Tragedy Strikes the olympics already

[doublejceballos]

http://www.businessinsider.com/tragedy-strikes-the-2010-winter-olympics-as-luge-competitor-dies-2010-2

21 year old Nodar Kumaritashvili died today on the luge track in whistler during a practice run.
There has been some controversy as many lugers have complained that the set up is too fast. A few others have crashed already


IOC just had a live press conference over the matter

heres the run as aired by CTV I cant believe the showed it

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/video/index.html?assetid=3350f67a-7694-4f9b-830f-09d957013d41

[FunnyGas]

Very emotional press conference.
News sites pulled video upon receiving information of his passing. IOC, as well, pulled videos from Youtube etc.

A sad day for the Olympics. He is one of 5 known althlete deaths, 3 of which were in luge.

[CDGuy]

Omg that was like a dead stop... That was HORRIBLE to see his body resting against the side as they ran towards him...

God bless his family.

What a horrible happenstance...

[JZ]

I just saw the video on CTV's Olympics site. Even with the warnings it was hard to stomach. I take comfort in knowing that death was instant. RIP.

[doublejceballos]

some have complained that it is too fast
others have said that it is not too fast you just have to be really well trained for it.
Perhaps this young guy was just in over his head.
in any case it is horrible to come to the olympics not ready for something that fast.
I feel bad.
144kph to 0 in 0 seconds, I cant imagine there was much pain

[M13]

some have complained that it is too fast
others have said that it is not too fast you just have to be really well trained for it.
Perhaps this young guy was just in over his head.
in any case it is horrible to come to the olympics not ready for something that fast.
I feel bad.
144kph to 0 in 0 seconds, I cant imagine there was much pain

C'mon Jon, have some respect for the dead, he was an Olympian level, not some novice. He was going incredibly fast around that corner.

A simple Closed wall with padding instead of a set of steel railings could have stopped fatality.

[doublejceballos]

im not being disrespectful
That's discussion from the news
some athletes are saying the track is not too fast.
others are saying he had techinical difficulties with equipment possibly.

as far as the design goes I cannot fathom how that was passed.
the beams could have been way farther out, a closed wall would have worked however they need access for personnel that a closed wall would not provide as well as camera's and what not

[Shadao]

simple solution

hockey rink style plexi glass... it allows for cameras and spec's to watch but also protects them from flying off course...

padding on those posts would do nothing...

RIP NODAR

[FunnyGas]

it has been said by lugers who have been on the course.
beyond being the fastest, the course is very technical, leaving no room to even break concentration. having all respect for the kid, he had trouble with the course already before this run. just like in turin in '06, they should ask inexperienced competitors to step down. no he was not a novice, and he is an olympian, but at the same time, he was a young kid with less experience.

[bfriggi]

Luger killed in final training run before olympics!!

This is a brutal crash. My heart goes out to the family. The actual video i was gonna post was removed due to copyright but you can see what happened in the pictures. On the last turn he slid out of control going at well over 100km/h and was catapulted off of his sled into a metal column.

[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-V9FlOochYk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-V9FlOochYk&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

[r3gill]

repost!!

[bfriggi]

ooopppps im blind

[kerberos]

i'm sure the human body can stand up to a lot of abuse, but even with plexi glass or padding of any kind would do little or nothing for someone traveling at 144km/h or if anything prolong the inevitable death - at least he went quickly
RIP

[Wolfattak]

the point of the Plexiglas would be to contain the person on the track in case of an accident to avoid a collision like this, not to soften the blow.

Anyways,
My deepest sympathies to the friends and family of Nodar.

[M13]

the point of the Plexiglas would be to contain the person on the track in case of an accident to avoid a collision like this, not to soften the blow.

Anyways,
My deepest sympathies to the friends and family of Nodar.

exactly.


Then again, you have to realize, things happen like this all the time, and when people are involved in sports such as this, you have waived your safety/life.

I ride bikes @ WBP every summer, and a few always die/seriously injured everywhere from freak accidents.


R.I.P