The most important 15 minutes of Sam Mikulaks daily routine doesnt come in the gym or the weight room. They usually take place early in the morning, shortly after he pulls himself out of bed at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.There in the stillness, the best American male gymnast of his generation turns his mind into a blank slate. Nothing is allowed in. Not worries about whether he can find a way to combine consistency with his considerable talent. Not concerns about the ankles that are always one iffy landing away from disaster. Not the stakes as he prepares himself for another Olympic moment, one with significantly higher stakes than four years ago in London.If a thought comes into my head, I recognize it and I do a mental swipe left with my eyes, Mikulak said. And then Im back to breathing and fall into a rhythm that can train me to negate any thoughts that arent necessary when Im competing on the big stage.Like the one that awaits in Brazil, when the 23-year-old spearheads a five-man U.S. team eager to re-establish itself after a nightmarish fifth-place finish in 2012. Back then, Mikulak was a teenager, a college student and an event specialist. Now hes likely the only American competing in the all-around, a testament to the way hes separated himself from his teammates.Yet for all his supremacy at home, where he is one of two men to win four straight national titles, Mikulak has yet to experience a true breakthrough moment internationally. He has just one world championship medal to his credit, a team bronze in 2014. That also happens to be the last time he was on the floor with Kohei Uchimura of Japan, the defending Olympic champion heavily favored to do it again in Rio de Janeiro.On the surface, they could not be more different. Uchimura is soft-spoken and reserved. Mikulak is prone to break into dance during a meet and speaks in a surfer dude cadence that betrays his Southern California roots.Yet their gymnastics are strikingly similar in their aggressive quest for elegance.I feel like Im following in his footsteps a little bit, Mikulak said. Hes one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. Its nice to be on the same path. My goal is to apply a little pressure.The only surefire way to do it is to avoid the small but persistent mistakes that tend to pop up early in competitions. Mikulak is well aware of his penchant for shaky starts like the one he endured on the opening night of Olympic Trials on June 25, when he flubbed his dismount on parallel bars and lost momentum on high bar.Not that it mattered in the end. Mikulak finished with his typical flourish and ultimately wound up well clear of Chris Brooks following four rounds of Olympic qualifying that spanned trials and the national championships.Its where Mikulak expected to be all along. Still, he knows hes at the time in his career when simply being the best among his buddies is no longer enough.The mindset going into the Olympics is Im not a top dog in the international scene like I am in the U.S., he said. There is a gap I need to overcome.Going six for six -- meaning getting through each apparatus clean -- would be a start. Asked when the last time he put together a day like that, Mikulak points to the 2013 American Cup while simultaneously shaking his head in disbelief.Its been a while, he allowed. I need that sense of urgency that I crave at the end, I need that in the beginning.Nowhere do Mikulaks problems manifest themselves more than on high bar, gymnastics answer to a slam-dunk contest. Sitting nine feet off the floor, its an inviting canvas on which to paint. And when hes on, Mikulak can turn it into a thrill ride.The problem is, Mikulak isnt always on. At the 2014 world championships, coach Mark Williams benched Mikulak on high bar during the team final, opting for Jake Daltons more conservative -- and more dependable -- set.Its a decision Mikulak understood and why he comes to each meet now armed with three different high-bar routines, opting for the easiest during qualifying and saving the most difficult for the event final if he makes it that far.Call it a sign of maturity for an athlete who admits to putting too much pressure on himself to be perfect, something hes realized over the years is a futile pursuit. Now he searches for small moments of bliss during a given routine while trying to immediately hit delete when something doesnt go as planned.Thats where the meditation comes in, something he began incorporating while competing at Michigan. A psychology major, Mikulak found himself fascinated by the minds power to control the body not just by telling it what to do, but by telling it what not to do. Its gotten to the point where hes on autopilot the second he raises his hand to the judges.The breathing is what does it, he said. It blocks out anything that might tell you, `Oh tighten up. Or if theres a negative thought that will pop up when youre up there, the breathing will not let that thought come into your mind.So Mikulak zones out, his ears listening for the encouragement of his teammates but nothing else. Leave no doubt: They have his back. Theyd love nothing more than to see the guy who occasionally amazes during practice do the same thing for the whole world to see.He needs to go out there and handle that pressure, own the pressure and move on from there, good friend and Olympic alternate Donnell Whittenburg said. If he can hit, he can definitely give Uchimura a run.---Follow Will Graves at www.twitter.com/WillGravesAPCheap Yeezy From China . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Yeezy For Salehttps://www.wholesaleyeezyauthentic.com/ . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. Wholesale Yeezy Authentic . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. Wholesale Yeezy . Its an influence in football and a big part of the game.Guyana Amazon Warriors 166 for 4 (Lynn 77, Mohammed 33*, Dwayne Bravo 2-34) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 162 for 5 (Munro 100*, Tanvir 2-21) by six wicketsScorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChris Lynn bludgeoned eight sixes and a four in a 43-ball display of power-hitting as he plundered 77 to lead Guyana Amazon Warriors to their second successive win of CPL 2016, against Trinbago Knight Riders at Queens Park Oval. Lynns blitz trumped Colin Munros century, the first by an overseas player in the CPL.Chasing 163, Dwayne Smith and Martin Guptill led Amazon Warriors reply with a brisk opening stand of 34 in 23 balls. Smith, who struck three fours and two sixes in his 26, was undone by a carrom ball from Sunil Narine in the fourth over. Guptill and Lynn then steadied the chase with a 45-run second-wicket stand before Guptill was bowled.Lynn then laid innto the bowlers, smashing five sixes in the space of 13 balls including three off Kevon Cooper in the 16th over, to effectively seal the chase.ddddddddddddAlthough Dwayne Bravo picked up two wickets in the penultimate over, Guyana cantered home with four balls to spare.After being inserted to bat, Knight Riders lost Brendon McCullum off the first ball of the match. When Hashim Amla fell, Knight Riders were struggling at 29 for 2 after five overs.However, Munro led the recovery, sharing a counter-attacking partnership with Darren Bravo. The pair added 74 off 45 balls, with Darren Bravo contributing 12 off 17. Munro struck seven fours and six sixes in his 65-ball 100, but the Guyana bowlers limited Knight Riders to 162. ' ' '