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MARINA BAY, Singapore -- Last years Singapore Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel believes the odds are stacked against a repeat result this weekend, saying Mercedes remain the favourites for victory.Vettels win 12 months still stands as Ferraris most recent victory in F1 and came on a weekend when Mercedes experienced an unusual dip in form. Since then Ferrari has dropped into a battle for second place in the constructors championship with Red Bull, while Mercedes has not suffered the same problems at any other circuit.Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff believes the result 12 months ago means his team is not the favourite to win in Singapore on Sunday, but Vettel disagrees.This track was very good for us last year and I think in general we improved the car from last year so it should be a raceable track for us again, he said. Its difficult to know exactly [where we will be] but in general you have to put Mercedes as the favourite -- even though they had a very difficult time here last time, there is no guarantee that it will happen again.If there is trouble [for Mercedes] then I think everybody else is happy to take advantage, but looking at it ahead of the race they are the favourites. For tyres and strategy in general, it depends what happens in the race with safety cars etcetera. In qualifying its clear that you will try to go as far as you can, but the race you depend on what tyres you have left and also on the safety car.But Vettel says his 12-month victory drought has not changed his approach to racing.In the end Im here to win and that might sound optimistic, but there is always a chance, he said. You never know what happens, maybe you start fifth and the first four guys crash at the first corner and you are handed a chance. Its not highly likely, but its possible.Otherwise it would be, as a matter of fact, quite boring to sit here on Thursday and talk about a race where the result is already decided. Its part of the sport and the race for us inside the car and for the people watching that we dont know whats going to happen. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. NHL Jerseys China .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. https://www.chinanhljerseys.us/ . 1, meaning problems for the doping controls at both major international sports events next year. 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EUGENE, Ore. -- Calling Inika McPherson the most unlikely of Olympians wouldnt be much of a stretch.Shes 5-foot-4 and competes in the high jump -- a discipline usually dominated by taller women.McPherson is also only a few months removed from a 21-month suspension after testing positive for cocaine.And yet, the 29-year-old will be on the U.S. team in Rio de Janeiro -- and sure to stand out, thanks to her blue-striped hair, a pair of red lips tattooed on the side of her face and a made-for-the-movies story that included washing dishes to make ends meet while she was waiting for the drug ban to elapse.I think everyone should march to their own beat, just really live life. But I came to the point where I was harming myself and my dreams, said McPherson, who finished third at track and field trials by leaping 6-4 -- or one foot higher than she stands.That positive test was jarring -- to her and her family. Her life at that point was moving too fast, she explained.McPherson tested positive after an in-competition sample she provided on June 29, 2014, at the USA championships in Sacramento, California. Her suspension was announced that December, with the ban made retroactive to July 27, 2014. It gave her a chance to return in time for trials.It was a surprise to me. I was like, `What is going on? No way this can be happening, said McPherson, who lives and trains in Houston. It was something that happened that I really learned from. Dont ever put yourself in that position or in that environment.The toughest part was having a conversation with her mom -- that she didnt have a drug problem, that she was just as perplexed.My mom was concerned at the beginning, `Whats going on in your life that you would test for that? McPherson explained. But we sat down and talked.Not to put it on the people I was around, but I turned into one of those people. I was hanging out with the wrong crew, going a different route. Im thankful for that whole experience, because I can share that so others wont have to go through that.It was painful to be away from a sport she fell in love with in fourth grade, after a gym teacher set up a makeshift high jump. They would run into the gym from the doorway and bound over the bar.Shes always been good, real good. She went to the University of California, where she finished fourth at NCAA indoor championships as a senior. Everything was progressing on an upward trajectory -- made the U.S. team for 2011 worlds, U.S. indoor runner-up in 2012, ouutdoor runner-up in 13 and outdoor champion in 14.ddddddddddddThen, she tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.It was more, `whats going to happen now? she said.McPherson worked at a temp agency and frequently drew assignments at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston as a dish washer.Sometimes, people who didnt know her would ask: What do you want to do one day?Her answer never wavered, even if it drew some raised eyebrows: Make the Olympic team.I never took my eye off the focus or the dream of what I wanted to accomplish, McPherson said.It was hard for her and her coach, Patrick Pyle, to always find a training facility. So they improvised in a gym at 24-Hour Fitness, simulating the high jump by running up to the basketball rim and trying to grab it. Turns out, McPherson has such hops she can actually dunk a tennis ball.We chose to go those unorthodox routes to keep things very fresh, Pyle explained. That way you didnt have the stress and the everyday routine of being at the track.Whatever they were doing certainly worked. McPherson finished third behind 32-year-old Chaunte Lowe and 18-year-old Vashti Cunningham, the daughter of longtime NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham.McPherson had even more pressure because, being away so long, she didnt have the Olympic qualifying standard of 6-4. She had to hit that at trials to secure her spot.Not a problem.I wasnt concerned at all, because I had (reached the standard) a couple of times before I got here, McPherson said. I was going to get it.McPherson is hardly your average height for a high jumper. Consider: Lowe is 5-9 and Cunningham 6-1.I have to work a little harder than the taller jumpers, she said, laughing. Its all good.One things for sure: She stands out. She dyes her hair whatever color strikes her and went with blue for the trials because, I looked around and saw a lot of blue.She also has more than 30 tattoos, including the eye-catching lips ink. She said it represents how a mother or a grandmother will kiss you on the cheek.Soon, she wants to add another tattoo -- the Olympic rings.Her family also is scrambling to get tickets to Rio. They dont want to miss this show.My family was supportive -- thats how I really made it through these two years, McPherson said. No way I could have done this alone.Sometimes, you have to ask for help. ' ' '