Entire Georgia delegation withdraws from the Olympics

[malaise]

http://www.vancouversun.com/Georgian+Olympic+luge+competitor+dies+crash/2556930/story.html
<snip>
Tragedy struck at the Whistler Sliding Centre Friday morning when Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, flew off the track at high speed, smashed into a metal girder and and died.

At 12:15 p.m. German International Olympic Committee official Thomas Bach confirmed he was dead.

The crash occured near the bottom of the course, which is both fast and challenging. Kumaritashvili hit the track's inside wall, flew in the air up and over the outside wall and struck the girder. His speed was estimated at 144.3 km/h.

"It's terrible. I'm in shock and I can't really say anything right now," said Wolfgang Staudinger, head coach of the Canadian luge team.

"This is the first time I've seen this (a death)," he said. "It's very sad. I want to meet with my team before I say anything more."
-------------------

Damn those photos on GEM$NBC are kind of graphic. Very sad.

Is the track too fast and dangerous?

[dysfunctional press]

1. tv ratings for luge are going to be spectacular...

after all, nascar fans have to have something to watch in the off-season.

[KittyWampus]

7. quote from Sports Illustrated saying just that. Junkdrawer posted this in another thread-

To add to the speed and violence, the course in Whistler is far and away the fastest one in the world, thanks in part to a steep top section that includes a 20-degree drop at curve two. Curve 13 was dubbed the "50/50 curve" after a day of course testing last year when only half the teams made it through right side up. If you're the type who watches NASCAR secretly anxious to see a crash, this might be the year for you to check out bobsled.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/david_epstein/02/09/bobsled.preview/index.html#ixzz0fMK

........................................................

Kumaritashvili’s tragic accident is only the last in the past few days at Whistler, which was hyped as having the fastest luge track in the world. Gold medal favorite Armin Zoeggeler of Italy was among those who wiped out, along with a Romanian woman who was knocked unconscious and four Americans.

Australia’s Hannah Campbell-Pegg had this to say after she nearly crashed on Thursday night:
I think they are pushing it a little too much. To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we’re crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives.

Unfortunately, Campell-Pegg played the role of Cassandra in this tragedy. Indeed, her comments show how obviously dangerous this track was to any and all observers, and how easily preventable today’s events were.

http://www.sbnation.com/2010/2/12/1308122/luge-crash-nodar-kumaritashvili-died-winter-olympics-reaction

[Forkboy]

13. NASCAR fans actually watch the sport for the sport. It's the non-fans that watch for the crashes.

Just like it'll be non-luge fans watching for the crashes in this year's Olympics.

[JackRiddler]

14. How do you figure that works out in proportions - "sport" fans vs. gore voyeurs?

[Forkboy]

15. No idea.

I don't get into NASCAR, but I've watched some with serious fans and they hate the crashes. They talk gear ratios and tire pressure and pit time and shit like that.

And I think this entire society is a "gore voyeur". Some use sports, some use war, some use the news, some use police bulletins....almost all get off on it in some way.

Now excuse me...there's a hockey game on.... ;)

[JackRiddler]

16. All sounds sensible, thanks.

[femmocrat]

2. What a terrible way to kick off the games.

Heart-breaking. :cry:

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Sad event. Now the 'breaking news' says the women's downhill has been postponed.

[Renew Deal]

4. Where does it say that Georgia withdrew?

I don't see that in the article.

[malaise]

5. They said it on GEM$NBC but I'm watching the press conference

on the same station now and they have not made a decision yet.

[Garbo 2004]

6. Not in the article. Report of withdrawl not yet confirmed apparently. MSNBC video report here:

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/35370982#35370982

[Renew Deal]

12. That would be really sad and quite unfair to the other athletes.

I hope that doesn't happen.

[blm]

8. Vancouver's 'snow' was flown in and/or manufactured. Expect ALOT of imjuries and remember

there is no such thing as Climate Change.

[malaise]

9. Meanwhile Atlanta is covered in snow

:D

[Rebubula]

10. LOL

There is climate change and one locale's weather does not prove\disprove the theory as far as if man is creating the problem.

There has always been climate change. There will always BE climate change.

We just need to learn to adapt.

[depakid]

17. Adaptation to such rapidly occurring shifts tends not to happen. Extinction does.

[SidDithers]

11. That's only at Cypress Mountain, where freestyle skiing...

and snowboarding is being held. They have lots of snow at Whistler, where the ski racing is. All other events are either indoors (skating, hockey, curling) or at man-made, environment controlled facilities (luge, skeleton, bobsleigh)

Sid