WHISTLER, B.C. – Tragedy struck the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Friday when a Georgian luger died after crashing during a training run.
Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, was taken to hospital after the crash that saw him fly off the track near the bottom of the course at the Whistler Sliding Centre. He did not survive.
International Olympic Committee vice-president Thomas Bach confirmed the athlete had died from his injuries.
“It is a tragedy for his family and the team,” said Bach. “It casts a shadow over the opening ceremony.”
Kumaritashvili comes from the town of Borjomi.
The crash occurred near the bottom of the course, which is both fast and challenging.
Kumaritashvili hit the track’s inside wall, flew up in the air and over the outside wall and struck the girder. His speed was estimated at 144.3 kilometres an hour.
Medical staff were on the scene and applied CPR through a plastic tube. Kumaritashvili was then taken to hospital by ambulance. Volunteers were in tears as medical staff worked on the luger.
"It’s terrible. I’m in shock and I can’t really say anything right now," said Wolfgang Staudinger, head coach of the Canadian luge team.
"This is the first time I’ve seen this (a death)," he said. "It’s very sad.
“I want to meet with my team before I say anything more."
Staudinger said there would be a meeting with International Olympic Committee and Vancouver organizing committee officials Friday night to discuss the event’s future at the 2010 Olympic Games.
Asked if the luge event might be in jeopardy, he said: "Honestly, anything is possible."
The training run – the second of two scheduled for Friday and the final one before the event’s scheduled start on Saturday – was suspended.
This track has been a challenge. Moments before the crash, American luger Bengt Walden, who had just crashed in his run, said that international luge federation officials had already expressed concerns about the speed of the track.
“I don’t think they’re going to build more faster tracks than this,” he said when asked if this one was at the outer limit of how fast a track can be.
“The (federation) was almost unhappy with how fast the track turned out to be but we’ll see.”
Moments later, Kumaritashvili crashed.
Italy’s Armin Zoeggeler, the 2002 and 2006 Olympic champion, crashed in his first run but wasn’t hurt. His sled seemed to slide from beneath him on Corner 11 and he slid for about 200 metres. He was able to hold his sled to keep it from crashing into his body.
He did his second run and seemed fine. He walked quickly past reporters and had nothing to say.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
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