Does the Luge continue in Van? How about Bobsled - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Kjesse · 02-12-2010, 06:58 PM

After the accident, training was suspended for the day.

Having seen the video of the crash, I think the track is very unsafe.

So what do they do? Try to put up plexiglass walls in a haphazard and rushed fashion without time to properly test the "fix"?

Or do they just cancel the events?

After this, the athletes are going to be jittery going down the track (and the smart ones might even refuse to race), all news coverage of the event will focus on how the athletes handle the "death turn", and there will be people closing their eyes in front of their televisions when that turn comes up. It will turn into a bit of a freak show-- because of this, if they run it, I could see the luge being the highest TV draw of these Olympics.

And if there is no short term "fix", there's no way anyone should be allowed to go down that track.

For these reasons, and out of respect for Kumaritashvili, I think they should cancel the luge, and maybe the bobsled. I feel bad for the athletes this would affect, but at least they'll live to race another day.

Icon · 02-12-2010, 07:03 PM

Neither will be cancelled. If they make a change at all, it'll be they'll move the start lower down on the hill to cut down on the speed.

PowerPlayoffs06 · 02-12-2010, 07:06 PM

They're not cancelling anything. The Georgian team has already issued a statement that they will be going ahead with the event and will dedicate their performance to their fallen comrade.

Nobody could have foreseen a death on the track, but I think with the amount of bad feedback there has been going back to at least December 2008 there was an obvious foreseeable probability for a serious injury to occur. There will be some tough questions surrounding this, for sure, but for now it seems as if everything will be going ahead as planned.

valo403 · 02-12-2010, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Icon

Neither will be cancelled. If they make a change at all, it'll be they'll move the start lower down on the hill to cut down on the speed.

You can't just do that, it's not skiing, the starting area is a separate ramp onto the track. There's likely a junior ramp much lower on the track, but starting from there would make the competition a farce.

SteveToms · 02-12-2010, 07:36 PM

It's already been stated, you can add frost to the track slowing it down.

HotHotHeat · 02-12-2010, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by valo403

You can't just do that, it's not skiing, the starting area is a separate ramp onto the track. There's likely a junior ramp much lower on the track, but starting from there would make the competition a farce.

Isn't the women's start gate lower? Maybe they'll just use that for everyone. I've heard the thing about frost as well.

HOOT · 02-12-2010, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveToms

It's already been stated, you can add frost to the track slowing it down.

This. They can slow it down to about 136 instead of 145 which is a huge difference.

valo403 · 02-12-2010, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

Isn't the women's start gate lower? Maybe they'll just use that for everyone. I've heard the thing about frost as well.

I don't believe so, it's not in Calgary at least. Not sure that would help much anyways, the women were getting thrown all over the place too. One slammed into the top of the same wall the Georgian went over.

Frequitude · 02-12-2010, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOOT

This. They can slow it down to about 136 instead of 145 which is a huge difference.

Wouldn't the latter sliders have an advantage?

Resolute 14 · 02-12-2010, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frequitude

Wouldn't the latter sliders have an advantage?

Possibly, but better to finish tenth and get to the bottom safely than to not finish at all and end up in hospital.

HOOT · 02-12-2010, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frequitude

Wouldn't the latter sliders have an advantage?

It's all artificial I'm sure they can get it at a pretty even temp and frost ratio.

valo403 · 02-12-2010, 10:55 PM

There's really only a dozen guys with a legit shot at winning, if you set them off one after another you could probably keep the conditions relatively equal for all of the contenders.

Madman · 02-12-2010, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOOT

This. They can slow it down to about 136 instead of 145 which is a huge difference.

Not against a giant metal pole its not.

flamesfan6 · 02-12-2010, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madman

Not against a giant metal pole its not.

itll help the driver control his ride better, preventing the loss of control at the corner.

valo403 · 02-12-2010, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flamesfan6

itll help the driver control his ride better, preventing the loss of control at the corner.

A small reduction in speed would also cause a reduction in G forces, making the flying into the air after a crash significantly less severe. That's the difference between flying into the wall and flying over the wall.

HOOT · 02-12-2010, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madman

Not against a giant metal pole its not.

That 9kph could be the difference in flying down the track or flying over the wall. Maye not seem like a lot but it is.

HOOT · 02-12-2010, 11:54 PM

6pm MT is when the Luge is suppose to resume. I'll be very interested to see what VANOC and the IOC do in regards to this.

valo403 · 02-13-2010, 12:20 AM

Joint VANOC - FIL Statement on Men’s Luge Competition
Feb 12, 2010

The International Luge Federation is deeply saddened by the death of the Georgian athlete, Nodar Kumaritashvili, member of our Luge Family, who was fatally injured during the final training session in the last corner of the track at the Whistler Sliding Centre on Friday morning.

The Coroners Service of British Columbia, responsible for the investigation of all sudden deaths, together with the RCMP, concluded their on-scene investigations on the track and transferred the decision to FIL when the track can be re-opened. The FIL, through its technical officials, further investigated into the cause of this tragic incident. Based on a physical inspection of the track and a thorough review of the tapes they have concluded the following:

It appears after a routine run, the athlete came late out of curve 15 and did not compensate properly to make correct entrance into curve 16. This resulted in a late entrance into curve 16 and although the athlete worked to correct the problem he eventually lost control of the sled resulting in the tragic accident. The technical officials of the FIL were able to retrace the path of the athlete and concluded there was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track.

Based on these findings the race director, in consultation with the FIL, made the decision to reopen the track following a raising of the walls at the exit of curve 16 and a change in the ice profile. This was done as a preventative measure, in order to avoid that such an extremely exceptional accident could occur again.

The FIL will resume men´s training Saturday morning with two full training runs prior to the competition taking place as scheduled at 17h00.

dj_patm · 02-13-2010, 12:46 AM

So we'll keep the poles?
Sweet that roof looks wicked, It just wouldn't be the same with out it

...

BloodFetish · 02-13-2010, 12:58 AM

To sum up that official statement...

Not making a correct entrance into curve 16 = guaranteed accident possibly involving death, but this is not due to deficiencies in the track.

That's a head scratcher. I'm very relieved they're taking those metal posts out of play, but unless the change in ice profile has a noticable effect I expect lugers will continue to spill in that curve but hopefully not with the same tragic results.