Jo Pavey battled back from the brink in her 10,000 metres final at the European Championships in Amsterdam to put herself firmly in the frame for Olympic selection.The 42-year-old mother of two, who was down in 11th at one stage at the Olympic Stadium, dug in over the final two laps to move through the field as her rivals faded and she came home in fifth place in 31 minutes 34.61 seconds.It meant Pavey surrendered the title she memorably won two years ago, with Yasemin Can winning gold, but of greater importance was the fact her time was inside the Olympic qualifying standard.Indeed, it was more than 47 seconds quicker than her gold medal-winning run in Zurich, the fastest time by a Briton this year and, perhaps crucially, more than 37 seconds quicker than her rival for the third and final spot on the team for Rio, Kate Avery, has run in 2016.Pavey would appear to be in the box seat to make history by becoming the first British track athlete to compete in five Olympics, but 24-year-old Averys status as a potential star of the future, even though she opted not to compete in Amsterdam, could count in her favour.Whatever news the selection announcement on July 13 brings, though, the fact that Pavey is right back in contention is a minor miracle.She has been hampered by a chest infection which ruined her chances of gaining automatic selection at Mays trials, while last month she travelled to a 10,000m race in Boston only to have it cancelled, meaning she had to race over 5,000m instead.Paveys roommate in Amsterdam, Jess Andrews, 19 years Paveys junior and whose spot in Rio is already secure, finished seventh in 31mins 38.02secs.Dina Asher-Smith lived up to her billing as favourite for 200m gold by storming into the final in a seasons best 22.57s.The 20-year-old, bidding to land her first major senior title in the Dutch capital, looked to have plenty left in the tank as she cruised through the semifinals as the joint fastest qualifier.The history student, who does not have to contend with Hollands Dafne Schippers after the world champion opted to race only over 100m in front of her home crowd, ran a superb bend and was already well in front heading into the straight as she took 0.15s off her previous best this year.Greg Rutherford was pleased to blow away the cobwebs as he booked his place in the long jump final in his first competition for a month.The defending champion was relieved to discover the severe inner ear condition he sustained as a result of the whiplash injury he suffered last time out at the Birmingham Diamond League, which has caused him to lose hearing in his left ear, did not appear to affect his jumping.The 29-year-olds first-round leap of 7.93m was enough to book his place in Thursdays final. He followed it with two fouls, as swirling winds inside the stadium made controlling the run-up difficult, to qualify in eighth place.Elsewhere, Christine Ohuruogu in the womens 400m, Martyn Rooney in the mens 400m and Richard Kilty in the 100m all breezed through the opening rounds of their respective events. Rashan Gary Jersey Large . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. Authentic Custom Packers Jersey . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. http://www.custompackersjersey.com/custom-rashan-gary-jersey-large-72r.html . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . 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SAN FRANCISCO -- Oh, Buster Posey knew all about how long he had gone without a home run.Yeah, Ive had a few reminders over the last week or two, Posey said with a chuckle.All that talk about the star catchers second-half power drought was answered with one mighty swing in a September game that mattered, and his two-run shot helped the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-2 Friday night in a matchup of playoff contenders.Posey drove in four runs and the Giants stayed four games back of the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, who won at Arizona. San Francisco maintained its one-game lead over the New York Mets for the leagues top wild card, moving three games up on the Cardinals in the wild-card standings.Left-hander Matt Moore (4-4) allowed two runs over five innings, struck out four and walked three while facing the Cardinals for the first time in his career. He won for the fourth time over five starts in his ninth outing since joining San Francisco in a trade with Tampa Bay.Posey was all smiles in the dugout after his fourth-inning drive, his first home run in 185 at-bats and exactly two months -- he last connected on July 16 at San Diego.It was a good feeling, he said.Posey also had a two-run single and followed up his four-hit game Thursday night with three more.It was great to just see him start smiling and laughing after he touched home plate, Brandon Belt said. Its kind of out of the ordinary with him. Hes pretty stone-faced most of the time. When you know what hes capable of doing and when hes had a stretch like hes had, its good to see.Belt hit a two-run double to highlight San Franciscos six-run third. Posey singled in a pair of runs that inning, when all the runs were unearned off rookie right-hander Luke Weaver (1-3).For the second straight day, Giants manager Bruce Bochy gave his team a late report time to the ballpark and the players went without batting practice. This time, it came on the heels of Thursdays 6-2 victory behind Johnny Cuetos five-hitter.A couple days off the field will serve them well, said Bochy, who is sticking with the same routine for Saturday nights game.It proved the right call again. After a demoralizing three-game sweep by San Diego earlier this week, San Francisco suddenly looks like a playoff team again. The Giants have had World Series-winning seasons in every even year this decade: 2010, `12 and `14.Weavers night was done after 2 2/3 innnings and he is winless in four starts since beating Oakland on Aug.dddddddddddd26. He allowed five hits, struck out four and walked two.Yadier Molina drove in both runs for the Cardinals, including a bases-loaded walk in the fifth.We just have to play better, thats all there is to it, manager Mike Matheny said. The standings are the standings and we know what they are. You cant run from them, hide from them. The standings say were right there, so just keep playing the game. Thats all it is. Same as always.Denard Span hit eighth for the Giants again after his strong performance, with a two-run single among his two hits in that spot a night earlier.NINTH-INNING DELAYA fan ran on the field in the top of the ninth and a member of security who slid approaching the man had to be helped off the field with an injury.TRAINERS ROOMCardinals: OF Matt Holliday will face live pitching Saturday with the hope he still might return from a broken right thumb as St. Louis makes a playoff push. The slugger hasnt played since Aug. 11, when he was hit by a pitch in an 11-inning loss to the Cubs. He had surgery to insert a screw for the fracture. Id love to play but I cant do it at jeopardizing putting my finger in a bad situation, Holliday said. Its clearly not 100 percent. Its still fractured but theres a screw in there. Its more stable than it would be if I had not had the surgery. ... SS Aledmys Diaz returned to the lineup after being held out Thursday. He came off the disabled list Sunday after he had been sidelined since July 31 with a broken right thumb, and the medical staff and Matheny are being cautious to determine if Diaz can handle playing every day.Giants: The team activated OF Gregor Blanco from the 15-day disabled list after he missed 22 games with a right shoulder impingement. ... Bochy has been looking to rest Posey and will aim to give him a break in Sunday afternoons series finale following a night game Saturday.UP NEXTCardinals: RHP Mike Leake (9-10, 4.60 ERA), who spent the second half of last season with San Francisco, looks for his second win in seven starts since July 29.Giants: RHP Jeff Samardzija (11-10, 4.07) seeks his first victory in four starts since Aug. 26. He is 4-4 with a 4.61 ERA in 20 career outings vs. St. Louis, losing to the Cardinals on June 4. ' ' '