It was an organisational culture. It was not the difference in ethnic culture as has been pointed out elsewhere.Muirhead said he had had conversations with Simmons, and he had to intervene on quite f

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The new Olympic champion caught her countrys flag from out of the stands, unfurled it and fumbled a bit as she tried to drape it over her shoulders.She knew exactly where to turn for help.Jamaicas newest sprint champion is Elaine Thompson, and she was more than happy to let Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce place that green-and-yellow Jamaican flag over her shoulders after she denied her friend and training partner a record third straight title in the 100 meters on Saturday.When I crossed the line and glanced around to see I was clear, I didnt quite know how to celebrate, Thompson said after she routed the field in 10.71 seconds, with Fraser-Pryce taking bronze.The nation that produced the once-in-a-lifetime sprinter in Usain Bolt has more of a production line going on the womens side. Thompson joins the likes of Merlene Ottey, Veronica Campbell-Brown and, of course, Fraser-Pryce in the island countrys long line of sprinting luminaries.At 24, more than five years younger than the woman she unseated, Thompson showed a changing of the guard doesnt have to mean a redrawing of the map.Jamaica has so many talented sprinters, Thompson said. To be the second champion [at 100 meters], Im really happy.What was billed as one of the most competitive finals in the history of the event turned into something of a non-race. Thompson made it that way.Running about level halfway through the 100 meters, she pulled away from American Tori Bowie for a .12-second victory -- a gap big enough to scoot a bookcase between her and the American.Thompsons 10.71 was only .01 off the time she ran at Jamaicas national championships last month. That 10.70 in Kingston was the best of five sub-10.8 womens sprints this year and served notice that things could be very fast when the sprinters reached Rio de Janeiro.Three of those sub-10.8 women were in the final -- Bowie and another American, English Gardner, were the others -- as was Fraser-Pryce, the 29-year-old former champion who was a brace-faced newcomer when she won her first of two golds at the Birds Nest in Beijing eight years ago.Im just happy that Jamaica gets to keep the gold medal, Fraser-Pryce said.Fraser-Pryce, the 5-footer nicknamed Pocket Rocket, was trying to become the first person to win three straight 100-meter titles at the Olympics.She had a piece of the lead early, but faded, and ended up with a bronze medal to go with the green-and-yellow hairdo she worked up for her turn as her countrys flagbearer at the opening ceremony. She held off surprise finalist Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast by a mere. 007 seconds for third.Anything but a disappointment, according to the two-time champ, whos been dealing with a toe injury most of the year. She said running the final about 1? hours after the semifinal was too much for one night.By far, I would say this is my best championship ever, she said. I knew how hard I worked, I knew the pain, I knew the sacrifice, I knew the tears, I knew everything.She knows Thompson well, too. They both train with coach Stephen Francis out of the MVP Track and Field Club, which has played a big role in helping Jamaica expand its dominance in track over the years.Thompson was a late bloomer. Her picture isnt even on the front of the MVP website. Until she finished second in the 200 last year at the world championships, she barely made a splash on the international scene, tucked behind Fraser-Pryce and Campbell-Brown, among others.Thompson will also have a chance in the 200 meters in Rio, giving her an opportunity to win medals in both events the way Fraser-Pryce did four years ago in London.I look up to Shelly-Ann so much, Thompson said. She had a rough season. Its amazing to be with her.Thompson was dealing with an injury of her own -- a strained hamstring that forced her to bail out of the Jamaican nationals.She was clearly healed once she got to Brazil. In the final, she got stronger as she approached the line and left what had been billed as an uber-competitive field far behind.Dafne Schippers, the Dutch heptathlete-turned-sprinter, finished fifth, and Gardner, the champion at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month, was two more spots back with a time of 10.94.They are not unbeatable, Gardner insisted, when asked about the Jamaicans persistent dominance in these races.When the lights are brightest, though, they really are.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.?Chicago Bulls Store . Batiste, who briefly signed with the Eskimos in 2006, has spent time with several NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins. Bulls Jerseys 2020 . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. https://www.cheapbulls.com/ . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. Bulls Jerseys 2019 . Bryzgalov stopped 25 shots on Saturday in the Oklahoma City Barons 4-1 victory over the Abbotsford Heat. The Oilers signed Bryzgalov to a one-year $2 million contract last Friday after shedding payroll by dealing defenceman Ladislav Smid to the Flames. Stitched Bulls Jerseys . Capitals head coach Adam Oates said Ovechkin was injured in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and clarified it was not a head injury.WICB chief executive officer Michael Muirhead has said there was no one specific reason for the termination of coach Phil Simmons contract, nor was it a sudden development. In a nutshell, Muirhead said, Simmons vision did not align with the strategic approach of the WICB and the divide widened over the past few months, reaching a point where a final decision had to be made.The decision to relieve Simmons of the job was taken by the board of directors at the quarterly WICB meeting last weekend in Dominica. It is understood the directors were asked to vote on the matter, but Muirhead would not reveal whether it was a unanimous decision to terminate Simmons contract. It was the boards decision. Let us leave it at that, Muirhead told ESPNcricinfo.Asked whether it was his appraisal that eventually led to the decision, Muirhead did not reveal much. I hired him, so therefore I have to release him but that is on the recommendation of the board, he said. He did point out though that the WICB and Simmons had been deliberating on quite a few contentious issues behind the scenes. The coach has an opinion and the board collectively had another opinion, and that had happened on more than one occasion.It is a whole number of things over a period of time. I cant say it was really one thing. There is no one thing that defines what may have taken place. I think things came to a climax when a decision needed to be made.Simmons track record as West Indies coach was mixed. Appointed after last years World Cup, the high points of his tenure were West Indies draw at home against England last summer, and the World T20 win in India in April. Importantly, the players seemed to be on the same wavelength as Simmons. But Muirhead and the board of directors remained unconvinced. Ultimately it is performance of the team, and we want the team to perform the best it can do, Muirhead said. Was it [doing so] is a question that is still unanswered.Technically, Muirhead was not Simmons boss. That was Richard Pybus, the WICB director of cricket. Simmons had mentioned in an interview that he and Pybus were not on the same page. Relationsship is a difficult word, he had said of Pybus, soon after the World T20 triumph.ddddddddddddHe communicates via emails but he has not spoken to me since the suspension. Its sad because this is not about him or me, this is about West Indies cricket.At last weekends meetings, the board discussed several reports including the Cricket Report submitted by Pybus and the CEOs report prepared by Muirhead. Pybus report was an overall review of cricket across the Caribbean, not limited to the West Indies teams and coaching staff.Reiterating the lack of alignment in strategies, Muirhead said: It has been an ongoing thing where I think Phil, in all that he has said and done, he has not aligned… the relationships were breaking down. I think he himself had ideas for a different strategic approach, notwithstanding one already having been approved and adopted by the board. I dont think he was aligned with that.In a media release sent out on Tuesday, the WICB had pointed out it had identified differences in culture as one reason behind the friction between both parties. Muirhead elaborated: The other thing was the work culture was a little different. It was how we do business, how we execute things. It was an organisational culture. It was not the difference in ethnic culture as has been pointed out elsewhere.Muirhead said he had had conversations with Simmons, and he had to intervene on quite few occasions to resolve issues. The last time they had met was about two months ago, he said. When he called Simmons on Tuesday to reveal the boards decision, he said the chat was cordial and not hostile in any way.Muirhead pointed out it was a matter of coincidence that the Simmons termination was announced the day the West Indies limited-overs squad left for the UAE to play Pakistan. The sanctions and other things could not be discussed without the board meeting. We have board meetings every three months, where we discuss everything including the performance of the teams and the coaching staff. ' ' '