Every time Lolo Jones was tossed a softball question, every time she was given a chance to downplay her struggles in the preliminary round of the women’s 100-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials on Friday, she chose to bury herself in criticism instead of covering herself in glory.

She could have tried to shrug off her obviously slow start and labored effort during the middle of the race, which left her third in her heat with a time of 13.01 seconds, 15th-fastest among the 21 women who advanced to Saturday’s semifinals.

Instead she turned the occasion into a public self-flaying, though it’s unclear if that sprang from a drive for perfection or a response to the pressure that has mushroomed around her because of her good looks, the inspiring story of her impoverished childhood, and her recent remarks in an HBO interview about her faith and her virginity.

Her face is on magazines, her image on TV screens, but the 29-year-old has yet to win an Olympic medal and prove there’s substance behind the hype. In a tough field that included the last two Olympic champions — Athens winner Joanna Hayes and Beijing winner Dawn Harper — Jones had to put everything out there, and she wasn’t pleased with how it looked or where that leaves her chances of finishing in the top three and earning a berth on the London Olympic team.

The questions started off gently, softly.

Was she satisfied with her race?

“Are you kidding? No. Did you see the race?” she said. “Obviously not. It’s the preliminaries, though, so I didn’t care.”

But she obviously did care because she wouldn’t let it go.

Another questioner tried a different tack, asking if she felt she had gained momentum for the semifinals by not caving in to nerves after a false start two lanes over.

“Not really,” she said with a grimace. “But sometimes I run my best races when I’m pushed in the corner. There’s not a lot of time to worry. I’ve had races where I’ve run like 12.9 and after a lot of those dropped to 12.4.

“So it’s not really a big deal. I am concerned, but I just know there’s room for improvement.”

A lot of improvement. U.S. champion Kellie Wells had the fastest preliminary time, 12.68 seconds and Harper was third at 12.79. Hayes, making a comeback at 35, also moved on with a time of 13.06 seconds.

“You can’t help but see the times,” Hayes said. “We’re in there warming up so you see what they ran so you’re like, ‘She’s ready. She’s ready. She looks good.’”

Hayes said Wells “looked really good and smooth,” and also singled out Harper’s effort. She didn’t mention Jones, but she didn’t have to because Jones critiqued her own effort so harshly.

Jones rejected the notion that the steady rain affected her performance, saying she’s used to rain and humidity at her training base in Baton Rouge, La. She also said the two hamstring pulls she suffered while competing indoors weren’t factors Friday.

“Everybody is hopeful, and I am as well,” she said. “I’ve just got to put things together.

“I’ve been dreading this day since I became manager in 1997,” said Detroit Red Wings’ GM Ken Holland.

As expected, Nicklas Lidstrom, the seven-time Norris trophy winner, four-time Stanley Cup winner, and Red Wings’ captain of the last five seasons, announced his retirement Thursday, closing the chapter on a 20-year career that will be remembered as one of the best ever by a defenseman.

“I take a lot of pride in what I’ve done over the last 20 years,” he said, admitting that he never expected to play in the NHL for so long. “I first came over in 1991 and thought I was going to play a few years.”

Two decades later, at 42 years of age, we’re wondering if he couldn’t play a few more. So what led to his decision to retire?

“I can’t cheat myself,” said Lidstrom. He explained that the process for making this decision was the same one he’d undergone the past two seasons.

“The last two years I waited until after the season was over to assess my ability to play another year. I needed to let a few weeks go by to get a reading on my body’s ability to recover from the grind of an NHL season.”

But this time around, he got a different result. “Not where it needs to be to play at this level,” he said. “That’s why I feel that it’s time to retire.

“Retiring today allows me to walk away with pride, rather than have the game walk away from me,” he added.

Who can say that at 42 years of age?

Now the Red Wings have to continue on without him. Lidstrom suggested Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and Valteri Filppula as candidates to replace him as captain, though he said it was a managerial decision.

He spent most of the time at the podium thanking those that had contributed to his career along the way, from Scotty Bowman, whom he said took his game to another level, to the staff at Joe Louis Arena. His retirement presser was a lot like his game. He made smooth transitions, he kept his head up, and he was in control the whole time, though he had to fight back some tears when discussing the dedication of his wife and family.

“It’s one of the most emotional days in Red Wings history with Nick retiring and all you people showing your respect for such a high-quality individual,” Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch said.

But this likely won’t be the last we see of Lidstrom. He’ll be heading into the Hockey Hall of Fame soon enough, and he admitted that there have been some preliminary discussions with Ken Holland about joining the Red Wings’ front office in some capacity.

And let’s not forget that he just made himself eligible for the Alumni game at the 2013 Winter Classic.(Source)

Canada’s 2012 Davis Cup World Group first-round tie against France will be held in Vancouver in February, Tennis Canada announced.

“Canada’s return to Vancouver for Davis Cup is long overdue,” Canadian captain Martin Laurendeau said of the selection of the west coast city for the tie February 10-12.

“With our return to the World Group and a difficult match-up against France, it makes sense that we go back to a place that has inspired us to be at our best in the past.”

The matches will be played on an indoor hard court at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre at the University of British Columbia.

Laurendeau has not yet selected the Canadian team.

The 2011 squad that won three ties on the road against Mexico, Ecuador and Israel to put Canada back into the World Group for the first time since 2004 included Daniel Nestor and rising star Milos Raonic.

Davis Cup veterans Frank Dancevic and Peter Polansky, Philip Bester and Vasek Pospisil also represented Canada last year.

Dominika Cibulkova advanced to her second straight semifinal Friday, rallying to upset top-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup.

In later quarterfinals, Kaia Kanepi upset sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-2 to set up a semifinal clash with Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, who ousted another Russian, Vera Dushevina, 6-4, 6-4.

Earlier, Marion Bartoli of France withdrew from the quarterfinals with an illness, handing Agnieszka Radwanska a spot in the season-ending WTA finals.

In the men s quarterfinals, defending champion Viktor Troicki of Serbia rallied from 4-love down in the third set and prevailed in a tiebreaker to eliminate Alex Bogomolov Jr. of the United States 7-6 (6), 6-7 (1), 7-6 (1), while three-time winner here Nikolay Davydenko advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Michael Berrer of Germany.

In early men s quarterfinals, the 133rd-ranked Jeremy Chardy of France landed 11 aces to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 6-3 and make it to the semifinals for the first time since winning his maiden title in Stuttgart, Germany in July 2009.

An investigation into lurid allegations that multi-million dollar bribes were paid to ensure Azerbaijan boxers won gold medals at the 2012 Olympics got under way on Thursday.

The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) s special investigation committee met for the first time to begin its probe into allegations made by the BBC s Newsnight programme that $9 million was involved.

The claims, which emerged as the world championships got underway in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku, have been denied by AIBA officials.

“The committee has started the process of gathering in all documentation and interviewing the parties that are relevant to the investigation,” said an AIBA statement.

“The BBC has informed the committee that, although they are willing to assist with the investigation, they will not identify any confidential sources. The BBC has yet to provide the committee with any documentation or evidence.”

“It was not easy today, and I m happy to win, of course, even if I was supposed to win,” Tsonga said.

The Frenchman, who won a tournament at home in Metz last month, is competing for one of the four remaining spots at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.

In the next round, he will face Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, who beat Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-4.

“I think he s a great player,” Ferrero said of Tsonga. “He s in a good shape. He s been playing very good tennis most of the season on the hard courts, and of course he s one of the favorites to win the tournament.”

Also in Friday s quarterfinals, Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic will face Fernando Verdasco of Spain, Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia will meet Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, and Kevin Anderson of South Africa will play Marin Cilic of Croatia.

In the women s tournament, Wozniacki rebounded from last week s loss to Kanepi at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” the top-ranked Dane said. “I m really happy to get this win and get my revenge.”

Wozniacki will next face Flavia Pennetta of Italy, who defeated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.

Also, second-seeded Victoria Azarenka pulled out of the tournament because of a right foot injury, giving 13th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia a walkover win.

Azarenka, who lost in doubles on Wednesday, said her foot has been bothering her since Tokyo.

“I m not sure about recovery time but I will consult my doctor,” the fourth-ranked Azarenka said.

In other quarterfinal matches, Pavlyuchenkova will face Andrea Petkovic of Germany and Monica Niculescu of Romania will take on Maria Kirilenko of Russia.