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Luge athlete dies during Olympic training
- Thread starter deadheadskier
- Start date
Warp Daddy
Active member
sad indeed , what a travesty
jaja111
New member
The vid is Horrific. Absolutely horrific.
What does the Georgian team do? Stay? Leave? They must be in a total state of shock. This is so sad. Not a good way to start the games at all I'm afraid.
That course is so fast that real time vids of practice runs look edited to speed them up. 100+ mph is a very real possibility on this thing. I guess a female luger almost hit a ton and crashed yesterday too.
RIP Nodar - you died doing what you loved.
What does the Georgian team do? Stay? Leave? They must be in a total state of shock. This is so sad. Not a good way to start the games at all I'm afraid.
That course is so fast that real time vids of practice runs look edited to speed them up. 100+ mph is a very real possibility on this thing. I guess a female luger almost hit a ton and crashed yesterday too.
RIP Nodar - you died doing what you loved.
4aprice
Well-known member
Vancouvers Olympics getting off to a rough start. Bad financing, bad weather and now this. Hope it gets better.
Alex
Lake Hopatcong, NJ
Alex
Lake Hopatcong, NJ
drjeff
Well-known member
No one probably ever thought that headed into the finish slow down area that someone could get airborne in that area. My guess is at minimum when the comp starts tommorrow, you'll see the equivalent of the A-netting that you see lining a downhill race course in that area to atleast keep someone in the track.
RIP - just a horrific crash
billski
Active member
they will compete, in his memory. Having taken a ride on an olympic bobsled course, luge strikes me as one of the most dangerous of sports. Huge respect for those who compete. Big sympathies to the family, team and country.
severine
New member
There's an expert, Chris Whiteman, on right now who just said "crashing is just part of the sport." They said the dude who died hit 90mph. Scary and very sad indeed.
Scary and very sad indeed.
Yes, really really sad. Having something like this happen to an Olympic athlete, or any athlete, is just so wrong. Me being Georgian only adds more to my sadness and, to be honest, frustration.
We are a tiny country with limited resources and I have been to the poor town where Nodar lived. Given the resources availble to him being 44 in the world is pretty impressive and I can only guess how much pride and honor he felt to be there representing his country.
What frustrates me is some folks trying to say that it was "pilot error", that it wouldn't happen to the top athletes cause they have more experience. First, Nodar ranked 11th during training so he wasn't completely green. Second, its the Olympics and you are going to have athletes show up from small underfunded countries who won't be as experienced as your usual world champion luger -- you are supposed to expect that and plan for it. When you spend millions and millions of dollars on the world's fastest track, is an extra 10 grand on extending the wall and shielding the steel beams really that much extra? It seems to me that an oversight in design is being blamed on the athelete by some.
But others, including many fellow athletes have said that the course is too dangerous. So I really really hope that they fix it by this evening when the competition runs start.
We are a tiny country with limited resources and I have been to the poor town where Nodar lived. Given the resources availble to him being 44 in the world is pretty impressive and I can only guess how much pride and honor he felt to be there representing his country.
What frustrates me is some folks trying to say that it was "pilot error", that it wouldn't happen to the top athletes cause they have more experience. First, Nodar ranked 11th during training so he wasn't completely green. Second, its the Olympics and you are going to have athletes show up from small underfunded countries who won't be as experienced as your usual world champion luger -- you are supposed to expect that and plan for it. When you spend millions and millions of dollars on the world's fastest track, is an extra 10 grand on extending the wall and shielding the steel beams really that much extra? It seems to me that an oversight in design is being blamed on the athelete by some.
But others, including many fellow athletes have said that the course is too dangerous. So I really really hope that they fix it by this evening when the competition runs start.
billski
Active member
There's an expert, Chris Whiteman, on right now who just said "crashing is just part of the sport." They said the dude who died hit 90mph.
This is a sport where your body is entirely exposed and vulnerable. Like skiing and boarding but with a whole lot less control
Rambo
Member
So sad.
Sorry to get off subject, but a bear was checking out the Vancouver Luge track
(I thought they hibernated in the winter)
Sorry to get off subject, but a bear was checking out the Vancouver Luge track
(I thought they hibernated in the winter)
Johnskiismore
New member
Couldn't have worse news to start the Olympics
bigbog
Active member
Needs to be some legal action...to prevent future work..without thorough testing BEFORE an example of some "coming in under budget" physics takes precedence.
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billski
Active member
Cripes, another lawsuit happy response. Is that the only way to prevent things? C'mon, the only ones winning on theat one are the lawyers.
billski
Active member
About 10-15 years ago, they started to tire of clearing snow off the tracks. So they began to put roofs overhead, with beams to match.
Marc
New member
Kore! Not to be jovial in a solemn thread, but I didn't know you were still around, buddy.
or future loved ones who also lose a someone to tragedy.
You make it sound like the legal system is the devil. Lots of things you and I take for granted today originally were started because of lawsuits.
SkiDork
New member
that initial hit might have been the cause of death.
drjeff
Well-known member
If you're referring to the pylon hit, guarenteed. I've seen a few, pretty graphic, photos online that show that once he cleared the wall, the he hit that metal pylon, going 80mph or so, back first, basically right on his spine in the upper back/neck region just below his helmet
The only good thing about that is that wth the speed he was going, he probably didn't know what was happening and he probably didn't feel a thing as it looks like he impacted really close to where his brain stem is
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