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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Just seconds into her first heat in canoe slalom, Maialen Chourraut thought her Olympics were over.She missed a gate entirely in the womens kayak on the fast but unforgiving course at Whitewater Stadium.Nervous in the second heat, she was penalized twice for touching gates but sliced and curled through the waves and eddies so fast that she scraped into the semifinals, 11th out of 15. Surviving, she said, made her feel stronger.That was Monday.On Thursday, all she touched were river rapids and the heart of her husband and national coach, Xabier Etxaniz, who jumped into the water in the finish area to give her a congratulatory kiss for winning the gold medal. Her daughter Ane was on the bank, pointing out who was No. 1.This was a very special project for my family, Chourraut said, and we achieved what we wanted.Without incurring any more penalties, Chourraut qualified third for the final, then surprised even herself when she finished three seconds faster than Luuka Jones of New Zealand who, in turn, slashed more than five seconds off the leading run.Chourraut knew she was guaranteed a bronze because there were only two more paddlers to complete the final, including former world champion Corinna Kuhnle of Austria, but both touched two gates each. Chourraut screamed again and covered her face in the finish area as the first Spaniard in canoe slalom to win an Olympic gold medal, adding it to her bronze from the London Games.Jones, last in her only previous major final at the 2014 worlds, was the first New Zealander to medal in the discipline, on her third attempt.Jess Fox, the top-ranked woman and big favorite from Australia, settled for bronze. She finished faster than Jones, but was hit with a late two-second penalty, and fell half a second behind.After she was an unexpected second in London, Australians dubbed her the Silver Fox, and her ongoing success fueled high expectations of an upgraded change in nickname. Fox was coming off a World Cup win in Italy in May and a kayak-canoe double at the junior worlds in Poland less than a month ago.For second-ranked Chourraut, the win was a reward for years of just missing the top step on the podium at the biggest races. Besides her 2012 Olympic bronze, she was second at the worlds in 2009, and third in 2011. Since the London Games, shes won three World Cups, the 2015 European championship, and had a daughter. She kept paddling until the eighth month of her pregnancy, so it would be easier to regain her form.This (gold medal) is what Ive been looking for since a long time ago, she said. For my family it is a reward for all the nerves and emotion they have felt.Meanwhile, the Skantar cousins from Slovakia, Ladislav and Peter, likely won the last gold medal in double canoe, as its expected to be phased out after the Rio Olympics and replaced by womens single canoe for gender balance.The cousins triumph brought them out from the considerable shadow of their compatriots, the great Hochschorner twins, Pavel and Peter, who won the 2000, 2004 and 2008 gold medals, plus the bronze in London. The twins lost Slovakias quota spot to the Skantars at the European championships in May, and the Skantars felt a lot of pressure to follow in their footsteps.We, Peter Skantar said, are very happy because we have kind of substituted the brothers, and thats why the gold was very high to reach for us.Britains Richard Hounslow and David Florence repeated their silver-medal effort from London, and Frances Gauthier Klauss and Matthieu Peche redeemed their fourth-place finish in London with the bronze. Custom New York Mets Jerseys . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. Mets Jerseys 2019 . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. https://www.cheapmetsjerseys.us/ . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. New York Mets Gear . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. Stitched Mets Jerseys .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Great Britains mens 4x100 metres relay quartet avoided the baton blunders which have plagued them over recent seasons to coast into the final of the European Championships on a night of two more bronze medals for the team in Amsterdam.A strong line-up of James Dasaolu, Adam Gemili, James Ellington and Chijindu Ujah took no risks with safe changeovers to come home in the European-leading time of 38.12 seconds and qualify fastest for Sundays final at the Olympic Stadium.Steph Twell then battled to bronze over 5,000 metres, her first major medal since a third-placed finish at the 2010 Commonwealth Games following a succession of injury problems, and Julian Reid secured a bitter-sweet third-placed finish in the triple jump.Britains men may be the defending sprint relay champions in the Dutch capital, but their recent relay record makes sorry reading.They have been disqualified from the last four global championships, including London 2012, and most recently at last years World Championships in Beijing after which team members turned on each other.They are after a clean run in Amsterdam to ensure they head to the Olympics in Rio in the best possible form to take on Jamaica and the United States.Ellington, who finished fifth in the individual 100m, said: We just wanted to get it around as smoothly as possible. I think those bends are really tight in lane one as well, so to run 38.12 in the semi-final gives us a lot of confidence heading into the final.Ujah bore the brunt of his team-mates criticism in Beijing, but the tensions which spilled over on that occasion now appear to have been settled.Gemili, who withdrew from the individual 100m to focus on the relay, said: We are all running very fast so we are pushing each other to make the team.The womens quartet of Asha Philip, newly-crowned Europeann 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith, Bianca Williams and Daryll Neita also enjoyed serene progress in 42.dddddddddddd59secs.There was happy news too for Twell, a former world junior 1500m champion whose promising career was hampered by a badly broken ankle in 2011 and then a foot injury which ruled her out of London 2012.She dug in to clinch bronze over 5,000m, coming home in 15:20.70, just 0.16 behind Swedens Meraf Bahta. Laura Whittle was fifth and Eilish McColgan sixth.Britain are favourites for all four relays here and the 4x400m teams too are determined to make statements of intent ahead of the Olympics.Both quartets ran European-leading times, despite not fielding full-strength line-ups, to breeze into their respective finals.The womens team of Eilidh Doyle, Margaret Adeoye, Kelly Massey and Seren Bundy-Davies clocked 3:26.42, while the mens four of Rabah Yousif, Delano Williams, Nigel Levine and Jarryd Dunn came home in 3:01.63.Britain won world bronze in both events in Beijing and believe they are well placed to make the podium again in Brazil.The men can bring in the likes of two-time European champion Martyn Rooney and British champion Matthew Hudson-Smith, while the women can still call on British number one Emily Diamond, European bronze medallist Anyika Onuora and two-time world champion Christine Ohuruogu.Robbie Grabarz and Chris Baker made equally light work of high jump qualifying, Grabarz producing three first-time clearances and Baker four to achieve the automatic qualifying mark of 2.25m.Andy Pozzi was forced to pull out of the 110m hurdles final, feeling a cramp in his calf during the warm-up and sensibly not taking any fitness risks ahead of Rio. 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