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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. Wholesale Mets Jerseys .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. Fake Mets Jerseys .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. New York Mets Store . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. https://www.cheapmetsjerseys.us/ . The third-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and 10, served five aces and broke Wickmayer, also a former winner in 2009, five times. "The result looked easier than it really was," Ivanovic said. Jamaica Tallawahs 158 for 7 (Russell 44, Powell 44, Cooper 3-22) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 139 for 9 (Amla 42, Russell 4-23) by 19 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTwo days before he was to face an anti-doping hearing, Andre Russell was in fearsome form, which meant Jamaica Tallawahs finished on the right side of a thrilling game against Trinbago Knight Riders, not to mention on top of the points table as well.The fans at Sabina Park had to watch their team twiddle their thumbs until the start of the 18th over. But 119 for 6 became 158 for 7 with Russell at the helm. He made sure to face eight of the final 12 balls of the innings and finished with 44 off 24 with five fours and three sixes.Russell came out with a new bat, bright pink in colour drawing comparisons with the bright gold bat his captain Chris Gayle had used in the Big Bash League. The experiment didnt last too long though, he asked for something a little less flashy two balls into his innings. The third disappeared for four.Later, with ball in hand, and the match in the balance, Russell took two wickets in two balls in the 17th over. A haul of 4 for 23 put the final touches on a well-earned victory. The only thing that disturbed Russell during his match-winning performance was a soft landing spot at the bowling crease. That combined with a long-standing knee problem meant he had to undergo some treatment during the course of the match.Im playing, but Im still not a 100%, Russell said But, everything in the game is tough. The wicket is tough, the ball, the pitch, bat everything, so you the player have to be tough. A little nigggle is not going to keep me out. Stitched Mets Jerseys. As soon as I get back to the dressing room, Im going to be back on the massage bed, doing whatever I have to do, ice bath, make sure I recover and recovery is very important so as much as Id like to go out and have a drink with the lads, Id have to stay in my room and do what I have to do.A required rate just under eight meant neither team had a clear edge at the start of the chase, which progressed with both sides fighting quite hard to earn that upper hand. Tallawahs had Knight Riders at 60 for 4 in 10 overs, but Hashim Amlas solidity and Denesh Ramdins enterprise - he walloped Shakib Al Hasan for two sixes and a four in the 14th over - reduced the equation to 58 off 36 with captain Dwayne Bravo still to bat.However, Amla fell in the next over, Steyn knocked Bravo over one ball after the batsman had smacked him for a four and a six in the 16th, Russell took over in the 17th and then it was done.Kevon Cooper dismissing Gayle for a nine-ball duck, and picking up two wickets in the 13th over including that of Kumar Sangakkara, became a footnote. So did a miserly spell from Sunil Narine. All that remained was the Tallahwahs joy, which peaked when Sangakkara, 38 years old and long retired from international cricket, leapt full length to his right to claim a superb low catch in that eventful 17th over from Russell. By that point it was clear who had claimed the upper hand, and the Tallawahs joy was to last long into the night. ' ' '