Rogge vows to prevent repeat of Kumaritashvili accident

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Posted: Sunday 21st February 2010 | 5:40

INTERNATIONAL Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has vowed to do everything in his power to prevent a repeat of the tragic crash that killed Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili at Vancouver 2010.

ADAMANT: IOC chief Jacques Rogge says he is working with the International Luge Federation to make sure a repeat of the accident which killed Nodar Kumaritashvili does not happen again (Getty Images)

Kumaritashvili, 21, was killed on Friday February 12 just hours before the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics at the Whistler Sliding Centre - the fastest luge, bobsleigh and skeleton track in the world.

He came off his sled at approximately 145 km/h and crashed into a trackside pole during a training run.

It was the first death at the Winter Olympics since Nicholas Bochatay, a Swiss speed skier, was killed when he crashed into a tractor-like machine in Albertville in 1992.

And Rogge, in an interview with the Associated Press, insisted he would work alongside the International Luge Federation (Fil) to ensure another tragedy at future Games is avoided.

While a tearful Rogge and Vanoc chief executive John Furlong addressed the media in the aftermath of Kumaritashvili's death, the opening ceremony proceeded as planned.

And just hours after the crash, the Fil announced the men's luge competition would go ahead, blaming the crash on athlete error.

But the track in Whistler has received criticism for being too quick with Kumaritashvili's family and team officials insisting the crash was as a result of course design.

Rogge said the IOC is awaiting the results of investigations by the coroner, Canadian police and the luge federation, which is due by early April.

He also said that the IOC and the Fil will be looking into the competition venue itself, the competition rules and the qualification requirements of the athletes.

It has been suggested Kumaritashvili was not experienced enough to handle the lightning-fast Whistler track - a claim firmly refuted by his family.

Ranked just inside the top 50 in the world, Kumaritashvili had competed on the World Cup circuit but would not have qualified to compete had it been the World Championships, rather than the Olympics.