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. Authentic Pau Gasol Jersey . 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. Authentic Tim Duncan Jersey .m. ET, CBSOPENING LINE — Falcons by 3 1/2RECORD VS. Discount Spurs Jerseys .com) - Richard Shermans two interceptions highlighted a dominant defensive effort, as the Seattle Seahawks routed the San Francisco 49ers in a highly anticipated NFC West Thanksgiving clash. http://www.cheapspursjerseysauthentic.com/ . Hes even holding a bat on one of his 2014 baseball cards. So far, hes playing like his picture. CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Venus Williams couldnt dig herself out of a hole this time and lost to Montreals Eugenie Bouchard 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-4 at the Family Circle Cup on Thursday. The 33-year-old Williams had fought back in each of her first two matches to advance. She seemed to follow the same game-plan in this one, rallying from a set down to win the second set and lead 2-1 in the third. Thats when the 20-year-old Canadian, took over, breaking Williams serve twice down the stretch including the final game. "I think Ive shown to myself how mentally strong I can be," said Bouchard, seeded sixth at the Family Circle. "Today was really a mental battle. It was a bit ugly at times and tough on the court, but I fought through it." Bouchard finished things off by reaching Williams drop shot and pushing it into the open court for her first victory over the seven-time Grand Slam champion. "She played a lot more consistently than I did," Williams said. "I think my errors really hurt me a lot today. Just a lot of up and down, a lot of errors." Especially in two key stretches when it looked as if the 33-year-old Williams was ready to take control. Bouchard was ahead 5-3 in the opening set when Williams rallied and held two set points in the tiebreaker. But Bouchard won the next four points, including a crisp backhand for a winner to secure the set. When Williams moved on top in the third set, Bouchard did not panic but dug in to move on to her third quarter-final round this year. "Ive just kind of raised my game a little bit and was extra solid on those important points," Bouchard said. Bouchard will next face second-seed Jelena Jankovic, the 2007 Family Circle champion who at No. 8 in world is the highest-ranked player remaining in the tournament. Jankovic defeated Croatias Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5, 6-1. Jankovic has reached the Family Circle quarter-finals in six of the past seven seasons. Shes been beaten by a Williams sister each oof the last two years, falling to Venus in 2012 and to Serena in last years championship finals. Authentic Patty Mills Jersey. Jankovic struggled early as the 20-year-old Tomljanovic fought off a set point to tie the opening set at 5-all. Jankovic then won eight of the next nine games to move forward. "I missed that overhead on my set point, which was kind of frustrating, and we levelled it at 5 5," Jankovic said. "But I was able to stay calm and regroup and finish that set. So that was very important." The loss ends a run of success for the Williams family on the courts here. Sister Serena was the two-time defending tournament champion before losing Tuesday night. Venus played with the Washington Kastles on the green clay to win the 2012 World Team Tennis title. Venus Williams had been bothered by an illness that she said limited her endurance this week. She had to come from behind in her first two matches here to face Bouchard and did not have enough stamina to wait out her opponents solid, flat ground strokes. "That kind of made it more challenging. I mean I think normally I would probably be able to challenge the points a little bit longer and just make her play more shots and just be more willing to play longer points," Williams said. Williams was the 2004 Family Circle champion. She reached the semifinals here last year where she lost to sister Serena, the eventual champion. Others advancing to the round of eight included third-seed Sara Errani, who outlasted Peng Shuai, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5); No. 14 seed Andrea Petkovic,who topped fourth-seeded Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 6-0; unseeded Jana Cepelova, who defeated 13th-seed Elena Visnina 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3; and 12th-seed Daniela Hantuchova, who beat Teliana Pereira 6-2, 6-3. Errani rallied in each of her sets to eliminate Peng, the worlds top-ranked doubles player. For Cepelova, it was her second big victory of this event after knocking off world No. 1 Serena Williams in a stunner Tuesday night. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '