leaving her just behind fastest qualifier Stefanie Horn

RIO DE JANEIRO -- For the first time, the U.S. will have a defending Olympic judo champion when the Rio de Janeiro Games begin -- and she will be backed up by arguably the strongest team ever produced by the Americans in the Japanese martial art, with a serious chance of taking three medals.Kayla Harrison made history when she became the first American to win a judo gold at the London Games in 2012 and even though she had intended to quit -- and become a firefighter instead -- the lure of defending her title was too great. She will be joined in Rio by two other leading medal contenders: Marti Malloy, who won a bronze in London and Travis Stevens, who finished fifth.U.S. judo has had an unprecedented run with these three athletes, said the teams head coach Jimmy Pedro, noting their numerous recent medals at major global competitions.Realistically, three medals would be the ultimate, he said, when asked to predict the teams hardware count. I would absolutely love to see two golds, but we will have to see what happens in Rio. All three of them have proven that they can beat anyone on the right day.The top-ranked Harrison is expected to meet her biggest rival, second-seeded Mayra Aguiar when the 78-kilogram womens division is fought on August 11, either in the final, or should things not go according to plan, a bronze-medal match. Even though Brazilian native Aguiar will undoubtedly have the home-crowd advantage, Pedro doesnt expect Harrison to be bothered by thousands of fans cheering on her opponent.Kayla is very poised and will thrive on the energy of the crowd, he said. On all the big stages -- the World Championships, the Pan-Am Games -- Kayla always comes out on top. Still, Aguiar might yet pull off a victory; she caught Harrison off-guard at a competition in Paris earlier this year and won with a match-ending throw.Malloy will likely be the teams first shot at a medal, when the Washington state native competes in the 57-kilogram category.Theres nobody in Martis division that she cannot beat, Pedro said, adding he is confident that her acquired experience since the London games will help her remain focused.And while Stevens didnt pick up a medal in London, he did recently win gold at the World Masters tournament in May, which includes only the worlds top-ranked judoka. The two-time Olympian also picked up a gold at Torontos Pan-American Games last summer and has a mental toughness that makes him a force to be reckoned with on the judo mat, according to Pedro.Rounding out the U.S. squad are first-time Olympians Angelica Delgado and Colton Brown, and Nicholas Delpopolo, who was disqualified at the London games for marijuana use.These guys are getting stronger every day and they can compete at the highest level, Pedro said.I would love to see some of these young kids get to the medal rounds, he said. I have no doubt that this team can take home three medals, and any of our athletes can do that. Anything can happen at the Olympics.---This story has been corrected to show the judo athletes name is Travis Stevens, not Travis Taylor. Replica Yeezy . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. yeezy black friday . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. https://www.wholesaleyeezyauthentic.com/ .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have placed centre Cody Hodgson on injured reserve and recalled two players from their AHL affiliate in Rochester. Cheap Yeezy From China . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. Wholesale Yeezy Authentic . Pert has formerly spent time as an assistant coach with Cardiff City, Coventry City, and Bahrain mens national team. "Martyn is a highly-respected coach with experience at the top levels in England," said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson. Australia have claimed the inaugural womens rugby sevens gold medal on day three of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with a 24-17 victory over New Zealand in the final in Rio.The Australians entered the womens competition as raging gold medal favourites and they didnt disappoint -- stretching the countys gold medal tally to four.Star guards Matthew Dellavedova and Patty Mills combined for 49 points in a 95-80 win over Serbia on Monday as Australia took a giant stride towards a top-two group finish in the Olympic mens basketball competition.The Boomers will now meet the all-conquering United States on Thursday and are confident of challenging the world champions.In the swimming pool, Australia have suffered two devastating defeats with Mitch Larkin and Emily Seebohm both missing a medal in their respective 100m backstroke finals.Larkin and Seebohm, pool deck partners, went into the meet as hot race favourites having each completed the 100m-200m backstroke double at the 2015 world championships in Kazan, Russia, but they suffered double disappointment after each lead at the turn.Larkin finished fourth behind winner Ryan Murphy of the United States, while Seebohm slumped to seventh in her race.The Rio Olympics will be Alicia Coutts swimming farewell but she could go out in style after qualifying sixth-fastest for the 200m individual medley semi-finals.Coutts, who won five medals at the London Games, matching Ian Thorpe and Shane Gould for most medals by an Australian at one Olympics, was second in her heat.Just knowing that I have got nothing to lose, Im here to give it everything I have got and after this event I have other things to look forward to.Emma McKeon and Bronte Barratt are through to the womens 200m freestyle final after touching the wall in second and fourth in the first semi while Grant Irvine clocked the fourth best time ahead of the mens 200m butterfly semis.A last-gasp shot and four goals from Richie Campbell helped Australia snatch a 9-9 draw in their clash with water polo powerhouse Hungary.Samantha Stosur has marched into the third round of the womens singles with a straight sets win at the Olympic tennis centre.The top-seeded Australian eliminated Japans Misaki Doi 6-3 6-4. Stosur will next face German second seed and Wimbledon finalist Angelique Kerber.John Millman has blown a massivve chance to join Stosur in the third round of the Olympic tennis singles, almost toppling fourth seed Kei Nishikori.dddddddddddd The Australian was beaten?7-6 (7-4) 6-4, but does leave Rio as the first player in Olympic history to win a match?6-0 6-0 -- after his round one drubbing of?Lithuanian Ricardis Berankis.Jessica Fox has progressed to the semi-finals of the K1 canoe slalom after finishing second in her qualification runs at the Rio Olympics.Foxs penalty-free second run gave her a score of 99.51, leaving her just behind fastest qualifier Stefanie Horn (99.07) from Italy at the Whitewater Stadium in Deodoro on Monday.Australias mens four is also into Wednesdays semi-finals as they moved a step closer to toppling Britains dominance of the event when they posted the fastest time in Tuesdays heats.Australia sits in the box seat for double equestrian gold with one round left of the three day eventing at the Rio Games with Chris Burton leading the individual rankings and Australia on top of the teams event with the show jumping to finish off the competition.In rowing, the Australian mens four have moved a step closer to reviving the Oarsome Foursome tag after posting the fastest heat time at Lagoa Stadium.Veteran Australian rower Kerry Hore had to be consoled by her teammates as the devastation of missing the womens quad scull Olympic final set in.The Australians missed the medal race by a heart-breaking 0.06 seconds, bringing an end to four-time Olympian Hores rowing career.Hore broke down in tears during the post-race interview with her teammates supporting the sobbing Tasmanian.This wasnt how I pictured finishing up, the 35-year-old said.Australian sailor Ashley Stoddart has finished eighth in her first race in the Laser Radial in Rio.Adam Vella has admitted the controversy around the selection of Australias male trap shooters played a part in their disappointing performance at the Rio Olympics.Three-time Olympian Vella confirmed his Games career was over after finishing 12th while teammate Mitchell Iles was 26th.Meanwhile, Australia is last in Pool B in womens hockey after the Hockeyroos suffered a 2-1 loss to the USA following their opening defeat against Great Britain. 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