# Luge athlete dies during Olympic training



## deadheadskier (Feb 12, 2010)

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/02/12/olympic.luge.crash/index.html?hpt=T1

very sad


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## Warp Daddy (Feb 12, 2010)

sad indeed , what a travesty


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## jaja111 (Feb 12, 2010)

The vid is Horrific. Absolutely horrific. 

What does the Georgian team do? Stay? Leave? They must be in a total state of shock. This is so sad. Not a good way to start the games at all I'm afraid. 

That course is so fast that real time vids of practice runs look edited to speed them up. 100+ mph is a very real possibility on this thing. I guess a female luger almost hit a ton and crashed yesterday too.

RIP Nodar - you died doing what you loved.


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## 4aprice (Feb 12, 2010)

Vancouvers Olympics getting off to a rough start.  Bad financing, bad weather and now this.  Hope it gets better.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ


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## wa-loaf (Feb 12, 2010)

Who's idea was it too put all those steel beams right after the curve?


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## drjeff (Feb 12, 2010)

wa-loaf said:


> Who's idea was it too put all those steel beams right after the curve?



No one probably ever thought that headed into the finish slow down area that someone could get airborne in that area.  My guess is at minimum when the comp starts tommorrow, you'll see the equivalent of the A-netting that you see lining a downhill race course in that area to atleast keep someone in the track.

RIP - just a horrific crash


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## billski (Feb 12, 2010)

jaja111 said:


> The vid is Horrific. Absolutely horrific.
> 
> What does the Georgian team do? Stay? Leave? They must be in a total state of shock. This is so sad. Not a good way to start the games at all I'm afraid.
> 
> .


  they will compete, in his memory.   Having taken a ride on an olympic bobsled course, luge strikes me as one of the most dangerous of sports.  Huge respect for those who compete.  Big sympathies to the family, team and country.


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## severine (Feb 13, 2010)

There's an expert, Chris Whiteman, on right now who just said "crashing is just part of the sport." They said the dude who died hit 90mph.  Scary and very sad indeed.


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## koreshot (Feb 13, 2010)

Yes, really really sad.  Having something like this happen to an Olympic athlete, or any athlete, is just so wrong.  Me being Georgian only adds more to my sadness and, to be honest, frustration.

We are a tiny country with limited resources and I have been to the poor town where Nodar lived.  Given the resources availble to him being 44 in the world is pretty impressive and I can only guess how much pride and honor he felt to be there representing his country.

What frustrates me is some folks trying to say that it was "pilot error", that it wouldn't happen to the top athletes cause they have more experience. First, Nodar ranked 11th during training so he wasn't completely green.  Second, its the Olympics and you are going to have athletes show up from small underfunded countries who won't be as experienced as your usual world champion luger -- you are supposed to expect that and plan for it.  When you spend millions and millions of dollars on the world's fastest track, is an extra 10 grand on extending the wall and shielding the steel beams really that much extra?  It seems to me that an oversight in design is being blamed on the athelete by some.

But others, including many fellow athletes have said that the course is too dangerous.  So I really really hope that they fix it by this evening when the competition runs start.


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## billski (Feb 13, 2010)

severine said:


> There's an expert, Chris Whiteman, on right now who just said "crashing is just part of the sport." They said the dude who died hit 90mph.  Scary and very sad indeed.



This is a sport where your body is entirely exposed and vulnerable.  Like skiing and boarding but with a whole lot less control


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## Rambo (Feb 13, 2010)

So sad.

Sorry to get off subject, but a bear was checking out the Vancouver Luge track
(I thought they hibernated in the winter)


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## Johnskiismore (Feb 13, 2010)

Couldn't have worse news to start the Olympics


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## Glenn (Feb 15, 2010)

That was a tough start to the games. I was kinda surprised NBC showed it on Friday night. I really felt for the family.


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## bigbog (Feb 15, 2010)

wa-loaf said:


> Who's idea was it too put all those steel beams right after the curve?


Needs to be some legal action...to prevent future work..without thorough testing BEFORE an example of some "coming in under budget" physics takes precedence.


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## billski (Feb 15, 2010)

bigbog said:


> Needs to be some legal action...to prevent future work..


 
Cripes, another lawsuit happy response.  Is that the only way to prevent things?  C'mon, the only ones winning on theat one are the lawyers.


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## billski (Feb 15, 2010)

wa-loaf said:


> Who's idea was it too put all those steel beams right after the curve?


  About 10-15 years ago, they started to tire of clearing snow off the tracks.  So they began to put roofs overhead, with beams to match.


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## Marc (Feb 16, 2010)

koreshot said:


> Yes, really really sad.  Having something like this happen to an Olympic athlete, or any athlete, is just so wrong.  Me being Georgian only adds more to my sadness and, to be honest, frustration.
> 
> We are a tiny country with limited resources and I have been to the poor town where Nodar lived.  Given the resources availble to him being 44 in the world is pretty impressive and I can only guess how much pride and honor he felt to be there representing his country.
> 
> ...



Kore!  Not to be jovial in a solemn thread, but I didn't know you were still around, buddy.


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## deadheadskier (Feb 16, 2010)

billski said:


> Cripes, another lawsuit happy response.  Is that the only way to prevent things?  C'mon, the only ones winning on theat one are the lawyers.



or future loved ones who also lose a someone to tragedy.

You make it sound like the legal system is the devil.  Lots of things you and I take for granted today originally were started because of lawsuits.


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## SkiDork (Feb 16, 2010)

that initial hit might have been the cause of death.


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## drjeff (Feb 16, 2010)

SkiDork said:


> that initial hit might have been the cause of death.



If you're referring to the pylon hit,  guarenteed.  I've seen a few, pretty graphic, photos online that show that once he cleared the wall, the he hit that metal pylon, going 80mph or so, back first, basically right on his spine in the upper back/neck region just below his helmet   

The only good thing about that is that wth the speed he was going, he probably didn't know what was happening and he probably didn't feel a thing as it looks like he impacted really close to where his brain stem is   RIP


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## Glenn (Feb 16, 2010)

drjeff said:


> If you're referring to the pylon hit,  guarenteed.  I've seen a few, pretty graphic, photos online that show that once he cleared the wall, the he hit that metal pylon, going 80mph or so, back first, basically right on his spine in the upper back/neck region just below his helmet
> 
> The only good thing about that is that wth the speed he was going, he probably didn't know what was happening and he probably didn't feel a thing as it looks like he impacted really close to where his brain stem is   RIP



I thought the same thing. At least it happened very quickly.


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## SkiDork (Feb 16, 2010)

I was actually refererring to the hit into the wall while he was on the sled.


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## bigbog (Feb 16, 2010)

Some environmental or safety planning processes that don't take precedence as yet in Canada to the extent that they do in the US....imo.  ..Not totally on the _legality_ end of issues...just safety.

$.01


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## billski (Feb 16, 2010)

It wasn't that long ago when it was just a chute, and if you flew out, well, you went on a long flight.  Not defending.


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## deadheadskier (Feb 16, 2010)

so, that would suggest progress has been made in the safety of the sport.  the athlete probably would've died even if there was padding on those pipes.  That said, designers of those tracks should take into consideration all possible dangers and construct in a manner that they are prevented to the greatest degree possible.  Sometimes legal action is needed to make sure that this happens.  It's why we have organizations like OSHA.


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## billski (Feb 16, 2010)

deadheadskier said:


> so, that would suggest progress has been made in the safety of the sport. the athlete probably would've died even if there was padding on those pipes. That said, designers of those tracks should take into consideration all possible dangers and construct in a manner that they are prevented to the greatest degree possible. Sometimes legal action is needed to make sure that this happens. It's why we have organizations like OSHA.


 
Luge and Bob is such a small community, and the tracks far and few between.   I'll bet what happened is that they were worried more about convenience when they put those roofs up and forgot about safety.  I will bet you a Middlebury Ski Voucher that FIS gets right in the middle of this and by next season you'll see nets, walls and padding all over the place, kind of like the evolution the downhill and GS course netting, lines, etc.  

Please, I'd rather see the money go into safety equipment than into some lawyers pocket.  There are other ways to solve this problem without litigating.


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## deadheadskier (Feb 16, 2010)

billski said:


> Please, I'd rather see the money go into safety equipment than into some lawyers pocket.  There are other ways to solve this problem without litigating.



Unfortunately, litigation is often what's required to force people do what's right in the interest of safety over what's in the best interest of their bottom line.


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## billski (Feb 16, 2010)

deadheadskier said:


> Unfortunately, litigation is often what's required to force people do what's right in the interest of safety over what's in the best interest of their bottom line.


 
I would advocate for seeing what steps are taken first before sucking the Olympic Commitees dry.


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## Trekchick (Feb 16, 2010)

According to the athlete's father there will be no law suit.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704431404575067451600142316.html


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## bigbog (Feb 22, 2010)

Wonder if anyone will kick the IOC's head a few times....in order to get better design(ie safety) for luge tracks...? cuz I don't think the existing one flies anymore...maybe a little honesty in testing...without the expensive dinner reservations 


$.01


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