Posted on 02/14/2010 12:58:03 PM PST by fuzzybutt
BAKURIANI, Georgia—The young Georgian luger who died in a horrific training accident hours before the opening of the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Friday told his father he was terrified of the track before doing the run that killed him.
"He called me before the Olympics, three days ago, and he said, 'Dad, I'm scared of one of the turns,' " David Kumaritashvili said in an interview at his house in the small mountain town of Bakuriani on Sunday.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
These Luge tracks use massive amounts of refrigeration and electricity to keep huge long track “iced”. Funny how the media fails to point that out since it’s the “Olympics”. I guess its ok to put massive amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere as long as its in the name of the Olympics...
That’s a brilliant observation. /s
You wrote:
“And if he thought it was too dangerous, why is it he elected to race down the track?”
He was representing his country and probably didn’t want to let down the people back home.
He knew the risks.
I know. If I felt the track was not safe, I would not run it.
Yes, he did. It’s still a shame.
Yes, it is a shame.
However, I do not see him as a victim of anyone else’s wrong doing..
That’s it. Thanks! It will be used to prove a point.
Those of us have played sports understand why he went down the track. When you are a member of a team, you grow to love your teammates, and you are willing to do your best for them. He had trained long and hard for his event, he was selected to for his country's team, so he did what he had to do. His commitment went from doing his personal best to doing his best for his teammates. Add to that he comes from a very small, very poor country. His country and his Olympic committee supported him with a number of costly resources, and so he wanted to do his best for the committee that selected him. Then add to that his commitment to doing his best for his country. It's not difficult to understand why he did what he did despite his fear. I honor that kind of man who makes that kind of commitment, then follows through.
Of course he is, any moron could see that was an unsafe design. 100, 200 athletes,, whatever the number are left with a track that is designed like crap.
Telling him to withdraw if he thinks the track is a menace is ridiculous, why is it so unreasonable to expect the equipment be up to modern standards? Why shouldnt the designer be held responsible for his design?
I bet if a highway had an obviously dangerous flaw in the design, you wouldnt dismiss the death of a friend by saying,,”it’s all on the driver”, he could have stayed home”
“Scared” now equals “Terrified”? Sure glad I’m not a journalist.
Of course he is, any moron could see that was an unsafe design. 100, 200 athletes,, whatever the number are left with a track that is designed like crap.
Telling him to withdraw if he thinks the track is a menace is ridiculous, why is it so unreasonable to expect the equipment be up to modern standards? Why shouldnt the designer be held responsible for his design?
I bet if a highway had an obviously dangerous flaw in the design, you wouldnt dismiss the death of a friend by saying,,”it’s all on the driver”, he could have stayed home”
Some of this reminds me of the talk that ensued after the Siberian tiger managed to get out of its pen at the San Francisco Zoo a few years ago...seems to me that there were those that tried to lay the blame on the guy who got mauled to death because he apparently had been ‘teasing the tiger’. The sad reality was that the wall was simply too low and regardless of how sick it would be to tease a tiger, there is no way it should have been able to get out. With the wall too low, it was going to happen sooner or later. As I said, it always seems to take a death before something gets done and no doubt, changes will be made in the future. My guess that we are going to see tubular containments on these corners on future tracks. It’s just very sad that a young man had to die for that to happen.
He mentioned that every Confederate soldier knew it was folly to march out into that open field, but all of them did.
Foote said it would have been more courageous to tell the general that "no one can take that hill" then to march to certain death.
I guess this fellow felt the same way. How do you tell them you are not going to represent your country because you are frightened.
Well said. Some here have suggested that ‘he knew the risks’. Actually, he probably didn’t know the risks at all. He likely had very good understanding of issues such as how tight the turns were, the angle of embankment, the speeds, g forces etc. He also knew the risks of falling off a sled at nearly 100 mph and rattling around in an icy track until he slowed down and hence what kind of protective equipment was appropriate. What he would have no concept of was the answer to a simple question of ‘was it physically possible for him to leave the confines of the track.’ There certainly has been no indication that the only people that should be lugers are also degreed mechanical engineers who have personally done all their own engineering calculations and verifications on the matter. In that sense, I don’t view this any different that a person who goes to a water park and when they go down that slide for the first time, they assume that somebody has designed it so that it is absolutely physically impossible for them to go around a corner and fly off into never never land.
Show me any highway in America that would have oak trees or concrete pillars located three feet from the road at a high speed turn. Show me! That the designers had open, and completely unprotected steel girders lining the track 36 inches away from a harrowing turn is a criminal design flaw.
This poor kid should not have lost his life over this obvious fault.
I have to agree with the ones that say people are heartless on this matter. Sure there was danger in the sport, but the track should have had rails or something on the side to prevent this from happening. My heart goes out to his family and friends. Shame on you...Olympics!!!!
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