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EUGENE, Ore. Yeezy Baratas Spain . -- Calling Inika McPherson the most unlikely of Olympians wouldnt be much of a stretch.Shes 5-foot-4 and competes in the high jump -- a discipline usually dominated by taller women.McPherson is also only a few months removed from a 21-month suspension after testing positive for cocaine.And yet, the 29-year-old will be on the U.S. team in Rio de Janeiro -- and sure to stand out, thanks to her blue-striped hair, a pair of red lips tattooed on the side of her face and a made-for-the-movies story that included washing dishes to make ends meet while she was waiting for the drug ban to elapse.I think everyone should march to their own beat, just really live life. But I came to the point where I was harming myself and my dreams, said McPherson, who finished third at track and field trials by leaping 6-4 -- or one foot higher than she stands.That positive test was jarring -- to her and her family. Her life at that point was moving too fast, she explained.McPherson tested positive after an in-competition sample she provided on June 29, 2014, at the USA championships in Sacramento, California. Her suspension was announced that December, with the ban made retroactive to July 27, 2014. It gave her a chance to return in time for trials.It was a surprise to me. I was like, `What is going on? No way this can be happening, said McPherson, who lives and trains in Houston. It was something that happened that I really learned from. Dont ever put yourself in that position or in that environment.The toughest part was having a conversation with her mom -- that she didnt have a drug problem, that she was just as perplexed.My mom was concerned at the beginning, `Whats going on in your life that you would test for that? McPherson explained. But we sat down and talked.Not to put it on the people I was around, but I turned into one of those people. I was hanging out with the wrong crew, going a different route. Im thankful for that whole experience, because I can share that so others wont have to go through that.It was painful to be away from a sport she fell in love with in fourth grade, after a gym teacher set up a makeshift high jump. They would run into the gym from the doorway and bound over the bar.Shes always been good, real good. She went to the University of California, where she finished fourth at NCAA indoor championships as a senior. Everything was progressing on an upward trajectory -- made the U.S. team for 2011 worlds, U.S. indoor runner-up in 2012, outdoor runner-up in 13 and outdoor champion in 14.Then, she tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.It was more, `whats going to happen now? she said.McPherson worked at a temp agency and frequently drew assignments at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston as a dish washer.Sometimes, people who didnt know her would ask: What do you want to do one day?Her answer never wavered, even if it drew some raised eyebrows: Make the Olympic team.I never took my eye off the focus or the dream of what I wanted to accomplish, McPherson said.It was hard for her and her coach, Patrick Pyle, to always find a training facility. So they improvised in a gym at 24-Hour Fitness, simulating the high jump by running up to the basketball rim and trying to grab it. Turns out, McPherson has such hops she can actually dunk a tennis ball.We chose to go those unorthodox routes to keep things very fresh, Pyle explained. That way you didnt have the stress and the everyday routine of being at the track.Whatever they were doing certainly worked. McPherson finished third behind 32-year-old Chaunte Lowe and 18-year-old Vashti Cunningham, the daughter of longtime NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham.McPherson had even more pressure because, being away so long, she didnt have the Olympic qualifying standard of 6-4. She had to hit that at trials to secure her spot.Not a problem.I wasnt concerned at all, because I had (reached the standard) a couple of times before I got here, McPherson said. I was going to get it.McPherson is hardly your average height for a high jumper. Consider: Lowe is 5-9 and Cunningham 6-1.I have to work a little harder than the taller jumpers, she said, laughing. Its all good.One things for sure: She stands out. She dyes her hair whatever color strikes her and went with blue for the trials because, I looked around and saw a lot of blue.She also has more than 30 tattoos, including the eye-catching lips ink. She said it represents how a mother or a grandmother will kiss you on the cheek.Soon, she wants to add another tattoo -- the Olympic rings.Her family also is scrambling to get tickets to Rio. They dont want to miss this show.My family was supportive -- thats how I really made it through these two years, McPherson said. No way I could have done this alone.Sometimes, you have to ask for help. Air Max Baratas . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Zapatillas Jordan España . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. https:///...let-online-d988.html . -- Charlie Graham stopped 67 shots as the Belleville Bulls edged the visiting Guelph Storm 6-5 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Pete Rose is appealing directly to baseballs Hall of Fame to restore his eligibility, arguing the lifetime ban he agreed to in 1989 was never intended to keep him out of Cooperstown.A seven-page letter to Hall president Jeff Idelson on Tuesday made the case that the settlement agreement reached by Rose and then-Commissioner Bart Giamatti didnt include a provision that he be ineligible for election to the Hall of Fame.At the time Pete agreed to the settlement, the consequences of being placed on the ineligible list were clear and specific -- and did not include a Hall of Fame prohibition, according to the letter, signed by Roses longtime attorney Raymond C. Genco and attorney Mark Rosenbaum.The Hall of Fame changed its bylaws two years after Roses banishment to make permanently banned players ineligible for the Hall, which shut out the career hits leader as long as he remained barred from baseball. Rose agreed to the ban after an MLB investigation concluded he bet on games involving the Cincinnati Reds while managing the team.Genco is asking the Hall to amend that bylaw specifically to allow Rose to be eligible for baseball writers to elect at their discretion. He makes the point that the banishments of Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays for their association with casinos didnt affect their Hall status, and even Shoeless Joe Jackson had remained eligible after he was banned from the game for accepting money to throw the 1919 World Series.We believe that the institution of baseball will be strengthened by this act of grace -- an act that would give Pete Rose the same treatment that every other major league baseball player and manager received throughout the first 55 years of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the letter said. Air Max Baratas Spain. Hall spokesman Jon Shestakofsky said Wednesday that Idelson had not seen the letter and has not commented. In a previous statement, Idelson said, Pete Rose remains ineligible for Hall of Fame consideration, based on the Hall of Fames bylaws, which preclude any individual on baseballs ineligible list from being considered for election.New baseball commissioner Rob Manfred in December denied the 75-year-old Roses latest petition for reinstatement, but Genco said Manfred opened the door by also stating that it wasnt Manfreds responsibility to determine whether Rose should be eligible for the Hall. Petitioning the Hall to change the rule, Genco said, was the next logical step.Genco noted that Manfred had allowed Rose to participate recently in some ceremonial activities, including the retirement of his No. 14 by the Reds and his induction into the Reds Hall of Fame in June.This play may only bring further scrutiny to Pete, Genco said. He may not get in. It may open a magnifying glass on Pete Roses transgressions, but if you look at it from a fundamental fairness point of view, I think we have good footing. We have a very reasonable argument where the board can take very reasonable action in their power to bring real closure to this.Spokesman Michael Teevan said MLB had no comment on Roses latest appeal.---Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacyFor some of his other recent stories: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/mitch-stacy ' ' '