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CALGARY -- The man who gave the host country one of its most memorable moments of the 2010 Winter Olympics faces long odds to compete at the next Winter Games. Adidas ZX 750 Uomo|Donna . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. But the 34-year-old from Russell, Man., might not make the 2014 team for Sochi, Russia, in February. Montgomerys results the last season and a half have yet to meet Bobsleigh Canada Skeletons qualification criteria. He needs to hit the ball out of the park and also have little luck in the four races he has left to qualify before Jan. 19. "Unfortunately for me, Im fighting an uphill battle in that regard," Montgomery said Wednesday in Calgary. "I would guess the way things have gone it would be nothing short of winning the four races before that deadline." Mellisa Hollingsworth of Eckville, Alta., Calgarys Sarah Reid and John Fairbairn and Eric Neilson of Kelowna, B.C., were introduced Wednesday as Canadas skeleton athletes for Sochi. Canada can qualify a third man and a third woman for Sochi in January, according to head coach Duff Gibson. Should Canada gain those berths, Montgomery is up against Dave Greszczyszyn of Burlington, Ont., for the final spot on the mens team. It will come down to points earned in races. Greszczyszyn is currently ranked 23rd in the world and Montgomery 25th with 32 points separating them. Montgomery didnt qualify in fall selection races for the World Cup team. Hes competing on the secondary Intercontinental Cup circuit where results are worth fewer points than World Cup results. Greszczyszyn will continue to race World Cups. "Dave will be earning twice as many points for his results on World Cup than I will be on IC," Montgomery said. "If I win all four races and Dave gets 13th in his races hell beat me out in points." If the two men end up close or tied in points, it could come down to coachs discretion, which Gibson doesnt relish. The 2006 Olympic champion hopes the sliders sort it out themselves so he can avoid that painful decision. "By delaying our third selection until we know there is a third Canadian spot allows them to separate themselves based on performance, rather than us having to make a subjective choice," Gibson said. Montgomery will race twice in Whistler, B.C., on the track of his Olympic triumph before a pair of races in Park City, Utah, in January. "Im always optimistic," he said. "Ill work until the cows come home for any kind of a chance. Im not going to worry about the race results before they happen. "Im going to be worried about the next run, the next inch, the next corner. If I get ahead of that, Im not focused on whats important, which is the things I can control right now. "I wont be defined by my failures and this is hardly a failure yet." Montgomery has yet to bond with the sled he built from scratch when he took the 2011-12 season off from racing. The first World Cup after the 2010 Olympics was in Whistler and Montgomery won there. But he didnt finish on the podium again that season. Unwilling to race on a sled that got him wins on just one track in the world and looking ahead to Sochi, Montgomery worked with the metal construction company Standens on a new sled. The move hasnt translated into success on the track. Montgomery needed four top-six results in World Cups the last season and a half to automatically qualify for Sochi. He was sixth once in 2012-13 and was at a major disadvantage this season not qualifying for the World Cup. Montgomery doesnt regret the season he took off or the move to a new sled. Hes sure there would be no chance of beating Latvian skeleton superstar Martin Dukars or Russian slider Alexander Tretiakov, who are co-favourites for gold in Sochi, if he didnt make the change. "The sled that Ive got right now is better than the sled I used to be on," Montgomery said. "Theres no question. The only unfortunate part, and the reason why I was so successful in 2010, was because that old sled was like an extension of my body. "When I was competing in 2010 in Vancouver, that sled Id been on for eight years. I knew exactly how it would react to every single situation I was presented with. Im not there with my Standen sled. I havent had the time to get comfortable with it yet." And its not a simple matter of going back to his former sled, he says. Montgomery hasnt been on it for three years and his body would have to re-learn it. There isnt time for equipment tinkering now. Montgomery says he was the fastest Canadian on the Sochi track during an international training week in the fall. "I was the fastest Canadian athlete by a good bit, but thats neither here nor there," he said. "Its disappointing for me not to be given the benefit of the doubt of that leadership, that past performance proof that Im maybe the best person for the job, but Im in this situation by my own doing. "I cant blame anybody. If youre expecting to be given consideration based on past performance, youre kidding yourself." Montgomery took the risks he did because he wanted another Olympic medal. "I was searching for that special thing I knew I would have to do to be a medallist this go around," Montgomery explained. "Ive got no interest in becoming a two-time Olympian. My interest was always I wanted to do everything in my power to go there and defend my Olympic gold medal, our Olympic gold medal. "Ive got zero regrets. I know I created the bed Im sleeping in, but Im only disappointed. Disappointed is fleeting. Regret is lasting." New Balance 574 Uomo .com) - Steven Fletcher scored on either side of the intermission on Monday as Sunderland took a 3-1 victory over 10-man Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Nike Air Max 90 Camo .S. Open loss to Kei Nishikori of Japan, as he prepares for a Davis Cup playoff against Columbia next week that will determine whether Canada remains in the elite World Group. The IndyCar Series has selected Beaux Barfield as its new director for racing. A source requesting anonymity said Barfield will be introduced during a news conference Wednesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Hell replace Brian Barnhart, who lost race control responsibilities last month. Barfield spent the last four years as race director of ALMS sports car series and was the race steward for the now-defunct Champ Car Series from 2003-2007. He then moved to the Formula Atlantic Series for two seasons and then ALMS. A former race car driver, Indy Lights Series was his highest level of competition. "It was top secret when I left at 4 this morn, but apparently not so much now: Im moving to Indy today," Barfield posted Tuesday afternoon on his Twitter page. Barfield will oversee a reworking of IndyCars rule book. Although Barnhart was criticized by drivers for alleged arbitrary calls, the relaxed rulebook contributed to the inconsistencies. IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard had been searching for a new race director since relieving Barnhart of his duties after a dramatic 2011 season. Barnhart was under fire most of the season after a handful of decisioons cost him the respect of the drivers. Adidas ZX 700 Uomo|Donna. In two very public incidents, Will Power was caught on live television making an obscene gesture toward the race control tower at New Hampshire, and Helio Castroneves called Barnhart a "circus clown" in a Twitter rant. Power was furious when Barnhart decided to resume racing at New Hampshire despite driver protests it was raining too hard. The slick conditions caused a crash on the restart that collected Power, who infamously flashed his two middle fingers toward Barnhart. Barnhart admitted his error after the race -- "Youre just kind of sick to your stomach and realize it was an error on race controls standpoint and, clearly, my fault," he said -- but he was lampooned for the call and never restored his credibility. About six weeks later, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Castroneves took to Twitter to vent about Barnhart penalizing him for passing under yellow in Japan. He complained Barnhart was inconsistent in penalizing some drivers and not others, changed the rulebook when it was convenient and blamed Barnhart for "bringing down an entire series." Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
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