victims and their families and continued to ask for forgive

Shivani Kataria was hopeful of being named in the Indian swimming squad for her maiden Olympics, but while waiting for her flight back home to India after competing in the final Asian qualification event in Hong Kong in the first week of July, she could have been forgiven for not having been in the best of moods.The 18-year-old had boldly made a bid for the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle. Though she was competitive in each category, she missed the Olympic qualifying time by significant margins; her timing of 2:10.42 to complete the 200m freestyle was almost 12 seconds off the qualification mark.Yet, the fact that she was the only Indian woman who competed at the 2015 World Championship in Kazan, Russia eventually made it a formality for her name to be approved under the Universality rule alongside Sajan Prakash in the mens division. The call was made to Prakash, who relayed the information to Shivani.I just couldnt believe it, remembers Shivani. I couldnt sleep on the flight back home. I just kept thinking about it.Shivani, who is looking forward to meeting one of her idols Michael Phelps in Rio, would do well to heed the advice of Nisha Millet, the last Indian woman to have competed in the 200m freestyle at the Olympics 16 years ago.The Olympics can be quite overwhelming, especially when you are a teenager, says Millet, who like Shivani, was just 18 when she headed to Sydney for her maiden Olympics, little knowing that a persistent back problem would make it her last. Guys like Abhinav (Bindra) and Leander (Paes) are used to it in their fifth and seventh outing, but the media attention can be quite a lot to deal with. I won my heat with ease, but couldnt make the semi-finals. I attended the opening ceremony, but I skipped the marchpast since the swimming event was one of the first to be held. Yet, I think I allowed the pressure to get to me.Haryana-born Shivani, who, at the age of six, began swimming at the Baba Gang Nath swimming centre in Delhi during a summer camp, is quite self-assured and driven about her immediate goals.I have to record my best time there, says Shivani of Rio. No Indian has ever made the semis. I want to try and be the first.National coach Pradeep Kumar is a bit more cautiously optimistic, while giving a positive appraisal of Shivanis abilities. Shes got a good technique, and her physical fitness levels are good. She gets her body into a good position and shes blessed with a good kick. She can go faster because she can get stronger still, says Kumar, who has been working with Shivani over the past year, which has included her stint in Phuket along with Prakash. Our swimmers naturally have a slightly inferior technique, compared with the rest of the globe. Secondly, our swimmers and coaches need to have greater scientific assessment of the support that they need.Millet jokes that shes always been a bit scared of Shivani, as she is the first woman swimmer who has challenged and overtaken her 14-year-old national record, but adds a valuable advice that she has passed on to someone she says is carrying the torch forward for womens swimming alongside Damini Gowda of Karnataka.Indian swimmers are habituated to training in the evenings, because thats when finals normally take place, says Millet. But in reality, you cannot afford to let your timings drop even by a second, because that can make the difference between qualifying for a semis and not making it. I have advised her to train at half-past four or five in the mornings as well.On her part, Shivani is aware of the?importance of serving as a role model for younger swimmers, especially following an unpleasant personal experience.My state of Haryana hasnt been very supportive of girls in sport, especially swimming. Once somebody important came up to me and said that swimming costumes dont look good on girls. She further said that I shouldnt be swimming for too many years. I didnt like the fact that their thinking is like that, says Shivani. After me, now theyll tell their children to take up the sport. Our state doesnt have a 50m swimming pool, which I want to help build.Rio should be just the beginning, as Kumar and Millet both agree, for someone who will have at least six or eight years ahead of herself at the highest level. Kumar wants university sport in India to emulate the American model, and thinks that India must try and get both Prakash and Shivani to enroll in universities abroad on swimming scholarships.Shivani, who has been working with a psychologist over the past few months, echoes her coachs thoughts about the importance of mental toughness. I think mental fitness is even more important than physical fitness, says Shivani. For most people, it might be a 50-50 ratio, but for me it is more 60-40. If you win the mental battle, then physically you will do what your brain says.It is this mental strength that Shivani Kataria will bank upon to realise not just her goals, but those for a very exclusive club of Indians to have made it to the Olympics, beginning with Arati Saha and Dolly Nazar in 1952, through to Sangeeta Puri, Nisha Millet and Shikha Tandon in the last twenty years.As coach Pradeep Kumar says, If the mind works, everything just falls in place.Air Max Sale . 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Batiste, who briefly signed with the Eskimos in 2006, has spent time with several NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins.NEW ORLEANS -- Making clear that she thought the sentence was a light one, a Louisiana judge Thursday formally imposed a 20-year prison sentence on former NFL star Darren Sharper, who last week was sentenced by a federal judge to 18 years and four months in a drug and rape case with victims in four states.Defense attorney Billy Gibbens said that the two sentences are essentially the same, when credit for time served and other factors are considered. The sentence follows Sharpers guilty pleas in state and federal courts in New Orleans, and pleas of guilty or no contest to similar charges in Arizona, California and Nevada -- all the result of a multi-jurisdiction plea deal that once called for a sentence of about nine years.Early this year, U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo rejected that sentence as too light. She imposed the 18-year, four-month sentence last week.In state court on Thursday, Judge Karen Herman made clear she thought two decades was a relatively light punishment for the fallen NFL star, calling his behavior such an epic disappointment.Thursdays second sentencing hearing was again punctuated by tearful testimony from victims. One who said she was determined from the time she realized she had been raped in 2013 to see him prosecuted and see him branded as a serial rapist and a sex offender. She added that, for months, she woke up screaming in the middle of the night because of the ordeal.Another said she forgave Sharper, despite suffering through depression and fears that have caused her to miss work and withdraw emotionallyy from people who care about her.dddddddddddd Im afraid no one understands, she said.Herman pointedly told Sharper that had he been tried by a jury and convicted on his original charges, including aggravated rape, the sentence would have been much harsher. She accepted the 20-year sentence only after consulting with attorneys and victims. She said the deal would help bring closure to the victims.Sharper again apologized to his victims and their families and continued to ask for forgiveness, at one point telling the judge, I am not a monster.Sentenced to nine years already in Arizona, Sharper still faces formal sentencing in California and Nevada. He is expected to serve his sentence in federal custody.Sharper had two co-defendants in the Louisiana cases. Former restaurant worker Erik Nunez and former St. Bernard Parish Sheriffs Deputy Branden Licciardi are set for sentencing in October on related charges.Sharper was named All-Pro six times and chosen for the Pro Bowl five times during a career that included stints with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings. He played in two Super Bowls, one with the Packers as a rookie and one with New Orleans Saints when they won in 2010.He ended a 14-year career in 2011. He was working as an NFL network analyst when women began telling police in several cities similar stories of blacking out while drinking with him and waking up groggy to find they had been sexually abused. ' ' '