R.I.P Nodar Kumaritashvili

[kbsonicstang]

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - The IOC has confirmed that a men's Olympic luger from the country of Georgia has died after a crash during training.

The International Olympic Committee says doctors were unable to revive Nodar Kumaritashvili, and the 21-year-old died at a hospital.

IOC president Jacques Rogge says the death "clearly casts a shadow over these games."

Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled Friday, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center.

heres the vid
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5lAS7H6tkg"]YouTube- Olympic Athlete Dies in Training[/ame]

 

[nodaksvt]

OMG. That is a vicious crash. Surviving that impact at the speed alone would be a miracle. At least he died doing something he loved. RIP

 

[Sweet '96 Cobra]

I saw it a couple hours ago...Very sad...

 

[RCMPSVT]

I hate to criticize as a Canadaian citizen proud to have the Olympics just a short one hour from my house but why wasnt that pole padded??? I think they need to looked at the safety precautions a bit closer

 

[Sniperdog]

heard it on the way home from work very sad

 

[Jekyl]

I hate to criticize as a Canadaian citizen proud to have the Olympics just a short one hour from my house but why wasnt that pole padded??? I think they need to looked at the safety precautions a bit closer

Padding the beam wouldnt have made a difference at that speed IMO. The body just cant handle a sudden deceleration of 144km/h to zero by hitting a beam padded or unpadded.

Personally, I would design the luge track with a plexi glass cover over the whole track. If someone crashed, they would be contained in the track would not be able to fly out of it. Im sure its been thought of before though.

My condolences go out to his family. RIP.

 

[CobraBob]

I hate to criticize as a Canadaian citizen proud to have the Olympics just a short one hour from my house but why wasnt that pole padded??? I think they need to looked at the safety precautions a bit closer

Not only why weren't the poles padded, but why isn't there a catch fence of some sort. Or the wall could be taller. Seems very short to me. t seems that this death could have been prevented. At least based on what I saw in the video. Bottom line. A very sad day for the Olympics and for his family.

 

[hunterp]

I hate to criticize as a Canadaian citizen proud to have the Olympics just a short one hour from my house but why wasnt that pole padded??? I think they need to looked at the safety precautions a bit closer

I'm not certain that padding would have saved him. It would have taken a hella lot of padding considering he hit that beam going almost 90 mph.

 

[RCMPSVT]

Padding the beam wouldnt have made a difference at that speed IMO. The body just cant handle a sudden deceleration of 144km/h to zero by hitting a beam padded or unpadded.

Personally, I would design the luge track with a plexi glass cover over the whole track. If someone crashed, they would be contained in the track would not be able to fly out of it. Im sure its been thought of before though.

My condolences go out to his family. RIP.

Agreed but to have the bare steel just feet from the track looks awful dangerous

 

[WireEater]

Wow, that was ****ing brutal! RIP

 

[mystical]

RIP, very sad indeed.

 

[nodaksvt]

there is a major design flaw there. at the VERY LEAST put netting over the track like that is behind home plate on a baseball field. totally preventable death imo.

 

[Lloyd Xmas]

Just heard about this on the news..very sad indeed.

 

[bigdave03svt]

man that was a hard hit..and directly to the back of the head , you could see part of his helmet fly off to the right of the frame.im pretty sure and hope that he didnt feel it.

only 21 too , very sad for that young man and his family... R.I.P


there needs to be something done imediately before they allow that to happen again

 

[iczar1]

R.I.P Man. If only most of us could be so lucky as to go doing something we love.

 

[kirks5oh]

Padding the beam wouldnt have made a difference at that speed IMO. The body just cant handle a sudden deceleration of 144km/h to zero by hitting a beam padded or unpadded.

Personally, I would design the luge track with a plexi glass cover over the whole track. If someone crashed, they would be contained in the track would not be able to fly out of it. Im sure its been thought of before though.

My condolences go out to his family. RIP.

+1 body cannot handle that type of deceleration, no matter what the padding. i won't waste everyone's time explaining why, but just know that it can't. internal organs are damaged, the aorta tears where it is 'leashed' to the chest wall, etc.

rip

 

[bullitt2735]

a body can survive that amount of deceleration but they are very very very very very very very rare. (but yes internal organ damage, eye damage etc. again probably one in ten million)

David Purley f1 driver survived a crash going 108mph to 0 in less than 2ft,

 

[VirtualSVT]

a body can survive that amount of deceleration but they are very very very very very very very rare. (but yes internal organ damage, eye damage etc. again probably one in ten million)

David Purley f1 driver survived a crash going 108mph to 0 in less than 2ft,

but the point is that nobody really would.


and RIP. Those guys are nuts. 90 mph an inch off the ice. Big ****ing stones.

 

[highdensity007]

Wow, I'm in shock to see something like that so vividly. RIP man.

 

[Nvr_Spds]

Just like sky diving.. Its not the fall that kills you, its the sudden STOP at the end..

RIP!!!