donations. Donating a kidney is not that risky -- yo

Claressa Shields picked up where she left off four years ago.Shields finished the 2012 Olympics in London atop the podium receiving the womens middleweight gold medal. On Wednesday, she began her quest to repeat by winning her 165-pound opening bout at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.Shields, of Flint, Michigan, won a unanimous four-round decision against Iaroslava Iaukushina of Russia in their quarterfinal match.Shields, also the reigning amateur world champion, began to let her hands go in the final minute of the first round and continued to control the pace in the second round.She was the heavier puncher than Iaukushina and landed with authority during the fight as the crowd chanted USA! USA!Shields, 21, continued to take it to Iaukushina, whom she defeated in a 2014 tournament, during the third and fourth rounds; the women fight four two-minute rounds in the Olympics as opposed to three three-minute rounds for the men.Shields closed the fight by landing a powerful left hook -- her best punch -- that staggered Iaukushina and forced the referee to administer a standing-eight count in the final seconds of the fight.Despite the dominating win, Shields thought she was a little rusty and that she could have been sharper.I wanted to go out there and outbox her from the outside, use my jab and use my right hand but I just couldnt get her timing, Shields said. She didnt want to get close enough. After she hit me a couple times, I was like Im going to have to take it to the inside with her because it was hard for me to get her timing. I hit her with a lot of good jabs though, a lot of good right hands. It wasnt as sharp as I wanted it to be.I just did a good job transitioning. As far as overall performance, about a C. I definitely got the rust off. The game plan was to go out there and fight her like I did when I fought her in 2014 but this time my body just wouldnt do it. She just kept swinging all wild. Whenever I got close to her, I couldnt get her timing so I just fought her on the inside and I did a great job at that. I beat her with every combination on the inside.While there have already been gold medals awarded in some of the mens weight classes, Shields had to wait until the 11th day of the Rio Games to make her debut. She said the wait was worth it.Ive been waiting but the wait is over. Im glad to get my first fight out of the way, Shields said. Ill be resting up the rest of [Wednesday] and then [Thursday] and then Im back at it again on [Friday]. Im excited. I definitely got some ring rust off. Im taking it one fight, one round at a time. Im definitely looking forward to my next opponent.Shields, who assured herself of at least a bronze medal with the win, will next fight Friday afternoon when she meets Dariga Shakimova, of Kazakhstan, in the semifinals.Im definitely prepared to be here, Shields said. Ive had more time than anyone else on my team to prepare. Ive been in training camp almost three months. Im here to get an Olympic gold medal. Im not here to settle for bronze and silver; its not my thing. I want to be a two-time Olympic gold medalist and I think Im getting pretty close. Ive got two more fights. Mike Evans Womens Jersey . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Lavonte David Buccaneers Jersey . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. http://www.authenticbuccaneerspro.com/Jameis-winston-buccaneers-jersey/ . 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The match started slowly for Ivanovic, who surrendered her first two serves as Hantuchova took a 5-3 lead. EUGENE, Ore. -- One one-hundredth of a second.After receiving a kidney transplant last September and going through a second kidney surgery in October, after going through months of recovery, training and daily medication, Aries Merritt missed making the U.S. Olympic team Saturday by just one one-hundredth of a second.Racing in the 110-meter hurdles final at the U.S. Olympics trials, Merritt thought he crossed the line in second or third place. But after an agonizing delay, his place was shown as fourth with a time of 13.22, just behind third-place finisher Jeff Porter (13.21).Merritt was obviously disappointed, but he said he had come to grips with it. After all, he has a gold medal in the event from the 2012 Olympics and is still competing against the worlds best despite once thinking he could never run again because of his failing kidneys. Not making the Olympics is far better than being hooked to a dialysis machine for the rest of your life.Nothing can be worse than being told you can never run again, even if you come up a little short here, he said. Ive been to the Olympics, I won the Olympics. Ive broken the world record. So, I mean, someone else can have a turn.Even though Merritt will not compete in Rio, he should still be an inspiration to everyone. While you watch Michael Phelps, Simone Biles and Usain Bolt this August, also keep Merritt and what he overcame prominently in mind.After winning gold in 2012, his kidneys began to fail in 2013. Even with his kidney function no higher than 15 percent, he finished third at the world championships in Beijing late last August. He then underwent a transplant just days later in Arizona, receiving a kidney from his older sister, LaToya Hubbard.And he was only one one-hundredth of a second from making the Olympics again the following summer.It hasnt even been a year since the transplant, only 10 months, Hubbard said. For him to put his heart on the line and just miss at the team, I dont look at it as a failure or coming up short. Hes still on top. Hes still an Olympic gold medalist and still the world-record holder. He may not be able to defend that title, but nobody can take away what he did.No, nobody can take that away. But what should they take away from what he has done and overcome?People should just know that no matter what youre going through in life, if you keep your mind focused on something you want to accomplish, anything is possible, Merritt said.dddddddddddd At world championships last year in Beijing, I had roughly no kidney function -- under 15 percent -- and I was still able to do amazing things.This time was a little different because I was compromised by the surgery. Me being sliced open, and my muscles shifted and putting a new organ in and me getting adjusted to the meds, its a lot to comprehend. People dont understand the severity of what Ive been through. Despite the fact Im still out here doing the best I can.Merritts kidney doctor, Les Thomas, says that not only should people look to the hurdler for inspiration -- a way to say no matter how dark it may be, there is always a brighter spot -- they should look to his sister as a hero, as well. She demonstrated extraordinary altruism, giving him a kidney.Thomas also says people should take this story as a reason to consider organ donations. Donating a kidney is not that risky -- you only need one -- but the waiting list can be many years for a transplant.They may not have anyone in their lives who can give them a kidney and they will wait and wait and wait because there is a huge demand for kidney transplants, Thomas said. And sometimes they will pass away with no kidney ever coming to them. ... If [more people donated], we would have a lot less people on the waiting list and less people would die.Hubbard, who gave birth to her daughter the previous year, said she never worried about any risk in giving up her kidney. She simply asked her brother for the phone number of the Mayo Clinic so she could schedule a time.Let me go through this process and get on a table and help my brother out, she said. He had something in his body that was dying and I have something that was living.She gave it to him. And because she did, Merritt is alive and healthy and competing. And inspiring.This is still just a beginning, Hubbard said. We still have the 2020 Olympics ahead and two world championships. I think this is eye-opening for kids and others. ...Always extend a hand and pay it forward. ' ' '