Tragic accident in Vancouver, luge crash

This NYT link explains the details of the horrible crash that left this Olympic athlet dead.

Video

Bad start for the Olympics


[edit on 12-2-2010 by buddhasystem]

Very sad - but the luge carries its risks - as does any for of high speed sports - I have no illusions that the athlete knew full well of the dangers.

Im sure he will be honored during the opening ceremony.

reply to post by buddhasystem


I think they desperately need to do something with that track before any other competitors use it. The article says that many have said the track is too fast. This happened in a training exercise, I would hate to see it happen on live TV.

Those poles should be highly padded.... There will be some back-lash due to that.

This is very tragic, indeed.

Various news sites have posted photographs of the actual impact of the athlete's body and there has been significant outcry about the poor taste in which this was done.

This will certainly cast a pall on what should have been joyful opening ceremonies.

On top of the weather concerns and the effect that this has already had on the conditions for training runs and the ultimate competitions of outdoor events, successfully pulling off this Olympics could prove very challenging.

I agree, they should address this to be sure it wasn't just a freak accident. If lugers are saying it's too fast then do something to mitigate. Padding would be a good start. Lets hope they are not complacent and get to the bottom of this. He sure was flying down that track when the accident happened.

Other Lugers have complained regarding this track as well......

www.calgaryherald.com...

reply to post by CanadianDream420


I can't believe they don't have a higher retaining wall in front of those posts coming out of a high speed corner like that. If someone leaves the course, their momentum is going to carry them right into one of those things and the consequences are going to be devastating, just as we've seen here.

Originally posted by CanadianDream420
Those poles should be highly padded.... There will be some back-lash due to that.

That was my thought as well. I think the whole wall needs to be covered in mats. If it's so easy to bounce off the track and into steel piling, they should have thought about it earlier. I never knew such danger even existed!

reply to post by buddhasystem


The individual posts should not be padded, rather there should be a wall of padding separating the lugers from the poles altogether.

Originally posted by sparrowstail
reply to post by buddhasystem

 

The individual posts should not be padded, rather there should be a wall of padding separating the lugers from the poles altogether.

That's precisely what I meant, just didn't make it clear. If there are no hard obstacles, it would be hard to sustain a serious injury (although still not impossible). I recall bad falls in motorcycle sport, and oftentimes the rider just walks away after crashing at high speed, because the surface is flat and they are properly dressed.

Wow.....I just hope he died instantly. That was one hell of a wipe out.

Man, im speechless.

reply to post by buddhasystem


It's too bad they couldn't have net like barricades like with downhill skiing to absorb the impact and cushion the blows. That poor fella never knew what hit him. I just heard Georgia is considering pulling out of the games altogether.
R.I.P.

This should've never happened. What a tragedy!

May he rest in peace.

I'm sure that even if the post were padded it wouldn't have made a difference. He was going "roughly" 88mph, which - even if he slowed down to 55mph and hit the same post with padding, -backwards - head/back first into the post - wouldn't have made a difference.

This is the fastest Luge track from what I've read. I can understand trying to make your sport more exciting by building a faster track, or better the excitement of the sport in some way, but - safety should always come first. There should not be ANY exposed part of a Luge track. It should be encapsulated almost entirely when a human being is going 90+mph on half of a sled.

Did you read the part about the restrictions on training/test runs? Thats just -

SICKENING.

Thats all anyone can talk about here. I wonder if it was because of all the rain plaguing us all of a sudden.

Rest his soul...

Building those columns in close proximity to the track was complete stupidity on the part of the designer. The area where he crashed was coming off the last turn, I believe the fastest part of the track. The design of this track is downright suicidal. I can't see how this event can continue without something being done to make that area safer.

Due to its mild and rainy winter weather, Vancouver was a poor choice for the games to begin with. British Columbia is also one of the most corrupt provinces in Canada. I wouldn't be surprised if they cut corners on the safety of the luge track just to save/pocket a few extra bucks.

Tragedy is no stranger to the Olympic Games. This one should have been prevented with better design and common sense. Erecting steel columns next to a course where athletes are traveling over 90 mph is just asking for trouble.

It has been a tragedy that has NO excuses.
A 21 Y old lost his life because between him and some concrete pole there was NOTHING, while he was travelling at 140 + kmph. You don't need to be some rocket scientist to realize that this shouldn't never happen: you MUST draw the track in some way that hazard is some very far-fetched option Design the tracks in some way that athletes won't die, and this won't happen anymore. There has been a mistake from him too though: he tried on instinct to control the sled rather than keeping anchored on it and follow the inertia after the first impact (which is the only thing to do): that has killed him, but at such a speed you have no time to even realize what's going on, plus you have no brakes and no steering. I swear i was waiting for these winter olympic games since long while, now something has broken, it touched me, and i don't think i will watch to them anymore . Many have said that it wasn't the case to start the ceremony:
but to me, the only positive facet has been to have discovered so many facts of Canada that were unknown to me and my ignorance: their culture, their music, their philosophy, their strong link with my beloved europe, to find out that we aren't that far away after all: the tragedy didn't stop me from feeling this. There are two ongoing investigations, serious ones. I wish all my best to Canada, a country i've never planned to visit but ysterday i've changed my mind.

reply to post by groomlake9

This happened in a training exercise, I would hate to see it happen on live TV.

Why would that make is worse?

Sorry, but, I don't get your point here.

The crash was ruled to be caused by human error.

And how can a track be *too fast*??? Isn't that the whole idea? Fastest tie wins? But that's probably for another thread.

Terrific tragedy this. It's a shame. But, any time man takes his experience to those speeds, there's going to be crashes.

peace to his family and friends

Whilst it is sad that this chappy died, I am puzzled how zipping down a track on a suped up tea tray is considered a sport. Same with the Bobsleigh. I know I will get flamed for this, but bollocks to it.

There appears to be little actual skill aside from holding on for dear life. Whoever has the right balance of weight coupled with whoever is the most aerodynamic will win, nothing to do with any real skill...

Seems they will add any old sport into the Olympics these days..

Oh, the bit where he died wasn't the fastest point, it was actually one of the slowest it seems, according to reports. Other competitors (I won't call them "athletes" like some media are) have complained about other sections when someone else was knocked out the other day, but nerver this part.

Seems he just fell of his tea-tray. Maybe he had a wedgey and was trying to sort it out..

Unfortunately, this seems to be par for the course with this "sport". Never heard me complaining when I got injured in Rugby. One of my mates broke his neck in a scrum. Just a risk you take.