Olympian Luger Killed

[Shivas Irons]

Pretty sad, a 21 year old kid.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Olympics/2...57451-qmi.html

[byerxa]

I just saw this. Very sad. And WTF? Why in the world would you have anything solid like poles, etc., near the course, especially in areas where they are prone to leaving the track? Motorcycle racing learned this lesson a long time ago. Also sounds like the course is crazy - speeds over 150 km/h.

Between the weather and now this tragedy, I am getting a bad vibe about how well these games are going to come off.

[goochy]

The course has a vertical drop of 152 metres, making it the steepest in the sport leading to the nickname of "the elevator shaft."
Officials have been widely critical of Canada's decision to keep athletes off of the course to create a home-course advantage.
"Please, let there be no accidents because that could kill the sport," Andy Schmid, the performance director of British Skeleton told England's The Daily Telegraph. "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?"

Thats really tragic and the excerpt above makes it even more unfortunate. The sliding centre is already gaining a reputation for being really really fast.....lets pray there are no more accidents...one tragedy is already one too many

[mpare]

This was a truly sad event. The risk of further incidences appears to continue. Fixed beams appear to be positioned adjacent to the track. If another competitor flies off the track, he or she appears likely to hit one. That cannot be good. I hope I'm wrong.

. ... The sliding centre is already gaining a reputation for being really really fast.....lets pray there are no more accidents...one tragedy is already one too many

[jeffc]

Just saw the accident on TSN

absolutely brutal

makes you wonder who designed that track

[NoBack]

Just saw the accident on TSN

absolutely brutal

makes you wonder who designed that track

Same here, not a stitch of padding on those beams at the end of the track and he was flying. Brutal to watch and even more brutal to hear it.

[jeffc]

Not sure padding would have made a difference

[sillywilly]

i wonder if that country will pull out now... i wonder if they signed waivers before getting on the course? that course is ridic dangerous

[fundonny]

This could prove to be monumental shame for Canada. These games are not starting out well at all. Sad for this young lads family and team and country.

[Andy4Par]

What a shame. Too young to die like that. You know that sport is absolutely nuts. How more accidents resulting in serious injury or death don't happen is unreal. Anyone know if this is the first time a death happened in this sport. I don't recall anything in past events.
I've seen some really bad breaks in giant slalom...thats about it.

[byerxa]

Not sure padding would have made a difference

Short of 5-10 foot deep crushable barriers nothing would have saved him in that impact. He was doing 140 km/h and he stopped dead when he hit that post. I think it is absolutely insane to not have the course walled or fenced all the way around. If you keep him on the track sliding he may of got hurt but would have survived. As the saying goes it is not the speed that kills, it is the sudden stop. These courses must be designed to ensure everything stays on the course with no opposing surfaces to run into. Simply brutal IMO.

The only hope is that this accident forces them to completely overhaul safety standards and ensure this type of injury/death does not happen again.

[Andy4Par]

Guaranteed they will close it in somewhat after this. Wouldn't surprise me if they are working on it as we speak. This was a case of an accident waiting to happen. Always seems to take a tragedy to realize something is flawed.

[goochy]

The small Georgian Team have said they will still take part in the parade at the opening Ceremony...I hope they get a huge ovation...I'm sure they will

[goochy]

Excellent article on this from the BBC, especially after the somewhat insensitive comments from the German coach of the Canadian Luge team.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jamespear...rive_in_a.html