ond, 0.076 seconds behind

SIGULDA, Latvia -- Canadian Alex Gough is on a nice roll heading into the Sochi Winter Games. jerseys from china . The 26-year-old from Calgary capped the World Cup season off in style, finishing second in a second straight womens singles luge event Saturday. American Kate Hansen claimed the gold medal with a two-run time of one minute 23.976 seconds. Gough, the first-run leader, finished second, 0.076 seconds behind. Russian Natalia Khoreva was third, 0.176 seconds back. Gough claimed her 17th career World Cup medal. "That was a very good race today with two solid runs," said Canadian team coach Wolfgang Staudinger. "We are only at this track once every two years so to be able to perform on a track where we have minimal runs is impressive." Calgarys Kimberley McRae finished sixth in 1:24.37 while Arianne Jones, also of Calgary, was 16th in 1:24.790. In mens doubles, Tristan Walker of Cochrane, Alta., and Calgarys Justin Snith were eighth in 1:23.304. Hansen was a surprise winner Saturday, becoming the first American to prevail in a singles race on the circuit since Nov. 22, 1997. It gave both her and the team a major infusion of confidence heading into next months Sochi Games. "Of course its a great surprise for me," Hansen said. "Ive never dreamed of winning the event." Hansen was a five-year-old when Cameron Myler gave the U.S. its most recent singles victory on the World Cup circuit, which also came in Sigulda. And she wasnt even born when Germany last failed to have a woman reach the medal podium after a race on tour. Improbable as it sounds, both things happened Saturday. The 21-year-old Hansen capped her win with a track-record run in the second heat, while Germany -- which in fairness kept its top three sliders, including World Cup champion Natalie Geisenberger, out of the competition so they could prepare for the Olympics instead -- had no one finish better than seventh, an absolute rarity for the deepest team in the world. Hansens gold is the first for the U.S. in any major international race since Erin Hamlin won the world championship in 2009. "This is a momentous occasion," USA Luge spokesman Sandy Caligiore said. Germanys top slider was Dajana Eitberger, about a half-second behind Hansen. Germany had earned a medal in every World Cup womens singles race since 1988. Whether the German best were there or not, it was still a breakthrough for Hansen. The U.S. national champion held the lead at the midway point of the season-opening race at Lillehammer, Norway, then slipped all the way back to 12th in the second heat. And before Saturday, she had never even earned a medal in a World Cup race. Now shes heading to her first Olympics knowing how winning feels. "I dont know if the pressure with regard to the upcoming Olympic Games will be greater now," Hansen said. "Its a good question. But well see." Geisenberger, who clinched the World Cup title a week earlier, finished the season with 785 standings points. Gough was second with 626, Germanys Tatjana Huefner was third with 551, followed by Germanys Anke Wischnewski (493) and Eitberger (432). nfl jerseys china .  Here are a few quick thoughts. FIVE QUICK NBA THOUGHTS:   1. TORONTO RAPTORS: The Draft is the beginning of what should be a busy and fascinating off-season. cheap nfl jerseys . The Russian looked like a safe bet to become a top 10 player when she cracked the top 50 in 2008 and broke into the top 20 two years later.SEATTLE -- Everything that Clint Dempsey hoped would happen last year after his splashy signing with the Seattle Sounders is happening now. Dempsey scored twice in a five-minute span early in the second half and set up Lamar Neagles first-half goal to help the Seattle Sounders beat the Colorado Rapids 4-1 on Saturday. Dempsey leads MLS with eight goals. He has at least a goal or an assist in each of Seattles last six games. It is the second time in his career that Dempsey has had a six-game scoring streak in MLS, having done it previously in 2005 while with the New England Revolution. "The year I scored 23 with Fulham, I was on a pretty good run there, but it feels good," Dempsey said. "Were in a good rhythm as a team, we have a good locker room, and it think that shows on the field in our play." After Dempsey joined the Sounders last August, expectations for him and the team soared. But in nine games, he scored only one goal, and Seattles late-season swoon ended with another early playoff exit. Now, the Sounders have won three straight to improve to 5-2-1, thanks in large part to Dempsey. "When I first came, I felt like there werent too many games where I could look back and say, You know what? I had a lot of chances, I should have scored," Dempsey said. "I feel like in games now, Im getting good looks and looks that are allowing me to put the ball into the back of the net. I have to compliment my teammates on that. I feel like were playing better right now than we were toward the end of last season." Added Sounders coach Sigi Schmid, "I dont know what the records are for so many goals in so many games, but he might be setting some of those." Obafemi Martins added a 75th-minute goal for Seattle. cheap jerseys. Dillon Serna scored in the 62nd minute for the Rapids (3-2-2). Dempsey and Martins (who tallied his third) have accounted for 11 of the Sounders 17 goals. "Whether it six against six or eight against eight in practice, we try to put them on the same team where they look for each other and find each other," Schmid said, "and you see it showing now in games." Neagles blast 2 yards in front of a wide-open net gave the Sounders a 1-0 lead 15 seconds into the only minute of first-half stoppage time, and was his third goal of the year. Dempsey made it 2-0 at the outset of the 47th minute, running onto a loose ball at the top of 6-yard box that Colorado goalkeeper Clint Irwin had slapped away, but couldnt latch onto. Early in the 52nd minute, Chad Marshall headed Gonzalo Pinedas corner kick toward Dempsey, and Dempsey headed it in just over Irwins reach. Neagle assisted on the goal by Martins, which was his third goal of the season. Colorado came in with back-to-back shutouts and had allowed just five goals all season until yielding the four on Saturday. The Sounders outshot the Rapids, 20-10. "The two guys up top (Dempsey and Martins) really made a difference," Rapids coach Pablo Mastoeni said. "Dempsey caused us a bit of grief. And again, if youre not good with the ball, youre going to end up defending. Against a team like this, you definitely dont want to be defending deep in your half as we found ourselves for the majority of the game. "With the type of players they have, it just puts a lot of pressure on our defence and forced a lot of errors that led to the dismantling of the team," Mastoeni added. ' ' '