RIO DE JANEIRO -- Kristina Vogel proudly watched the German flag rise to the rafters of the Olympic velodrome, her victory in the womens individual sprint a validation of all her hard work the past four years.The fact that it was flanked by two British flags was hardly a surprise.Vogel was just about the only track cyclist to stop Britains gold rush at the Rio Games, beating Katy Marchant in the semifinals and Becky James in the finals. But the two British sprinters still swept the other two medals up for grabs, a sign of just how dominant their nation is in the sport.Ten events yielded six gold medals, four silver medals and a bronze.And left Vogel and dozens of other competitors wondering just how they do it.I dont say they took drugs or have engines in the bike, Vogel said. But it seems they dont train for years and then at the Olympics they kill every nation.In interviews with several British riders, the answer was always the same: massive investment of resources, hard work and the Olympics as their singular focus every four years.Start with the finances at their disposal.After an embarrassing showing at the 1996 Atlanta Games, where Team GB failed to win a single track cycling medal, the country began funneling proceeds from its national lottery into the program. Millions of dollars were invested in infrastructure and talent identification.New velodromes and training centers were built. Stars were born.Four years later, Britain won gold, silver and two bronze medals in Sydney. Four years after that came two gold medals in Athens. And by the 2008 Beijing Games, Britain was atop the table.Its team won seven gold medals that year, seven more at the 2012 London Games and, when combined with the six won in Rio, has won 20 of the past 30 gold medals available at the Olympics.The lottery funding is a big part of it, said Jason Kenny, who won three gold medals in Rio to push his career total to six. It allows us to focus entirely on winning medals.The money also helps to fund the Secret Squirrel Club, named after the Hanna-Barbera cartoon from the 1960s, a group of scientists and high-performance experts who have turned out technological marvels that give Britain an edge. Among them are paints developed with F1 teams Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull that allow bikes to slip through air quicker, skinsuits from adidas with specialized ribbing to improve efficiency, and aerodynamic helmets that are unlike anything worn by other teams.Still, all that money and technology would be wasted if not for the talent.Over the past two decades, Britain has built up its grassroots cycling program to give young and aspiring riders a chance to compete. Those who show the most promise graduate to different levels in the British system, from junior academies to senior academies to the Olympic Podium Program.The name itself tells you the value they place on the Summer Games.By that point, athletes are full-time cyclists based at the national training center in Manchester, their day job essentially to train for the Olympics. Among those who have gone through the program are Kenny, his fiancee and four-time Olympic champion Laura Trott, and former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, who returned to track cycling to win his fifth gold medal in Rio.I always thought how special London was. I went there without any expectations, so to win two golds was just incredible, Trott said, and then I thought, `How on earth am I going to top that? We believe in ourselves and in our team. Everything here just snowballs.The snowball hits its maximum speed every four years, and thats by design.Britain routinely struggles at major events such as the world championships in intervening years, only to pop up and dominate the Olympics. One French coach mused they must bring out magic wheels every four years, and Vogel went so far as to call them cannon fodder at the world championships.It only underscores the belief among some that there is something out-of-bounds going on.I dont know how they do it. I cant explain it, said Russian rider Denis Dmitriev. They have a secret. Who knows what it is? But yeah, theyre always best at the moment.British pursuit star Joanna Rowsell-Shand said the point is to peak for the Olympics, not for the world championships or any other competition. Four years are spent sharpening themselves to a razor-fine edge, even if it means sometimes embarrassing results elsewhere.Thats quite a hard thing to go to world championships and know youre not at your top form, she said. Even at worlds this year, we knew there was more to come for the Olympics.The resulting medal haul has left rivals feeling a mixture of awe and envy, often left to race for silver and bronze medals at the sporting event that means the most to them.I think they are doing it right, Vogel said. I just want to know what they are doing. Vente Chaussure Puma . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. Site De Chaussure Puma Pas Cher . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. http://www.pumachaussurepascher.fr/ . Their 38th instalment is arguably their biggest fight card to date, including three-title fights and a main event which was selected by the fans. The promotion boasts 14-straight years of business and is operated by MFC president Mark Pavelich, who is often overlooked in this country for the foundation hes established for MMA in Canada. Chaussure Puma Pas Cher Chine . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. Chaussures Puma Pas Cher .ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs.Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - No less than four former world No. 1 women exited the Wimbledon draw on Wednesday, including former champion Maria Sharapova and reigning two-time Australian Open titlist Victoria Azarenka. Portugals Michelle Larcher de Brito stunned the third-seeded Sharapova in 6-3, 6-4 fashion on some slick grass on Court No. 2 at the famed All England Club, while the second-seeded Azarenka pulled out of her scheduled second-round match because of a knee injury. Sharapova took three different spills during her shriek-filled match against the 20-year-old Larcher de Brito and also fell to the court during warm ups on the weird Day 3. The Russian superstar left the court at one point in the second set to get some treatment on her left hip and was never able to get all the way into her match on Wednesday. Sharapova saved four match points in the 10th game of the second set, but the 131st-ranked Larcher de Brito converted on a fifth when the Russian netted one final forehand. The career Grand Slam winner Sharapova captured her lone Wimbledon title in 2004 by upsetting Serena Williams in the final and was the 2011 runner-up here to Czech slugger Petra Kvitova. Sharapova was this months French Open runner-up to the great Williams and also lost to Williams in last years Olympic gold-medal match on the grass here at the All England Club. Meanwhile, Azarenka was slated to take on Flavia Pennetta in the second round, but she was clearly hobbled during her first-round win over Portugals Maria Joao Koehler on Monday. Azarenka did a split behind the baseline during the match and injured her right knee, which required treatment on three occasions as she completed a 6-1, 6-2 triumph. The 2012 U.S. Open runner-up tried to warm up on Wednesday morning before the match, but was unable to play, giving Pennetta a walkover into the third round. Azarenka said that medical tests showed she had a bone bruise in the knee and was unable to recover in time. "We tried to do everything as possible, but it was just very significcant fall," she said.dddddddddddd "To recover in two days after that seems impossible with the compensation on the entire body by finishing that match." Azarenka was a semifinalist here each of the last two years. The eighth-seeded former Wimbledon champ Kvitova reached the round of 32 without lifting her racquet, as Kazakhstans Yaroslava Shvedova pulled out of their second-rounder because of a right arm injury. In addition to Azarenka and Sharapova, two other former world No. 1s exited the draw, as Czech Petra Cetkovska defeated ninth-seeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki, who was nursing an apparent foot or ankle injury, 6-2, 6-2, and, making her Centre Court debut in front of members of the Royal Family, rising 19-year-old Canadian Eugenie Bouchard took out 12th-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-3. The former U.S. Open runner-up Wozniacki has never reached a Wimbledon quarterfinal, while Ivanovic is a former French Open champ who hasnt advanced beyond the fourth round at the All England Club since a semifinal showing back in 2007. The 66th-ranked Bouchard captured the girls juniors crown at the All England Club last year. Five of the top-10 womens seeds are already gone just three days into the fortnight. American Sloane Stephens, seeded 17th, snuck past former top-10 German Andrea Petkovic 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 8-6. Stephens was an Aussie Open semifinalist in January. In other action involving seeds, No. 19 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain overcame Croat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, No. 25 Russian Ekaterina Makarova edged out Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, Italian Karin Knapp doused No. 27 Czech Lucie Safarova 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, and No. 29 Alize Cornet of France drubbed Taiwans Su-Wei Hsieh 6-3, 6-2. Also on Day 3, Puerto Ricos Monica Puig beat Spaniard Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 and Czech Eva Birnerova dismissed Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko 6-3, 6-4. Watch exclusive bonus online coverage throughout the competition on TSN.ca, including full coverage of select matches not being televised. ' ' '