but he rebounded big in his senior year, earning a spot in the nationwide

The moment you walk into the Global Martial Arts gym in western Sydney, Australia, youre greeted by London 2012 memorabilia and a wall that reads Home of the Olympians.The gym is full of kids this particular Tuesday night, boys and girls of all ages unleashing fly kicks with the obligatory sound effects before they fall to a hush and hang on every word of Master Ali.Among them is Australian taekwondo competitor Safwan Khalil. Just a handful of weeks out from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Khalil could be tucked away in his own special corner with an entire training entourage tracking his every kick, punch and block. Yet here he is, mentoring taekwondos next generation.I love it. I love being around, I love being able to give back, Khalil, 30, tells ESPN. Ive been in this sport for a long time, and hopefully after the Olympic Games I can come away with a good result, or regardless, if I dont, I still want to come back and give back.You came in and you saw only the older kids, but there are so many young ones here training who want to be Olympians and aspire to be so much better than what they are now. I just love giving back to them, the young ones and the older ones; its a really good feeling.Khalils Olympic story doesnt subscribe to the typical Australian narrative. He came away from the 2012 London Olympic Games in fourth place after a disappointing bronze-medal match, but the depth of his disappointment is probably lost on everyone but his family and those who come to sweat it out at his Hoxton Park training facility in western Sydney.Thats just the way he likes it, and its really the only support hes ever known. Little wonder, too, since his childhood years were spent adjusting to life in Australia after his family fled Lebanon amid the countrys instability.[It was] extremely tough, Khalil says. As I get older now I do like to find about our history with the family. And my mum, you know she tears up every time she tells me the story because my dad actually ran off without us at the start to actually build up some money.So we were actually all alone while my mum was pregnant with me; my father was actually here in Australia trying to build some money and establish himself here and my mum was alone [in Lebanon] with the three kids about to give birth to me.I remember my mum telling me, my uncle actually called my father and said, You need to get your kids out of here, its crazy, and he could hear gunshots and so on happening. So you know he had to scrape every piece of coin he could get together and get us out and, yeah, it was a really, really horrific moment of our life.There were no gunshots whizzing in Sydney, but Khalil, his parents, five brothers and one sister still endured some hairy moments.My brother actually burned our house down, Khalil says.I remember it like it was yesterday. I was on my little pink bike riding up and down the street and I remember riding and stopping in front of the house and a blaze going through the window, my sister running into the house. She says she slapped him and ran him out of the house because he lit the couch on fire with a lighter; and if you meet Sami [Samir] and you get to know his character you would be like, yeah, he would light anything on fire, its the way he is.My mum was out shopping on a bus because she didnt have a [drivers] licence, and [she] got off the bus and her house was literally on the ground.The Khalil brothers played all kinds of sports. But eventually the sibling rivalry reached a tipping point, and tired of her sons fly kicks from the family lounge, Khalils mother pointed her brood in the direction of the nearest gym.We grew up playing [rugby] league in the front yard, backyard cricket, and [then] taekwondo came about.You know, we grew up watching a lot of Jackie Chan, [Jean-Claude] Van Damme [movies] and all this sort of stuff, and my mum got sick of us bashing each other around the house; thats all we did. We were doing fly kicks off the couch and she was fed up. My dad was working 16-hour days and my mum was trying to balance cooking, cleaning, the boys.So she found the nearest taekwondo school and said, Go bash some other kids, and we did. We went into our first competition and got to punch on with other kids, and we werent getting in trouble for it and I was in love. And ever since then I just havent looked back.These days, Khalil continues to punch on with one of his brothers -- Master Ali. Ali Khalil, 33, is known as Master Ali Khalil in a taekwondo environment. The duo travelled together to London as part of Australias taekwondo team, and will do the same thing in Rio.Ali has been by Safwans side throughout his taekwondo journey, making technique adjustments here and offering words of encouragement there. Its an athlete-coach relationship seldom found these days, yet it seems to work perfectly for the Khalil brothers -- the odd stern discussion aside.Its tough at times, Safwan tells ESPN of his unique training setup.Hes my older brother and Ive got all the respect for him, and as weve grown up, anything hes told me to do ... Ive bowed my head and I know Ill do it. But sometimes we disagree on things and we absolutely lose our [temper], especially during [the Islamic fast] Ramadan.Theres times when were both hungry, edgy [during Ramadan], and hell tell me something and Im like, No, I dont want to do it. But were that close and that strong that anything that happens in our relationship, give it 20 minutes and were back the way we were half-an-hour ago.Its got its blessings in a way because we get to work for each other, because anything he tells me to do is absolutely in my best interest and he knows me like a book. And I know everything he does for me is 100 percent for me and I trust him 100 percent, so its fantastic and I love it. Weve had to work at it a lot of the time, but now that were getting older and a lot more mature its easier for us.The extent of this family affair really hits home when you consider that Safwans partner, Carmen Marton, is one of Australias female taekwondo competitors in Rio.Khalil describes Marton as the strongest woman you will ever meet and says there is more than just a friendly rivalry between them even though they are 100 percent behind each other in their pursuit of gold.Motivated by a desire to right his London competition attitude that Khalil says resembled a sulking baby, there will be no sightseeing in Rio; nor will he be chasing Usain Bolt through the Olympic Village -- as he did in 2012.I think my priorities are a lot more set now, and I know what direction Im going in when I walk into Rio, he says.I walked into London this wide-eyed younger man just wanting to soak in the experience, rather than just focusing on what I need to do two minutes at a time. So Im definitely a lot wiser and just a lot more relaxed going into this competition.Whether or not those four years of added wisdom help push Khalil to a gold medal, its impossible not to admire his sporting journey.Taekwondo may be as far from the mainstream Australian sporting psyche as you can get, yet its little wonder, given the way Khalil talks about one-on-one combat, that his infectious attitude has rubbed off on a small but determined group of kids on a Tuesday night at Global Martial Arts. Its almost as if theyre one big family. Having spent a few minutes getting to know Khalil, that in no way is a surprise. Retro Jordans Nz . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Cheap Jordans Shoes Free Shipping . 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That hope slowly eroded the moment Redmond left the field, and in the 11th inning Shane Victorinos two-run single gave the Boston Red Sox a 4-2 win they had been threatening ever since the moment the Blue Jays turned to their bullpen. But no one wanted to talk about that. So the focus was on Redmond, who was called up from triple-A Buffalo to start the game. He said he was proud he was able to grind out an appearance against the American League East leaders, even if the Blue Jays have now lost three straight. "With a team like this youve got to be able to throw strikes and get strike one, and I was able to do that tonight," said Redmond. "I was pretty successful against a really good team." The right-hander allowed just three hits with five strikeouts through 5 1-3 spotless innings on the strength of an effective fastball-slider combination that baffled the Red Sox (72-49) but required a high pitch count. Redmond looked like a different pitcher than he did in his last appearance with the Blue Jays (54-65) when he gave up three runs on seven hits in just 3 2-3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 2. "I think I threw the ball well," he said. "J.P. (Arencibia) did a great job behind the plate tonight calling the game and our defence played very well tonight." Arencibia wasnt so sure. Torontos catcher hit a solo shot in the eighth inning to tie the game 2-2 and put himself second on the Blue Jays all-time homer list for a catcher with 60. He was also responsible for the RBI single that gave the team a 1-0 lead in the fifth. Arencibia called Redmond "fantastic," but when the topic shifted to the bullpens performance he preferred to take the blame. The Blue Jays needed seven relievers to finish the game, another long day for a team whose bullpen leads the majors in innings pitched. Aaron Loup (4-5), who allowed Victorinos winning single, took the loss. "Maybe I could have called a different pitch. Maybe I could have done something different back there to get those guys out," said Arencibia. "(I) think theyve done a great job. In this game no ones definitely unhittable. The best of the best give up runs. Like I said, maybe I could have called something different." Trailing 1-0, the Red Sox offence was stymied until the seventh inning when Will Middlebrooks doubled off Sergio Santos and then scored on a single by Jaccoby Ellsbury that tied the game.dddddddddddd Dustin Pedroia brought home Ellsbury two batters later to put the Red Sox ahead 2-1. Boston starter Ryan Dempster of Gibsons, B.C., finished after seven innings of work with just the one run allowed on four hits with four strikeouts. Koji Uehara (3-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings to finish the game and pick up the win. "I felt like I was able to make pitches when I was behind in the count, which is huge," said Dempster. "I had a real good split tonight, thats probably what kept them off balance more than anything." Dempster completed the fifth inning with 61 pitches to Redmonds 86 but still gave up the first run. Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., doubled off Dempster and took third on a sacrifice fly before scoring on a single by Arencibia that gave the Blue Jays the lead. Redmond lasted just eight more pitches into the sixth. He hit Victorino on his 92nd effort, then got Pedroia to fly out two pitches later. That ended Redmonds night, and he walked off the field to applause from the 32,816 fans at Rogers Centre. "Shoot, I thought he was great," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "He pitched tonight like hes been pitching all year. ... First thing, hes a great competitor. You know hes gotten an opportunity here and hes taken advantage of it." Brett Cecil took over for Toronto and promptly gave up a single to David Ortiz and walked Daniel Nava to load the bases. But he escaped danger by striking out Mike Napoli and getting Stephen Drew to fly out. The Blue Jays attempted to add another run in the bottom of the sixth when Jose Reyes appeared to frustrate Dempster at second base and elicited several throws from the Boston pitcher. Reyes gamesmanship meant little when Edwin Encarnacions drive to right was relayed home by Victorino, where Saltalamacchia easily tagged Reyes. Notes: The Blue Jays placed starting pitcher Josh Johnson on the 15-day disabled list with tightness in his right forearm. Toronto called up RHP Thad Weber from triple-A Buffalo to replace Johnson. RHP Esmil Rogers (3-7, 5.12 earned-run average) will start in place of Johnson on Wednesday against Boston left Jon Lester (10-7, 4.37 ERA). ... Blue Jays reliever Juan Perez has elected to skip Tommy John surgery in favour of eight weeks rehab. Perez suffered a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow Friday against Oakland. ... Toronto centre-fielder Colby Rasmus was given a second straight day off with an oblique strain suffered Sunday against Oakland. Gibbons said prior to the game he hopes Rasmus plays Wednesday but didnt rule out a trip to the disabled list. ' ' '