Winter Olympics - Tragic death at Winter Olympics

Reuters - Sat, 13 Feb 07:20:00 2010

A black cloud descended over the Vancouver Olympics on Friday after 21-year-old Georgian luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a horrific training crash at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

Olympische Ringe Vancouver 2010 feature Olympia Spiele - 0

Kumaritashvili was making his final scheduled practice slide before Saturday's competition when he lost control at 90mph and was launched over the rim of the track before slamming into an unpadded pillar.

His sled and smashed visor continued down the ice towards the finish line which was just metres away on a course which has seen several crashes this week and been labelled as too fast and dangerous by a number of competitors.

Medics performed emergency resuscitation at the scene before he was flown down the mountain by helicopter where he died in hospital.

The track was closed pending an investigation but later reopened and the competition is set to go ahead on schedule.

The IOC and International Luge Federation (FIL) issued a joint statement offering their condolences.

"Our first thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of the athlete. The whole Olympic Family is struck by this tragedy which clearly casts a shadow over these Games," IOC president Jacques Rogge said.

"This is a terrible accident," added FIL president Josef Fendt. "This is the gravest thing that can happen in sport, and our thoughts and those of the luge family are naturally with those touched by the event."

Vancouver organising committee (VANOC) head John Furlong said he was "heartbroken" by the death of Kumaritashvili.

Training was cancelled while the venue was investigated by the Coroners Service of British Columbia and the FIL.

They said the accident had not been caused by deficiencies in the track but that alterations had been made as a "preventative measure".

"It appears the athlete came late out of curve 15 and did not compensate properly to make correct entrance into curve 16.

This resulted in a late entrance into curve 16 and although the athlete worked to correct the problem he eventually lost control of the sled resulting in the tragic accident," a statement said.

"Based on these findings the race director, in consultation with the FIL, made the decision to re-open the track following a raising of the walls at the exit of curve 16 and a change in the ice profile.

"This was done as a preventative measure, in order to avoid that such an extremely exceptional accident could occur again."

Fendt was due to hold a news conference with Tim Gayda, VANOC vice president of sport, first thing on Saturday when two extra men's training runs will be held before the competition starts at 1700 local time.

The Olympic and Canadian flags were lowered to half mast during a minute's silence held at the opening ceremony.

The Georgian National Olympic Committee (NOC) and its athletes wore black stripes as they marched in. They also placed a black patch on the Georgian flag that was raised immediately following the parade of athletes.

Kumaritashvili, the son of Selix, the head of the Georgian Luge Federation, was competing at his first Olympics after racing in five World Cup events this year with little success.

His death was the first luge fatality in the Olympic Games since Briton Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski died during a training run in Innsbruck, Austria in 1964, the debut year for the sport in which athletes hurtle down the track feet first.

An FIL spokesman said that at a recent international training week at Whistler Sliding Centre, acknowledged as the fastest in the world, there had been 2,500 runs with only a three per cent crash rate.

However, athletes have been remarking all week on the speed and technical difficulty of the 1,400 metre track which features corners nicknamed 50-50 and Shiver. FIL spokesman Wolfgang Harder said on Thursday that future tracks would need to be slowed down to protect the safety of athletes.

"We are going to have to put speed limits in the next track which will be built for the Olympics," he said after Manuel Pfister set the fastest recorded luge speed of 154kmh.

Friday's fatal accident occurred on the 16th corner, the final curve of a high-speed labyrinth that has proved treacherous even for the world's top lugers.

Earlier on Friday, double Olympic champion and gold medal favourite Armin Zoeggeler of Italy was caught out at the 11th corner and was flipped off his sled. A Romanian woman competitor was briefly knocked unconscious on Thursday.

Follow the Winter Olympics 24/7 on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin 521) and Eurosport HD (Sky 412) British Eurosport channels are streamed online via the Eurosport Player.

Reuters

Comment 232 - 251 of 251

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  1. timmcalister: Words fail me. You are scum.

    From rockandrollmachine, on Sat 1 Jan 1:14
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    hahahaha you died lol

    From timmcalister, on Thu 16 Dec 12:37

  3. Shame on those responsible for not taking proper­ precautions and not heeding the concerns of many who­ deemed the track too treacherous. Shame on the Olympic­ committee for it's role in depriving this family­ who is suffering beyond imagination, the chance to­ watch thier young son reach his dreams and goals. This­ is despicable and those responsible should be held­ accountable. Putting up a barrier after the fact is not­ good enough. Prayers for comfort and strength go out to­ this family and may this trusting beautiful boy rest in­ peace...

    Anita xoxox

    From Anita, on Mon 22 Feb 20:56

  4. This accident is so sad that a young man has lost his­ life representing his country in the 2010 winter­ Olympics. I feel so sad in my heart and i pray for all­ of Nodar Kumaritashvili family and friends. I pray that­ God will help ease the pain that you are going through.­ I recently have lost a young and very close member of­ my family and a lot of people were praying for my­ family and that was a good comfort so i ask all you­ readers to pray for the Kumaritashvili family to ease­ the pain and loss that they are going through at this­ very sad time. ( May God Bless You All ).

    From NIGEL, on Sun 21 Feb 13:16

  5. It was a very tragic accident and i feel as if the news­ shouldnt of shown the video of how he died, i feel as­ if that was disrespecting the family for having to make­ them watch it all over again

    From soccerboy, on Wed 17 Feb 10:12

  6. It is inexcusable that any unprotected pillar or­ 90-degree surface should be within the possible­ trajectory of any person using the luge course -­ whether that person is in or out of control - end of­ discussion.
    This is akin to placing unprotected light­ standards within inches of an auto/motorcycle race­ track - it just isn't done - despite the fact that­ thousands of laps are successfully completed each­ season. Any planner or planning committee knows full­ well that you must plan for the unexpected and the 3%­ chance of a crash (which, by definition is an­ uncontrolled event), particularly on the fastest course­ in the world.

    Moreover, it may not be apparent to­ those of us in, relatively affluent, North America or­ Western Europe that this young man was the hope of not­ only his family (who made many sacrifices just for him­ to be at this Olympics) but of his town and region. ­

    Although local officials have expressed sorrow, I­ find it surprising is that no one (official, Olympic­ Commitee or fan) has yet come forward to assist the­ Kumaritashvili family. Since some legal body has­ probably counseled officials that giving compensation­ could be seen as an admission of culpability, there has­ been no discussion of same. Therefore, in the­ CANADIAN TRADITION, we are setting up a collection for­ Nordar's family - details to be available shortly. ­ I hope we can go global with this at an institution­ such as HSBC.

    Stay tuned for details and God be with­ the Kumaritashvili family during their time of grief.

    From Murmillion, on Tue 16 Feb 10:07

  7. Plain and simple...NO mistake should result in a­ fatality. The fact that this tragedy was so preventable­ really angers me!

    From StardustGoldenDawn, on Tue 16 Feb 7:11

  8. this is a terrible event HOWEVER, I can not understand­ how people are putting the blame on the designers of­ the track . . .the track is safely designed. As­ designers we ensure safety of the users as much as­ possible however, we can not predict where and how the­ users will SCREW up.

    From Kraft, on Mon 15 Feb 12:37

  9. There's no way I would've put those steel­ pillars right there (and I know nothing about luge­ sport).

    From Jason, on Mon 15 Feb 4:55

  10. Added comment to Nodar and his Parents, since I could­ not edit first msg. Please know that alot of people in­ America, Vancouver and all over the World are very­ Proud of your son and had tears in their eyes for your­ tragic loss. Please believe our hearts and prayers are­ with you in your time of sorrow, and the loss will­ always be remembered with deep regret. May Almighty God­ Bless you and give your Mom and Dad and family strength­ in their time of sorrow. I am so Sincerely, Sorry.­ (Know you'll be watching from Heaven)
    Pat

    From PATRICIA, on Mon 15 Feb 0:43

  11. My heart and sincere sympathy go to his parents and­ family. I am so sorry about your son and that the­ tragedy was what it took to make changes that created­ more safety for those that followed.

    From PATRICIA, on Mon 15 Feb 0:10

  12. At least he died doing what he loved

    From AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs, on Sun 14 Feb 19:40

  13. To the family of Nodar our prayers are with you.Your­ son was a hero to his country and will not be­ forgotten.

    From susan, on Sun 14 Feb 18:08

  14. condoloences to his family and friends RIP

    From sam s, on Sun 14 Feb 14:19

  15. PREVENTABLE! IOC is to blame along with the­ designers, Stantec!

    From DJC, on Sun 14 Feb 13:50

  16. what a tragedy especially for us,Georigans..He died­ while representing our country.. We are proud of u­ Nodar..
    When we are talking about such a world-wide­ event as Olympics the safety of competitors should be­ guaranteed

    From kate.united, on Sun 14 Feb 11:29

  17. Hi everyone! I am Teo from Georgia. We could not­ imegine this. I am very sad because of this tragic­ fact. He was such a young man. I do not know what to­ say its great loss for georgia for his team and first­ of all for his family of course. Rest in peace Nodar!

    From Teona, on Sun 14 Feb 10:39

  18. R.I.P

    From edward_raji, on Sun 14 Feb 9:52

  19. RIP

    From Jozef, on Sun 14 Feb 6:13

  20. Quote: "Training was cancelled while the venue was­ investigated by the Coroners Service of British­ Columbia and the FIL. They said the accident had not­ been caused by deficiencies in the track but that­ alterations had been made as a "preventative­ measure".

    "It appears the athlete came late­ out of curve 15 and did not compensate properly to make­ correct entrance into curve 16. This resulted in a late­ entrance into curve 16 and although the athlete worked­ to correct the problem he eventually lost control of­ the sled resulting in the tragic accident," a­ statement said.

    "Based on these findings the race­ director, in consultation with the FIL, made the­ decision to re-open the track following a raising of­ the walls at the exit of curve 16 and a change in the­ ice profile." - end quote.

    This logic is flawed.­ The cause of the accident may have been a steering­ error, but that does not mean the couse of his DEATH­ was a steering error. The cause of his death is the­ irresponsible placement of METAL PILLARS (ffs) right­ next to the track!! The athlete did NOT place them­ there!!! If there would have been significant safety­ preconscious taken like a wall in front of the pillars,­ the accident probably would not have been­ fatal.

    Idiots (Coroners Service of British Columbia­ and the FIL), learn to use proper logic.. we are­ talking about someones life here!!

    From Anonymous, on Sun 14 Feb 6:11
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