POSTED: February 12th 2010
NewsUpdate
Luge death tragedy overshadows opening of Vancouver 2010
KEIR RADNEDGE / Sports Features Communications
VANCOUVER/LONDON, Feb 12: The opening of the winter Olympic Games in Vancouver was overshadowed by the death earlier in training of a member Georgian luge team - 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili.
Kumaritashvili was thrown off the sled after losing control approaching the end of the controversial track at the Whistler Sliding Centre. He crashed into a pillar beyond the wall after coming off the luge at an estinated 90mph.
He received emergency treatment at the trackside and was taken to hospital after which his death was confirmed by Irakly Japaridze, the head of the Georgian Olympic delegation. He added later: "We are all in deep shock, we don't know what to do. We don't know whether to take part in the opening ceremony or even the Olympic Games themselves."
Training was suspended and an investigation launched into the circumstances and possible causes of the accident. The men's downhill training session, set for Friday morning, had already been cancelled because of fog while the women had to be content with a piste inspection.
Paying tribute to Kumaritashvili, Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, said in a statement: "Our first thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of the athlete. The whole Olympic family is struck by this tragedy, which clearly casts a shadow over these Games.”
Later he told a short press conference: "This is a very sad day. The IOC is in deep mourning. Here you have a young athlete who lost his life in pursuing his passion. He had agreed to participate in the Olympic Games with great heart and he had this fatal accident. I have no words to say what we feel.
“We have been phoning and contacting the National Olympic Committee of Georgia. I contacted the family. I just had a phone call with president of the republic who’s also attending the Games here in Vancouver and we have taken all actions to be able to show our sympathy to the athletes.”
John Furlong, ceo of VANOC, the Vancouver Organizing Committee, added: "Nodar Kumaritashvili came to Canada with hopes and dreams that this would be a magnificent occasion in his life.
'Heartbroken'
“I’m told by members of his federation that he was an incredibly spirited young person and he came here to be able to feel what it’s like to be able to call yourself an Olympian. As you’ve heard he was in a tragic accident and he has passed away from his injuries.
“We are heartbroken almost beyond words to be sitting here. I am so sorry to be in this position to be reporting this to you. It’s not something that if I had prepared for I ever thought I would be prepared for.
"My team has been devastated by this and our thoughts and our prayers are now of course with Nodar’s family, his friends the athletes from Georgia … and we turn now to do everything we can to assist them, to support them, to help them in the most Canadian way that we can. The accident is tragic. It will be investigated and when we know the substance of what happened you will know it.”
Josef Fendt, president of the the International Luge Federation, said: “This is a terrible accident. This is the gravest thing that can happen in sport, and our thoughts and those of the ‘luge family’, are naturally with those touched by this event.”
Team leaders met later and agreed the competition should go ahead but the IOC had yet to take a decision. Ahead of the Games several teams had raised concerns about the safety of athletes though the corner at which Kumaritashvili crashed had not been identified among potential danger zones.
The BBC commentator Colin Bryce, a former bobsleigh competitor, said: Colin Bryce, a former British bobsleigh competitor, said: "He was clearly nervous going down the final run - you could see his head sticking up. He seemed very scared going down the fast corners."
The Whistler track, built two years ago at a cost of £65m, has a vertical drop of 152ft which is an average 28ft steeper than any other in mainstream competitive use.
Keywords · Vancouver · Winter Olympics · luge · Whistler · Kumaritashvili
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