Press. But now we want to focus on the 41 other dis

SUZUKA, Japan -- Nico Rosberg extended his lead in the drivers championship to 33 points with an assured victory at the Japanese Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton had to go on a recovery drive to third after a poor start.Rosberg and Hamilton started the race side by side on the front row of the grid, but Hamilton suffered wheelspin as the lights went out, dropping him to eighth place as he exited the first corner. From that point onwards Rosberg faced no real opposition for the win, while Hamilton was tasked with a battle through the field over the remaining 53 laps.A mixture of strategy, quick laps around pit stops and overtaking moved Hamilton up to third at the end of the race, but he could not find a way past Max Verstappen, who withstood pressure from the Mercedes in the final seven laps to take second place for Red Bull. Hamilton had an opportunity at the final chicane on the penultimate lap, but an aggressive defence from Verstappen forced the world champion to take to the exit road to avoid a collision.The result gives Rosberg a significant advantage in the championship and means he can finish second to Hamilton in the remaining four races (even affording one third place finish) and still win the title. The result also secured Mercedes its third consecutive constructors championship.Sebastian Vettel took fourth for Ferrari after losing third to Hamilton in the final round of pit stops, with teammate Kimi Raikkonen recovering from a five-place grid penalty to finish fifth. Malaysias race winner Daniel Ricciardo struggled throughout the race to finish sixth and lost a lot of time at his second pit stop. Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh and eighth for Force India, with another victory over rivals Williams, which finished ninth and tenth with both drivers on a one-stop strategy.The story of the raceHamiltons poor start was his fourth of the season, following similarly slow getaways at the Australian, Bahrain and Italian Grands Prix this year. Much like his start in Monza, Hamilton appeared to suffer wheelspin as he released the clutch and it left him powerless to prevent the flood of rival cars passing on his left-hand side. A lap later he apologised to the team over the radio and following the race he admitted he made a mistake.Hamiltons recovery drive kicked into gear on lap seven as he thought better of a move on Nico Hulkenberg at 130R in order to complete a move on the inside of Turn 1 to take seventh place. He made his first pit stop on lap 14, which moved him ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez, who made early stops but got caught in traffic on their outlaps and lost time.On his outlap, Hamilton managed to get a better exit than Ricciardo out of Spoon corner in order to complete a passing move into 130R and gain another place.Next up was Vettel and Hamilton managed to close a 14 second gap to the Ferrari in the run up to his second pit stop. Hamilton pitted before the Ferrari and used his pace in clear air to make sure he was ahead when Vettel emerged from his own stop. Vettel opted to take on soft tyres in an attempt to reclaim the position on track, but despite sitting on the tail of the Mercedes for three laps, he was unable to make a move stick.Over the remainder of the race Hamilton set about closing the gap to Verstappen, and with seven laps remaining he was within DRS range. Verstappen ensured he got a better exit from the final chicane lap after lap to stop Hamilton attempting a move into Turn 1, but the Mercedes driver had something different in mind.In the knowledge he could carry more speed out of Spoon corner, Hamilton attempted to line up the Red Bull on the long back straight and through 130R in order to make a move on the entrance to the chicane. On the penultimate lap he got the first two parts right, but Verstappen was wise to the move and blocked the inside line as Hamilton made his lunge under braking. With the door well and truly closed, Hamilton had to take to the run off and with it his chances of securing a crucial extra three points for second place were gone.But Hamiltons fightback should not overshadow another mature and assured performance from Rosberg, who is increasingly in command in the driverss standings. With the constructors title wrapped up for another year, all eyes will be on the Mercedes drivers over the remaining four rounds as they battle it out for the 2016 title. New Balance Outlet España . Mitch Holmberg added a goal and three assists. Connor Chartier also scored for the Chiefs (3-0-0). Luke Harrison spoiled Garrett Hughsons shutout bid with a power-play goal at 13:17 of the third period. The Spokane goaltender finished with 28 saves, including a Brandon Fushimi penalty shot in the second period that would have tied the game 1-1. New Balance Ofertas España . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. http://www.newbalancebaratas.es/ . LOUIS -- Lance Lynn was one of the more enthusiastic participants as the St. New Balance Baratas Outlet . Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN. New Balance Baratas España . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs tonight at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Winning a gold medal in soccer, and not worrying about anything else, is no longer good enough in Brazil with the country holding the Olympics.The country wants to win as many events as it can and finish in the top 10 in the number of overall medals won.A tall order for a country with little Olympic history like Brazil -- but something the host nation thinks is attainable.Of course, soccer is a passion in Brazil, Adriana Bahar, the sports planning general manager for the BOC, told The Associated Press. But now we want to focus on the 41 other disciplines in the Olympics.Countries always get a medal bounce as the Olympic host. China got one in Beijing, Britain in London, and now its Brazils turn to rise.Brazil has won three medals through six full days of competition. Thats one short of what Michael Phelps has claimed on his own, but still a source of pride for the country.Rafaela Silva won gold in judo, Felipe Wu took silver in shooting and Mayra Aguiar has bronze in judo.Despite the early success, the Rio de Janeiro Olympics have yet to catch on across the sprawling metropolitan area of 12 million.Stadiums for basketball and judo have been full. But many venues have been lightly attended, particularly in sports unfamiliar to Brazilians. The opening day of golf appeared to have more rules officials in the gallery than fans.This could change if Brazil starts winning medals to generate a groundswell of interest -- even in the citys impoverished favelas, which are distant from most of the venues, and economically even farther away.Its always good for a home nation to win medals, International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said. Its always goes down well.dddddddddddd We hope they do, but the competition doesnt always go how you might hope it would.Soccer defines Brazil, particularly when it comes to the World Cup. But soccer matters less in the Olympics, where Brazil has never won gold.Its more important to win a lot of medals than simply one gold medal in soccer, Brazilian fan Anderson Silveira said, cheering at tennis match on Thursday at the Olympic Park. Id give up a soccer gold medal for doing well and showing we are good in many things.Bahar declined to guess how many medals it will take to finish in the top 10. A good guess is 25, which is 50 percent more than Brazil won in London.As Brazils ambitions have swollen, so has its team with 465 members this time -- almost twice as many as London and Beijing. This is partly because as the host nation, Brazil qualifies automatically for most events. Its also hired 56 foreign coaches to handle the crunch.Brazil has usually done well in volleyball, beach volleyball, judo and sailing. Its picked up a few medals in swimming, track and field, and equestrian events. The idea is to contend in more -- handball, gymnastics, boxing, tennis, canoe sprint and archery.Were working to win medals in places we havent before, and then hold what we have, Bahar said. This is a serious moment for everyone. Its a unique moment, but we hope its not the end. We hope its just one milestone as we establish ourselves.---Stephen Wade on Twitter: http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP .His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wade ' ' '