Two of Canadas best medal hopes got off to very different starts at Olympic Stadium on Day 7, the start of athletics competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Kamloops, B.C.s Dylan Armstrong needed a final throw 20.46m to qualify for the final of the mens shot put, after entering his final throw sitting in 15th. He finished seventh overall in qualifying. Meanwhile, Jessica Zelinka sparkled in the opening event of the womens heptathlon, running a personal-best in an early toe-to-toe showdown with gold medal and home nation favourite Jessica Ennis . Armstrong breathed a sigh of relief as he left the circle upon completion of his third attempt. He registered a first throw of 19.99 metres, and faulted on his second attempt, leaving him on the bubble. "Qualifying is always the hardest part, everybody is shaky, tensions are high, everybody is nervous, and I got off to a shaky start," Armstrong said. "I nailed one out there in the end. I got a lot more in the tank, and definitely one to strike one tonight. "To come in here, its a lot bigger, you just have to try and keep cool. The hard part is over now. Im just going to for broke [in the final]." The qualification line was set at 20.65m. Any athlete surpassing that mark automatically advanced to the finals later this evening.Competitors had three throws, and the top 12 advanced. Three of Armstrongs top competitors in the event qualified on their first throw. American Reese Hoffa was through with a distance of 21.36m. Germanys David Storl registered a 21.15m throw and Polands Tomasz Majewski tossed 21.03m. They finished as the top three in qualifying. "There are acouple of good guys out there, but I am one of the favourites," Majewski said. "There is a lot of pressure. The biggest pressure is from myself." Canadian Justin Rodhes final throw had the distance, but he was called for a fault. He faulted on each of his three throws, and did not make the final. The final begins this afternoon at 3:30pm et/12:30 pm pt. There is a chance of rain in the evening in London. Regardless, Armstrong knows he will have to improve from qualifying to find the podium. "After how qualifying went, well have to see, I think [to medal], its going to be anywhere from 21.30 to 22 metres," he said. "Ive had thousands of throws leading to this final, the goal is the podium, that would mean everything to me, the City of Kamloops and Canada. The top 10 guys all have medals. I dont know what it will take tonight, whatever it is Ill be in the mix." Zelinka started the heptathlon with a strong second-place finish in the 100m hurdles - only to be overshadowed by another Jessica, as Olympic Stadium erupted. Great Britains Jessica Ennis wowed the home fans, winning the race, and setting a worlds best mark in the process, finishing in a time of 12.54s. Zelinkas time of 12.65s set a personal-best. Ennis earned 1195 points, while Zelinka garnered 1178 points. Brianne Theisen of Humboldt, Sask., finished in sixth, with a time of 13.30s. But the 30-year-old Zelinka slid off the pace in the high jump, failing to clear a height of 1.71m. Upon strking the bar on her final attempt, Zelinka jumped off the mat and screamed in frustration. Her 1.68m clearance got her 830 points. When she set the Canadian record, Zelinka cleared 1.77m.Ennis, meanwhile, has just cleared the 1.86m mark and is still currently jumping.Theisen, 23, among the competitors in Ennis group, finished with a 1.83m height. They have moved on to the high jump competition to wrap up their morning session. The heptathlon continues with with the shot put and 200m in the evening session. WATCH DAY 7 ATHLETICS NOW holdjersey . Del Potro showed an impressive all-around game to help avenge a heartbreaking loss to Federer in the Olympics Games semifinals in August. "It was an unbelievable final," said Del Potro, who never dropped serve and raised his level in the decisive tiebreaker. nfl holdjersey . The top-ranked McMaster Marauders defeated the No. 6 University of Western Ontario Mustangs 33-27 on Saturday in Canadian university football action. http://www.holdjersey.com/ . Arsenal has lost a string of top talent in recent years, including Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas. But Wednesdays announcement of new long-term contracts for five players comes after Arsenal rose to fifth in the English Premier League by beating Reading 5-2 on Monday following its worst start to a season since Arsene Wenger took charge in 1996. nba holdjersey . Fiers (8-6) held the Cubs to four hits and struck out six, helping Milwaukee beat its division rival for the 13th time in 16 games this season. The Brewers have won eight of their last nine overall and moved within five games of . cheap jerseys . -- New England Revolution midfielder Zak Boggs is retiring and will accept a Fulbright Scholarship to study medical sciences at Englands Leicester University beginning this fall.For two-thirds of the Edmonton Indy on Sunday, it looked like it might be Alex Taglianis day. The Lachenaie, Que.-native led for almost two-thirds of the race, but fell behind for good after his second pit stop. Finishing fifth, it was a decent showing for the Canadian on home soil, but Taglianis failure to capture the checkered flag means that it has now been more than five years since a Canadian driver has reached the top of the podium at an Indy race, the last coming when Paul Tracy claimed the 2007 Cleveland Grand Prix. James Hinchcliffe – expected to be Canadas next great racing hope – finished 12th overall. What has happened to Canadas winning tradition in IndyCar racing? That victory came in the final season of the Champ Car World Series, before it merged with the Indy Racing League to form the current IZOD IndyCar Series. The reunification of the two leading circuits has coincided with a long drought for Canadian drivers in a sport that once captivated an entire nation. Starting in the early 1990s a crop of Canadian drivers emerged to take North American open-wheel racing by storm. Scott Goodyear thrust himself into the national spotlight in 1992, finishing a mere 0.043 behind Al Unser Jr. at the Indianapolis 500. The result remains the closest finish in the races 101-year history. Goodyear would win the Marlboro 500 that same year to become the first Canadian Indy driver since Jacques Villeneuve Sr. in 1985 to win an Indy race. From there the floodgates opened. Tracy would win five races in 1993 including the Molson Indy in Toronto, becoming the first Canadian to win on home soil. The next year, Canadians would win five Indy races, including three by Tracy, helping him to third in the year-end drivers standings. That year would also mark the debut of Jacques Villeneuve (the younger), who would win Rookie of the Year honours. Villeneuve would help launch the team that would come to define Canadian racing for the next decade. Forsythe-Pettit Racing - under the sponsorship of Players – would produce a long line of successful Canadian drivers. Despite losing Villeneuve to Team Green, where he would win the Indy drivers title as well as thhe Indy 500 in 1995, Forsythe found success with the likes of Greg Moore, Patrick Carpentier and Tagliani who would thrive on the circuit from 1996 through 2004.dddddddddddd Tracy and the Forsythe drivers became breakout stars in North America while Villeneuve conquered the Formula One circuit with Williams-Renault, winning the 1997 overall Grand Prix points title. The future looked bright, with Forsythes pipeline of successful Canadian drivers winning races at the Indy Lights and Atlantic Championship levels as well. In addition to developing Moore, Carpentier and Tagliani, the teams stable included promising young drivers like David Empringham, Claude Bourbonnais and Lee Bentham. Forsythes biggest breakthrough, however, would come in 2003. After signing with Forsythe from Team Green, Tracy would win the CART drivers championship in 2003 after winning seven races. He along with Carpentier and Tagliani would guide Canada to the Nations Cup that season with a Canadian reaching the podium in 13 of the seasons 18 races. The trio would repeat the feat in 2004, missing the podium just four times in 14 races. However, the bubble would burst soon after. The Vancouver Indy – founded in 1990 – would run for the last time in 2004. The Grand Prix of Montreal would also be cancelled after just five races in 2006. The Toronto Indy, long viewed as the strongest Indy event in Canada, would also be forced to shut down, cancelling the 2008 race after the merger of CART and IRL. It would return in 2009 with fresh sponsorship from Honda. Coupled with a lack of success on the track, the sports prestige in Canada has tumbled in recent years. But is the sport on the rebound? Hinchcliffe has become the nations poster-boy in the sport after winning the 2011 Rookie of the Year Award and has a pair of podium finishes under his belt thus far in 2012. The Series CEO has also hinted at adding another Canadian race for the 2013 season, so there may still be room for further growth for Indy north of the border. So, what do you think? Is Indys star once again on the rise in Canada, or are the series glory days merely a thing of the past? As always, its Your! Call. ' ' '