roome, however, refused to give any excuses for missing out on a hoped-for gold. Its been fine the last few days, he insisted.Hopefully, Ive got anoth

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Chris Froome said he had no regrets so often, as he contemplated his bronze-medal finish in the Olympic cycling time trial, it was as if he was trying to convince himself.Not long before, a couple of hundred meters from the finish line, he had shaken his head and looked the picture of disappointment.But it was hard not to admire Froome for his determination to present a brave face after an achievement that would have made most ordinary athletes ecstatic. He even disputed the claim from British Cycling programmes director Andy Harrison that Froome had been suffering from a tight chest.I gave it everything I had, the three-time Tour de France winner said. I was absolutely dead by the finish line. [Winner] Fabian Cancellara was clearly the strongest guy on the road, so congratulations to him.At the end of the day, its been an amazing summer. I wanted to come here and try to back it up. A second medal is pretty special.Froome, 31, took bronze in this event in London four years ago, when British compatriot Bradley Wiggins was the gold-medal winner.The more colourful of the two characters sat on a throne at Hampton Court Palace to celebrate finishing first then, but that sort of thing wouldnt have been Froomes style whatever had happened on Wednesday.He is a quietly spoken, reserved type of guy, the sort of character who thanks his family for hanging in there with him during the time he has spent away, committed to his sport, an athlete who planned to rise early a day after the time trial to fit in a five- or six-hour training ride before leaving Brazil.I want to keep the body ticking over. I have not done any big training rides since I left the Tour, Froome explained.If there was a criticism that could be levelled at the British rider, it was that he spread himself too thinly at these Games. Froome gave his all in the road race last Saturday, and even when it looked like he would come up short, he refused to relax in the saddle.He knew beforehand, too, that the hilly course would make it tough for him to win, and the time trial had seemed the better bet anyway, given how well he had performed in the equivalent Tour stage.Whether it was overconfidence, a sense of duty or his competitive spirit -- another of his admirable qualities -- it wasnt the smartest approach.[There were only] three days between the road race and time trial, Froome said after finishing 1 minute, 2.12 seconds behind Cancellara. I gave it everything in the road, I emptied myself there -- both events. Its not in my nature to try and sit up. I was here to give it everything.Froome proved with his effort how highly he values the Olympics, but as is also the case for golfers and tennis players, the Games do not offer the biggest prize in his sport.The top target for road cyclists, nearly every time, will be the Tour de France, and Cancellara, who pulled out of that early this year to focus on the Olympics, was an exception who proved the rule.Did that give the Swiss a crucial advantage? Potentially, it could have, Froome said. He was stronger than everybody else. Even in the road race, he was going really well. Tom Dumoulin [who took silver], potentially, he dropped out of the Tour with injury. He bounced back pretty well.Its one of the challenges in the cycling world. Given how big the Tour is, that has to stay my No. 1 priority for now.It has been an amazing season, to have won the Tour for a third time, and still come here and medal.Froomes asthma may also have handed his rivals an advantage, with Harrison hinting he had been struggling with a related problem for several days in the buildup to the race.Froome, however, refused to give any excuses for missing out on a hoped-for gold. Its been fine the last few days, he insisted.Hopefully, Ive got another Olympics in me. I know some people may see a bronze as a disappointment, but Im extremely happy to have medalled again.The time for Froome to mentally move on, once his role as a competitor in the Games ended, came pretty quickly. Processing any disappointment as fast as he appeared to left absolutely no room for regrets. Luckily, as he said, he didnt have any. Scarpe Adidas Italia . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Scarpe Adidas Offerte . The Croatian served 21 aces and hit 42 winners against Sijsling, who double-faulted to give Cilic a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. "All the players, they know me and they were really happy to see me and they were really happy that this is over for me," Cilic said. http://www.adidasscarpescontate.it/ . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. Ingrosso Scarpe Adidas . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. Scarpe Adidas Scontate . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2).BOSTON -- Doc Rivers will be the next coach of the Los Angeles Clippers if the NBA approves the rare but not unprecedented trade of an active coach, a Boston Celtics official told The Associated Press on Sunday night. The deal would bring Boston a first-round draft pick in 2015, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is pending a trade call with the NBA office. Rivers, who had three years and $21 million left on his contract with the Celtics, must also reach an agreement on a new deal with the Clippers. Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss said the team had no announcement. The tentative agreement on Sunday wraps up weeks of haggling over the deal and frees Rivers from presiding over the dismantling of the team that won the franchises record 17th NBA title in 2008. The Celtics and Clippers have also discussed sending Kevin Garnett to Los Angeles in a package with Rivers for draft choices, centre DeAndre Jordan and point guard Eric Bledsoe. But NBA commissioner David Stern nixed those talks this week, saying teams arent allowed to trade active players for a coach. A deal for Garnett could still happen, but the teams would have to convince the league that it was a separate deal. The 37-year-old big man has a no-trade clause in the contract that will pay him 23.5 million over the next two years, but it is believed he would waive it to be reunited with Rivers on the West Coast. He has also discussed retiring. Boston could also cut ties with Paul Pierce, the longest-tenured member of the team, who is due to earn $15.3 million next season; he could be bought out for $5 million. Pierrce will be 36 by the 2013-14 opener and showed signs of slowing down this season, when he averaged the fewest minutes per game in his career.dddddddddddd Rivers took over the Celtics in 2004 in the midst of the longest title drought in franchise history and -- with thanks to the New Big Three of Garnett, Pierce and Ray Allen -- guided them to the 2008 NBA title. They returned to the NBA Finals two years later, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. But the Celtics have regressed steadily since then, twice failing to get past the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference playoffs. This year they finished third in the Atlantic Division -- they had won it five straight times -- and lost to the New York Knicks in the first round. That convinced many that it was time to rebuild -- a process Rivers was reluctant to supervise. If the Celtics unload Garnett and Pierce, that would leave them with point guard Rajon Rondo as their only established star. Rivers had the second-longest tenure of any NBA coach to San Antonios Gregg Popovich, compiling a 416-305 record in Boston that was the third-most wins in franchise history behind Red Auerbach (795) and Tommy Heinsohn (427). He also spent four-plus seasons with the Orlando Magic and is 587-473 in all. Trades for coaches have occurred about a half-dozen times in NBA history, most recently in 2007 when the Heat received compensation for allowing Stan Van Gundy to go to the Orlando Magic. In 1983, the Chicago Bulls sent a second-round draft pick to Atlanta as compensation for coach Kevin Loughery. The Hawks used that pick to take Glenn "Doc" Rivers. ' ' '