ditions, it will certainly be helpful.When asked if he fe

RIO DE JANEIRO -- At an age when many people are thinking about retirement, John Whitaker is thinking about another Olympic medal.He was part of the British show jumping team that won a silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Games with younger brother Michael. Both are now competing in Rio de Janeiro.John Whitaker is 61 and was the last member of the British team to ride Sunday. He knew he needed a clear round after Michael and compatriots Nick Skelton and Ben Maher each had a fence down.And thats precisely what he did on Ornellaia.I was very happy with the round. From start to finish she was good, John said. Everything went to plan. She felt fresh, she was listening, she was jumping. Nice to get the first day behind us especially with a bit of confidence for the rest of the week. I wanted to jump clear but just have a nice confidence keeping round, for her as much as me because its going to get tougher thats for sure.This is Johns sixth Olympics, one behind Skelton, who along with Maher was part of Britains gold medal-winning team in London four years ago.Michael is competing in his fifth Olympics after Los Angeles, Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney. He acknowledges that some things are harder to deal with as he gets older.The facilities here are as good as any Ive been to if not better to be honest, he said. Its very, very well organized, the buses are running on time to the village, the village is good enough.The first time I was 24, now Im 56, I havent got quite that enthusiasm. When my shower doesnt really work properly I sort of get a bit peed off now, then I wouldnt have bothered. Im looking at it through different eyes a little bit. The village is actually pretty good, I think.Michael was aboard Cassionato and they knocked down planks on fence 10 to finish with four faults. Still, he is confident going into Tuesdays second qualifying round.He jumped unbelievable, Michael said. When you watch it on video he actually gives it plenty of room, he just catches it on his way down. It was just unlucky. He touched it and it came down and everything else went exactly as it should have done. Im very, very happy with the way he jumped.It was tough. I havent been to a few for a while so I wasnt expecting it to be as tough as that to be honest. But theres nothing he cant jump. Thats probably his worst day now gone, hopefully. Hopefully we should be all right. I dont want to speak too soon.Three of the four riders for host Brazil went clear much to the delight of fans at the packed Olympic Equestrian Center. Germany was the only other nation to achieve that result.The individual gold medalists from the previous two games, Steve Guerdat and Eric Lamaze, also had clear rounds.The opening one-round event was a prelude to three further days of jumping this week that will incorporate team and individual events. Cheap Jacob Barnes Jersey . The 15th-ranked Canadian men lost the opening two games of their European tour: 19-15 to No. 17 Georgia and 21-20 to No. Cheap Brent Suter Jersey .com) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they host the struggling New York Islanders in tonights clash at the Bell Centre. http://www.cheapbrewersjerseys.com/ . Pence singled in the winning run with no outs in the ninth inning to give the Giants a 7-6 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday. Cheap Domingo Santana Jersey . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No. Cheap Mauricio Dubon Jersey . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. After losing all the Tests in a series they would have been hopeful of doing well in, Kane Williamson managed to retain some humour, but he knew his side was done in by a mix of difficult conditions for them, the quality of their opposition in those conditions, and their own lack of application at times. In packed schedules nowadays, you hardly get time to acclimatise, which means you dont have too many second chances. The most disappointing aspect for New Zealand will be that when they got a surface in Indore that resembled classic Indian pitches, they couldnt bat for long enough. It didnt help that they never won a toss, and India always were in the ascendency.When asked about R Ashwins hold on him - the leading wicket-taker of the series took out Williamson all four times he batted - Williamson joked: He didnt get me out 27 times. He got a few other blokes out too.On a serious note, Williamson did make a mention of the conditions. Hes a good bowler, Williamson said of Ashwin. Were always learning playing internationals. I guess its a new thing, personally as well. Come over here with so much rough, which is nice to bowl into. I suppose I was a victim of it a few times. I guess, when you are put in that situation where you are dismissed in a similar situation, you are able to learn and try to improve from that. The conditions guys are exposed to, and the quality of bowling, in a backhanded way, we can be thankful for those experiences that help move your game forward.Even before the season began, India had a good chance of going unbeaten through a long season of 13 home Tests. New Zealand, on paper, seemed the team likeliest to challenge India, which will now make India look invincible this season. Williamson, though, felt - and it did bring out some laughs - that the toss can be crucial in these conditions. The previous home season had a shift in the pitches India play on, and they have won all seven tosses since then.Winning the toss would be helpful, I think, Williamson said, when asked what advice he could give to the teams that are following him in Indias home season. Which is a challenge in itself: South Africa lost every toss as well. Certainly have to be at your best. Whether you win the toss, lose the toss, India were far superior in this series. It depends on the surfaces. Every surface has been different in this series, they were different in the South Africa series. Whether it is a good one… it is important to spend time at the crease, creating pressure. Batting first would be nice. It would help, certainly, in being more competitive. This India side is a very good team, and they certainly know these conditions better than anyone.Williamson said that while the conditions were more difficult when they batted in Indore, this was a pitch where they could have played more assured cricket. Speaking on finding the right balance between defence and attack, Williamson said: It is a challenge, certainly on wickets very conducive to spin that make attacking tough as well. Sometimes, being positive when it is doing a little bit more is the way forward. It is up tto the individual how they want to skin it, but in this Test, which was probably a little bit more like Test matches of old where its that war of attrition and you have to play long game like India showed, as opposed to Test matches prior, where 300 was a very good score, where you go out there and play positively and you get them before they get you, here was a little bit different.ddddddddddddThey exploited conditions better than us. They played very patiently with the bat, and batting was not easy when it came our time. Not just because conditions had deteriorated, but the very good bowling attack they have. Important that we come away from here, although frustrated, having learnt a huge amount as a young group being exposed in these conditions.Williamson didnt shy away from giving India the credit and said he was disappointed his team couldnt adapt quickly enough, but added that in conditions so challenging he felt the need to send players early for more experience.The more you can play in these conditions, the better youll be, Williamson said. That has to be a given. The more experiences you get in any conditions, it is a good thing. People talk a lot about county cricket and then, when you go to England, you certainly are far more aware of what to expect. I suppose this is no different. If guys can have more experience in these conditions, it will certainly be helpful.When asked if he felt his side had spent enough time here before the series, Williamson brought up the practical issue of the packed schedules. I suppose there is always those discussions, Williamson said. Another tough point as well is that you are playing so much international cricket, it is tricky to get that extra preparation you would like. So, you are having to learn on the job a bit, which is the nature of the beast, but at the same time, it is an important thing. Whether its A teams where guys are able to get extra time to come over, particularly in these conditions where you are playing more and more cricket. Indias home summer this year is 13 Test matches. So you are playing more and more in these conditions.New Zealand now have the five-ODI series to look forward to, which will be played on flatter surfaces. Williamson hoped the team doesnt carry the scars of losing the Tests into that series. Disappointing to lose the Test series, he said. At the same time, the guys are looking forward to the change of format. It will be tough again. We know India are a very good side at that as well. Its exciting. We know that wickets will more than likely be quite different again.We have got to adapt. Go out and play with that freedom, knowing that when we do play with that freedom, we play our best cricket. There will be a little bit of scarring coming out of a three-nil Test defeat. Obviously winning is a lot better than losing. Unfortunately we have lost a few on the trot, but nice to have new personnel come in who are fresh and looking forward to the one-day series. ' ' '