CALGARY - Canada not only reinforced its status as a winter sport power in 2014, but proved to be a pretty good road team at the Winter Olympics. Wholesale Air VaporMax 2018 .The country fell one medal short of its best Winter Games performance in Sochi, Russia, in February. The host team won 26 four years earlier in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., to set the new benchmark.To claim 25 in Russia without the advantage of home ice and snow indicates Canadas athletes stayed confident and adapted.Canadas sport leaders — Own The Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee, Sport Canada and the winter sport federations — have set overall medals won as the standard of success.The stated goal for Sochi, as it was four years earlier, was to win the overall medal count.Canada finished fourth in the overall tally behind host Russia (33), the United States (28) and Norway (26). In 2010, the Americans were first with 37 and Germany second with 30 ahead of third-place Canada.After setting a record for gold medals at a single Winter Games with 14 in 2010, Canada wasnt far off the pace in Sochi with 10 to sit third behind Russia (13) and Norway (11).Sweeping mens and womens gold in hockey and curling was immensely satisfying to those watching at home.But the fertile ground coming out of Sochi is in freestyle skiing. With terrain parks in ski resorts from coast to coast, this country is a natural playground for flying off jumps on two skis and inventing tricks in the air.Canada has depth of talent in freestyle skiing. If you include skicross, which is governed internationally by freestyle but domestically by Alpine Canada, the freestyle teams nine medals accounted for more than a third of Canadas total in Sochi. Four times in freestyle events, there were two Canadian medallistsCanadas Paralympians again hit the target of finishing among the top three countries in gold medals won with nine in Sochi.The host country ranked third in 2010 with 10 gold and stayed third in Sochi behind the Russians with 30 and the Germans with nine. Cross-country skier Brian McKeever collected three gold to increase his career count to 10.Sochi tested the resiliency of Canadas athletes, coaches and support staff and will provide a template for Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018.Thousands of kilometres and multiple time zones away from home again, the Canadian team will attempt to maintain the gain, which was the mantra heading into 2014.Peter Judge stepped out of his job as chief executive officer of the Canadian Freestyle Skiing Association post-Sochi and immediately into the role of director of winter sport for OTP.He said the top reason for the freestyle teams success in Sochi was athletes travelled to the area at least three times for competitions or training camps prior to the opening ceremonies.Familiarization has always been the critical component of major Games and world championships, Judge said in Sochi. Weve always tried to be in there early and often.They came here, they felt at home. There was not too much weirdness at all. Having that familiarity, having that comfort, youre dealing with 80 per cent less stuff right off the bat.Canada is keeping up the pace post-Sochi with several notable results to open the 2014-15 World Cup season.Calgarys Sam Edney became the first Canadian male to win World Cup luge gold. Ottawa long-track speed skater Ivanie Blondin has picked up five medals, including two gold in the womens mass start.Short-tracker Charles Hamelin of Sainte-Julie, Que., claimed four individual medals, including gold in the 1,500 metres. Moguls skier Phil Marquis of Quebec City won his first World Cup in two years.Olympic skicross champion Marielle Thompson of Whistler, B.C., and Vancouvers Georgia Simmerling earned gold and silver respectively in their first race this winter while Calgary skeleton racer Elisabeth Vathje has won a gold and a silver in her first two World Cups.Alpine skier Manny Osborne-Paradis of North Vancouver, B.C., kicked off his season with a downhill silver in Lake Louise, Alta.The countrys continued success depends largely on two elements: money and recruiting talented athletes into winter sport. The Canadian taxpayer is the single biggest funder of its athletes.According to the office of the Minister of State for Sport, the federal government spent $150 million on high-performance sport in the four years between 2010 and 2014, which was an increase of $25 million over the previous quadrennial.That figure doesnt include the Athletes Assistance Program, which provides up to $18,000 to approximately 1,800 carded athletes annually in direct money.OTP allocates about $62 million of the federal government money annually to summer, winter and Paralympic sport based on medal potential. That means if a sport federation has athletes with medal potential, they get OTP funding. If not, no money.Its a tough-love philosophy not loved by all, particularly if you are a ski jumper or skeleton racer not getting much from OTP.But since this system has largely produced results Canadians can feel proud of — and thus wont object paying for — its likely here to stay for now.Under Marcel Aubut, the Canadian Olympic Committee has aggressively pursued corporate sponsorships with a goal set in 2012 to raise $100 million by 2016.The COC committed to diverting $37 million of it to OTP a year ago. But there are still money gaps in athletes lives as they try to make ends meet. Theres also a concerning lack of resources in some sports to develop the next generation of Olympians.The COC is responsible for preparing athletes for the Games environment and looking after their needs on the ground.The expenses for South Korea will be at least comparable to Russia if Canada follows the same strategy of getting athletes there early and often before 2018. 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Today was our best performance of the season, said Arizona coach Sean Miller. It was the combination of very good defense, which weve shown to this point, but also better offense. Improved offense. Kaleb Tarczewski and Gabe York had 15 points apiece while Brandon Ashley and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson both went for 10. T.J. McConnell didnt score but handed out a game-high seven assists. Arizona improved to 31-0 with Ashley in the lineup since the start of last season. Zak Irvin had 14 points to lead the Wolverines (6-4), who were coming off consecutive home losses to NJIT and Eastern Michigan. We have to learn from this game, Michigan guard Caris LeVert said. They played a great game. They have a lot of experienced players and we have to take this, grow from it and use it later in the season. Arizona led by two at the first meddia timeout, then ran off nine straight out of the huddle to open a 20-9 lead. Black Air VaporMax Shoes. Johnson scored five points during the flurry, which Derrick Walton Jr. finally ended with a difficult layup in traffic. Late in the first half, Johnson picked off a Ricky Doyle pass and took it coast-to-coast for a two-handed jam. Then out of a timeout, York fed Johnson for an emphatic alley-oop that nearly brought the roof off the McKale Center. The Wildcats rode their hot shooting to a 36-25 halftime lead. Arizona scored the first 12 points of the second half before running the young Wolverines out of the gym. Irvin slipped and turned the ball over at 11:24, leading to a ferocious dunk by Hollis-Jefferson. York hit a pair of 3s during the next segment around layups by Tarczewski and Johnson, and it was 72-40 with 7 1/2 minutes remaining. Arizona emptied the bench for the final few minutes. Game Notes Arizona won the rebounding margin, 40-26. Tarczewski, Ashley, Johnson and Hollis-Jefferson all had seven boards while no one on Michigan had more than four ... 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