Olympic Tragedy

[Allie 5]

With all the accidents on this luge track maybe this course design is unsafe.

WHISTLER, B.C. — Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili has died after a horrific crash in an Olympic training run, according to the Vancouver Sun.

He was coming around the final 270-degree turn, where speeds approach 140 km/h, when he flipped off his sled and was hurled into a metal pole. He appeared to hit his head.

Medics administered CPR to the 21-year-old from Borjomi, Georgia, before he was lifted into an ambulance. An air-rescue helicopter arrived some eight minutes after the crash.

Training was halted for the day.

Kumaritashvili competed in five World Cup races this season, finishing 44th in the world standings.

The $105-million sliding centre, on the southeast face of Blackcomb Mountain, has been billed as a wild ride and the accident happened at its fastest point.

The 1,450-metre course has 16 turns and drops steeply for 152 metres, the longest drop of any track in the world.

The average grade is about 11 per cent, including two stomach-inverting drops of 20 per cent.

It was the second crash of the day on the course after defending Olympic champion Armin Zoeggeler of Italy lost control on the lower part of the track. He didn't appear to be injured. On Thursday, Romanian women's slider Violeta Stramaturaru crashed and had to be airlifted out.

More than a dozen athletes have crashed during Olympic training

CP/ 12/02/2010

[Revenesque 2]

What a tragedy!

[Flames9_RN 358]

An athletes response to the super fast track: (its in the last paragraph)

http://sports.espn.go.com/olympics/winter/...tory?id=4909034

and CNN.com on its front page had a pretty horrific picture of him flying over the edge!! Crazy!!

Edited February 12, 2010 by Flames9_RN

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

It's tragic, sure...but I don't understand why people want to slow down the track. The whole point of the sport is to get the fastest speed possible. If they don't feel comfortable going too fast down a luge track, they probably shouldn't get on that tiny board with runners in the first place.

[Flames9_RN 358]

My understanding he was FLUNG off the track! Sure looks like that too on CNN.com picture. Fast is 1 thing, but being flung off the course is another

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

My understanding he was FLUNG off the track! Sure looks like that too on CNN.com picture. Fast is 1 thing, but being flung off the course is another

Well sure...but no doubt it was human error -- not anticipating the turn, or shifting his body the wrong way at the wrong time. The sport is inherently very dangerous, and there have been fatalities at previous Olympics with much slower tracks.

It's a slippery slope (sorry...couldn't resist) when you start to put limitations on things like this. What's next...putting little weights on ski-jumpers' ankles so that they don't accidentally overshoot the safe landing areas? Making sure all hockey players use wooden sticks to avoid injuring other players with too fast of a slapshot?

We should take pride in the fact that this is the fastest luge track in the world. As with ALL things, it should be up to the discretion of the individual participants as to whether or not they want to compete on such a fast track.

[Flames9_RN 358]

sure let it be the fastest, but how about the safest too, would be nice! Dont really matter to me, not a sport I will watch. Im not a race car fan either, but I do many of them limit how fast a car can go

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

sure let it be the fastest, but how about the safest too, would be nice! Dont really matter to me, not a sport I will watch. Im not a race car fan either, but I do many of them limit how fast a car can go

Most drivers and race fans (in Nascar, at least) hate THAT too.

[Sc0tt28 26]

It's tragic, sure...but I don't understand why people want to slow down the track. The whole point of the sport is to get the fastest speed possible. If they don't feel comfortable going too fast down a luge track, they probably shouldn't get on that tiny board with runners in the first place.

While I agree with what you are saying both in this post and in the next one at 2:10PM, the whole point of the sport is to get the fastest time possible (as compared to the other competitors), not necessarily the fastest speed. Whether it takes 2 minutes or 2 hours, the Olympian with the fastest time wins the medal. The track does not need to be dangerously fast in order to determine who got to the bottom the fastest, all you need is a stop watch.

[Pauley 2]

Most drivers and race fans (in Nascar, at least) hate THAT too.

In NASCAR, it goes both ways... at the two biggest tracks, Daytona (where the Daytona 500 will be held Sunday afternoon) and Talladega, speeds had to be limited due to safety concerns (a car went airborne during a race in 1987 after getting sideways and tore down several hundred feet of catch fence near the start/finish line, narrowly missing clobbering the flag stand and landing in the crowd). The carburetor restrictor plates installed in cars at those two tracks have made for a very different racing experience, with aerodynamic drafting (slipstreaming) taking on a greater importance than it does at most other tracks. Having 43 cars in a huge mob rather than spread out around the length of the track is certainly a different experience, both to drive and to watch.

{/NASCARfan}

[Flames9_RN 358]

good point about fastest TIME!!! Well off to work!! Will miss all the excitement surrounding the opening of the Games!

[Allie 5]

Well sure...but no doubt it was human error -- not anticipating the turn, or shifting his body the wrong way at the wrong time. The sport is inherently very dangerous, and there have been fatalities at previous Olympics with much slower tracks.

It's a slippery slope (sorry...couldn't resist) when you start to put limitations on things like this. What's next...putting little weights on ski-jumpers' ankles so that they don't accidentally overshoot the safe landing areas? Making sure all hockey players use wooden sticks to avoid injuring other players with too fast of a slapshot?

We should take pride in the fact that this is the fastest luge track in the world. As with ALL things, it should be up to the discretion of the individual participants as to whether or not they want to compete on such a fast track.

Not necessarily human error. If the track is to fast to control ones speed then it's the track that takes control and not the driver. I agree with you on your point that human error does cause accidents, but in this case I fully believe it was the track which caused the accident.

Many have already stated safety concerns prior to this accident

The danger of the Whistler track has been talked about for months - particularly after several countries, including the U.S., were upset over access restrictions for everyone but Canada, with some noting it could lead to a safety issue

Five-time Olympian Mark Grimmette, chosen as the U.S. team's flag bearer, said the speeds on the track are pushing the boundaries of safety.

I fail to agree with your view on limitation being implemented on things. Safe limitations are put in place to protect participants and those watching.

In reference to the hockey players stick there is a limit to the amount of curvature in a stick. Why, because of safety concerns in how a puck comes of such a stick, much like a doctored baseball would do, dipping and fluttering more than the norm. Also over curvature can generate more speed on slap shots and wrist shots.

There is no need to overlook safety when life is involved

[Sprailenes 47]

So I was just watching CNN and they showed his crash and they showed him hit the poll. I was sitting here in complete shock!!

I was just surprised how much they showed. Crazy.

[Malrothien 6]

Aside from the track design, the fact that VANOC regulations didn't allow for any other country besides Canada to practice on the track to weed out safety issues like this will lead to tragic deaths.

[tbaygrrl 2]

As a competive athlete in a high risk sport (Downhill mountain biking), it is the tougher, more mentally challenging courses that elite level athletes want to compete on. It is what seperates the the good from the best. These elite know that their sport comes with risk, including death. No course or track can ever be made to prevent all accidents including the very rare freak ones like today. To alter the tracks or courses to slow down the athlete is an insult to them and all there training, because its not the physical challenge that they crave, its the mental one. They want to push themselves to the edge and have the opportunity to do so. It is sad, but its part of the risk competing in such a sport.