Zanardi stable but doctors warn of possible complications

ROME » Doctors treating Italian auto racing championturned-Paralympic gold medalist Alex Zanardi say he remains stable after a crash on his handbike but is at risk of unforeseen complications.

In a new medical update Sunday, the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital in Siena said the longer Zanardi’s vital signs remain stable, the better off he is. But the update warned that his neurological condition remained grave and that doctors cannot “exclude the possibility of adverse events.”

Zanardi, who lost both of his legs in an auto racing crash nearly 20 years ago, has been in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator since he crashed his handbike into a truck near the Tuscan town of Pienza during a relay race Friday.

Doctors say he suffered serious facial and cranial trauma and have warned of possible brain damage.

Former NFL, USC offensive lineman Max Tuerk dies at 26

LOS ANGELES » Max Tuerk, an All-America offensive lineman at Southern California who was drafted by the Chargers, has died. He was 26.

USC announced his death Sunday on Twitter, but not say when Tuerk died or provide a cause of death.

Tuerk played for the Trojans from 2012-15. He was a freshman All-American and an AllPac-12 first-team selection in

2014. As a three-year starter, he played under three head coaches — Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian and Clay Helton.

“Heartbroken by the loss of Max Tuerk,” Helton tweeted. “Incredible person, teammate, and Trojan. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”

The Chargers selected Tuerk in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft, but a knee injury during his senior year affected his progress. Despite making the Chargers’ roster, he was inactive all season.

F1 star Hamilton to set up commission to increase diversity

LONDON » Six-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton is to set up a commission to increase diversity in motorsport.

The Mercedes driver said the aim of the Hamilton Commission would be to make the sport “become as diverse as the complex and multicultural world we live in.”

Writing in British newspaper The Sunday Times, Hamilton said it would be a research partnership dedicated to exploring how motorsport can be used as a vehicle to “engage more young people from

Black backgrounds with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and, ultimately, employ them on our teams or in other engineering sectors.”

“I’ve been fighting the stigma of racism throughout my racing career — from kids throwing things at me while karting, to being taunted by fans in black face at a 2007 grand prix, one of my first Formula One races,” he wrote.

“I’m used to being one of very few people of color on my teams and, more than that, I’m used to the idea that no one will speak up for me when I face racism, because no one personally feels or understands my experience.”

Dimitrov positive for COVID-19, exhibition event canceled

Grigor Dimitrov has tested positive for COVID-19, leading to the cancellation of an exhibition event in Croatia where top-ranked Novak Djokovic was due to play in the final.

Dimitrov, ranked No. 19 and a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist, is the highestprofile current player to say he has the virus. His announcement Sunday on his Instagram page comes at the end of a week when the U.S. Open said it would go forward.

The professional tennis tours have been suspended since March and are planning to resume in August.

Goran Ivanisevic, one of Djokovic’s coaches, said the news from Dimitrov was “shocking” and that “now everyone will have to be tested.”

Dimitrov said he was making his condition public because he wanted to “make sure anyone who has been in contact with me during these past days gets tested.”

“I am so sorry for any harm

I might have caused,” he wrote.

Horse injured, euthanized after race at Santa Anita

ARCADIA » A horse injured after crossing the finish line of a race at Santa Anita was euthanized, making it the 15th fatality at the track since late December.

Strictly Biz, a 4-year-old colt, fractured his right knee while galloping past the finish of the sixth race Saturday. The attending veterinarian determined it was an unrecoverable injury.

Ridden by Jose Valdivia Jr., Strictly Biz finished sixth among eight horses in the $51,000 race on the turf.

Trained by Brian Koriner and owned by Jay Em Ess Stable, the colt had one win in four career starts and earnings of $29,000, according to Equibase.

The track’s spring-summer meet ends Sunday.