Categories: Andrew Coyne

Death on the track

Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili killed during an Olympic training run

by Andrew Coyne on Friday, February 12, 2010 3:45pm - 97 Comments

A freak accident? Maybe. But at the moment, this does not look good on VANOC:

Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled near the finish Friday, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center.

Leave aside how it was possible for the unfortunate Georgian luger to go over the track wall. Why was there an unpadded steel pole anywhere near the finish line?

UPDATE: Here’s a picture of the awful moment just before impact. Correct me if I’m wrong, but does the track design not look like a horrible death waiting to happen?

MORE: From this story, it is clear that people in the sport thought the track was pushing it. It has been described as “an elevator shaft with ice.” That is, even the highly-trained lunatics who do this for kicks were wary of it. On top of which:

“Please, let there be no accidents there because that could kill the sport,” said Andy Schmid, the performance director of British Skeleton, who condemns as irresponsible the Canadian authorities’ decision to limit practice time for overseas competitors to just 40 training runs compared with the 300-plus runs set aside for Canadian athletes.

“People have the argument that it’s just home advantage and that’s normal for an Olympic host country, but it’s different for sports involving high speed. Can you imagine in Formula One nobody being allowed on a track because somebody has home advantage?”

Tags: Luge

More by Andrew Coyne

http://www.governmentauctionsitereviews.com Doug

Being Canadian I have to admit that I'm overly disappointed to hear that the organizers are not allowing an equal number of training runs for all athlete regardless of country. To say that it's normal for the home country to have more practice runs is a not an excuse. As a country who is a leader for equal opportunity for all races, it's sickens me hear that equal opportunity didn't apply when it comes to athletics. Reminds me of when another country opened up the back doors to allow the wind to assist their athletes javelin throws during the summer games many years ago. I'm proud of Canada but the Canadian Olympic Organizers need a refresher course of fairness and equal opportunity for all, and to suppress the urge to deploy unethical means to win at all costs.
http://intensedebate.com/people/madeyoulook madeyoulook

Andrew, being thrown from the track at that speed is likely a death waiting to happen no matter what was waiting to absorb your momentum. But yes, those pillars look awful right about now.
Herb

Saw this on ABC News last night, so it was available to the MSM -

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/nodar-kumarita…

Why weren't we shown this on CTV etc.? It does not in any way offer disrespect to the victim, but it sure points out that there was a problem with track safety. Guess someone was protecting us from the truth – wouldn't wan't to dampen the national Olympic spirit and limit the effectiveness of the grandest marketing campaign in the world.
Laura

I have to say… after reading the comments posted here… everyone seems to be wrapping themselves in the tragedy and forgetting that freak accidents do happen. And, as per the nature of a 'freak accident', they are unavoidable.

The Whistler Luge course is built above the IOC safety standards. It was built and designed to handle the fast travel of the competitors. The walls are higher than they are required by the safety standards to help contain the athletes.

Yes, it is a fast track. Yes, it is one of the worlds fastest tracks (the fastest). But it was designed to be fast.

It is not a new track (Building completed in 2007). It has been used in competitions before.

Athletes who have used the track are quoted as saying that it is a fast and challenging track. Never before this unfortunate incident has it been called a 'death trap'.

Hind sight is a great thing. It allows us to point the finger and say "Someone should have known better. Someone should have done something. Someone should have seen this coming. This is nothing but an accident waiting for a place to happen. I knew someone was going to die here. Shame on Canada for… (insert criticism)" along with all of the other quotes and criticisms that everyone seem to want to verbalize.

Just remember, when you are speaking about what 'should have been done', hind sight is always 20/20… life is imperfect… and, despite our best efforts to make everything safer than safe (Canada met and exceeded all safety standards set out by the IOC)… freak accidents do, unfortunately, happen.

That is the nature of life in the fast lane.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Jenn_ Jenn_

Well, that would explain how it is that everyone approved it.
BCer in Mtl

"The Whistler Luge course is built above the IOC safety standards. It was built and designed to handle the fast travel of the competitors. The walls are higher than they are required by the safety standards to help contain the athletes. "

And the Titanic had more lifeboat spaces than was legally required, yet 1500 people still died.

I had never seen the track myself until this coverage, but as someone involved with engineering, a cursory look at the design, its operating parameters and the dynamics of moving bodies would seriously suggest a deficient design.

A design for such a track needs to take into account reasonable human error that might be committed by its intended users. For example, the design might not need to account for a luger extending his arms sideways during a run; for a luger to do so would be suicidal. But the design should have accounted for errors in steering or control . . . the lugers are hurtling at tremendous speeds after all, so split second decisions can have important consequences that the track design should account for (and this particular section was not considered to be its most challenging).

Maybe the IOC and FIL should re-evaluate their safety standards and design guidelines, and not just to the track itself but anything in proximity to the track that may be in the path of a competitor leaving the track (like rotor burst and tire burst zones on aircraft)

Mulletaur

This concern is a bit surprising coming from the guy who has posted articles about just wanting to be left alone and not subject to the nanny state. These are responsible adults, they can always make the decision not to go down the luge run. Risk cannot be totally eliminated from any activity, must less any sport.

Laura

I totally agree with you!!! They know the risks when they join the sport. They know that they are hurtling their bodies down an ice track wearing little more than a helmet for protection. They know there are excessive speeds involved. Yet they still choose to participate in the sport.

They come to the games with high hopes. They know the run is fast. They know it is a challenging track.

They have the right to choose: run the course, participate in the games or don't. No one is forcing them to participate.

They are making the choice that is right for them… and unfortunately, in this case, there were consequences.

Not to make light of the situation… or to try to take away from the loss of a young and talented athlete… but, he made the choice.

lutz

Canada and the USA kill almost 50,000 people in automobile accidents,resulting in a death rate ,per mile driven ,that is much higher than in most civilized countries, including Germany, with its thousands of miles with no speed limit ! Does anybody really care, other than the families and friends of the casualties ? Apperently not, since there is nothing being done toward that end. But one fluke deadly accident by a poorly skilled athlete seems to have just about everybody screaming for more safety! [ The track has had over 2,000 runs without any really serious accidents ! ] As sorry as I feel for the athlete, he was there on his own volition and knew the risk. We as drivers have no choice; – we HAVE TO go to work, go shopping etc.! Where is the public outcry over the daily slaughter on the road? Or are just over 11 dead on Canada's roads EVERY DAY of the year acceptable? Well, by implication, it looks like that is the case. How selective our sensitivities are !
turnedoff

I am afraid to go to cbc.ca in case they also are exploiting this young man and claiming that they have to show me the full video so that Ì will `understand` the story. Let this horrible video feed the cravings of the tragi-porn addicts over on you-tube, but get it the hell out of our national mediaspace. It shames us. As for the rest of the games, they lost me. Nothing short of a full on-air apology from CTV for exploiting the graphic nature of the video would restore my interest in these games at this point. People matter. It`s a Canadian thing.
Daniel

I am absolutely appalled at CTV’s decision to show the video of the Georgian athlete’s tragic death.

Imagine as my family excitedly sat down for the start of “CTV’s pre-Olympic Show”. The very first image greeting my 8-year old son and 3-year old daughter are of this poor man slamming into a post at high speed, laying limp – obviously dead. We are not talking about some grainy image shot from a bad angle. This is a graphic video, depicting the death of a human being, in full view, shown on prime time TO MY CHILDREN!!!

The decision to broadcast this video, as the very first Olympic ‘moment’, has brought our family’s Olympic experience to a rapid end. As sad as this decision is, we obviously cannot trust CTV to make valued judgments as to the content of their broadcast, our family is no longer watching the Olympics on CTV.

Perhaps in the future, CTV will consider your decisions more carefully, but their lack of apology so far tells me that is unlikely.

Meanwhile, every concerned family should BOYCOTT CTV. Their pocket book is obviously the only way they will understand.

Sean Webb

They also aired an inappropriate bit before the Opening Ceremonies as a promo for coverage on Much Music with language and situations inappropriate for families with younger children. They replayed the video of the death of the luger after the Opening Ceremonies on their newscast. And then on Saturday night they showed a grisly figure skating accident where one skater sliced another, complete with slo-mo reply of the blood flying. Why such gross, adult coverage for something they keep saying is "for the kids" and will "inspire future Olympians"? Not if they can't watch it for fear of seeing such inappropriate scenes.

http://intensedebate.com/people/sprite1949 sprite1949

I agree with all who feel this could have been prevented with greater safety measures. This may be off topic, but the whole idea that host nations restrict practice times for other competitors just doesn's seem to fit the "supposed" spirit of the Olympic games. To me, it should be a "tradition" that is ended, asap. It is very unfair, especially since the host nation can have their athletes practice on it long before the Olympics begin. This is not meant to point fingers at Canada only, but at ALL host nations.
James Frank

he doesnt have legs, this is true.. He lost his legs in his youth from a rare disease called Aids.
Craigs

In China, ( or Georgia for that matter), you are careful with expressed opinions. Express the wrong ones and trouble ensues. It is a troublesome consequenceside of the real freedom we have in the western democracies that one is entitled one's opinion and its public expression whether or not there exists any knowledge to back it up. This results in statements about 'ovious' bad design and 'steel posts without padding' as if padding would have any value at 150 km/hr.
I think people should have a look at the 'obvious' bad design of the Salt Lake city luge track or most any modern high speed artificial luge.
Exposed steel abounds. Let us recall that the designer of this track is the best money can buy. There is no better with 6 OLYMPIC tracks designed and implemented to his company's credit. It isn't negligence IN MY OPINION but it is an accident.
Andrew (not Potter or Coyne)

That kind of incompetence is inexcusable. There is a good chance that this is going to overshadow the whole Games.
Jan

It's considerably faster than the usual according to the local news.
There has been concern about this for some time.
http://intensedebate.com/people/PolJunkie PolJunkie

"The official tells The Associated Press that the International Olympic Committee received confirmation of Nodar Kumaritashvili's death. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the 21-year-old luger's family hadn't been notified yet."

Why would AP then release the name of the athlete?!?
http://twitter.com/timothyrobin @timothyrobin

Before we completely crucify the track designers or Vancouver, remember that all of the sledding sport's governing bodies approved the circuit.

It is a mess and it is inexcusable, but it seems foolhardy to place blame on one camp right now.
http://intensedebate.com/people/PolJunkie PolJunkie

"who condemns as irresponsible the Canadian authorities’ decision to limit practice time for overseas competitors to just 40 training runs compared with the 300-plus runs set aside for Canadian athletes."

There goes the Olympics' PR campaign. I wouldn't want to be in charge of doing to Comms for this mess.
http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok Sean

His poor family – I can't imagine…
http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

yeah. man oh man.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Gaunilon Gaunilon

Amen to that. Never mind the effect on the rest of the Games, this guy's family saw him leave as an Olympian carrying his nation's pride, and he'll be returned as a broken mess in a casket.

Truly awful.
http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

there was suggestion in earlier reports that he had hit his head in the previous corner and was unconscious and thus uncontrolled when he flew off the sled and out of the track.
Sandi

I agree…nothing is black and white. It's easy to second guess…things should have been safer yada yada….it is very sad and I'm certain (ys, certain) everyone involved feels awful, but DON"T TRASH THE OYMPICS or CANADIANS, eh?
Katherine

I've been incredibly excited about the games, about Canada's chance to show off the the world and show that we're not all just Mr. Nice guy, we can be tough and competitive and win.

Now it just seems so meaningless. We're competing for pieces of metal. And we got a guy killed – because we wanted the fastest track in the world, because we wanted "home field advantage."

We can go back to being the nice polite people now. A competitive streak isn't worth the cost.

Everyone's talking about how this will cast a pall over the games, or how it will affect the opening ceremonies. How does any of that stuff matter? A person is dead.
http://intensedebate.com/people/JohnCal JohnCal

Good to see comments mentioning the poor design of this track. In the photo it really does appear to be a 1970's type facility- wood capped wall leading straight into a vertical section. Huh? In this day and age I cannot imagine an engineering and design firm coming up with this. I hope his family and loved ones are duly compensated if legally possible. I looked quickly at the Altenburg German facility, a mid '80s facility-it is apparent much consideration is given there to smooth entry and exit transitions if an upset occurs and the athlete(s) REMAIN in the track chute!!!. Participants in bobsled luge skeleton have been in leave-the-track accidents years ago! – so this is a known potential, and not difficult to prevent 99.99% of the time. Obviously this lack of containment safety infrastructure is the crux issue here, not speed, and the athletes involved would be much more comfortable psychologically if there was a good design in place here, and the facilities potential for records could then be realized more readily. But when we are nervous we all tighten up. I say this facility leads sliders to be tight due to the lack of a flowing design. Sure some will handle it, but some will be injured due only to poor design
hosertohoosier

I will admit that "own the podium" made me rather excited. I'm not a huge sportsfan, but I love Canada, and I do love to see us win. I wasn't born yet when the '72 series took place, but what an epic battle. I feel that in light of our failings here, perhaps there is something bigger we can make these Olympic Games about. We got too caught up in winning that we appear to have neglected the unifying purpose of the Olympic Games. When we host the Olympics, we are on showcase – have we really been true to who we are. Canadians will probably never "own the podium" in a broad sense. Canadians will never have the biggest army; never dominate the global economy and never have the kind of international recognition other countries have.

We may not qualify in a world of high stakes power politics, but we have always prided ourselves in having a gold in sportsmanship, tolerance and fairness. Perhaps our hubris can help us remember that fact. Canada is a great nation because of our response to the disaster in Haiti and other crises, because we have learned to live in peace with our neighbours and because of our practice of a level of tolerance unparalleled around the world. Let Canada lose every event in these Olympics – if we work to uphold our most-cherished values we will have won in the only sense that matters.
Truthspeaker

Welcome to Canada
Think of all the "experts, inspectors and money grubbing IOC officials" that approved this for use. What a colossal waste.
Typical Canadian mediocrity………..embarrassing.
Patrick

I've been involved in several risk-assessements of sports facilities where we look at the activities undertaken and what could happen if things go wrong. I am not professionally trained in this activity and yet the very first thing we look for is "if someone wipes out what can they hit?". I simply cannot believe that nobody could see that portion of the track as a very high risk.

What I can believe is that the risk was seen and the suits decided against mitigating the risk because it would interfere with camera angles. Money before safety is an age old killer.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Gaunilon Gaunilon

Yep. Better to run the podium with class than own it.
FVerhoeven

Dear Katherine,

the world doesn't stop because accidents happen. Get a grip! Every accident is a sad accasion, not just during Olympics but any time.

The Olympics are all about competition and if atlethes are prepared to do it, better, faster and more exicting venues will be build. Each individual has a choice to make whether to participate or not. No athlethe is pushed into participating, as far as I know……..