Alise Post and Brooke Crain line up their bikes at the gate. Donning navy jerseys with red-and-white sleeves and covered in stars and stripes, the BMX riders are ready to launch themselves from an 8-meter-high ramp.Here, at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California, lies one of the toughest tracks in the world; its jumps and turns dare riders to conquer or crash.The slightest error, youre on the ground with a punctured lung, says Jamie Staff, director of BMX for USA Cycling.Heads down, backs straight, hands tight -- hands really, really tight -- Post, 25 and Crain, 23, dont have time for fear. Two and a half seconds later, the riders who will represent Team USA at the Rio Olympics starting Wednesday, zoom down the track, bouncing over jumps like billy goats and hanging in the air as if they wont come down. Less than a minute later, theyve completed the outrageous course.I think everybody in this sport is somewhat of an adrenaline junkie, Post says. You get addicted to that rush of it. Thats what keeps you coming back. That little bit of unknown, and that bit of fear, its always going to be there. But thats the thrill of it.A need for speedPost and Crain ride again and again from 9 a.m. until noon on the Chula Vista track, alongside their Rio-bound male teammates, Nic Long, Corben Sharrah and Connor Fields.BMX, or bicycle motocross, took off in Southern California in the 1970s. Testing riders to the brink of physical and mental exhaustion, the sport debuted on the Olympic stage at the 2008 Beijing Games.Side by side, cyclists race over a course filled with giant leaps and challenging turns, with the winner being the first to cross the finish line.Though three USA riders medaled in Beijing -- Mike Day (silver), Donny Robinson (bronze) and Jill Kintner (bronze), an American has yet to win gold.Post and Crain hope to change that this week.In practice, they dont go at any gear other than all-out, especially since the sting of the 2012 London Games remains. Post crashed twice in the semifinal heats, while Crain wiped out in qualifying on the first day but still advanced to the finals before finishing eighth.In practice, theyre always pushing it so hard, says Long, who conserves his maximum effort for races. I dont crash very often. Maybe its because I dont push it super hard out here.They dont seem to have that switch. They just go as hard as they can at all times.Both women grew up with family members who motivated them to keep up.The first time Crain hopped on a bike, she cried. The 6-year-old from Visalia, California, was terrified to ride down the hill at a local track, so her parents took turns running behind her, clutching the back of her shirt. I wouldnt let them let go, Crain says.Post, also beginning at 6, walked to the top of a local course in Minnesota and chickened out. My mom and dad tried to get the membership money back, like, Oh, cancel it, shes done, Post says.But Post returned the next week, fears be damned.She crashed.Hearing her brother yelling at her to get up, she realized she could do it. Whats a few bruises? BMX was gnarly. Cool. Something most girls didnt do.Crain, too, fell in love with the rhythm of the sport: fly, get knocked down, get back up.Post, who holds eight national No. 1 USA BMX series titles, is the winningest female in USA BMX history.Crain, who won two world titles as an amateur, became the youngest rider to make a Supercross (international elite style of racing) final as a 16-year-old in 2009. She has made the podium at four World Cups and has been in the top three in the USA elite womens class every year since 2012.But both battled injuries that threatened their chances of qualifying for the London Games.Post broke her ankle in 2010. After a full recovery, she blew out her knee in the same leg three months later while going over the handlebars on a jump, which also left her with a ruptured hamstring tendon, a hairline femur fracture and a detached meniscus. She was back on the track in January 2012, just five months after surgery.Crain broke her shoulder at the world championships in 2012.BMX provides a high, no matter the physical costs, that only riders can understand.I dont think were human or were just not going to be able to move when were 30. One of the two, Crain says. You have to be tough to be in BMX, you really do. Thats just part of our sport.A shot at redemptionPost remembers London in pieces. It was just an emotional blur, she says.During the second semifinal heat, she failed to clear a jump, coming out of the tunnel into the second turn, and crashed. In the third heat, she crashed on the final straight, hitting her head hard.My parents told me that I came up to them and was just like, Hey, thanks for coming. I gotta go race now. They said, No, no, no. Youre done, Post says.Crain, originally selected as the alternate, was asked to compete at the last minute when teammate Arielle Martin crashed days before the team was supposed to leave for London. Crain didnt feel physically or mentally prepared.They were like deer in headlights, Staff says. It was a shock.Exhausted and disappointed after returning to the States, Crain rested on pillows while wrapped in blankets on her parents living room floor for three days. Post had two hand surgeries. But soon, the friends and long-time competitors were back on the track, using London as motivation for Rio.The driving force behind any athlete is wanting to reach your potential and put your best effort out, says Post, who bounced back from a broken tibia in 2014 to capture back-to-back Womens Pro titles in 2014 and 2015. Post currently ranks third in the world and is expected to contend for a medal.I personally know [London] was not even close to my best effort, Post says. I dont want to say that Rio has been the forefront of every race Ive done, but everything is a stepping-stone. How do we work backwards from that? How do we grow from every race experience and try to be overall more consistent riders?Crain, who is fifth in the world, recently recovered from a broken leg she suffered during a World Cup race in Holland 12 weeks ago.The grind doesnt stop.If you race BMX at this level, you have to be resilient. ... If you dont have that certain level of resilience, youre not going to make it, Fields says. Brooke and Alise, they just keep punching. They get knocked down, they get back up again. Dave Concepcion Jersey . Nine days before the opening ceremony, organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is "fully ready" and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations. Buck Ewing Jersey https://www.cheapredsjerseys.us/985s-kevin-gausman-jersey-reds.html .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place. Scott Schebler Jersey . -- The plastic that was taped across the lockers in Oaklands clubhouse came down and the champagne that was on ice went back into the cooler. Bobby Tolan Jersey . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. Rashaan Salaam, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1994, has died, a family spokesperson said Tuesday.He was 42.Salaams body was found in a parking lot at Eben G. Fine Park and 911 was called just before 9 p.m. on Monday, according to Boulder Police spokesperson Shannon Cordingly. The park is less than two miles from Folsom Field, where Salaam starred as a running back for the University of Colorado.Cordingly said there were no signs of foul play and an autopsy to determine the cause of death will be performed by the Boulder County Coroners Office.?Police told Salaams mother, Khalada, they suspect suicide after finding a note. She told USA Today Sports, They said they found a note and would share that with us when we get there.The Buff Family has lost an outstanding young man and a great Buff today, Colorado athletic director Rick George said Tuesday. We are heartbroken for Rashaan and his family, and our thoughts and prayers are with them at this very difficult time.The football team at Colorado tweeted about Salaams death.The Chicago Bears, who picked Salaam in the first round (No. 21 overall) of the 1995 draft, tweeted, Our thoughts are with his family.Denver Broncos director of player personnel Matt Russell, who was Salaams teammate at Colorado from 1992 to 94, released this statement:Rashaan was as dynamic off the field as he was on the field as a player. He was a fiercely loyal friend, someone who was always in your corner and had your back. He was the ultimate teammate and supportive of everyone in his locker room. If there was ever a guy who was going to get a personal foul for protecting someone on his team, Rashaan was that guy.Rashaan was the ultimate Buffalo and was so proud to be called a Colorado Buffalo. We were part of the same recruiting class, what we called nine deuce, the Class of 1992. On the field, Rashaan was the definition of a winner. It was important to him. He practiced hard, he played hard and he made our teams better. Rashaan and I laughed a lot after practices because we had so many battles and fights. Even when we last saw each other a few years ago at the CU Hall of Fame induction, we still shared those grreat memories and had a lot of laughs from our time together at Colorado.ddddddddddddy heart goes out to Rashaans mother and his family. They have a lot to be proud of with the person that Rashaan was, the way he treated people and the friend he was to everyone he came across. He will be missed by so many, and I extend my deepest sympathies to Rashaans many friends and family.Salaam won the Heisman Trophy in 1994, a season in which the Buffaloes finished No. 3 in the final Associated Press poll. He rushed for 2,055 and 24 touchdowns that season and also won the Walter Camp and Doak Walker awards.During his rookie season, he became the youngest player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards. He was 21 years, 77 days old. He rushed for 1,074?and 10 touchdowns that season.Salaam was plagued by injuries and fumbles (he lost 14 in 31 games for the Bears). He acknowledged in 1999 that marijuana use contributed to his problems in Chicago. It probably had me out there lackadaisical instead of going out there 100 percent, he told ESPN in an interview then.Everybody thinks getting high is cool, you can let it go when you want to let it go, he said. But its just as potent as cocaine.Salaam broke his leg in the third game of the 1997 season, after committing two costly fumbles, and said that injury increased his addiction.Salaam told ESPN he had informed the Bears about his problem early in 1998 and entered a rehabilitation program, but the Bears later cut him, and he was out of football for a season.He signed as a free agent with the Oakland Raiders in 1999, but he was cut. He landed in Cleveland later that year and played two games for the Browns. He also was a member of the Green Bay Packers practice squad.Salaam also briefly played for the XFL Memphis Maniax in 2001.Salaam launched a comeback attempt in 2002 and was signed by the San Francisco 49ers in 2003, but he was released before the season. He was signed by the CFLs Toronto Argonauts in February 2004 but was suspended in May, ending his professional career. ' ' '