Larisa Yurkiw believed she should compete with the best in the world in the Olympics, and shell get that chance Wednesday in the womens downhill at Rosa Khutor. When the best Canadian womens speed racers from the 2010 Winter Olympics soon retired and Yurkiw endured injury woes with after effects that extended into years, official Alpine Canada funding dried up. The dollars were targeted at the emerging women on the team, all technical specialists. Yurkiw poured tens of thousands of her own dollars into a bid to make the Sochi Olympics, and raised more than six figures from private individuals and businesses to back her quest. Racing as an independent under coach Kurt Mayr, Yurkiw earned Tier 1 qualification for Sochi with a pair of top 12 results this season, a seventh-place finish in the season-opening downhill in Lake Louise, Alta., and a sixth place at Altenmarkt, Austria last month. The Owen Sound, Ont., native was aiming to compete at the Vancouver Games but tore up her left knee in a crash in December 2009. Yurkiw didnt participate in a full season again until 2012-13, but didnt crack the top 20 in any races, which put her at a career crossroads at just 25 years of age. In what seemed like another cruel blow after all her hard work, Yurkiw went down in a training run in Sochi last week. But she recovered to post the ninth fastest time in the last training session. The contenders There wont be a repeat Olympic downhill champion as American ski star Lindsey Vonn of the United States underwent knee surgery, but 2010 silver medallist Julia Mancuso and bronze recipient Liz Goergl are competing in Russia. Both are capable of getting back to the podium. Mancuso hasnt enjoyed great World Cup results this season, but now owns four career Olympic medals after earning a bronze in Mondays super-combined. The Hawaiian resident did so on the strength of a downhill that was nearly a half-second faster than the next best skier, Lara Gut of Switzerland. Goergls two World Cup wins this season (one downhill, one super-G) have come in the last month, while Gut, Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden of Austria and Slovenias Tina Maze also own downhill wins this season. Maria Hoefl-Riesch, with three, is the only skier with multiple downhill wins this season. The German veteran would have to be considered co-favourite along with Mancuso for the downhill, after winning her third career Olympic gold medal in Mondays super-combined. She is also the overall World Cup points leader. Dominique Gisin of Switzerland hasnt been on the World Cup podium since late 2011, but served notice she could be a factor with a winning training session earlier this week. Anna Wenninger of Austria and Elena Fanchin of Italy are also contender, each having been on the World Cup podium twice in downhill this season, though not yet in the top spot. Tina Weirather under normal circumstances would be considered a strong medal contender after racking up nine World Cup podiums this season, including four in the downhill. But the skier from tiny Liechtenstein, who suffered a serious injury that put her on the sidelines just days before the 2010 Olympics, is uncertain to compete after hurting her leg in a weekend training session. Thibaut Courtois Jersey . The Montreal Canadiens goaltender has won three of his four games since returning from a lower-body injury that kept him out from the end of the Olympic break until March 15. Dries Mertens Belgium Jersey . Bowditch, the 30-year-old Australian seeking his first PGA Tour title, shot a 4-under 68 to reach 12 under at TPC San Antonio. Matt Kuchar and Andrew Loupe were tied for second. Kuchar shot 65, and Loupe had a 70. http://www.belgiumsoccerpro.com/Adnan-Januzaj-Belgium-Jersey/ .Brothers B.J. and Justin Upton each homered and had an outfield assist, and the Braves held on for a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night. Thorgan Hazard Jersey . LOUIS -- The St. Leander Dendoncker Jersey .ca. In addition to the game being aired in its entirety on CTV Two Vancouver Island and TSN.ca, TSN2 will also have coverage of Whitecaps FC immediately following NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400.TORONTO -- Rudy Gay and the Toronto Raptors just didnt work out, according to team general manager Masai Ujiri. Ujiri said he didnt have a problem with Gays talent level or attitude. But he said that the Raptors were lacking in chemistry, and changes had to come. So Ujiri pulled off his second major trade since joining the Raptors in the off-season, sending Gay and his sizable contract to the Sacramento Kings. "Phenomenal talented player, it just wasnt working," Ujiri said at a press conference Monday. Ujiri said there were issues with spacing on the floor, and also acknowledged the suggestions that Gay and guard DeMar DeRozan did many of the same things on the court. The seven-player deal also sees centre Aaron Gray and forward Quincy Acy head to the Kings. The Raptors receive guards John Salmons and Greivis Vasquez, forward Patrick Patterson and centre Chuck Hayes in return. For his part, Gay was looking forward to a fresh start with the Kings. "Excited to say the least," Gay told reporters in Sacramento before the Kings hosted the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night. "I have a couple guys with me that came with me. Its a new beginning. Ive been saying it all day. They have a lot of young pieces and Im glad to be a part of it." Gay averaged 19.4 points per game, 7.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists for the Raptors this season. The move will free up significant cap space for the Raptors. The six-foot-eight, 230-pound Gay was the Raptors highest paid player with a contract that pays him US$17.8 million this season with a $19.3-million player option for next season. The team also announced Monday that it has waived back-up point guard D.J. Augustin. A first-round pick of the Houston Rockets in 2006, Gay came to Toronto from Memphis on January 30 in a three-team deal that sent Ed Davis to the Grizzlies and Jose Calderon to Detroit. Gay posted averages of 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 35.0 minutes in 51 contests (50 starts) with Toronto. Gay scored 20 or more points 27 times for the Raptors, with four games of 30 or more points. He was ranked second on the Raptors in scoring (19.5) and rebounds (7.4) this season. While Gay often put up big scoring numbers, it often took him a lot of shots to do it. This season has been particularly troubling as Gay has a 38.8 per cent field goal percentage, well off his career average of 44.7 per cent. "To be fair on Rudy, he wasnt having the normal shooting years that hes had," Ujiri said. "He was going through a tough stretch I think. "That wasnt necessarily the case on what made our decision. I think it was more of just chemistry. Everyone could see there wasnt much sync there." Ujiri has wasted no time putting his stamp on this team. Justt 19 games into the 2013-14 season, the team is already looking vastly different to the squad that ended the last campaign.dddddddddddd One of Ujiris first moves as GM was to trade out-of-favour forward-centre Andrea Bargnani -- once considered the future of the franchise -- to the New York Knicks. Like Gay, Bargnani was considered difficult to move because his contributions did not match his hefty contract. Others gone after last season include Alan Anderson, John Lucas III, Linas Kleiza and Sebastian Telfair. The other players Sacramento gets in the deal are role players off the bench. Acy, at 6-7, 225-pounds, is averaging 2.7 points and 2.1 rebounds off the bench. The 23-year-old is making just $788,872 with one year left on his contract after being drafted 37th overall by the Raptors in 2012. Gray, a seven-foot, 270-pound 29-year-old bench player, is averaging 1.3 points and two assists. Hes in the last year of a contract that pays him $2.6 million. He scored a career-high 22 points with the Raptors on January 28 versus Golden State. The player who should make the biggest impact on the Raptors coming the other way is likely Vasquez. The six-foot-six, 211-pound guard is known as a decent ball distributor, which should help a team ranked dead last in the league in assists. Vasquez has averaged 9.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 25.8 minutes in 18 games with the Kings this season. Vasquez played with Memphis and New Orleans prior to joining the Kings. In 232 career games (123 starts), he has averaged 9.0 points, 5.6 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 24.6 minutes. "Hes a tough kid, great basketball IQ," Ujiri said. "Hell give us something, and were happy to bring him in as a piece and see what he can bring to this organization." The native of Caracas, Venezuela, brings a cap hit of $2.1 million. His contract expires at the end of the season. Salmons, 33, is a 12-year NBA veteran who has serviceable career averages of 9.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists, though that drops to 5.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists so far this season. He may be best known in Toronto for entering a verbal agreement to play here in 2006, before backing out and joining Sacramento instead. "I didnt really feel (Toronto) was where God was leading me," Salmons said at the time. With a cap hit of $7.5 million to Toronto this season with $7 million more in 2014-15, the 6-7, 210-pound Salmons is the most expensive player coming from the Kings The 30-year-old Hayes, a 6-6, 250 pounder, makes $5.7 million this season and $5.9 million next season. He averages 2.1 points and 2.9 rebounds. Patterson, a 6-9, 235-pound 24-year-old, makes $3.1 million this season while averaging 6.9 points and 5.8 rebounds. ' ' '