NEU » turning point for Puig.He was humbled to go do

RIO DE JANEIRO -- After swimming arguably the greatest race of her young career, Katie Ledecky waited, waited and then waited some more. For more than 11 seconds, she placed her right hand on the wall and bobbed in the water, waiting for the others to arrive.She knew she had finished her 2016 season reaching the last goal she had set for herself -- a world record in the 800-meter freestyle. It was her 13th world record, and it shattered her 8-month-old mark in the event by nearly two seconds. But for the time being, there was no one to celebrate with. Ledecky was simply too good, too dominant. The rest of the field had been left behind. When she touched the wall, nobody else was even on the screen on television.It took 11.38 seconds before the next swimmer arrived -- in this case, Great Britains Jazmin Carlin. The gold was Ledeckys fourth in Rio, completing her sweep of the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle races, capping off one of the greatest performances in Olympic swimming history. She is 19 years old.Some fifteen minutes earlier, another story had unfolded -- with an altogether different ending. In the final individual race of his decorated career, 31-year-old Michael Phelps touched the wall in an unprecedented three-way tie for second in the 100-meter butterfly. And yet in a way, the outcome made perfect sense -- and dovetailed beautifully with Ledeckys blindingly bright future.It was 2002 or 2003 -- Ledecky cant remember -- when she first met Phelps at a swim meet in Maryland. He was the next big thing back then, before he erupted into the global icon he has become today. Ledecky got Phelps autograph that day -- an autograph she says she still has. And here they were on this night, one career coming to an end, another blowing up, in the most positive sense.You would think then that the tears on Friday night would have come from Phelps. Losing the last individual race of his career. Reflecting on all that hes put into the sport. And yet the exact opposite was true. Following his 100 fly loss, Phelps was noticeably content -- perhaps even cheerful, in a strange way.He knew the 21-year-old who beat him for gold. They had met eight years earlier in Singapore, during the Americans pre-Beijing training camp. Phelps, while searching for monkeys, rode in a golf cart with Joseph Schooling, who would go on to train at the Bolles School in Florida and then attend the University of Texas. On Friday night, they would stand next to one another on the medal podium and then sit next to each other in a postrace news conference.Its pretty crazy what can happen in eight years, Schooling said. Its an honor and privilege to even race alongside him.As Schooling spoke, Phelps smiled and nodded. He knew Schoolings success was in some tiny way credited to the seed he helped plant years earlier. As a 15-year-old, Phelps told agent Peter Carlisle he wanted to change the sport of swimming. And on the eve of the final night of Phelps career, the results of that decision could seemingly be seen everywhere.In the past, I probably would have been really, really upset if I lost a race, Phelps said. Im not super happy. Nobody likes to lose. But Im proud of Joe. He swam the best race. And for me, Ive been able to know Joe for a long time and see him turn into the swimmer he is. Im excited to see what more there is to come.As Phelps fielded question after question in the postrace news conference, he chided reporters.Joe should be getting most of the questions, Phelps said. He just won a gold medal, guys.Schooling shook his head, blushing uncomfortably.Beyond Schooling, there was South Africas Chad le Clos, who swims butterfly because of Phelps and grew up worshiping the American. He and Hungarian Laszlo Cseh were the pair who tied Phelps for silver in the 100 fly.There was 200 backstroke gold medalist Maya DiRado, who Phelps yelled to across the mixed zone in order to give her a great big hug and offer congratulations.And then there was Ledecky, the typically stoic competitor who, uncharacteristically, couldnt get through a brief interview without breaking down in tears, overcome by the emotion of the final chapter in this part of her career. In a couple of weeks, Ledecky will leave her Bethesda, Maryland, home -- and coach Bruce Gemmell -- to head to Stanford University.Its kind of the end of a four-year journey, Ledecky said. Ive had a lot of fun, and I dont know why Im crying. There were nights I would go to bed and think about this day and how much fun Ive had these past four years, and Id start to cry in bed. And I just wanted to make this meet count and have a lot of fun with it.Ledecky did more than that. She will leave Rio as the third American woman with four gold medals in any sport at a single Games. She is only the second woman to win the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle events in a single Olympics. And she extended her streak to 15 straight individual gold medals in the finals of major international meets.What shes doing in the sport is ridiculous, Phelps said. Its insane. She just gets in the water and gives every world record a scare whenever shes in there. Its pretty incredible to watch. This is the first time Ive ever seen her in tears in a race. The first time in my life Ive ever seen true emotion really come out. I think that was really cool to see.They are once-in-a-lifetime talents. But there are two of them. And although Ledecky tried to downplay any talk of a proverbial passing of the torch on Friday night, thats exactly what it was. The most decorated Olympian of all time preparing to hang up his suit for the final time. And the 19-year-old woman just as jaw-droppingly talented showing up to fill that void.We have arguably the two greatest swimmers of all time, said U.S. national team director Frank Busch. We should feel so lucky. Katie can be the face, I dont care. She can step right up.As Ledecky said, I dont know if anybody can ever match or carry the torch that Michael has carried for us the past 16 years, really. And I think collectively as a unit, you see how special this team is this week, and collectively, well try to fill that void.And perhaps the most interesting thing of all, its only the beginning.Stars emerge once in a while, and Katie and Michael are definitely two of them, said Leah Smith, who swam with Ledecky on the 4x200 relay team that won gold. Its pretty crazy. And there is probably somebody working hard right now, seeing the examples they are setting, who is going to be just like them or maybe even be better than them. Merril Hoge Youth Jersey . 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Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Merril Hoge Steelers Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. LOS ANGELES -- Yasiel Puig returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, seemingly chastened by a monthlong demotion to the minors to work on his hitting and his attitude.The former All-Star started in right field against the San Diego Padres after being called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Oklahoma City.Ultimately, we felt he made us better, manager Dave Roberts said. He can impact a game in a lot of different ways.The 25-year-old Cuban hit .358 with five home runs and 14 RBI in 24 games since being optioned to the minors on Aug. 2. He had been hitting just .260 with seven homers and 34 RBI in 81 games with Los Angeles.They made the right choice sending me down there but now I was doing the correct things to come back, Puig said through a translator. Im here now and Im grateful for the opportunity.Earlier in the week, Puig was reportedly placed on revocable waivers and claimed by at least one other club without a trade being worked out.I dont decide those things, he said. If Im here in Los Angeles, Im going to take advantage of the opportunity and enjoy the city. If its with another team, then thats something that I cant control. I am thankful for the opportunity and Im going to try to do my best to be a good teammate.Puig said he learned discipline and how to be a better teammate during his minor league stint.It wasnt embarrassing. I earned the demotion, he said. I feel like Im a better person and Im here now to show it, to play well, to do things that will positively affect my future.While he was away, the Dodgers maintained a tenuous hold on first in the NNL West, something Puig admitted was difficult to watch from afar.dddddddddddd He met with some of his teammates before batting practice.They explained to me what they needed from me, he said. Thats really what I was looking for was a talk with the teammates, a talk with everyone, and having that understanding of what was needed from me to succeed on this team.Roberts said the organization is very hopeful the episode proves to be a turning point for Puig.He was humbled to go down to Triple-A, the manager said. To swallow your pride, to take care of business and to look at yourself in the mirror and say, `I got to be better, thats tough to do. But for him to do that, it says a lot about his character.Roberts and Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, first discussed bringing Puig back with a handful of veteran players.If they said that they didnt want him, I would have been surprised, Roberts said. They know the character of Yasiel and what he can bring to help us win baseball games and thats the ultimate goal. I certainly would have been surprised if they had nixed the idea.Puigs status in right field isnt guaranteed. While he was gone, the Dodgers acquired Josh Reddick, who has shared time with rookie Andrew Toles. Veteran Andre Ethier is expected back this month after missing most of the season with a broken leg.Now Im going to get to work, Puig said, and hopefully youll see the success of 2013. Thats what Ill be working for. ' ' '