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U.S. athletes in several different Olympic sports, frustrated by inaction and bureaucratic infighting about doping issues at the highest levels, are going public with their displeasure and pushing for action from specific reforms to potential event boycotts.Athletes attending USA Track & Fields annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, last weekend drafted a petition which calls for the World Anti-Doping Agency to become completely independent of the International Olympic Committee, and for the IOC to provide sufficient funding for WADA to do an effective job.The document, generated by USATFs athlete advisory committee (AAC), had been signed by more than 80 current and retired athletes as of Monday morning, including 2016 Olympic shot put champion Michelle Carter and 4x400-meter relay gold medalists Phyllis Francis and Natasha Hastings, along with past medalists Bernard Lagat (5,000 meters), Adam Nelson (shot put), Brigetta Barrett (high jump) and Terrence Trammell (110 meter hurdles).Newly elected AAC chair Jeff Porter, a two-time Olympian in the 110-meter hurdles, said athletes are deeply dissatisfied with what they view as slow, piecemeal responses by international authorities to the Russian doping scandal that has unfolded over the last two years. He said U.S. track and field athletes wanted to make a statement ahead of what they anticipate will be more evidence of corruption when law professor Richard McLaren releases Part II of his WADA-commissioned independent investigation on Friday.These systemic issues can no longer be tolerated, Porter told ESPN.com. He added that many athletes are galvanized to the point where they would contemplate more drastic actions, such as boycotting events. I am hopeful and optimistic that we wont need to, but if we need to, I think the athletes are prepared to, Porter said.The petition backs proposals made by a coalition of national anti-doping agencies last August in Copenhagen, the most pointed of which seeks to eliminate conflicts of interest by excluding international sports executives or policy makers from WADA executive positions. A number of IOC members sit on WADAs executive committee and Foundation Board, and current WADA president Craig Reedie, who was just re-elected to a second three-year term, is a longtime IOC member.We feel strongly that IOC and WADA governance should be separate, and that the IOC should invest the necessary funding in WADA for it to be effective, the petition states. These would be landmark steps toward protecting clean sport athletes globally, and restoring faith in Olympic Sport. We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our leaders to act now to support the Copenhagen Reform Proposal.The upcoming conclusion to the McLaren report is looming large in the minds of athletes, who wonder if the fourth major set of investigative findings to be issued in the last 13 months will be enough to tip leaders into aggressive action. McLarens July findings regarding state-sponsored doping in Russia fed every conspiracy theory that athletes normally try to keep from distracting and deflating them, said recently retired U.S. distance runner Lauren Fleshman.We give up a lot of personal freedom and allow our privacy to be invaded for drug testing, and we do it on the assumption that its being done everywhere else, Fleshman, a two-time national champion in the 5,000-meter event, told ESPN.com.It should be [the IOCs] responsibility to pay for things that are going to keep their brand from public humiliation. Everyone tells us that athletes can make a difference. But weve never tested it.The petition drive took shape after athletes heard a presentation by U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart, who traveled to Orlando at the athletes request, Porter said. USADA was among the agencies that participated in the Copenhagen meeting.Lauryn Williams, one of a handful of athletes to have won medals at both the Summer (2012 gold, 4 x 100 meters) and Winter Games (2014 silver, two-woman bobsled), also signed the petition and said she is outraged that competitions are still being scheduled in Russia.They were passing [urine] samples through a hole in the wall and they expect athletes to go back there? she said, referring to revelations made by former Moscow laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov about drug-testing sabotage at the 2014 Sochi Games. Stop backing athletes into a corner. Move the competition and dont tell me its too expensive. Thats bullshit.The IOC executive board asked winter sports federations to freeze preparations to hold major events in Russia. However, the February 2017 world championships for bobsled and skeleton in Sochi are proceeding as planned, and the international biathlon federation recently awarded its 2021 worlds to Tyumen, Russia, a city in western Siberia.WADA has threatened the biathlon federation with an edict of non-compliance if it does not provide a satisfactory explanation.The New York Times reported Sunday that U.S. bobsled and skeleton athletes are considering a boycott of next years world championships. Reigning British skeleton gold medalist Lizzy Yarnold has previously said she would consider skipping the event.Athletes and officials in various ski disciplines are taking issue with remarks made by the longtime president of their international federation last month, which they view as symptomatic of a greater problem. Gian-Franco Kasper, reacting to a slew of retested samples that came back positive from the Beijing and London Games -- most of which disqualified athletes from Russia and former Soviet republics -- told The New York Times, We need to stop pretending sport is clean. Its a noble principle, but in practice? Its entertainment. Its drama.The comments by Kasper, a senior Swiss official who is also an IOC member and sits on WADAs Foundation Board, prompted 2010 Nordic combined gold medalist Bill Demong to post a response on his Facebook page that included this:Any success we have had is in spite of doping and an attitude like that just perpetuates the narcissistic attitude required to cheat. Wholesale Stars Jerseys . Hey!" The lower tier of the School End of Queens Park Rangers Loftus Road was packed solid with a very festive-sounding Chelsea choral section in this particular part of South Africa Road London, W12. Dallas Stars Gear .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. https://www.cheapstarsonline.com/ . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. Dallas Stars Store . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Stars Jerseys China . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. Kevin Harvick, who hails from Bakersfield, Calif., is a tough man to beat on the mile oval in Phoenix -- the place he considers his home track.Hes also been difficult to keep out of Victory Lane when he needs a win to advance in the Chase, which is once again the case in the penultimate round of this years pursuit of the Sprint Cup.Last year, Harvick and his Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy team advanced to the finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway with a runner-up finish behind Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in a rain-shortened race.It was his only loss at Phoenix since 2013. Its a remarkable record and Harvick could be forgiven if he doesnt add another trophy on Sunday. But even second place wont do this time around, because Harvick is too far back in the points after a poor performance in the Round of 8s first race at the Martinsville Speedway.Known for biding his time before charging to the front in NASCARs version of the rope-a-dope, Harvick at least doesnt have to worry much about rain relegating him to another second place. Last years cancellation of the last 93 scheduled laps is not likely to happen. It was the first occasion where rain had shortened a race in the desert since NASCARs premier series first raced at Phoenix in 1988.There was some moaning about the unfairness of calling such a crucial race early last year that sent NASCARs most popular driver into championship contention.Likewise, NASCAR was questioned by social media about the call to end the Texas race last weekend won by Carl Edwards, who along with Jimmie Johnson is locked in for Homestead after their wins. But why do things any differently than the usual way of producing a winner? The same practical reasons for not staying at a track for an unpredictably extended period of time always rule.Two drivers wouldnt be unhappy with a runner-up finish at Phoenix. Joey Logano and Kyle Busch can guarantee themselves a place among the final four Sprint Cup candidates with second place if they lead laps. Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch must have a victory to guarantee a shot at the title in Florida.Ford and Team Penske seem to have finally found some speed, which bodes well for Logano. JGR driver Busch, meanwhile, appears to be imitating last years strategy of points racing in order to get a shot at winning in Homestead. Team owner Joe Gibbs, meanwhile, has three bullets left including Kenseth and Hamlin, and he hopes to get two of his Toyotas into the final running for the first time.Harvick is uncomfortably familiar with the come-from-behind role he finds himself in yet again. Four times in the last three years he has been on the verge of Chase elimination before posting a victory. Two of this seasons four victories have come during the Chase when he needed them the most. Its a fix in more ways than one.When you get in these situations, its fun to be able to succeed, Harvick said following his victory in New Hampshire in September. Its kind of like an addiction. You just love the russh of being able to be behind and be able to perform and make that happen.dddddddddddd Its something that is very gratifying.If Harvick has a secret at Phoenix, its being able to adjust to different track positions and to competitors who have raised their game. Any advantage his SHR team might bring to Phoenix can disappear overnight, he said.Thats the hardest thing about having success. You have to have an open mind to try new things to keep moving forward, Harvick said. If you dont have an open mind or are not willing to try a fresh approach, then it will get stagnant. Youre going to become stale and get left behind.Before his current stretch of six wins in his last eight Sprint Cup starts at Phoenix, Harvick won five times in the Camping World Truck Series. He also has a Xfinity Series victory on the desert mile. His over-all Sprint Cup statistics are off the chart. He has led 1,484 laps at Phoenix -- 18 percent of the total he has run -- and has posted 757 fastest laps.He swept both races in 2006, but Harvick really came on strong once the track was repaved and the backstretch was somewhat straightened in 2011.Although he has only one pole, Harvick prefers being close to the front. Theres always a dilemma about when to pit for tires and give up track position.Phoenix is a really flat racetrack where you want to have the freshest tires possible, but track position is really important, he said. A lot of what happens at Phoenix depends on the weather and how hot it is -- how much fall-off and how you have to manage track position throughout the day. The cooler the day is, the more you have to manage your track position. The hotter the day, the more you have to manage the fall-off. Better-handling cars will have a little easier time of getting through the field.It remains to be seen how a new rule announced by NASCAR for Phoenix will affect Harvicks SHR team as well as the other Chase contenders. In the eternal pursuit of trying to keep skewed cars in check, the sanctioning body circulated a new tech bulletin about how the truck trailing arms in the rear suspension are mounted to their brackets. Its a rule that will be carried over to 2017. The object of teams skewing their cars is to gain an advantage in the corners by picking up more aerodynamic sideforce.The new rule will present at least one new challenge for Harvick and his crew. The other challenge as always on a relatively short track will be contact from other drivers. Harvick has always seemed to know when to bang fenders and when to avoid contact that could cut a tire or possibly put his car into the wall. He won in the spring by banging into Edwards on the last lap coming to the checkered flag.Not surprisingly, Harvick believes the Phoenix track belongs to him until someone can prove otherwise. In the last four years, only the rain gods have beaten him. ' ' '