McLaren boss Brown sees world of ‘virtual’ F1 teams

Substantial outlay Target surpassed Ethiopia carries out mass ‘doping’ tests

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, May 23, (AP): After being criticized last year for having a weak anti-doping program, Ethiopia conducted drug tests on more than 350 athletes last week, a top official said on Monday.

The vast majority of the sportsmen and women tested — 339 of them — were track and field athletes, Mekonnen Yidersal, the director general of the Ethiopian National Anti-Doping Office, told The Associated Press.

Those tests coincided with the national athletics championships in the capital Addis Ababa.

Five Paralympic athletes, 10 cyclists, and five boxers were also tested from Tuesday to Sunday, Mekonnen said. A laboratory is expected to England, May 23, (RTRS): All Formula One teams could eventually have their own virtual counterpart, while gaming can become the new grassroots of the sport, McLaren executive director Zak Brown said on Monday.

Speaking at an event to promote McLaren’s “World’s Fastest Gamer” initiative to recruit a Formula One simulator driver from virtual racing, Brown told reporters the world of esports was to be embraced.

“I don’t see how any F1 team can ignore the power of e-sports, the audience, the people it produces. So I’d like to think most F1 teams will do something in some way, shape or form,” he said.

“This is building the grassroots of motorsports,” added the American, who arrived at the team’s headquarters fresh from Indianapolis where he watched McLaren driver Fernando Alonso qualify fifth for Sunday’s Indy 500.

“If the grassroots has historically been karting, which is still a narrow audience because it’s still expensive, I see this (gaming) as being the ultimate grassroots of motorsports, being wide and deep and everyone can afford it.”

Simon Long, head of business development at analytics company Nielsen Sport, said the e-sports industry could be worth as much as $2

Brown

to tie it at 3-3.

But the Anaheim fightback was the cue for a decisive burst of scoring that began when Sissons smashed in a one-timer from the left circle after good work by Calle Jarnkrok.

Filip Forsberg and Watson then applied the coups de grace, scoring into an empty net to make it 6-3.

Nashville coach Peter Laviolette lavished praise on hat-trick hero Sissons after a win that he said came after a year of hard work.

“Colton’s answered all the challenges that we’ve asked of him lately, and tonight, I think, his game tonight went to another level,” Laviolette said.

“The goals are one thing, but the way he competed, the way he defended, the penalties he killed, the faceoff battles he got into. The hits that he took, the hits that he gave, he was -that’s the best I’ve seen him.”

Sissons meanwhile described his three-goal blast as the latest stop on a season that had been a “wild ride,” which has seen him drift in and out of the Predators starting line-up.

“It was a wild ride so far this year, a lot of challenges for me personally, obviously being out of the lineup. I just wanted to be a regular guy playing every single night. But it feels good and I’m just enjoying it,” Sissons said.

“I’m not going to lie. Obviously I don’t think I even dreamt this moment, scoring a hat trick in a Western Conference-clinching game.”

Laviolette said his team would be allowed to savor the moment before turning attention to the finals.

“Our guys fought incredibly hard through the course of the year to try and get better, to get ourselves in a position to make the Playoffs and then certainly fought hard in the Playoffs,” he said.

“Our guys know the big picture. They understand what it is that we’re trying to do here. And when that time comes, we’ll be ready. But tonight they’re going to enjoy the fact that they just won a game and they’re movWOKING, Pekka Rinne #35 of the Nashville Predators makes a save against the Anaheim Ducks during the first period in Game Six of the Western Conference Final during the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bridgestone Arena on May

22, in Nashville, Tennessee. (AFP)

ing on.”

Nashville now face either the Ottawa Senators or the Pittsburgh Penguins in the finals, which get under way on May 29 in the Eastern Conference venue.

Goalie Pekka Rinne also had another strong night for Nashville, making 38 saves.

Anaheim outshot the Predators by 41-18 and dominated the closing stages. But Nashville’s sharper eye for goal proved decisive. Ducks goalie Jonathan Bernier, in for the injured starter John Gibson stopped only 12 of the 16 shots he faced.

Meanwhile, the Nashville Predators have confirmed center Ryan Johansen needed emergency surgery because of an acute compartment syndrome in his

left thigh.

General manager David Poile detailed Johansen’s condition in a statement Sunday, two days after Nashville announced the top scorer’s season had been ended by a thigh injury after Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. Poile said rapid diagnosis and treatment was critical to prevent complications.

Johansen’s symptoms developed after finishing Game 4, a 3-2 overtime loss to Anaheim. He skated slowly to the bench and grimaced in pain after a check from Ducks defenseman Josh Manson, but it’s still unclear whether the injury was caused by that innocuous hit. The center had surgery within two hours of being diagnosed at

Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“As a result, he had no permanent injury to his muscle, nerves or blood vessels and we expect a full and complete recovery,” Poile said.

Compartment syndrome involves excessive pressure building up inside a muscle, either from bleeding or swelling. High pressure restricts blood flow and can lead to permanent injury if not treated quickly.

Johansen led the Predators with 13 points in 14 playoff games and has tweeted a couple photos of himself from his hospital bed. He hadn’t missed a game since joining the Predators in a trade with Columbus in January 2016. He shared the club scoring lead in the regular season with 61 points.