Investigation starts into safety of Whistler Sliding Centre track
From James Toney, Sportsbeat, in Vancouver
THERE are major question marks whether luge, bobsleigh and skeleton events will be now be staged at the Winter Olympics, following the tragic death of Nodar Kumaritashvili.
CONTROVERSIAL: A luge competitor completes a practice run at the Whistler Sliding Centre - now the subject of an investigation following the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili (Getty Images)
The Georgian luge slider crashed on the final turn of the Whistler Sliding Centre course during training today and was later pronounced dead. He was competing at his first Olympics and was just 21 years old.
The international luge federation have started an immediate investigation and it is expected they will announce tomorrow’s men’s luge event will be postponed.
The track at $105m (£63m) Whistler Sliding Centre is thought to be the most demanding in the world and several crashes have punctuated training.
Canada have already come in for widespread criticism for restricting overseas nations to the minimum training time permitted by international governing bodies for luge, skeleton and bobsleigh.
IOC President Jacques Rogge refused to answer questions about the dangers of the track, as he fought back tears from a during news conference.
However, both the IOC and Vancouver 2010 organisers Vanoc are now locked down in full crisis mode - just three hours from the scheduled start of tonight’s opening ceremony.
"The investigation is under way with the officials of the International Luge Association. It would be premature to talk about that investigation,” said Rogge.
"This is time for sorrow, it's not a time to look for reasons. It will come in due time."
However, in an interview with national press agency Sportsbeat before leaving for Vancouver, British Skeleton’s performance director Andy Schmid claimed the lack of practice time on the track could be dangerous.
“We and other nations as well didn’t have as much time to be really well prepared,” he said.
“Everybody had 40 runs and we will have another six going into the Games and I am expecting the Canadians to have 300 to 400 runs.
“I’m not happy. We need to be aware that luge, bobsleigh and skeleton are high speed sports, they are dangerous and if so mething happens that is not what I want.”
Great Britain's Shelley Rudman, a skeleton silver medallist four years ago, has previously spoken about the demands of the track, in particular the lower section, where Kumaritashvili's tragic crash occurred.
"The finish curves in Vancouver are really intense and it takes quite a lot out of your body especially if you get the entry points wrong," she said.
"You have to be really really accurate and precise on entrances and exits."
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Well...
Cars are dangerous but we all still drive them.
It's sad this young fellow died, he was well honoured and remembered at tonights Opening Ceremonies.
Good luck at the games.
This is really tragic, the
This is really tragic, the Canadians knew this track was fast and dangerous, they kept the foreign nations off, and athletes from the little nations got even less practice time, just watch there are going to be lots of crashes, and not just by young first timers. The track are designed so that if you crash you are kept in the track, for this young athlete to have launched out means there is a design problem and it needs to be fixed before training resumes, they will have to extend the walls in this section so if the same crash happens the athlete hits the wall but is kept in the track where the ice lets them slide and keep moving avoiding an abrupt violent stop. Tragic.
You know the track needs to
You know the track needs to be approved by the governing sport bodies and the olympic comoittees themselves right? Right? Accidents happen, tragic yes. Nefarious as you and this article make it sound....no.
Trackside posts
This is tragic, and while I agree that everyone accepts risks in dangerous sports (I do motorcycle trials for example), it was clear watching this that there was no way the poor guy should have been able to hit that post. Maybe I'm a a layman, but looking at the layout it doesn't take a genius to imagine that a competitor could get the corner wrong and vault the barrier into the unpadded poles. The safety cushion doesn't extend far enough, and the poles should have been fenced off so any contact would be a glancing blow. I gather he died due to head injuries, but he could easily have broken his neck or back around those posts. It was foreseeable, and preventable.
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