Canadian skip Cheryl Bernard feels she could still compete at an elite level for the next year or two. Nike Air Max Discount . Shes just unsure whether she could still do it for a four-year Olympic cycle. That was one of the reasons why she announced her retirement from competitive curling on Tuesday, ending a career highlighted by four appearances at the national championships and an Olympic silver medal at the Vancouver Games in 2010. "When youve been there, thats really all you want is to get back," she said from her hometown of Calgary. "Its a funny thing, so I realize that." Bernard, 47, said she started to seriously consider retirement after losing the Alberta provincial final to Val Sweeting last January. "I really had to sit down and think," she said. "We came so close and that was a heartbreaker. Funny, Ive lost a few of them. And that one was without a doubt the worst because it would have just been a really neat way to maybe end the year and at least have a couple more years to look forward to." Bernard skipped Team Alberta at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 1992, 1996, 2007 and 2009. The best result for the Grande Prairie native was a runner-up finish in 1996 at Thunder Bay, Ont. One of her most memorable victories came over a decade later as she defeated Shannon Kleibrink in the final of the Olympic Trials in 2009 at Edmonton. At the Games, Bernard and her team of third Susan OConnor, second Carolyn Darbyshire (now McRorie), lead Cori Bartel (now Morris) and alternate Kristie Moore took top spot in the round robin at 8-1. They defeated Switzerland in the semifinal before dropping a 7-6 decision to defending champion Anette Norberg of Sweden in the final. Bernard had the final throw in the extra end but couldnt knock the two Swedish rocks out of the house and settled for second place. "I tried to really look at the positive that came out of that," Bernard said. "I really wanted to go through my life looking at it like our team won a silver and we didnt lose a gold." Both competitions provided lasting memories. "(The Trials) are kind of the pinnacle for Canada because its all the Canadian teams and its all your peers," she said. "Theyre both so up there in my memory and in my mind. Being able to stand on the (Olympic) podium in your own country. Ill never forget that, that was pretty neat." Now that shes retired, Bernard plans to spend more time with her family and continue her charity work and public speaking endeavours. She usually brings her silver medal along during her talks and the gold-medal game is a frequent discussion subject. "I relive it a lot," she said. "I talk about that and I have realized that sometimes youre lucky enough to win and sometimes youre lucky enough not to win. Because I think the things you get from a loss can sometimes be more educational, they can be more life-changing than the things when you win. "I think you look at a lot of different things after a loss and I think you can actually do a lot of good with that knowledge and see some really great life lessons. I really try to look at that as some great lessons I learned. I learned some amazing things about my teammates and about my family. You learn a lot when something doesnt maybe go exactly like you hoped." Bernard is excited to tackle some new challenges. She recently completed her first marathon and plans to work with World Vision and climb Mount Kilimanjaro to help children in Third World countries. "The marathon was something I really wanted to do and I trained the last five months for it," she said. "I absolutely loved focusing on a different sport. It felt so amazing to win a (participation) medal at a marathon. It was a nothing medal -- it was a completion medal, and it just felt so good. "I just thought, You know, Im missing trying to push myself at other things. So thats the next step." After a run of over two decades in the sport, Bernard is also quite proud of the friends she made along the way. "I always look back so much at the players," she said. "I look at the accomplishments of course and the highlights of winning the Trials and winning a silver medal and playing in an Olympics in Canada. I dont know if you can ever beat playing in an Olympics in your home country. "But I really look back at the people and the relationships that youve developed and the people youve influenced. I think those things maybe more make my career than the hardware." Nike Air Max Clearance . Second-seeded Sloane Stephens of the United States made lighter work of her day as she beat 2009 champion and Swiss wild card Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 6-3. Two seeds fell: No. 4 Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium lost to Katarzyna Piter of Poland 6-4, 6-2, and No. Fake Nike Air Max For Sale . Thats the feeling that eight Canadian Football League teams are experiencing right now in advance of the expansion draft to stock the Ottawa Redblacks. https://www.fakeairmaxwholesale.com/ . About seven hours before facing Washington in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference second round series, team officials said the oft-injured Bynum would miss the rest of the playoffs and would not even be with the team for the rest of the post-season.DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Chase Elliott missed his senior prom Friday, but wasnt too disappointed. "I had a good date tonight, the Lady in Black, cant forget about that," he said, smiling. The 18-year-old son of NASCAR great Bill Elliott raced to his second straight Nationwide Series victory, moving from fifth to first on the final two laps Friday night. Elliott broke through for his first series win last week at Texas when he passed Sprint Cup veteran Kevin Harvick. At Darlington, Elliot moved past Sadler when the veteran got loose coming off Turn 2 on a restart two laps from the end. Elliott drives for JR Motorsports, owned in part by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt saw Bill Elliott at the Victory Lane celebration and asked how long it would be until Chase graduates -- and gets to come to the race shop fulltime. "He aint even focusing on racing, hes in school," Earnhardt said. "Wait until he gets graduated, hes going to be really trouble for those other boys." Hes plenty trouble for Nationwide competitors right now. At 18 years, 4 months, 14 days, he became the youngest in the series to win twice and the youngest winner at Darlington. "I dont know that we expected to come and win races at least this fast," Elliott said. Elliott will graduate next month on May 17, when the Nationwide Series is in Iowa. He plans to test in Iowa on Friday, return to Georgia on Saturday for his graduation ceremonies before flying back to the track for night-time qualifying. "I want to make mom happy. I know shes going to be excited about that one," he said. Sadler held on for second while Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch were third and fourth. Busch led by 1.5 seconds and was seemingly cruising to victory until Tanner Berryhills spin forced a final restart and sent the field diving into the pits for a final shootout. Sadler moved from eighth to first afterr the stop by taking just two tires while Elliott was among the competitors who changed four tires. Fake Nike Air Max China. Elliott charged hard on the restart and was right in back of Sadler on the final lap. When Sadler got loose -- Sadler said the two didnt touch, although they surely came close -- Elliott was able to move past him and take the checkered flag. Elliott leads the point standings, topping JR Motorsports teammate Regan Smith by seven points. "Man, that was crazy," Elliott said. Then again, its been a crazy time for latest Elliott to conquer the track "Too Tough To Tame." His father won here five times and earned the nickname "Million Dollar Bill" when his Southern 500 win earned him the Winston Million bonus in 1985. Chase Elliott hadnt ever turned a lap at Darlington until Thursday and quickly gained a "Darlington stripe" -- a rookie initiation -- as he hit the track. But Elliott found his poise on the tricky track and raced among the more experienced drivers throughout the night. Elliott led 52 of the 147 laps, second only to Buschs 84 laps led. "Wait until he gets out of school," Earnhardt said. Earnhardt believes Elliott has a composure and poise uncommon in young racers. "Id like to think were going to hold on to him," Earnhardt said. "But hes ahead of scale." For much of the race, it appeared Busch would grab his third Darlington victory in as many Nationwide races. Busch led by nearly a second and half heading into the late stages until Berryhills incident sparked the last of seven caution periods. But Busch couldnt make his way out of pile at the restart and settled for his sixth top-10 Nationwide finish in 10 career marks at Darlington. Sadler, too, had hoped his crews good work in the pits would steal a late victory. Instead, he picked up his third top-three finish in the past four Darlington events. ' ' '  |
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