BANGALORE -- The 4x400 womens relay team, which has secured its spot for the Rio Olympics, could be Indias best track-and-field bet for a medal, according to PT Usha.On Sunday, the quartet of Nirmala Sheoran, Tintu Luka, MR Poovamma and Anilda Thomas had clocked 3:27.88 to seal their position among the top 16 Rio-bound teams. The entire team pitched in with their best efforts for their season-best timing and if they keep up this momentum, an Olympic medal appears to be a strong possibility, said Usha, who is in the city along with her protégé Tintu for the relay event at the Bangalore Grand Prix.Had it not been for the slow changeover from Nirmala to Tintu, the timings could have been even better, said Usha. Nirmala was slow in exchanging the baton, which had Tintu losing time and speed. Thats something you just cannot afford to do.Tintu, who couldnt qualify for the finals of the 800m event at the London Olympics four years ago, has struggled to go below the two-minute mark this season. Though she crashed out in the heats of the World Championships in August last year, her season-best timing of 2:0.95 earned her a spot in the 800m event at the Rio Games.Qualifying for the Olympics is a feat in itself -- particularly in track and field events, Usha said. Both Tintu and the 3000m steeplechase athletes stand a good chance of qualifying for the finals this time. But in sprint I think its going to be a near-impossible task for Dutee [Chand] and Srabani [Nanda]. While Dutee has had some great timings recently, every nano second counts in sprint and the field is way too tough.Rueing the lack of competitions in the run-up to the Olympics for Tintu, Usha said the Athletics Federation of India had been far from supportive. You can only translate your training into an Olympic success when you compete at events that match your level of preparation, she said.She said they had also not yet received any support whatsoever from the Target Olympic Podium scheme. Tintu hasnt received a single penny from it despite being among the qualified athletes, Usha said.The celebrated former athlete said initially Tintu and she were not keen on travelling to Bangalore for the relay event. Tintu is in great form but needs a couple of good competitions to be able to improve upon her performance, she said. So far we have been training with the thrust mainly on endurance. She can certainly race under two minutes, 1:58 maybe, once we begin to work more on her speed. The final 100m stretch is where she needs to get better. Jack Youngblood Rams Jersey . - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday. Nolan Cromwell Rams Jersey . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. http://www.laramsfootballshops.com/andrew-whitworth-jersey/ . The phone hearing is scheduled for 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. Winchester, who was not penalized for the hit, appeared to make contact with Kellys head early in the first period of Thursdays game in Boston. Cooper Kupp Rams Jersey . Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing for his hometown team Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. Los Angeles Rams Jerseys . -- Aaron Murray threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another score, and led No. A former WWE superstar with zero mixed martial arts experience entered the UFC Octagon on Saturday -- and it was only the third or fourth strangest thing to occur on the evening.Thats how bizarre UFC 203 was.In the co-main event, referee Gary Copeland allowed heavyweight Travis Browne to essentially call an injury timeout to fix a mangled finger, which is definitely not supposed to happen. Brownes opponent, Fabricio Werdum, went on to win anyway -- and then proceeded to half-heartedly kick Brownes trainer, Edmond Tarverdyan, during a brief in-cage scuffle.Stipe Miocic knocked out Alistair Overeem to retain the UFC heavyweight championship in the next fight, after which a dazed Overeem claimed Miocic had tapped out to a guillotine choke prior to scoring the knockout. Rather than talk it out later once Overeems faculties returned, the UFC ran a series of in-house replays from multiple angles that clearly showed there was no tap -- all while Overeem stood awkwardly by.And all of this took place after the event had already seen a fight scrapped at the last minute, when C.B. Dollaway suffered a freak injury to his back when an elevator in his hotel malfunctioned.What do we ultimately make of all this madness? Heres what we learned at UFC 203.The UFC cant promote a second CM Punk fightLook, a lot of positive words have been written about Punk in the past 48 hours and Im not here to disagree with any of them. Whether or not his story deserved to be linked to the UFC, its an inspiring one.Punk, 37, walked out of a lucrative career in professional wrestling two years ago because it didnt make him happy. He pursued a journey in mixed martial arts because it did. Good for him.That said, there is no way the UFC can justify bringing him into the Octagon again after his first-round submission loss to Mickey Gall?(3-0) on Saturday.The UFC does deserve credit for doing something no one thought it would do, and that is book Punk against a legitimate opponent. Thats not to say Gall has proven himself a UFC-caliber welterweight -- he hasnt yet. But at the very least, hes an athletic 24-year-old prospect with a tangible skill set.And if were being candid here, that alone probably meant he was out of Punks league. Punk has a long professional wrestling career on his odometer. As inspiring as it for him to say, age is just a number, the reality is that number stannds for something, as does the back surgery he underwent earlier this year.ddddddddddddHed never say this, but he was in an impossible situation at UFC 203.If last weekend was Punks initiation to MMA, a trial by fire to see if hed have the guts to come back from a public beating, his second fight should be about actual competition. Because thats what this guy has said he wants. He wants to fight for real and in order to do that, he deserves the right to do it in a real situation.That means booking him against a similarly skilled opponent.The UFC isnt the right promotion for that job. The opponent Punk needs is not someone the UFC should be signing -- even to a one-fight deal.And again, none of this is meant to be a negative on Punk. On a personal note, Id have interest in seeing Punk fight outside the UFC. If he did so, theres no question in my mind Id tune in. But as far as seeing him do it in the Octagon? Count me out.When Punk announced he had signed with the UFC in 2014, he described this respect he had for everyone who stepped into the cage and said by the time he was finished, people would have to respect him as well.He earned that respect on Saturday, by seeing the process through and stepping into the Octagon himself. Doing so a second time might actually jeopardize that respect.The dark horse that is Stipe Miocic continues to rideEven the staunchest Miocic supporters would be hard-pressed to say they always pegged him for UFC history. Hes two wins away from doing exactly that.This stat is well documented, youve probably heard it by now: No UFC heavyweight champion has ever defended the title more than twice consecutively.Throughout his career, no one has really doubted Miocic but there has always been room on his bandwagon. While its not a shock hes the heavyweight champ, it never felt like a foregone conclusion beforehand either.Should Miocic be the one to finally break that two-defense barrier, among all the great names that have previously held that title, it would fit in perfectly to his dark horse reputation. His path to get there figures to be difficult, as it will presumably include a matchup against former champion Cain Velasquez.At this point, however, it would be foolish to discount his chances. ' ' '