CALGARY -- Gilmore Junio hopes the people who follow his speedskating career in typhoon-ravaged Philippines feel their spirits lift after his recent gold medal. The Filipino-Canadian won the first World Cup gold medal of his career in the 500 metres last week in Salt Lake City, Utah. His parents Gino and Julie emigrated from the Philippines to Canada in the 1970s. Junio was born and raised in Calgary. Hundreds were killed and millions left homeless when Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines earlier this month. Junio says the disaster did not directly impact his familys relatives. He is sponsored, however, by the Philippine telecommunications company PLDT. So after winning his gold, Junio sent a message to the company acknowledging his victory, but also conveying his best wishes for anyone affected by the typhoon. "I kept it pretty brief on my success and said it was a great confidence booster going towards the Olympics, but my thoughts and prayers went out to all families," Junio said. "Maybe not a lot of Filipinos know what speedskating is, but maybe just having an athlete they hear has won a gold medal on the World Cup circuit, maybe they can kind of be excited despite the tragedy and find something to rally around for the next couple of months." The 23-year-olds gold was his second career World Cup medal after winning a silver during the 2012-13 season. Along with Edmontons Jamie Gregg, who has earned a pair of World Cup bronze in the 500 already this season, the two men are medal threats at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in February. The Philippines is an island country in the western Pacific Ocean. No athletes from the country competed in the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., so Philippine media coverage of the Games concentrated on Filipino-American speed skater J.R. Celski and figure skater Amanda Evora. "My dad watches a lot of the Filipino channel and those two were always on the news," Junio said. "For Filipinos to have winter athletes to rally around at Olympic time, its special for them. "Theyre really big on their sports too," he continued, pointing out that boxer Manny Pacquiao is so beloved there, he was elected to political office. Junios sponsorship deal with PLDT is a unique story on its own. Junio did it with the help of Kevin Jagger, an Vancouver investment banker so inspired by the 2010 Games he quit his job to become a speedskater. Jagger has yet to make the national team, but still attracted sponsorship to his quest with his business and marketing smarts. Jagger worked with Junio on building a sponsorship proposal. They highlighted his unique heritage in the sport with the slogan "fastest Filipino on ice." ""We basically took that story and put a deck (proposal) together saying that over 100 metres, Gil is faster than Usain Bolt," Jagger said. "We put that deck together and sent that out to PLDT. "They loved it and they loved the idea. Even though he competes for Canada, hes very proud of his Filipino heritage. Thats someone they can call their own. They have a huge employee base so we basically pitched it around an employee morale story. "It speaks to the importance of having social media and blogging and having a website where he can effectively share his story and tell it across the ocean." It isnt NHL or NBA money, but the sponsorships value is in the double digits. Thats a significant amount to athletes who often believe they cant begin to engage a companys interest without an Olympic gold medal around their necks. "Its a pretty big amount compared to what Im used to," Junio said. "Especially with the Olympics this year, you want to make sure youre doing everything right buying supplements and vitamins and paying for extras. "We have a yoga core class so paying for that and equipment just piles up. To be able to just pay for that stuff and have the financial stresses off me . . . . you kind of have no more excuses." Junio has twice travelled to the Philippines and most recently in 2011 to visit his fathers relatives. Interestingly, Jagger also helped Junio parlay his "born-and-raised Calgarian" side into attracting sponsorship from the Calgary software company Aclaro. "On the sponsorship side, you wont get far with a generic deck," Jagger said. "Each pitch has been highly customized. Its always genuine, but youre pitching different things." Junio played hockey from age seven to 13. He realized he might not be big enough to pursue the sport at a high level when the opposing team had current six-foot-eight Buffalo Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers on it. With some gentle nudging from Gino, he attended a speedskating talent identification camp at the Olympic Oval. Junior started out in short track, but broke two bones in his back just prior to the junior world championships at age 19. He switched to long track as a means of training safely during his comeback and stayed with it. Junio tied for gold in Salt Lake City with Japans Joji Kato, the Olympic bronze medallist in 2010, as the two men posted identical times. "Having the gold with one of the fastest times Ive ever skated, that in itself gives me a lot of confidence that if I execute my plan right and really hone in on that day, I could contend to bring home a medal," Junio said. "Looking to Sochi, I just have to execute on the days I compete and at the Olympic trials. The Olympic trials come first." Fake Soccer Jerseys . 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Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys . - Vince Carter, heading into his 17th NBA season, doesnt consider age a big issue anymore.TORONTO - Starting pitcher J.A. Happ and catcher Erik Kratz had a plan. The left-hander came through with six solid innings and, with two home runs and three RBI from Edwin Encarnacion, the Blue Jays defeated the Cleveland Indians 4-2 on Thursday. Happ (2-1) allowed six hits, two walks and one run, on a homer by David Murphy in the fifth inning, in his third start of the season. The left-handed pitcher believes preparation with Kratz was the key to his success. "We went over some stuff before the game about how we wanted to attack them a little bit more deliberately," Happ said. "And for the most part we were able to do that." Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, who won his 400th game with Toronto, liked how the teams starting battery operated. "(Happ) stepped up," said Gibbons. "I thought Kratz did a nice job with him, working that fastball on the inside part of the plate. That was big for him, it really was. And big for us." Happs control impressed the Indians lineup as well. "His fastball was really getting on guys," Cleveland left-fielder Ryan Raburn said. "I know its 92-93 but out of his hand, it just seemed a lot harder. And he spotted his pitches. He didnt miss over the plate a whole lot from what I saw." Encarnacion, who has eight homers on the season, also had a double and lined out to third in his other at-bat. Juan Francisco hit his seventh homer of the season for the Blue Jays (21-21) who won the rubber match of a three-game series with the Indians (19-22) to complete a 5-4 home stand. If Happ is battling to prove to some people that he belongs in the rotation, he preferred not to discuss it in detail. "I dont want to get into that," Happ said. "I think youre always doing that to somebody. That person may change or those people may change." Encarnacion has been the designated hitter for the past two games with Adam Lind playing first base. The change was made just before Wednesdays game because Encarnacion had spasms in his upper back. "It felt a lot better today, so Im ready to go," Encarnacion said. "I felt a lot better at the plate. The last couple of games Ive been getting hits. Ive been great at the plate the last couple of weekend, and it makes me happy and very proud because when I play like that I know I can help the team win." "Hes one of the top sluggers in the game," Gibbons said. "Got off to a slow start, then he kicked it in. You look where hes at now, too, hes been barrelling a lot of balls all year, especially the last month, and a number of times he got nothing to show for it. So numbers could be even better now with little breaks here or there, a little luck. "But hes key to this team, of course with him and (Jose) Bautissta back to back.dddddddddddd Thats big. Of course, Lindy and now with Francisco. Those two (Encarnacion and Bautista), we know what to expect, theyre a given. But I like the way our lineup looks now. Its that much stronger, top to bottom." Cleveland dropped to 4-10 when facing a left-handed starter, 0-8 on the road, this season. Happ opened the season on the disabled list with a sore back and began pitching from the bullpen on his return. Casey Janssen, who also started the season on the disabled list, pitched the ninth for his second save of the season. Cleveland right-hander Danny Salazar (1-4) needed 98 pitches to work through four innings and was replaced by right-hander C.C. Lee to start the fifth with the Blue Jays leading 2-1. Salazar allowed five hits, including second-inning homers by Encarnacion and Francisco, two walks and two runs. He also hit a batter. "I just didnt have a good feeling for the ball today to command my fastball, and my change-up wasnt there," Salazar said. He felt that he made a good pitch on Franciscos homer. "I was just behind in the count," he said. "Theyre going to be ready to hit everything there." Lee faced two batters. Bautista led off the fifth with a single and Encarnacion lofted a drive to left on a 3-2 fastball. It was the second time he has hit two homers in a game this season and it was the 13th multi-homer game of his career. Left-hander Brett Cecil pitched the seventh for Toronto and right-hander Steve Delabar took over in the eighth and was greeted by Raburns double. Carlos Santana walked. But Asdrubal Cabrera lined out to right and pinch hitter Lonnie Chisenhall lined out to centre. Yan Gomes singled up the middle to cut the lead to two runs and bring in left-hander Aaron Loup. He struck out Murphy, who had five hits and five RBI in Clevelands 15-4 win on Wednesday. NOTES: Right-hander Dustin McGowan, who is 2-2 with a 5.08 earned-run average in eight starts, has been removed from the starting rotation and will pitch from the bullpen. Right-handers Marcus Stroman and Todd Redmond are candidates to start in his place next Tuesday in Boston. Right-hander Liam Hendriks who is 5-0 with a 1.51 ERA at triple-A Buffalo is another possibility. … Centre-fielder Colby Rasmus (hamstring) was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday and outfielder Anthony Gose was recalled from Buffalo. …The Indians put outfielder Nyjer Morgan (right knee sprain) on the DL and called up infielder Jesus Aguilar from triple-A Columbus. … The Blue Jays travel to Arlington, Tex., to play the Rangers in a three-game series that opens Friday with Drew Hutchison (1-3, 4.37 ERA) starting against Yu Darvish (3-1, 2.33 ERA). ' ' '