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...that someone died at the olympics. A chrue????
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Re: Just heard...
WHISTLER, British Columbia — A men's Olympic luger from the former Soviet republic of Georgia crashed during training and needed emergency treatment after an accident on a track that is the world's fastest and has raised safety concerns among competitors.
Nodar Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled near the finish Friday, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center.
International luge officials did not have an immediate update on the 21-year-old luger's condition, and officials would not disclose where he was taken. -
Re: Just heard...
Yup!
VANCOUVER—A Georgian athlete died today after flying off the treacherous luge course at the Winter Olympics.
A German Olympic official confirmed Nodar Kumaritashvili’s death to the Star’s Dave Perkins this afternoon.
Perkins was on the scene and said Kumaritashvili careered off the track on his run shortly before 11 a.m. Pacific time and crashed into an unpadded steel pole at the side of the course at the Whistler sliding centre.
Emergency crews arrived within minutes and were seen performing chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Kumaritashvili, who was taken to a nearby hospital by helicopter.
The Borjomi, Georgia native was 21 years old and is one of eight Georgian athletes competing at the Games.
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.
“He was not our famous athlete but people in Georgia knew him,” one Georgian reporter told Fong. “Luge is not that big a sport.”
“This was his first Olympics, his first time here” another reporter told Fong. “He was excited. He wanted to do well.”
CTV luge analyst Chris Wightman said experienced lugers aren't having problems on the course but that less experienced riders are finding it hugely challenging.
Wightman suggested that plexiglass or some other protective material could be added to the curve where Kumaritashvili flew off the course.
At the finish area, not far from the crash scene, athletes, coaches and officials solemnly awaited word on Kumaritashvili.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Shiva Keshavan, a four-time Olympian from India.
“It’s a very rare situation,” three-time Olympic champion and German coach Georg Hackl said. “But there’s some things that you can’t do anything about.’’
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.
Training was suspended indefinitely, International Luge Federation members were called for a briefing and team captains from each nation were asked to attend a meeting.
Kumaritashvili competed in five World Cup races this season, finishing 44th in the world standings.
Earlier in the day, gold-medal favourite 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.’’
On Thursday, Star photographer Bernard Weil took photos of Kumaritashvili during another high-speed training mishap. The luger was thrown from his sled and staggered off the course shaken but uninjured.Comment
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Re: Just heard...
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Re: Just heard...
boy it look like den shoulda pad those big iron postsWhen its hot in the jungle of peace I go swimming in the ocean of love.....Comment
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OMG!Comment
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Re: Just heard...
And imagine we were jus tawkin bout dem winter sports di odda day. No sah! Not me.
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Re: Just heard...
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Curmudgeon_Milo</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> </div></div>Ouch! 
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Re: Just heard...
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: _____</div><div class="ubbcode-body">And imagine we were jus tawkin bout dem winter sports di odda day. No sah! Not me. </div></div> yes luge is off my lsit too
When its hot in the jungle of peace I go swimming in the ocean of love.....Comment
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21 is really young to die for a game
rip the luge athlete from Georgia, Russia who died today on a test run. Such as waste of a young life.Comment
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