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Luger Accident

thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
Did any of you see the video of the Luger accident today where the Georgia victim was killed. It was on TV just now so I searched for videos but have been pulled off most sites.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Senator Richard Lugar?

A Lugar pistol?

What happened? I'm unaware of this.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
OK I misunderstood.

Here is a story that explains it and gives some background on prior Olympic accidents.
IOC confirms Olympic luger dies after crash
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100212...vajZzaTFyBHBvcwMxNQRzZWMDdG9wBHNsawNwcmludA--
By STEPHEN WILSON, AP Sports Writer
1 hr 4 mins ago

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – A men's Olympic luger from the country of Georgia died Friday after a high-speed crash on a track that is the world's fastest and has raised safety concerns among competitors. A tearful IOC president Jacques Rogge said the death hours before the opening ceremony "clearly casts a shadow over these games."

Nodar Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled during training, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center. Paramedics and doctors were unable to revive the 21-year-old luger, who died at a hospital, the International Olympic Committee said. "We are heartbroken beyond words," said John Furlong, chief executive of the Vancouver organizing committee. Before speaking at a news conference, Rogge took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes and said, "Sorry, it's a bit difficult to remain composed."

"Here you have a young athlete that lost his life in pursuing his passion," Rogge added. "He had a dream to participate in the Olympic Games. He trained hard and he had this fatal accident. I have no words to say what we feel."

Rogge said he was in contact with Kumaritashvili's family and officials from the Georgian government. Georgia's Olympic committee was deciding whether to remain in the games, Rogge added.

An investigation into the crash started quickly, although Rogge said this was not the time to talk about it. The men's luge competition is to begin Saturday afternoon. Officials at the Whistler track were uncertain if the schedule would be affected.

Rescue workers were at Kumaritashvili's side within seconds. Chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation started less than one minute after the crash, and he was quickly airlifted to a trauma center in Whistler.

The first sign Kumaritashvili was truly in trouble came only three seconds before the crash on Curve 13, the most perilous turn. His speed of 89.4 mph — his best during six training runs on this track — almost certainly means he had never gone faster.

Kumaritashvili's line — as the path is known in luge — entering the next-to-last curve had him traveling along a higher route than most racers prefer. That's where it got especially dangerous. His 176-pound body was no match for the gravitational forces along that sweeping turn. That, plus the high rate of speed, sent him careening up the high, banked, ice-covered wall.

Sliding diagonally down the wall, Kumaritashvili hit the corner entering the final straightaway with his lower body. The impact knocked him off the sled and flying across the track, his arms and legs flailing.

After smashing into the pole, he was motionless on a metal walkway. His left leg was in the air and his left foot was propped atop the track wall when the first rescue worker arrived and placed both hands on his helmet.

The rest of men's training was canceled for the day, with VANOC officials saying an investigation was taking place to "ensure a safe field of play."
The danger of the Whistler track has been talked about for months — particularly after several countries, including the U.S., were upset over access restrictions for everyone but Canada, with some noting it could lead to a safety issue.

Kumaritashvili is the fourth competitor to die at the Winter Games and the first since 1992. "It's a very rare situation," three-time Olympic champion and German coach Georg Hackl said before learning of the death, clearly shaken after seeing Kumaritashvili tended to furiously by medical workers.

Shortly before the accident, Hackl said he didn't believe the track was unsafe.

"People have the opinion it is dangerous but the track crew does the best it can and they are working hard to make sure the track is in good shape and everyone is safe," he said. "My opinion is that it's not anymore dangerous that anywhere else." Five-time Olympian Mark Grimmette, chosen as the U.S. team's flag bearer, said the speeds on the track are pushing the boundaries of safety.

"We're probably getting close," he said Thursday. "This track is fast and you definitely have to be on your game. ... So it's definitely something they are going to have to take into account on future tracks."

American luger Christian Niccum crashed during a World Cup event in Whistler last year. "When I hit that ice going 90 mph it turns into fire," Niccum said Thursday. "I remember coming around to the finish and I just wanted to rip off my suit, 'I'm on fire. I'm on fire.'"

This was Kumaritashvili's second crash during training for the games. He also failed to finish his second of six practice runs, and in the runs he did finish, his average speed was about 88 mph — significantly less than the speed the top sliders are managing on this lightning-fast course.

It was unclear how fast Kumaritashvili was going, although many sliders have exceeded 90 mph on this course. More than a dozen athletes have crashed during Olympic training for luge, and some questioned whether athletes from smaller nations — like Georgia — had enough time to prepare for the daunting track.

At the finish area, not far from where Kumaritashvili lost control, athletes, coaches and officials solemnly awaited word on Kumaritashvili before eventually being ushered away. Access to the crash area was closed within about 30 minutes. "I've never seen anything like that," said Shiva Keshavan, a four-time Olympian from India.

Representatives from the three U.S. sliding federations were to release a joint statement later Friday. American athletes were not immediately made available for reaction after news of the death was confirmed.
"My thoughts and prayers are with the Georgian Olympic team," U.S. bobsled pilot Steven Holcomb said on Twitter. "The sliding community suffered a tragic and devastating loss to our family today." "RIP Nodar Kumaritashvili," wrote American skeleton athlete Kyle Tress, who did not qualify for the Olympic team. "Let's never forget how dangerous these sports can be." Kumaritashvili competed in five World Cup races this season, finishing 44th in the world standings.

Earlier in the day, gold-medal favorite Armin Zoeggeler of Italy crashed, losing control of his sled on Curve 11. Zoeggeler came off his sled and held it with his left arm to keep it from smashing atop his body. He slid on his back down several curves before coming to a stop and walking away.

Training days in Whistler have been crash-filled. A Romanian woman was briefly knocked unconscious and at least four Americans — Chris Mazdzer on Wednesday, Megan Sweeney on Thursday and both Tony Benshoof and Bengt Walden on Friday in the same training session where Zoeggeler wrecked — have had serious trouble just getting down the track. "I think they are pushing it a little too much," Australia's Hannah Campbell-Pegg said Thursday night after she nearly lost control in training. "To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we're crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives."

At the 1992 Albertville Games, Nicholas Bochatay of Switzerland died after crashing into a snow grooming machine during training for the demonstration sport of speed skiing on the next-to-last day of the games. He was practicing on a public slope before his event was to begin.

Australian downhill skier Ross Milne died when he struck a tree during a training run shortly before the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. British luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki also died in a crash during training in Innsbruck.

At the 1988 Calgary Games, an Austrian team doctor, Jorg Oberhammer, died after being hit by a snow grooming machine.
 

joec

New member
GOLD Site Supporter
I didn't change the subject just find it a bit distasteful is all. That will go for CNN, MSNBC etc as there is no need to view the video of it happening. Oh and I not squeamish in the least either. Just isn't necessary to see it is all, I'm saying. I will back out of this thread now.
 

thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
Joec instead of talking about the accident you made a bash at Fox local station and I felt you were painting with a wide brush including all of Fox. You want to talk about it should not be on TV or anything go ahead. I saw it first on TV CBS.
 

NorthernRedneck

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
I saw it on tv. We were watching the opening ceremonies. They played the crash......not nice at all. Hard to watch. They did say that they debated on whether to play it or not. They should have opted for not. A sad day on what was supposed to be a happy day over in Vancouver.
 

thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
I saw it on tv. We were watching the opening ceremonies. They played the crash......not nice at all. Hard to watch. They did say that they debated on whether to play it or not. They should have opted for not. A sad day on what was supposed to be a happy day over in Vancouver.



I was at first shocked of how it happened on CBS. Did some searches on the internet and found most have pulled it then NBC's opening showed it. Maybe it shouldn't have been showed like Joec said.

However on a good note I was very impressed with NBC's portion of the relations between Canada and the United States.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
They've reported that this is the fastest luge ever. And they are looking for ways to prevent injury to the participants but they are not talking of slowing down the track. I don't understand why that rounded corner was there that he hit before bouncing into the pole. Seems they could do something with that. And they spoke of padding for the poles to lessen the blow if anyone else is unlucky enough to hit it.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
It figures a Fox channel would still have it up.
You are suggesting that FOX is less than ethical for allowing people with internet access to choose to view the video?

NBC has been playing the video on its TV newscasts which have far more viewers than the FOX download of the video could ever have.

I saw it on tv. We were watching the opening ceremonies. They played the crash......not nice at all. Hard to watch. They did say that they debated on whether to play it or not. They should have opted for not. A sad day on what was supposed to be a happy day over in Vancouver.
This morning the NBC TODAY SHOW coverage has shown the video again and is running a special news segment which shows detailed photos of the accident and talks about the medical care, the track conditions, etc. If any network is capitalizing on the sensationalism of this tragedy it is NBC.
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
How about a fence of some type?

I was thinking that they could make a wall of something like cardboard boxes (in layers). They could build that up pretty quickly instead of trying to get anything to exotic.

That's the thing with the Olympics. For any sport you have 50% of the participants who are capable and then 50% that are just there because they new someone in their country who was willing to foot the bill.
 

DaveNay

Klaatu barada nikto
SUPER Site Supporter
I've never been able to figure out why the luge (bobsled, skeleton, etc) track is not a complete tube? I have never seen an event like this in person, but I can't imagine it's much of a spectator sport at 90MPH. They could easily place the television cameras and such within recessed pockets in the tube. At least then if you lose control, you won't fly out like this young athlete did, and you would just slide down a smooth ice lined tube.

And 2" or even 24" of padding wouldn't have helped this man, he went from 88 to 0 immediately when he hit that pole.
 

thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
They did build a wall to prevent anyone from hitting the posts.

NBC just announced they would not show the video anymore during the Olympics.
 

tsaw

New member
GOLD Site Supporter
I saw the vid.. not sure who had it. Maybe you tube.
From what I saw, I don't think padding on that pole would have made a difference. The speed that the poor guy was flung out of that sled - and stopped instantly is fatal either way. I do believe that a fence would have helped. At least he would have stayed on the course - and maybe just slid the rest of the way, until he stopped. Hurt? For sure. Dead? I doubt it.
 

mak2

Active member
Padding would not have mattered. Had he stayed on the track he might be racing today. Looks like there ought to be a way to keep em from flying out.
 
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