VANCOUVER — Nodar Kumaritashvili died just hours before the opening ceremonies of his first Olympic Games on the very track where he hoped to make his Olympic dreams come true.
The 21-year-old luge athlete from The Republic of Georgia was killed in a horrific crash on the Luge Track at Whistler on Friday morning. The crash occurred at Thunderbird Curve, which is curve 16. It is the fastest curve on the track with speeds that subject riders to up to 5.5 Gs of force.
"I'm told by members of his federation that he was an incredibly spirited young person," said VANOC CEO John Furlong at a press conference Friday afternoon. "And he came here to be able to feel what it's like to be able to call yourself an Olympian."
The young Georgian crashed as he came out of a short tunnel on the track, smashing first into the top of the tunnel, which sent him careening across the track where his sled hit the lip of the track. He was thrown from the sled and into a metal pylon, where he lay motionless.
Rescuer workers and volunteers got to Kumaritashvili within seconds of the accident but were unable to revive him. He was flown to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.
"It is with great regret that we confirm the death of the Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili during the final training session at the Whistler Sliding Center this morning," said Mark Adams, the IOC press officer. "Mr. Kumaritashvili died after crashing on the last corner during training. Doctors were unable to revive the athlete."
Officials are investigating the accident, and declined to answer any questions about whether anything would change for the competition and whether the track was unsafe. It has been called the fastest track in the world, and some have criticized the VANOC for not allowing foreign countries more practice time on the track, which reportedly reaches speeds over 90 mph.
"The track is too fast," said Josef Fendt, president of the World Luge Federation. "We had planned it to be a maximum of 137 kph (85 mph). But it is about 20 kph faster. We think this is a planning mistake."
Still, Rogge and Furlong said jumping to conclusions was unfair and they would wait to make any decisions until an investigation was complete. It was not clear just who would be investigating the accident and whether or not police would be involved.
"This is a time of sorrow," he said. "Not a time to look for reasons. That will come in time."
At the finish area, not far from the crash scene, athletes, coaches and officials solemnly awaited word on Kumaritashvili.
The luge track manager for the 2002 Salt Lake Games, Ziannibeth Shattuck, was working at the Whistler track when the accident occurred. She said they were instructed not to talk with the media, but she choked back emotion as she expressed personal sympathies for the slider and his family.
"Personally, I am devastated," said Shattuck, who is a former U.S. luge athlete and a Utah resident. "I am brokenhearted."
This is the fourth death at a Winter Olympics. No athlete has died in competition, but three others were fatally injured in training or exhibition runs.
The last was a speed skier who was performing in an exhibition in Albertville in 1992. Two others died in training in 1964, including a British luge athlete.
The following statement was issued by USA Luge President Dwight Bell and USA Luge CEO Ron Rossi: "USA Luge is extremely saddened by the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili. Our hearts go out to his family, teammates, and delegation.
"We understand from International Luge Federation (FIL) officials that an investigation is taking place to understand what happened. As this tragedy is only hours old, our attention is completely focused on Nodar, his family, his teammates and his memory.
"It would be premature for USA Luge athletes and officials to comment prior to the results of the investigation."
On Friday, training was suspended indefinitely, International Luge Federation members were called for a briefing and team captains from each nation were asked to attend a meeting.
American luge athletes participated in training Friday in preparation for the competition, which begins today and finishes with the fourth and final runs on Sunday night.
Chris Mazdzer and Tony Benshoof noted that there is little room for error on such a fast track.
"You know there's always things to work on," said Mazdzer. "The corners don't change but the ice does, and it takes more than a couple of runs to figure out. As you saw with Armin (Zoeggeler, of Italy, the reigning world champion) today, there's a lot of surprises. The last time I saw him crash was three years ago. So even the best, they're not as solid as you may think. It's not locked in."
Benshoof also saw Zoeggeler's crash, in which the Italian described falling off of his sled and then holding onto it with one of his arms so it wouldn't crush his body on curve 11.
"Well, he also crashed in Torino," said Benshoof. "I'll tell you what, he won't be crashing tomorrow."
"Because of the physics of the curves, and going at 95 miles per hour, there's a really small margin for error," Benshoof said before the fatal crash. "You really need to get it right from curve nine to get as far as curve 13, because once you get to curve 11 and 12, you're going too fast to correct yourself."
Crash video — WARNING: Graphic content. Footage from the start of the training run that killed Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili on Feb. 12 at the Whistler Sliding Centre.
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