This is the thread to discuss all the news and happenings of the 2010 winter olympics.
The Winter Olympics thread.
This is the thread to discuss all the news and happenings of the 2010 winter olympics.
--Luge participant dies during training session
VANCOUVER – With the crash that killed Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili during a Friday morning training run, just hours before the Olympic torch was to be lit here, the Vancouver Games need to take immediate steps to assure the safety of its athletes.
It can start by canceling the luge competition altogether unless the track can be reconstructed to prevent wicked speeds from putting athletes at risk.
Kumaritashvili, 21, lost control of his sled during a practice session at the Whistler Sliding Centre. He violently caromed off of two of the track’s walls before being tossed in the air, where he spun until hitting a metal support pole. He was rushed to a local hospital, but it was too late.
This was no isolated incident, not just a bit of human error in an inherently dangerous sport.
It was a tragedy some saw coming on the super-fast track that had produced a dozen training wrecks already and had athletes wondering whether they were being put into harm’s way in a sport already built on attaining near impossible speeds.
“I think they are pushing it a little too much,” Australia’s Hannah Campbell-Pegg told the Associated Press on Thursday after she nearly lost control in training. “To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we’re crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives.”
Campbell-Pegg’s words should haunt these Games.
News of the death Friday reached the downtown torch relay and cast a pall on the run-up to the Opening Ceremony. It needs to force the International Olympic Committee and the local organizing committee to immediately rededicate these Games to safety.
IOC president Jacques Rogge was non-committal on what would happen next with the luge, although the IOC promised a later press conference. “It’s a time of sorrow,” Rogge said. “It’s not a time to look for reasons.”
Kumaritashvili was clocked at 89.44 mph just before losing control as he exited what is called the Thunderbird turn. Some lugers have said speeds near 90 mph make maintaining control of the sled almost impossible.
The track at Whistler is arguably the world’s fastest, and the danger is everywhere. The week already had seen one incident where Italian gold medalist Armin Zoggeler lost control and had to be taken off the track with medical attention (he returned) and another that left a Romanian woman unconscious.
The track has been closed since Kumaritashvili’s death and shouldn’t be opened unless it can be redesigned to slow the athletes.
The luge is always a dangerous event, what with one or two people lying on a small, slick sled that whips through an icy, curvy course. There is no reason to set up a track that produces speeds that challenge an athlete just to maintain grip on the sled.
A slower track does not weaken the competition. Competitors still would have to maximize the course as best they could. It would be a safer yet still level playing field, minus the eye-popping speeds reached only for the excitement of fans or for false standards such as clocks and “world records.”
At some point with these sports, enough has to be enough. No one set out to create a track that would cause athletes to die, but it is clear through training that this course has pushed the competitors to the brink – or, in this case, beyond.
Now the organizers need to protect the competitors from themselves. The luge is not for the faint of heart, and the athletes who thrive in it naturally push themselves to faster and faster times. But these are just games, nothing worth dying for.
The luge competition, set to begin Saturday, should be postponed for the time being and canceled if the track can’t be fixed. A team of experts – officials, coaches and athletes – must determine whether the course is safe or can be adjusted to become safe.
If this many crashes and this much fear was being generated during training sessions, it will only get worse when the athletes go all-out in pursuit of the gold.
One ugly, horrific tragedy on the luge course is one too many. This track, this sport, needs to be shut down until sanity reigns.
-sports.yahoo.com
Opening Ceremonys Tonight And Some Ski Jumping Probably Wont Catch Anything Tonight But We'll Def Catch Tomm Afternoon Speed Skating And More Ski Jumping. The Luge And Skeleton And What Not Always Looked Hairy To Me. I'm Suprised Theres Not More Serious Injuries Maybe There Is A Lot But I Just Dont Follow It When It's Not The Olympics So I Dont Hear About It I Dont Know.
Wherever I go, my crew, is true to swarm
Got stripes in New York like Yankee uniforms-Biggie
Olympic Luge Athlete Dies on Track
WHISTLER — Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili from Georgia was killed when he crashed and flew off the track during the final day of men's Olympic luge training Friday.
The IOC confirmed that Kumaritashvili has died.
TV replays show that Kumaritashvili, 22, hit a steel beam after exiting curve 16, the final curve before crossing the finish line at the Whistler Sliding Center, which is considered the fastest track in the world with speeds reaching 95 mph in training this week.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olymp...ge-crash_N.htm
Doesn't Seem Very Smart To Have Steel Beams Right Next To The Turns On A Track. No One Looked At That As A Potential Problem.
Wherever I go, my crew, is true to swarm
Got stripes in New York like Yankee uniforms-Biggie
Men's olympic hockey schedule
All times are listed as Pacific Time. Add three hours for Eastern Standard Time
PRELIMINARY ROUND:
Tuesday, February 16
- 12:00 pm USA vs. SWITZERLAND
- 4:30 pm CANADA vs. NORWAY
- 9:00 pm RUSSIA vs. LATVIA
Wednesday, February 17
- 12:00 pm FINLAND vs. BELARUS
- 4:30 pm SWEDEN vs. GERMANY
- 9:00 pm CZECH REPUBLIC vs. SLOVAKIA
Thursday, February 18
- 12:00 pm USA vs. NORWAY
- 4:30 pm SWITZERLAND vs. CANADA
- 9:00 pm SLOVAKIA vs. RUSSIA
Friday, February 19
12:00 pm BELARUS vs. SWEDEN
4:30 pm CZECH REPUBLIC vs. LATVIA
9:00 pm FINLAND vs. GERMANY
Saturday, February 20
12:00 pm NORWAY vs. SWITZERLAND
4:30 pm LATVIA vs. SLOVAKIA
9:00 pm GERMANY vs. BELARUS
Sunday, February 21
12:00 pm RUSSIA vs. CZECH REPUBLIC
4:45 pm CANADA vs. USA
9:00 pm SWEDEN vs. FINLAND
im sure he was dead instantly hitting that beam going that fast, luge athletes are insane to be going that fast on a sled
n e one has the video, rly wanna see it..
SkamPoe at instagram @kinghippoe
FOLLOW!!
its been removed hahaha damn
SkamPoe at instagram @kinghippoe
FOLLOW!!
I feel sorry for the poor man.
At least his death was fast and painless, have you seen the speed that thing is going?
I always found this to be an incredibly stupid sport. It literally is for dummies that like to watch things go fast. Like Nascar fans, but from Europe.
It just dawned on me that hockey is the religion of Canada and Wayne Gretzky is the messiah...
Break fast is served
Originally Posted by battle?
Thanks for this.. looks like ill be watching some hockey.
waiting for final Russia - Canada ...
and of course Russian win !!!!!!
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very sad for the Georgian athlete (((
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