RIP: World's Fastest Luge Track Claims First Olympic Victim

02.12.2010 2:01 pm
Luge athlete dies in crash during training
By Reid Laymance
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Share this Print this Digg Yahoo! Del.icio.us Facebook Reddit Drudge Google Fark Stumble It! Hours before the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, a horrific crash in the luge brought a sobering start to the Games.
Nodar Kumaritashvili of Georgia died after soaring off the track during a practice run. He lost control of his sled near the end of the track, went over the wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center.
The IOC has not officially announced the death, but the Associated Press is reporting it.
The luge track at Whistler is considered one of the fastest in the world with speeds reaching over 90 mph.
The first day of competition was to be Saturday.
Here is an early account of the death from Associated Press:
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — A men’s luger from the former Soviet republic of Georgia died Friday after a crash during training, an Olympic official with direct knowledge of the situation said. The death cast a shocking pall over the Vancouver Olympics hours before the opening ceremony.
The official told The Associated Press that the International Olympic Committee received confirmation of Nodar Kumaritashvili’s death. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the 21-year-old luger’s family hadn’t been notified yet.
Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center.
Rescue workers were at his side within seconds, chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation started less than one minute after the crash, and he was quickly airlifted to a trauma center in Whistler.
Kumaritashvili struck the inside wall of the track on the final turn. His body immediately went airborne and cleared the ice-coated concrete wall along the left side of the sliding surface. His sled remained in the track, and it appeared his helmet visor skidded down the ice.
“It’s a very rare situation,” three-time Olympic champion and German coach Georg Hackl said before news of Kumaritashvili’s death broke, clearly shaken moments after seeing Kumaritashvili tended to furiously by medical officials.
Olympic competition in men’s luge is scheduled to begin Saturday. It’s unclear if that schedule would be affected.
It was unclear how fast Kumaritashvili was going, although many sliders have exceeded 90 mph on this course. The track is considered the world’s fastest and several Olympians recently questioned its safety. More than a dozen athletes have crashed during Olympic training for luge, and some questioned whether athletes from smaller nations _ like Georgia _ had enough time to prepare for the daunting track.
The remainder of men’s training was canceled for the day, with VANOC officials saying in a release that an investigation was taking place to “ensure a safe field of play.”
Kumaritashvili competed in five World Cup races this season, finishing 44th in the world standings.
Earlier in the day, gold-medal favorite Armin Zoeggeler of Italy crashed, losing control of his sled on Curve 11. Zoeggeler came off his sled and held it with his left arm to keep it from smashing atop his body. He slid on his back down several curves before coming to a stop and walking away.
Training days in Whistler have been crash-filled. A Romanian woman was briefly knocked unconscious and at least four Americans _ Chris Mazdzer on Wednesday, Megan Sweeney on Thursday and both Tony Benshoof and Bengt Walden on Friday in the same training session where Zoeggeler wrecked _ have had serious trouble just getting down the track.
“I think they are pushing it a little too much,” Australia’s Hannah Campbell-Pegg said Thursday night after she nearly lost control in training. “To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we’re crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives.”
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Comments
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Someone needs to be held criminally accountable for that. What the hell were they thinking?
When I first heard it on the radio and they said he hit an unpadded steel beam. I was thinking that he hit something that he had a million to one chance of hitting.
Those friggin beams line the edge of the damn track!!
RIP - this never should have happened
Kiss me twice.....let's party.
RIP...Donato
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<< <i>I was just looking at an article and it had pictures of the steel beams that line the side of the track.
Someone needs to be held criminally accountable for that. What the hell were they thinking?
When I first heard it on the radio and they said he hit an unpadded steel beam. I was thinking that he hit something that he had a million to one chance of hitting.
Those friggin beams line the edge of the damn track!!
RIP - this never should have happened >>
AGREED! The article I saw stated that he was traveling @ 93 MPH when he hit one of those beams! MY GOD. RIP young man!
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
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The "track" looks like a death trap. At best, it is an obstacle course.
The track should be closed down; there are others nearby that can be used.
Just too fast and a poorly designed track with no safety in mind.
Incredibly sad accident.
"... I'm not sure how I feel about showing the video. Kinda thinking it is in poor taste...."
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I agree and removed the "action photo" from above.
BUT, people do need to see what that murderous track
looks like and understand that ANY idiot can look at the
thing and tell that it is unsafe at ANY speed.
Hopefully, the other athletes will seek an injunction tonight
and ask a court to close the death trap down in the morning.
I am clueless as to why engineers would think that the dozens
of steel girders lining the track do not pose a deadly hazzard.
No amount of padding on the girders would have saved the
athlete. The stupidity of designing such a track is shocking.
They call me "Pack the Ripper"
Would it look bad on TV?
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BINGO !!!
Big lawsuit on the way.
So much was made about the Jamaican bob-sledders a few yars back, but they could have easily ended with the same results.
There may be a call for qualifying much like a learner's permit before any athlete can compete in these speed events. There is, however, an inherent risk just like car racing.
Sad in any case - RIP
seriously though, sad news. Probably could have been avoided or at least the course could have been made safer. Looking at the replays though, it probably didn't matter how the pole was padded or what it was made of. The sheer velocity upon impact was probably enough.
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Yup.
And, any design flaw in the track dramatically increases that risk.
There were a BUNCH of complaints from athletes about the track,
prior to the fatal crash.
Sad way to kick off the olympics.
To me the first thing you would have to think of for safety is "what would happen if someone flew off the track?".
In nascar wheels and debris entering stands was a huge issue so they tethered the wheels and installed netting.
It seems the safety design in Luge is seriously lacking.
BTW the guy was ranked 44 in the world and competed in 5 events this year already. I wouldn't call him a amateur or on par with Jamaicans.
He may have not been great but good enough to compete.