![]() IOC President Jacques Rogge declined to comment Friday on what safety precautions may be put into place pending the outcome of the investigation. Kumaritashvili crashed on the 16th and final turn of the course. "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." "Because of the physics of the curves, and going at 95 mph, there's a really small margin for error," Benshoof said. Kumaritashvili was traveling at 88 mph at the time of his crash, Epstein said.īenshoof said Friday that he had had problems in the lower portion of the track during one of his training runs. American luger Tony Benshoof held the previous world speed record of 86.8 mph set in 2001. "That's 15 to 20 mph faster than any course in the rest of the world," Epstein said.Ī track speed record - and world speed record - was recorded at Whistler on February 21, 2009, when a single men's luge athlete topped 95 mph during competition. He noted that while most luge courses "flatten out" around the 11th turn, the Whistler track "just keeps on dropping, so there's really kind of no break from gathering speed toward the end."Įpstein said some athletes had been complaining about the speed of the course and speculating that this Winter Games could be the first time the sport sees a competitor hit 100 mph. Sports Illustrated's David Epstein, who is covering the Olympics for the magazine, told CNN's "Situation Room" that the Whistler course is the fastest in the world "and not by a little." They are positioned on their backs with their feet straight out in front of them and their heads back to be as aerodynamic as possible. The luge is often called the "fastest sport on ice." Sliders use their legs and shoulders to steer small fiberglass sleds down an icy track, at times approaching or surpassing speeds of 90 mph, according to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Web site. ![]() He urged a thorough examination "to prevent devastating events in the future." The official training session was being held just hours before the opening ceremony for the Winter Games.Īn investigation into the cause of the crash is under way, the IOC said, and the track was closed after the accident, Rurua said. Kumaritashvili was scheduled to compete in the men's singles luge event, which begins Saturday. He was given CPR by medical staff on site before being transported to a hospital where doctors were unable to revive him, the IOC said. Video of the crash shows Kumaritashvili lying motionless after being thrown from his sled and striking a steel pole as he was coming out of the course's last turn. Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, was on his final official training run when he had a "serious crash" near the end of the 4,500-foot-long course and was propelled off the track, according to the International Olympic Committee. "But at this moment it would be premature for me to jump to any conclusions." "There were some questions asked by other athletes even before this tragic accident," said Nikolas Rurua, Georgia's deputy minister for culture and sports, adding that there had been several crashes in the same area. (CNN) - The death of a Georgian luge athlete Friday ahead of the opening of the 2010 Winter Olympics occurred amid concerns about the speed of the record-setting track at the Whistler Sliding Center, according to a Georgian official. ![]() Nodar Kumaritashvili was to compete in the men's singles luge event.Other athletes had been worried about speed of track, Georgian official says. ![]() Luge slider from Georgia killed hours before the opening ceremony.
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