Olympics off to a dazzling start Luger Dies After Olympic Training Crash Georgian Left Track, Hit Unpadded Steel Pole An Olympic official with direct knowledge of the situation says a men's luger from the former Soviet republic of Georgia has died after a crash during training. The official tells The Associated Press that the International Olympic Committee received confirmation of Nodar Kumaritashvili's death. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the 21-year-old luger's family hadn't been notified yet. An official statement is to be released soon. Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled near the finish Friday, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center.
They need safety nets around the tops of the sides bc on tracks like those you're going so fast hanging on is half the battle. A sad way to start the olympics
I was in Whistler at Christmas and they were talking about how fast and treacherous that track was. Terrible way to start the Olympics.
The biggest question here is why the hell didn't they put some kind of padding on teh support structure. If there had been some decent padding the guy might still have been severely injured but at least he would be alive
