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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 JUNE 2017 53 Sport TENNIS OLYMPICS Murray hoping to make the most of last few competitions ANDY Murray believes that he can compete at the top level for only another "couple of years" even though Roger Federer has proved that it is possible to win major titles at the age of 35. Despite the recent success of Australian Open champion Federer and 31-year-old Ra- fael Nadal, who claimed a 10th French Open title last Sunday, Murray believes that his physical condition and fitness could limit his performances in the future. "I know some of the players have been doing really well until their mid-30s recently... maybe the next couple of years are the last few where I have a chance to compete for the majors and the biggest tournaments," the 30-year-old Wimbledon cham- pion told the BBC. "Most of the players are travel- ling with physios now, spending a lot more time working in the gym to protect their bodies from the kind of pounding you give it on the court as well. I think some of that explains it. "I don't know how long I'm go- ing to be playing for any more. I want to make the most of every tournament I compete in... I'll continue to play so long as my body is fine." The Briton, who has won just one tournament this year, be- lieves that the experience gained over his 12-year professional ca- reer helps him deal with the pres- sure during Wimbledon. "For me, it is obviously always going to be the biggest tourna- ment during the year," Murray said. "A lot of pressure comes with it as well. There's a lot of expecta- tion during this period, so it can be a bit stressful... "I'm older and more experi- enced in dealing with it. The pressure and stress that goes with it maybe doesn't affect me quite as much when I was younger." Murray will start the grasscourt season at the Aegon Champion- ships at Queen's Club, where he faces British number four Aljaz Bedene in the first round. McDonald's ends Olympics sponsorship deal early MCDONALD'S Corp ended its 41-year-old sponsorship of the Olympic Games three years early, the International Olympic Committee said on Friday, re- f lecting the U.S. fast-food giant's focus on its core business as well as rising Olympics sponsorship costs and declining TV ratings. McDonald's deal would have run through the Tokyo Olym- pics in 2020, and bowing out will likely to save it hundreds of mil- lion of dollars if it had continued into the next four-year Olympics cycle and beyond. McDonald's has been trying to hold down costs as it invests in improving food quality, restau- rant service and online ordering to woo back U.S. diners. Intense competition has gnawed away at sales. "We are reconsidering all as- pects of our business and have made this decision in coopera- tion with the IOC to focus on different priorities," said Mc- Donald's Global Chief Market- ing Officer Silvia Lagnado. The company, first involved with the games in 1968 and a sponsor since 1976, was the Olympics' food retail sponsor. Despite pulling out with im- mediate effect, McDonald's will continue at next year's Pyeo- ngchang winter Olympics as a domestic sponsor. The company's move may al- so ref lect a rising view among consumer brands that exclusive Olympics sponsorship deals do not offer the marketing impact they once did. Some companies find it is much cheaper to work directly with athletes or specific countries than the IOC. Moreover, in a trend that began after the Beijing games in 2008, shrinking television audiences for the games could be dimin- ishing the value of sponsors' ads. With the Rio de Janeiro games in 2016, many viewers turned to so- cial media alternatives like Twit- ter Inc and Facebook Inc. In the United States, Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal said it had attracted 8.6 percent fewer eye- balls for Rio than it did for Lon- don in 2012. The fast food chain has been part of the IOC's top sponsors programme that contributes more than $1 billion in each four-year cycle for the games. While terms of Olympic spon- sorship are not disclosed, a source who negotiated previous IOC sponsorship deals said that top global sponsors like McDon- ald's spend about $25 million a year or about $100 million for a four-year period that includes a summer and winter games. The IOC had wanted to rough- ly double fees to $200 million per four year period starting in 2021. While it is unusual for an Olympic sponsor to leave early, sponsors change regularly with- in the IOC's top programme. The most recent addition was China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, which signed a deal in Janu- ary for a partnership through 2028. The next three Olympics take place in Asia, and this could turn off U.S. sponsors trying to reach a U.S. audience. The U.S. Olym- pic Committee also has lost re- cent sponsors such as AT&T and Citigroup ahead of the 2018 win- ter games in South Korea. The IOC said it was not plan- ning a direct replacement for McDonald's, but it is expected to announce a new global deal with Intel Corp next week, according a source familiar with the mat- ter. "Companies with a deep fo- cus on technology are barging in while others migrate out," said Peter Land, who works with Olympics and Paralympics sponsors for communications firm Finsbury. The IOC has faced criticism from public health campaign- ers for allowing sponsors such as Coca-Cola and McDonald's to use the games to market their products, which are perceived to be unhealthy. John Lewicki, who oversees global Olympic sponsorship deals for McDonald's, said last year the company would reeval- uate its Olympic relationship af- ter changes to a rule that ended a marketing blackout for compa- nies that sponsor athletes rather than the event itself. Shares of McDonald's rose $1.06, or about 0.7 percent on Friday. Athletes line up at a McDonald's inside the Olympic village in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil