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LOS ANGELES -- Mikaela Mayer knew she was better than the high school burnout that she was in danger of becoming.She had attended four schools in three years, repeatedly getting in trouble for fighting and bad grades. She was a 17-year-old occasional model with the self-awareness to realize she had no clear direction or future outside the San Fernando Valley.All I cared about was my friends, and going out and partying, and being a young, cool teenager, Mayer said. I was looking for something, but I had no idea what.One summer day, she realized something was calling her to the humble storefront kickboxing gym in an unassuming strip mall down the street from her divorced dads apartment. Instead of driving past it again, Mayer and a friend went inside.The first thing she asked the trainer was: Do you think Im too old to start competing?I was hungry for success in something at that time, because I wasnt doing well at anything, Mayer said. I was like, `I want to be good at something. Its always been inside me. Ive always had that fire. I didnt have anywhere to direct it.Almost nine years to the day after that wild child learned how to throw her first punch, Mayer will fight at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, joining gold medalist Claressa Shields as the only U.S. women boxers in Brazil.Mayer still doesnt know exactly why she first decided to punch people after a youth spent participating in everything from soccer to motocross to snowboarding. Nobody in her self-described family of hippies had been anywhere near a boxing gym.After her first workout, she knew three different ways to throw a proper punch. And she liked it.I poured all my energy into it, Mayer said. It wasnt ever just a part-time thing for me. From the day I walked into this gym, within two months, all I thought was, `I want to be the best female fighter in the world.Mayer took lessons in muay thai and kickboxing, but she dedicated herself to boxing after a back injury temporarily stopped her from throwing kicks. She became a Golden Gloves champion just a few years later -- and when the Olympics added a womens tournament in 2010, Mayer and her father, Mark, decided to chase medals.They heard about a boxing scholarship program at Northern Michigan University under revered amateur coach Al Mitchell, who has taught three U.S. Olympic teams. Before she had time to think, the LA native had been accepted to the program on Michigans Upper Peninsula.So I quit my job, said, `Later, to my boyfriend at the time, and hopped on a plane, Mayer said. I had never been to Michigan, let alone the U.P., which is a `nother thing on its own. I remember flying in there and seeing all the pine trees and 10 feet of snow and just thinking, `Where the hell am I?Mayer warmed to her cold new home, and Mitchell developed his first female pupil into a world-class fighter. Her bond with Mitchell and his fiancee became so tight that she had Mitchells initials tattooed on her right hand.The thing that makes Mikaela different is her commitment, Mitchell said. When she walked in here, I broke her down and rebuilt her. She never believed it was too hard, and she never gave up. She has toughness that got her this far, and now its getting her all the way to the Olympics. Its an incredible thing to do in that amount of time.A year after moving to Northern Michigan, Mayer fell just short of a spot on the first U.S. womens team, losing a decision to Queen Underwood at the 2012 trials. She only became more determined to catch the next wave in the evolution of her sport.Mayer made the Rio team last fall only after fending off a ferocious challenge over three qualifying fights from teenage prodigy Jajaira Gonzalez, a fellow LA-area native with a wealth of junior titles.The competition is so much tougher now than it was when I started, Mayer said. Back in 2009, if you went to a tournament and even got to have two fights, it was worth the money.With an artfully bent nose from boxing, she still takes occasional modeling work, particularly for a handbag company that sponsors her. Although she still lives in Michigan, Mayer returned to her original Valley gym last month, joyfully greeting her first coach -- and Coconut, the adorable dog she gave up when she moved.She wants an Olympic medal out of her journey, but she also wants her success to bring more attention to womens boxing. Although she has thought about turning pro, good money is scarce for female fighters outside the octagon -- but that only makes Mayer more determined to succeed in Rio.Ive always believed Id be here, but I also knew that the chances of being here were going to be slim, Mayer said. This was my dream before I knew it was possible. Wade Baldwin Blazers Jersey . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. Brandon Roy Jersey .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. https://www.blazerslockerroom.com/Skal-Labissiere-City-Edition-Jersey/ . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. Terry Porter Blazers Jersey . Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom. Nik Stauskas Jersey . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. Guenther Steiner says the Haas team did not exceed the budget it set aside for its debut season in Formula One this year.Haas became the first new team to join the grid since 2010, entering the sport with a controversial technical partnership with Ferrari. That tie-up included an engine and as many parts as the regulations allowed, while the team also worked with Italian chassis designers Dallara.Much was made of Haas business model, with some concerned it could open the door to fully-fledged customer cars in future, though Steiner says it helped the team control spending for its first season.?When asked if he had to ask team owner Gene Haas for money during the season, Steiner said: We didnt. We made a budget and we stuck to it pretty good. It seems like everybody goes into F1, in the old days, they didnt know what they were doing.I think we can say our business plan worked even if a lot of people questioned if it could work beforehand and said we would be just like one of the other ones who came in in the last years. I think we have shown we do what we say we are going to do, and we did the same iinternally.ddddddddddddWe said to Gene, this will be the cost of this, and we stuck to it. So we didnt have to go back.Haas exceeded all expectations in 2016, finishing 6th and 5th in the opening two races and finishing the season with 29 points, enough to finish eighth ahead of one of F1s four manufacturers, Renault. With big rule changes on the horizon for 2017 Steiner is braced for a different scenario next season, though he believes most financial decisions for the whole year will be based on how the teams fare in winter testing.If you run a business, and I see F1 as a business, if you have to go back every five weeks saying oh, I need another two million, it gets old pretty quick. Then the trust is lost. We didnt do that and I hope we dont ever have to do that.Next year the risk is much bigger because of the upgrade but its like, what do we want to achieve? We will see in February [when winter testing starts] where we are and then you see what you really need to do. ' ' '