Luge athlete killed in Whistler during training

[HotHotHeat]

Holy wow....Just saw this on TV. If I had to speculate, I'd say he's dead.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=topnews

He was going 143 km/hr when he hit the post. Easily the most graphic thing I've ever seen on TV.

[Kybosh]

Yeah, I also saw it. I really hope he's ok but it did not look good.

[Barnes]

Surviving this would have been a miracle. It has always been regarded as a very dangerous track.

Hope the athlete is ok.

[Jesse834]

I would be shocked if he lives.

Terrible Accident. Very sad.

[HOOT]

Did anyone see this? Probably the sickest accident I have ever seen in sports, I actually stood up and screamed when it happened I was so surprised on what happened..

It happened in corner 16 (fastest part of the track) when he was going 144KPH he went flying off the track flying right into a medal pole to the side of the track.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/olympics/...v=ap&type=lgns

[Resolute 14]

Life threatening condition according to the AP/CP story.

[fredr123]

My wife called me from home to tell me about this. Nasty, nasty crash. They were performing CPR on him on the scene.

[Jesse834]

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=86979

[Barnes]

Earlier in the day, gold-medal favorite Armin Zoeggeler of Italy crashed, losing control of his sled on Curve 11. Zoeggeler came off his sled and held it with his left arm to keep it from smashing atop his body. He slid on his back down several curves before coming to a stop and walking away.

Training days in Whistler have been crash-filled. A Romanian woman was briefly knocked unconscious and at least four Americans — Chris Mazdzer on Wednesday, Megan Sweeney on Thursday and both Tony Benshoof and Bengt Walden on Friday in the same training session where Zoeggeler wrecked — have had serious trouble just getting down the track.

"I think they are pushing it a little too much," Australia's Hannah Campbell-Pegg said Thursday night after she nearly lost control in training. "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."

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/353691...lympic_sports/

[Scoopdogg]

OMG, I just saw the video of the accident. I very much doubt he makes it out alive after that. A very tragic start to the olympics.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Jesse834

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=86979

Not very many people read that forum anyways.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Wow, that guy was moving........sure hope he is ok but not sure how he could be.

[HotHotHeat]

He was killed

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/van...57041-qmi.html

[Resolute 14]

Training days in Whistler have been crash-filled. A Romanian woman was briefly knocked unconscious and at least four Americans — Chris Mazdzer on Wednesday, Megan Sweeney on Thursday and both Tony Benshoof and Bengt Walden on Friday in the same training session where Zoeggeler wrecked — have had serious trouble just getting down the track.

As much as the Australian luger may have a point about people putting themselves at risk, this statement really points to a design flaw in the Vancouver track.

[stang]

Holy I saw it on Youtube...

ANd its already gone from Youtube

[Jesse834]

Since I have no idea how to embed videos here is a video of the crash.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UrTF5CsgiI

[sureLoss]

Reports are surfacing that the Luger has died

horrific start to these games
http://bit.ly/c8tiZu

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by stang

Holy I saw it on Youtube...

ANd its already gone from Youtube

I should have something in ~10 min.

[HotHotHeat]

I want to stress how graphic that video is. It's been an hour since I watched it and I still feel sick.

[3 Justin 3]

Where can I see this?

That is horrible.