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Luger killed at Olympics...

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nottyboi

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May 14, 2008
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check out this sequence of photos:

http://olympics.thestar.com/2010/photos/gallery/764671




My first reaction was... there is no way he could survive... (confirmed by a quick google) second reaction...what idiotic chimpanzees designed a course with pillars placed like that with no shielding... they need to close that course ASAP and build some shields before the games continue....they should get sued for millions...what UTTER negligence. Appalling, sad, pathetic and shameful. RIP Nodar, how sad it is that a young athlete has dies for such a stupid reason.
 
Scarey

Scarey

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I can't believe they never anticipated that something like that may happen and to put protective covering around those beams.What a horrific way to die.:(.Sadly,this olympics already has a black eye that will get bigger in the days to come.
 
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elmufdvr

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just saw the accedent..wow it is f@cking horrible.. he was gone instantly. that is the only good thing.. feel horrible for his mom and dad...
 
K

Kilgore Trout

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From the replay it looks like if the side retaining wall had just been about 12 or 14 inches taller he would have stayed contained inside the track and probably would just emerge from this with just some bad bruises. Lugers have said the course is really scary because the hardest turns in the course are all at the very end where speeds are at their highest.

The designers of this course really pushed the envelope as far as safety of athletes is concerned. They wanted it to be the fastest, scariest luge course in the world. Top speeds are hitting 155 K PH.
The one in Sochi is being designed to hit top speeds of around 135 K PH which is a lot safer for the athletes.
 
N

nottyboi

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Just astounding that no in charge anticipated the danger. What a bunch of clowns. I suspect it will be revealed that someone warned of the danger and was ignored... it's so obviously risky..appalling.
 
C

Cycleguy007

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elmufdvr said:
just saw the accedent..wow it is f@cking horrible.. he was gone instantly. that is the only good thing.. feel horrible for his mom and dad...
Click to expand...
Without a doubt...

140+ kms/ hr + ice and steel beams + nothing but a helmet for protection = HUGE POTENTIAL DISASTER (as witnessed yesterday...)

Condolences to the family and friends...
 
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nottyboi

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as long as the walls are raised significantly it should not be a prob....this should have been foreseen earlier though. it should not be possible for the luger to hit the beams...anything else is nonsense...to blame him for losing control is correct, but to blame him for hitting the beams is nonsense.
 
Scarey

Scarey

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I can't imagine being one of those lugers now.Going incredibly fast= a win..but after seeing how badly an accident can go,part of them must be thinking"I'm not killing myself for this".
 
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GotGusto

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As somebody once said, "You win some, and you luge some."

Maybe he'll try harder next time.
 
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Aardvark154

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It should be noted that with the men now starting at the women's start and the women at the junior's start a number of the more highly ranked lugers are already complaining about the slower speeds and what they seem to view as an over reaction.
 
W

WoodPeckr

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Killed Georgian luger considered track dangerous

Always thought this event too dangerous. Guess Nodar Kumaritashvili thought so also.

Killed Georgian luger considered track dangerous

By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI
Associated Press 2010-02-15 04:44 PM

The father of the Georgian luger killed during training before the Vancouver Olympics said Monday that his son told him before the run that the track was too dangerous.

Nodar Kumaritashvili's father told The Associated Press that he had a phone conversation with his son before the deadly run, and that the young athlete was concerned about the safety of the track.

"He called me and said that the track was very dangerous," said David Kumaritashvili, a former luger himself, in a telephone interview. He said earlier that he wouldn't bear seeing the video of his son's final moments.

Nodar Kumaritashvili died during Friday practice when he lost control of his sled and slammed into a trackside steel pole at nearly 145 kilometers (90 mph).

The athlete's death cast a shadow over the Winter Games in Vancouver and left this poor nation of 4.6 million in grief. Many Georgians blamed Olympic officials for the tragedy.

"That's a nightmare. He was a young, handsome man and now they are flying him back in a coffin," said Marietta Pogosian, a 32-year old teacher. "I can't understand how they could fail to avert it after having prepared for the Olympics for many years."

Concerns about the course had been raised for months. There were worries that the $100 million-plus venue was too technically demanding, and that only the host nation's sliders would have enough time to adapt to it in practice.

"I heard that many had said beforehand that the track was very dangerous," said Makvala Schwartz, a 19-year old Tbilisi student. "That raises many questions to the organizers. Just imagine that: our boy has managed through such tests to qualify for the Olympics and died before he could take part!"

In a joint statement, the luge federation and Vancouver Olympic officials blamed slider error, saying Kumaritashvili was late coming out of the next-to-last turn and failed to compensate.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said an athlete's mistake shouldn't result in his death.
 
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Aardvark154

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nottyboi said:
as long as the walls are raised significantly it should not be a prob....this should have been foreseen earlier though. it should not be possible for the luger to hit the beams...anything else is nonsense...to blame him for losing control is correct, but to blame him for hitting the beams is nonsense.
Click to expand...
This, I agree, was the real problem not the speeds but the height of the walls.
 
T

The Fruity Hare

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Aardvark154 said:
This, I agree, was the real problem not the speeds but the height of the walls.
Click to expand...
I also agree, however, after looking through some video, the walls seem to be the same height as others are in various locations around the world. In this particular video, at about the 1:30 mark, the luger could have suffered the same fate but was luckier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG99ULoWXHU&feature=fvw


Additionally, after viewing this video, there appear to be many cases of low walls and exposed steel supports of varying thickness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAAopOBhCg8


It appears that there were also concerns in Torino in 2006 regarding the track, perhaps the world governing body should be looking after the construction of the courses a little more carefully:

ESANA PARIOL, Italy, Feb. 3 (AP) - Luge test events on the track for the 2006 Turin Olympics were called off for this weekend after a number of accidents.

The International Luge Federation said Thursday that the track must be simplified, and it urged organizers to make changes this summer. Lugers had been training since Sunday for World Cup races at the Olympic site.

On Sunday, Renato Mizoguchi of Brazil injured his head during a crash and is in an induced coma in a Turin hospital. Raluca Stramaturaru of Romania broke an arm Wednesday. A number of lugers have crashed at the same corner in the past few days.


It appears to be an ongoing situation over a number of years. Unfortunately with the extra speed of the Whistler track, he was catapulted in a way no one had anticipated. I personally don`t see why they couldn`t have protective plexiglass similar to that at hockey rinks around the track. It would allow for fan visibility and also keep the athletes safer.
 
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