NEU » -0 lead in the first when Goldschmidt dou

PYONGYANG, North Korea -- Despite claiming only two gold medals in Rio, North Korea is as determined as ever to fulfill one of leader Kim Jong Uns primary goals: to become an international sports superpower.North Koreas small Olympic team won its two golds in weightlifting, where it has a number of world-class and world-record-holding lifters, and gymnastics. Weightlifter Rim Jong Sim won the gold in the womens 75-kilogram division, while gymnast Ri Se Gwang won the mens vault. The North also won three silver and two bronze medals.When our Rim Jong Sim stood on the podium with our national anthem playing, she cried and my mother and I cried, too, as we watched on TV, Ri Yun Gum, an 18-year-old government worker, said Monday in Pyongyang as the Rio games were coming to a close. I think our athletes are able to win not just because they train hard, but because of their mental toughness.The performance was a tad shy of expectations, since North Korea had four golds in London.But transforming North Korea, which has very limited economic resources and a population of only about 25 million, into a player to be reckoned with on the global sports stage is one of Kims pet projects, and he has poured funds into the development and training of promising athletes over the past several years.It has already made a visible mark on Pyongyang.The relatively affluent capital has seen the rise of a number of major new or renovated sports venues, and each year its usually restricted streets are opened for the Pyongyang Marathon, which has become a major tourist attraction. Though pickup volleyball games and football matches in schoolyards have long been a staple in the city, its now a common sight to see young people out jogging or even canoeing on the two main rivers that run through Pyongyang.And while South Korea lets its top athletes get out of military service as a gold medal reward, elite athletes returning home to the North after winning international competitions often get a heros welcome -- and maybe a condo.Of course, Pyongyangs push to garner international prestige and generate national pride by winning medals isnt terribly original. It appears to have been pulled straight out of the playbook of former Soviet bloc countries like East Germany, and is similar to the strong political significance sports are still given in Russia and China, North Koreas two biggest historical backers.But the campaign is also seen as part of Kims effort to make North Korea a more modern nation.There are two reasons why sports are important, Jang Sok Ha, manager of the newly opened Pyongyang Sports Equipment Factory, told The Associated Press on Monday. People in good health can work harder, but they also need cultural rest and recreation.Jangs sparkling new factory, which opened in April, is a big part of the drive and is one of the largest in the country. Its task is to provide regular people affordable sports equipment -- from soccer balls to badminton rackets.Standing in the factory showroom, surrounded by everything from field hockey balls to judo uniforms and bags of talcum powder for weightlifters, Jang proudly produced a basketball signed by former NBA star Dennis Rodman, one of the only foreigners to ever meet with Kim. He then grabbed a ball emblazoned with Naesongsan, his factorys brand.Our balls are good enough to be used by the NBA, too, he said.North Koreans are able to follow the Olympics, or at least some selected events, on TV and radio broadcasts and in newspapers, all of which are run by the state.I watched the games every day, said housewife Hong Un Byol, 34. I was so happy to see our national flag raised after the gold medals. The athletes practiced a lot to give pleasure to the Marshal. Kim is often respectfully referred to by that title, one of the many that he holds.Beyond the playing field, sports have from time to time provided brief respites in the normally tense relations between the two Koreas.During the 2000 Sydney Olympics, North and South Koreans marched together under a flag that symbolized unification. North Koreas womens soccer team won gold at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, with the South winning bronze. Many South Koreans delighted in seeing players from both countries celebrate together after the medal ceremony.While such sentiments were generally absent during the Rio Olympics, one of the most touching moments came when gymnasts Hong Un Jong of North Korea and Lee Eun-ju of South Korea met on the sidelines during their event and posed together smiling for a selfie. Photos of their warm moments delighted many South Koreans and provided a rare note of concord in otherwise abysmal relations between the rivals.Officially, however, both countries frown on such meetings.The Korean Peninsula is still technically in a state of war because there has been no peace treaty signed to officially end the 1950-53 Korean War. Nearly 30,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea in what Seoul and Washington claim is a necessary deterrent to any threats from North Korea. Turning up the heat, the U.S. and South Korea just kicked off annual war games that Pyongyang says are a prelude to invasion.Games or no games, accusations against the South of trying to create trouble -- not of hugging gymnasts -- are what dominate the headlines here.---Talmadge is the APs Pyongyang bureau chief. Vans Old Skool Canada . LOUIS -- Rookie Tavon Austin has missed another day of practice, lessening the odds hell be ready for the St. Old Skool Canada Outlet . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. http://www.oldskoolsalecanada.com/ . Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front. Discount Old Skool Canada . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. Old Skool Canada China . Coach Mike Munchak says Fokou stretched ligaments in his left knee Oct. 13 against Seattle, which could keep out up to five weeks even though the linebacker didnt need surgery.PHOENIX -- Tim Hudson threw Eric Chavez a steady diet of cut fastballs and sliders Wednesday and the Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman feasted. Chavez drove in three runs, Paul Goldschmidt hit three doubles and the Diamondbacks beat Hudson and the Atlanta Braves 5-3. With the Diamondbacks trailing 3-1 with one out in the fifth, Jason Kubel pinch-hit for Kennedy and walked. Gerardo Parra reached on an infield hit and Didi Gregorius followed with an RBI single. Hudson struck out Goldschmidt looking and had two strikes on Chavez before his one-time Oakland Athletics teammate doubled to left, scoring Parra and Gregorius to make it 4-3. "He was throwing me a lot of sliders today," Chavez said. "Im not really sure why. I dont know if they picked up something on film. "He told me that was a really good at-bat and I told him I was (mad) because he broke two of my bats. It was just good old fun. I love Huddy like a brother." Hudson agreed he may have gone to the cutter one time too many. "I thought I made some good pitches to Chavez, especially the last one," Hudson said. "But he stayed with it and hit it the other way. I felt like I really had him where I wanted him. Looking back, we might have gone back to that cutter a little too much in that at-bat." Cody Ross added an RBI single to cap the fifth as the Diamondbacks won the final two games of the series after a 10-1 loss in the opener. Ian Kennedy (2-3) yielded three runs and five hits in five innings. He struck out seven and walked three for his first win since Opening Day. "Its been awhile since it was a win," Kennedy said. "Ill take any one. After a while, it does get frustrating. I want to get my innings up but I didnt have my best stuff." Heath Bell pitched the ninth for his sixth save in eight chances. The Diamondbacks finally responded with runners in scoring position. After going 5 for 56 of its past eight games, Arizona was 5 for 8 with runners in scoring position. "We hope it gets much better," said Arizona manager Kirk Gibson. "I saw better approaches as well." Hudson (4-3)) had been 7-0 in nine career starts against Arizona before he got tagged.dddddddddddd He allowed five runs and eight hits in five innings -- hes given up 11 runs over 8 2-3 innings in his last two starts. Freddie Freeman doubled twice and singled for the Braves. The Braves put runners on first and second against David Hernandez in the eighth but Jordan Schafer flied out and Goldschmidt fielded a hard shot by Andrelton Simmons to first base to end the inning. After cruising through the first two innings, Kennedy was undone partially by a botched defensive play in the third. Schafer reached on a two-out infield single and Simmons followed with a line drive toward third base. Chavez jumped, but the ball bounced off the palm of his glove and fell to the ground as Simmons sprinted to the bag for an infield single. Kennedy then walked Justin Upton on five pitches to load the bases, then walked Freeman on four pitches to score Schafer for a 1-0 lead. Freeman hit a two-run double in the fifth that put Atlanta ahead 3-1. "For losing two of three, you feel like we won a couple of those games the way we hit the ball," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. "Its just the way it goes sometimes. I dont know how many times I felt like the ball was going to go through the infield and it was a line drive at somebody." Arizona took a 1-0 lead in the first when Goldschmidt doubled and Chavez singled. NOTES: Chavez has hit safely in six of his past seven games and is 9 for 18 in that stretch. ... Upton went 1 for 3 with a pair of walks to finish his first series back at Chase Field 5 for 10 with a home run. ... Goldschmidts 11 doubles make him the first NL player with at least 10 doubles and 10 home runs. ... Freeman has 14 RBIs in 21 games since coming off the disabled list on April 22. ... Both teams have off days on Thursday. ... Diamondbacks RHP Trevor Cahill (2-4) will get the start Friday at Marlins Park against Kevin Slowey (1-3) and Miami. Braves LHP Paul Maholm(4-4) faces Hyun-Jin Ryu (4-2) and the Dodgers at Turner Field on Friday. Cahill was allowed two runs or fewer in four straight starts. ' ' '