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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." Replica Basketball Jerseys . Then he got back at the team that released him five days before the start of last season, hitting a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning of the first game at Fenway Park since Boston won the World Series last October. Basketball Jerseys For Sale . Pinch-hitter Tommy Medica singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in their first home game since Gwynn died of cancer Monday. https://www.fakebasketballjerseys.com/ . 15-23, the Ottawa Senators will by hoping to avoid going five straight games without a victory for the first time since a 0-3-2 drought from Oct. Custom Basketball Jerseys . Cammalleri suffered a concussion in the Flames 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. The 31-year-old forward did not travel with the team to Carolina. Cheap Basketball Jerseys . The 33-year-old Spaniard, who held the lead since the second round, turned in a solid final round that featured six birdies and two bogeys to finish on 22-under 266. The victory is Garcias first this year with his last win coming at the Johor Open, an Asian Tour event in Malaysia last December.ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Phil Mickelson surged up the leaderboard with a 9-under 63 to put himself in second place after the third round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, while Rory McIlroy was hit with a two-shot penalty for a rules infraction that dropped him into a tie for fourth. Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said. "The biggest thing for me is that each day as the tournament has progressed I have felt a lot sharper and sharper." McIlroy thought he was alone in second place a stroke behind Lee after finishing his round, but tournament officials then ruled that he had taken a drop incorrectly on the second hole and adjusted his score to a double-bogey 7. That gave him a 70 for the round to sit one stroke behind Mickelson and Gaganjeet Bhullar of India (66). McIlroy had to take relief on the second hole when his ball ended up on a gallery crosswalk and went on to par the hole, but was later told by the caddy of playing partner Ricardo Gonzalez that he had his left foot on the white line marking the drop area, meaning he had not taken "full relief" according to the rules. Tournament officials reviewed the situation after McIlroy completed his round, with the golfer going back to the spot to show where he stood when he took the shot. "I didnt even know my foot was on the line,"t; McIlroy said.dddddddddddd "We went back to see it again there and see where my divot was, and it was clear that I couldnt have played the shot with my feet anywhere else. I guess I was so much into the shot I didnt even realize. ... Theres a lot of stupid rules and this is one of them." To make matters worse, McIlroy said his drop had actually given him a bad lie and that he would have benefited from dropping again. "If anything, it was a disadvantage," McIlroy said. McIlroy had finished the round without a bogey, making his fourth birdie of the day on the 18th. "To a spectator it may feel like I have been unduly punished, and thats what it feels like to me, but its a rule of the game. I do feel like I have been hard done by but its nothing that a fast start tomorrow cant fix." Mickelson shot his lowest score since a 63 on the opening day of the Deutsche Bank Championship in September, falling one shot short of the Abu Dhabi course record. The American birdied four of his opening six holes, eagled the eighth and then also birdied five of his inward holes, including sinking a 50-foot birdie putt at the par-5 last. That came after he tried to reach the green in two shots but ended up beneath some trees to the left and needed a pitching wedge on his third shot. "(I) gave myself a 45 to 50 footer that you dont really expect to make too often but I had a good kind of feel on that one and it just rolled right I," Mickelson said. "But then I was getting a little tired mentally those last few holes and I could tell it was early in the season so I just wasnt as sharp mentally." ' ' '