VANOC knew about Luge Track dangers a year before death of Luger

[chemgear]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2011/...-track406.html

In the emails obtained by the CBC, Furlong’s concern grows: “I’m not sure where the exit sign or way out is on this. Our legal guys should review at least.”

EDIT: And they are now are in damage control mode:

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/2...384/story.html

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympics was so worried about how the public would view an upcoming CBC investigative piece into the fatal luge accident at the Whistler Sliding Centre a year ago that last week it leaked documents to media competitors at The Globe and Mail and CTV.

[Blaster86]

This is old news. I thought it was pretty common knowledge that they knew it might be too fast.

[Winsor_Pilates]

I thought this was pretty well know last year. Everyone around the luge community was commenting on how dangerous the track was, and it was a known concern before the games.

[puckluck]

This came out hours after the incident.

[Resolute 14]

Yup. It was well known that athletes who had done test runs had expressed concerns.

The bigger concern here is what appears to be an attempted coverup by VANOC, and apparent lies told by John Furlong, and the probability that VANOC and the track designer failed to perform all safety modifications requested by FIL.

Any which way you put it, this is still a clusterfck for VANOC.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

This is old news. I thought it was pretty common knowledge that they knew it might be too fast.

I think it's the fact that CBC (recently) got a hold of the emails and the contrast between this:

In the e-mail exchange with staff, Furlong said "So after my usual seven second delay on this - While I am inclined to ingore this as not our deal - embedded in this note (cryptic as it may be] is a warning that the track is, in their view, too fast and someone could get badly hurt. An athlete gets badly injured or worse, and I think the case could be made that we were warned and did nothing. That said, I'm not sure where the way out is on this. Our legal guys should review at least."

and this:

“It’s not something I prepared for, or ever thought I would have to be prepared for,” he is widely quoted as saying after Kumaritashvili’s death.

And in his book about the Vancouver Olympics, which goes on sale Feb 11, Furlong writes: "Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine the death of an athlete on Opening Day.”

The fact that they all blamed the dead guy a day after his death is still pretty piss poor imo:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/...61C2JZ20100213

[Bertuzzied]

Next weeks Fifth Estate is going to be about this. Should be pretty interesting.

Not a fan of them showing all that blood though, as in their preview clips.

[IliketoPuck]

Yea, my stomach still turns thinking about that crash. I don't even have to watch it again, I will never forget seeing that.

[Yasa]

Breaking news: Going down an ice hill on a specifically designed ice sled is dangerous. Especially if not very experienced.

[IronDave]

Originally Posted by Yasa

Breaking news: Going down an ice hill on a specifically designed ice sled is dangerous. Especially if not very experienced.

Yeah but you weigh the danger as a calculated risk, and by that you are assuming a certain level of safety by the organization that built the track and manages the event.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by fotze

Ow well, you win some and you luge some. - FG RIP

That's a pretty slippery slope your going down there.

[West Karma]

nm

[metallicat]

Lex Luger is dead? The wrestling greats keep falling.

[Leon]

This thread is going downhill quite fast, maybe too fast.

[Pinner]

He didn't have the skill level for the track.

"Own the podium" wouldn't let anyone else train (enough) on the track.

[FurnaceFace]

Originally Posted by chemgear

I think it's the fact that CBC (recently) got a hold of the emails and the contrast between this:

In the e-mail exchange with staff, Furlong said "So after my usual seven second delay on this - While I am inclined to ingore this as not our deal - embedded in this note (cryptic as it may be] is a warning that the track is, in their view, too fast and someone could get badly hurt. An athlete gets badly injured or worse, and I think the case could be made that we were warned and did nothing. That said, I'm not sure where the way out is on this. Our legal guys should review at least."

and this:

“It’s not something I prepared for, or ever thought I would have to be prepared for,” he is widely quoted as saying after Kumaritashvili’s death.

And in his book about the Vancouver Olympics, which goes on sale Feb 11, Furlong writes: "Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine the death of an athlete on Opening Day.”

I don't see an issue with the comments, I think they are fair and true. He wasn't prepared for a death and never imaged a death of an athlete on opening day (or likely any day).

What bothers me the most about this is a more general societal issue where we seem to need to find fault and take great glee in it. The media is a mirror and we have bred them to look for things like this.

I don't know why it just couldn't have forever sat as a series of unfortunate events which led to a tragedy. The track design was aggressive, the luge federation raised some concerns, VANOC looked at them, Bobsled and Skeleton did not 100% agree with, compromises were made or not made as consensus couldn't be reached, as per FIL's own investigation the athlete hung onto the curve too long, and we have a terrible tragedy. Any one of a number of factors is even slightly changed and Nomar is hopefully alive and well.