Luge athlete killed in Whistler during training

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by rockstar

Again, not singling you out, HOOT. But your comment about the IOC trying to stop you from hosting the video - complete with a - sort of sums up my point about how desensitized we have become.

You do understand it is because of copyright issues, not because of what happen IOC doesn't want videos up on youtube. Right?

[BloodFetish]

This is a thread about a young man who had his whole life ahead of him at the top of a luge track, and had it all taken away at the bottom.

Can everyone please take their pissing matches to another thread?

[Inferno]

I just talked to a guy on MSN about it who spoke to someone who worked on that area and this is what he said:

"Well its weird I spoke to a guy who worked on the area there. Was contracted to do work. He said they had them put there in order to hold up the judges area, the building for the medical people and to house people waiting to go and nobody told them to put any form of padding. Basically he was told the design of it and had helped build it"

[Machiavelli]

Just saw it.

Sickened me to my stomach.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Machiavelli

Just saw it.

Sickened me to my stomach.

I can't even bring myself to watch it. I have no stomach for that sort of thing.

[valo403]

NBC New York decided to lead off their broadcast with footage of the crash. They then did a story on it in which they made a point of saying they wouldn't show the crash. Umm...

[Nage Waza]

Why are so many people here mad that some wanted to watch the video? Are you surprised? The news plays tragic videos nightly. Violent movies and shows do very well. This is not new.

As for the event itself, why can't they quickly put up some netting, track or hay bails? I would have thought that would be a no brainer, before anyone raced on the track.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

Why are so many people here mad that some wanted to watch the video? Are you surprised? The news plays tragic videos nightly. Violent movies and shows do very well. This is not new.

As for the event itself, why can't they quickly put up some netting, track or hay bails? I would have thought that would be a no brainer, before anyone raced on the track.

The fact that violence and gruesome scenes do so well is at the root of why people are upset about the play the video is getting. I get the fact that there are plenty of people who want to see it, I thought I was one of them, but there's no need for gratuitous slow-mos on the front page of websites and every evening newscast.

As to the second point, why there wasn't some sort of protection there to prevent an athlete from flying off the track is a question that will be asked for a long long time.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

As for the event itself, why can't they quickly put up some netting, track or hay bails? I would have thought that would be a no brainer, before anyone raced on the track.

The rationale may have been, no one is going to fly off the track, so it doesn't matter? I don't know.

[SOMBRI2]

i had to mute it....absolutely devastating. RIP! it's really sad to see things like this to happen, to an athlete, to a young bright man.

[FireFly]

I can't even watch it. I start, and I just can't. Very tragic.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by Inferno

I just talked to a guy on MSN about it who spoke to someone who worked on that area and this is what he said:

"Well its weird I spoke to a guy who worked on the area there. Was contracted to do work. He said they had them put there in order to hold up the judges area, the building for the medical people and to house people waiting to go and nobody told them to put any form of padding. Basically he was told the design of it and had helped build it"

Crazy, I'm no engineer nor am I someone who would even look for potential risks in a structure but if I saw those pillars watching a race seeing those speeds at the turn just before the crash site I think I may have thought...doh! that's a bad place for frickin pillars.

This reminds me of the way I thought the day Diana died, a curved tunnel with big car catching pillars. I remember thinking, WTF? can't the French afford guard rails?

This is a track made for racing, do you see pillars off of turn 2 at Daytona?

I just don't understand the stupidity in that design! at least put a frickin overhanging safety net that would deflect the racer away from the sudden killer stop.

[FireFly]

A couple things after reading a bunch in this thread and in the news...

First, they HAVE increased the height of the wall there for tomorrow's training. Kudos to them for getting it taken care of.

Second, it was athlete error that caused the crash. He overcompensated twice in a row. Should we make the entire track a tunnel to ensure that no one can ever fly over any edges in case they aren't as skilled as they should be before attempting to hurtle down an icy hill at 150KPH wearing tights and a helmet on a thing with skate blades? Come on people. There are two sports I would never do; skeleton and luge. Why? You have to be fvcking nuts to go down an icy hill at 150kph wearing tights and a helmet.

He was well past the exit of that turn before he went over the side. No one expects that. Yes it's a dangerous course. Yes it was probably designed backwards and has too few 'trim brake' areas. However, there have been hundreds of runs already completed on it and no one died prior. A person should know what their limitations are and if the track is outside of them, they should not race.

All that said it would be kinda cool if they moved the events to Calgary.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by FireFly

A couple things after reading a bunch in this thread and in the news...

First, they HAVE increased the height of the wall there for tomorrow's training. Kudos to them for getting it taken care of.

Second, it was athlete error that caused the crash. He overcompensated twice in a row. Should we make the entire track a tunnel to ensure that no one can ever fly over any edges in case they aren't as skilled as they should be before attempting to hurtle down an icy hill at 150KPH wearing tights and a helmet on a thing with skate blades? Come on people. There are two sports I would never do; skeleton and luge. Why? You have to be fvcking nuts to go down an icy hill at 150kph wearing tights and a helmet.

He was well past the exit of that turn before he went over the side. No one expects that. Yes it's a dangerous course. Yes it was probably designed backwards and has too few 'trim brake' areas. However, there have been hundreds of runs already completed on it and no one died prior. A person should know what their limitations are and if the track is outside of them, they should not race.

All that said it would be kinda cool if they moved the events to Calgary.

Huh? There should be no point on the track where an athlete can fly over the edge without intending to do so or making massive errors. Overcompensating on turns in sliding sports is not a massive error. I have a friend who was on the Canadian national bobsled team, he did it plenty of times and he was an elite driver. You don't have to make anything a tunnel to do prevent that. Based on the fact that there is footage from the last 2 days of at least 2 other athletes crashing into the upper portions of that wall something like this should have been foreseeable.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by valo403

Huh? There should be no point on the track where an athlete can fly over the edge without intending to do so or making massive errors. Overcompensating on turns in sliding sports is not a massive error. I have a friend who was on the Canadian national bobsled team, he did it plenty of times and he was an elite driver. You don't have to make anything a tunnel to do prevent that. Based on the fact that there is footage from the last 2 days of at least 2 other athletes crashing into the upper portions of that wall something like this should have been foreseeable.

Really? Because the FIL is the one who said it was driver error and not the track. Regardless they still took extra precautions before reopening the track.

Seems to me that a lot of people just want to blame Vancouver. It's their fault it's raining and not snowing, it's their fault the luger died, it's their fault the cauldron didn't light, it's their fault there were protesters... Nothing they do is right.

Regardless of the fact that the track had all the approval it needed.

Like I said, should just make it a tunnel, eh? Then it'll never happen again.

[dj_patm]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Really? Because the FIL is the one who said it was driver error and not the track. Regardless they still took extra precautions before reopening the track.

Seems to me that a lot of people just want to blame Vancouver. It's their fault it's raining and not snowing, it's their fault the luger died, it's their fault the cauldron didn't light, it's their fault there were protesters... Nothing they do is right.

Regardless of the fact that the track had all the approval it needed.

Like I said, should just make it a tunnel, eh? Then it'll never happen again.

Well can you blame them?

Not a single thing has gone right in these games so far. We've had major mishaps and it's not even the first day of events. This is not just a showcase of Vancouver, but the whole country.

I already got made fun of by my cousin in Poland for that terrible opening ceremony... It's a global event and so far it's of to a horrific start.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by dj_patm

Well can you blame them?

Not a single thing has gone right in these games so far. We've had major mishaps and it's not even the first day of events. This is not just a showcase of Vancouver, but the whole country.

I already got made fun of by my cousin in Poland for that terrible opening ceremony... It's a global event and so far it's of to a horrific start.

I'm glad your cousin in Poland thinks the opening was terrible. Poland's opening was much better.

My friend in the US was brought to tears and wants to be Canadian.

STFU. It happens. It's not going to be perfect, but try focusing on the positives for once. The cool torch relay and unique torches? The one of a kind medals to be presented? THe other stuff that was done phenomenally well.

Better yet, go to Vancouver and make it all better for everyone and get off the internet. You've been here two months and YOU NEVER QUIT YAPPING. Ugh.

[twotoner]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

There will be an investigation, the safety of the track will be examined, and professionals who have dedicated their entire life to this sport will make an informed decision on how to proceed. Who the hell are we to say what should happen?

A young man's life was taken abruptly today in a dangerous sport. If you think his peers, the IOC or VANOC or Luge Federation is going to take this lightly, you are mistaken.

I wish that were true. The finding of Driver error happened a little too fast for this non-expert though. Guess the games have fallen into the too big to fail category.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by twotoner

I wish that were true. But it seems to me these games are too big too fail and driver error will be the ticket to continue.

Do you really think that the IOC, the FIL and all the other governing bodies would rather see more injuries than to simply move the event to another track?

I mean, it's not like they'd just cancel it. It would only be moved.

[Flamesoholic]

Originally Posted by rockstar

Whoa, whoa. Quick to jump, are we?

Like I said, HOOT. Not singling anyone out; more of a societal observation.
Should I repeat that for you? Or do you have it now?

Perhaps, HOOT, I got home to see this news, and noticed a trend in the first two pages (before you posted that you had taken it down) that I felt a bit disturbed by.

I was just stating that it sickens me sometimes how insensitive WE (I'm not leaving myself out of the "we" so any comments about moral soapboxes or high-horses aren't really applicable) have become due to media, Hollywood, etc.

Again, not singling you out, HOOT. But your comment about the IOC trying to stop you from hosting the video - complete with a - sort of sums up my point about how desensitized we have become.

While I generally agree with some of your points here, I'm not sure "desensitized" is necessarily what fuels the desire to view a tragic event. My belief is that mankind has an inherent and primitive fear of our own mortality and when an event occurs that throws our fragility in our face, it is difficult for many to suppress the urge to witness it.
Splashing the images, videos and frame by frame slow-mos, are distasteful but I really think that most people do it as more of a sub-conscious reminder of their own transient mortality, than as a form of disrespect.

I have seen the video and I was horrified, but I like to think I'm not inhuman for seeking to view it.
On the other hand, the inevitable jokes and profiteering (I'm sure somehow someone will find a way to make money from things like this) are in my opinion, the insensitive and disrespectful evils in our society.