Luge athlete killed in Whistler during training

[Coys1882]

Canceling the event and moving it to Calgary just seems so knee jerkish until an investigation is complete.

I've said like four times already - I don't know ANYTHING about luge - but is it beyond the realm of possibility that this poor soul from Georgia is a weekend Olympian? Someone who fixes plumbing during the week and luges on the weekend? Is it possible that he was 100% completely out of his realm on a track that has been dubbed the fastest in the world? Between the Jamaican bobsled team and Eddie the Eagle - it's not uncommon to have people who aren't exactly elite athletes competing.

I've seen several comments from other people in the sport that had said they were worried about the guys from 'smaller' countries racing on this track. Maybe they recognize the danger and take the appropriate measures where as someone not as qualified can't make that adjustment.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by valo403

I guess I'm not a big fan of the 'human test dummy' approach.

That's exactly what I'm saying.

If that's what you are getting from my posts than you are reading into them way too much. I'm just saying everything can't be 100% whether it's money or just knowing. Do all the testing, spend all the money and pick the smartest brains and it doesn't make anything 100% guaranteed. You guys are just trying to twist my words to blame the athlete, which is pathetic, and not what I am trying to do.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Coys1882

Canceling the event and moving it to Calgary just seems so knee jerkish until an investigation is complete.

I've said like four times already - I don't know ANYTHING about luge - but is it beyond the realm of possibility that this poor soul from Georgia is a weekend Olympian? Someone who fixes plumbing during the week and luges on the weekend? Is it possible that he was 100% completely out of his realm on a track that has been dubbed the fastest in the world? Between the Jamaican bobsled team and Eddie the Eagle - it's not uncommon to have people who aren't exactly elite athletes competing.

I've seen several comments from other people in the sport that had said they were worried about the guys from 'smaller' countries racing on this track. Maybe they recognize the danger and take the appropriate measures where as someone not as qualified can't make that adjustment.

That is a solid argument, but apparantly the worlds #1 ranked luger couldn't make it down. And there have been numerous other crashes as well.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Coys1882

Canceling the event and moving it to Calgary just seems so knee jerkish until an investigation is complete.

I've said like four times already - I don't know ANYTHING about luge - but is it beyond the realm of possibility that this poor soul from Georgia is a weekend Olympian? Someone who fixes plumbing during the week and luges on the weekend? Is it possible that he was 100% completely out of his realm on a track that has been dubbed the fastest in the world? Between the Jamaican bobsled team and Eddie the Eagle - it's not uncommon to have people who aren't exactly elite athletes competing.

I've seen several comments from other people in the sport that had said they were worried about the guys from 'smaller' countries racing on this track. Maybe they recognize the danger and take the appropriate measures where as someone not as qualified can't make that adjustment.

After the Eddie the Eagle episode the IOC changed its rules and has an Olympic qualifying standard. These folks have needed to participate in the events leading up to this and amass a certain number of points in order to simply qualify (certain sports have different criteria).

Edit: These may be out of date but it should give you an idea of what is required.
Luge: There is a total quota of 110 athletes -- 40 men, 30 women, and 20 doubles -- and a per-country quota of 10 (three men, three women, two doubles). Countries can fill their slots from the pool of qualified athletes; to qualify, athletes must either participate in five World Cup events and receive at least five points by the end of December, or score a certain number of points in a World Cup competition -- 10 for men, 20 for women, and 25 points for doubles. http://www.mcwetboy.net/dfl/2006/02/...-skeleton.html

[HalifaxDrunk]

Originally Posted by SteveToms

I made a joke? I just told you to shut up.

I know it wasn't a joke but I laughed, I also don't think your jokes are "Last week". However, I do wish a certain dj was last week's news though.

[Phaneuf3]

Been reading up a bit on it. Finally watched the video. Wish there was a way to unsee something.

[Icon]

"Why are there posts so close to the track / why isn't there padding on them!?!?!"

1) Padding does next-to-nothing when you're going 90mph. It would need to be some pretty serious crash-pads to even benefit the scenario at all.

2) Leaving the track at that speed isn't really part of the luge-plan.



The only potential flaw in the design here is either:

A) the turn's simply too dangerous... yet how many people have done this course without injury?

or

B) the wall should be higher. <-- my viewpoint. With even 2ft more on that wall and he would have likely only suffered some bruises & broken bones & decelerated down the track instead of leaving it.




All that said, sad occurrence & my thoughts are with his family & all competitors.

[Hack&Lube]

The IOC is putting a freeze on all youtube videos almost instantly after they come up.

Here's one from liveleak.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0ba_1266003820

That area looks ridiculous. The walls are so low after a crazy turn and there are no safety measures on the sides, just giant pillars for you to fly into. What a horrible design.

[ricoFlame]

this is just very upsetting. What a horrible thing to happen, it just sucks.

[beachy]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

The IOC is putting a freeze on all youtube videos almost instantly after they come up.

Here's one from liveleak.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0ba_1266003820

That area looks ridiculous. The walls are so low after a crazy turn and there are no safety measures on the sides, just giant pillars for you to fly into. What a horrible design.

You know, I thought I wanted to see it but after starting that video & seeing his face, I had to turn it off. A young life being snuffed out is something I really don't need to witness.

So very tragic - prayers to his family & friends.

I hope they figure something out - fast. Otherwise I am concerned about the safety of the other athletes if they go ahead with things as is.

[malcolmk14]

Could you imagine the international backlash if they went ahead with the event as planned and somehow another young competitor tragically died?

You can be rest assured, if they are going to continue with this event, it is because this was an absolute freak accident. There is no way they continue if this death is found to be the fault of the track, and nothing is done to make it more safe.

[Diet Water]

Got home and started watching Sportscentre, had no idea about any of this. After the warning of how graphic the video was I decided to pause at the last second, I just don't have it in me to watch someone die.

Knowing that this was such a fantastic day for him and his family until the unfortunate accident, is definitely the worst part about all of this.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Coys1882

Canceling the event and moving it to Calgary just seems so knee jerkish until an investigation is complete.

I've said like four times already - I don't know ANYTHING about luge - but is it beyond the realm of possibility that this poor soul from Georgia is a weekend Olympian? Someone who fixes plumbing during the week and luges on the weekend? Is it possible that he was 100% completely out of his realm on a track that has been dubbed the fastest in the world? Between the Jamaican bobsled team and Eddie the Eagle - it's not uncommon to have people who aren't exactly elite athletes competing.

I've seen several comments from other people in the sport that had said they were worried about the guys from 'smaller' countries racing on this track. Maybe they recognize the danger and take the appropriate measures where as someone not as qualified can't make that adjustment.

He was 44th ranked in the world. So, likely wasn't going to medal, but definitely not a fly-by-night competitor either.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Could you imagine the international backlash if they went ahead with the event as planned and somehow another young competitor tragically died?

You can be rest assured, if they are going to continue with this event, it is because this was an absolute freak accident. There is no way they continue if this death is found to be the fault of the track, and nothing is done to make it more safe.

I've been wondering about that myself. If they continue with the event and leave the track as is, what are the risks of a similar accident happening? If they move the event to an alternate location or modify that corner somehow (raising the wall, for example) are they opening themselves up to liability? As in, is changing the corner before letting the competition proceed is an admission that it was inherently unsafe in the first place?

Not that I want to get into the whole negligence/freak accident debate, but you know that the threat of a lawsuit is hanging over the IOC/VANOC's heads right now and that has to factor into their decisions on this.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Peanut

I've been wondering about that myself. If they continue with the event and leave the track as is, what are the risks of a similar accident happening? If they move the event to an alternate location or modify that corner somehow (raising the wall, for example) are they opening themselves up to liability? As in, is changing the corner before letting the competition proceed is an admission that it was inherently unsafe in the first place?

Not that I want to get into the whole negligence/freak accident debate, but you know that the threat of a lawsuit is hanging over the IOC/VANOC's heads right now and that has to factor into their decisions on this.

Subsequent remedial measures are never admissible as an admission that the condition was dangerous previously. That protects them in court, the public opinion issue is obviously completely different.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Peanut

I've been wondering about that myself. If they continue with the event and leave the track as is, what are the risks of a similar accident happening? If they move the event to an alternate location or modify that corner somehow (raising the wall, for example) are they opening themselves up to liability? As in, is changing the corner before letting the competition proceed is an admission that it was inherently unsafe in the first place?

Not that I want to get into the whole negligence/freak accident debate, but you know that the threat of a lawsuit is hanging over the IOC/VANOC's heads right now and that has to factor into their decisions on this.

+1

Exact same thoughts here. They are damned if they do, damned if they don't. I am assuming though they will do what is best for the competitors, regardless of cost. Especially when you are dealing with a billion dollar enterprise like the IOC.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Could you imagine the international backlash if they went ahead with the event as planned and somehow another young competitor tragically died?

You can be rest assured, if they are going to continue with this event, it is because this was an absolute freak accident. There is no way they continue if this death is found to be the fault of the track, and nothing is done to make it more safe.

The difficult part is that they have such a limited time frame to make a decision. The competition was supposed to start tomorrow, and the track is going to be used for skeleton and bobsled as well so postponing becomes pretty tough. They also have to decide if skeleton and bobsled are safe to run, I read that some athletes think that bobsled is the most dangerous as the risk of the sled landing on people is relatively high.

[jschick88]

TSN just showed this. I couldn't watch it a second time. Most horrific thing I have watched.

[GirlySports]

Race must go on.. perhaps put up some netting like in skiing or rubber tires like in F1.

[Igottago]

I haven't watched it myself, but what does it say about us that most major news stations have been continuously playing this footage? It just seems trivial to do that. Surely they can get the point across about what happened and be respectful to the family by choosing not to show a video of a man horrifically crashing to his death. I swear there's just a lack of respect and decency in our culture these days.