WHISTLER, B.C. – Vancouver Winter Olympics officials have launched a probe into a shocking track crash Friday that killed a Georgian luger during a training run, only hours before the Games’ opening ceremonies.
Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, was taken to hospital after a crash that saw him fly off the track near the bottom of the course at the Whistler Sliding Centre. He died in hospital.
At a packed and sombre news conference, an emotional International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said an investigation has begun into the circumstances around the accident that killed Kumaritashvili.
“Sorry, it is a bit difficult to remain composed,” he said as he started to speak. “This is indeed a sad day. I have no words to say.”
“We are so heartbroken to be in this position,” said John Furlong, the CEO of Vancouver Organizing Committee. “Our team has been devastated by this.”
The fatal 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 kilometres per 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.
The training run – the second of two scheduled for Friday and the final one before the event’s scheduled start on Saturday – was suspended.
Kumaritashvili comes from the town of Borjomi.
He was coached by his father, Feliqs. He took part in five World Cup races this season and is 44th in the overall standings.
According to Olympic historian David Wallechinsky, Kumaritashvili is the sixth athlete to die while competing or training for competition at an Olympic Games.
During the Summer Games of 1912, Portuguese marathon runner Francisco Lazaro, 21, collapsed from sunstroke and heart trouble and died the next day.
In 1960, Danish cyclist Knut Jensen died during the Olympic road race as a result of ingesting amphetamines and nicotinyl tartrate, supposed performance boosters.
During the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics, Australian downhill racer Ross Milne, 19, was killed when he flew off the course during a training run and slammed into a tree. Just before those same games began, Polish-born British luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski was killed during a trial run on the Olympic course.
More recently, Swiss speed skier Nicolas Bochatay died in training during the 1992 Games in Albertville, France, when speed skiing was a demonstration sport.
“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,” said Rogge.
“We are deeply struck by this tragedy and join the IOC in extending our condolences to the family, friends and teammates of this athlete, who came to Vancouver to follow his Olympic dream,” said Furlong.
International Luge Federation president Josef Fendt said: “This is a terrible accident. This is the very gravest thing that can happen in sport, and our thoughts and those of the luge family are naturally with those touched by this event.”
The head coach of Canada’s luge team said he was devastated.
“It’s terrible. I’m in shock and I can’t really say anything right now,” said Wolfgang Staudinger. “This is the first time I’ve seen this (a death). It’s very sad.
“I want to meet with my team before I say anything more.”
Josef Fendt, president of 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.”
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.”
This track had been a challenge. Shortly 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 Friday 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.
The announcement cast a pall over the last hours before the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics. What was supposed to be a happy day marking the start of 17 days of competition turned has turned bleak, even as thousands of people turned out in Vancouver to watch the last day of the Olympic torch relay.
Rogge was scheduled to hold a closing news conference marking the end of the 122nd Olympic session, where the IOC debated many sport issues. But Kumaritashvili’s horrific crash, captured on video and film, quickly derailed the conference.
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