DB drill again.Patriots president Jonathan Kraft commented on the fight minutes later to 98.5 The Sports Hub, saying, I think if you are less-than-disciplined in your personal approach, your team takes on the attitude of the coach. ... My guess is Rex [Ryan] probably loves that. ... Why Rex is Rex and Bill [Belichick] is Bill.In response to Krafts comments, Blanton said, We have a disciplined team. I think its clear today we also had the better team.However, Ryan agreed with Kraft, saying, I think so too. They probably werent as disciplined as they should be. I think thats probably what happened.Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett was not on the field during the altercation but would have intervened if he was nearby.I dont let that s--- happen. ... Thats who they are, he said after the game.ESPNs Mike Reiss contributed to this report. ' ' '