Gerorgian Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili Dies

[Hoofbite]

Great. The shielded one hard object with another.

Are these mental midgets or what?

I think they increased the wall height. Its not like there just a standing wall but the wall of the track itself is heightened.

Nothing you could really do that would work better than that.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

I think they increased the wall height. Its not like there just a standing wall but the wall of the track itself is heightened.

Nothing you could really do that would work better than that.

We just saw a guy get killed by hitting a solid object. Why not put up a reinforced netting so if this does happen again, there would be something that would "catch" him and absorb the impact.

You look at NASCAR and they created the safer barrier which takes the shock of an impact and spreads it out.

At least something like the netting would be better than a wooden wall.

 

[Hoofbite]

We just saw a guy get killed by hitting a solid object. Why not put up a reinforced netting so if this does happen again, there would be something that would "catch" him and absorb the impact.

You look at NASCAR and they created the safer barrier which takes the shock of an impact and spreads it out.

At least something like the netting would be better than a wooden wall.

Nettings only work if they have give and if a net has give it won't do any good.

Too close to the poles no matter what. A net wouldn't have stopped the guy.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

Nettings only work if they have give and if a net has give it won't do any good.

Too close to the poles no matter what. A net wouldn't have stopped the guy.

You don't think it would have at least slowed him so the impact wouldn't have been so severe?

 

[Hoofbite]

You don't think it would have at least slowed him so the impact wouldn't have been so severe?

I don't know.

He wouldn't really have landed in the net like you would want, I don't think.

He was coming in at such and angle that the net likely would have kept him from hitting the pole square but I think he still would have hit it and with nearly as much speed.

Would have been like skipping a rock off the surface of a pond. That would have been his angle coming into the net and I think he would have still hit the pole.

Honestly, how those poles are even there is beyond belief.

 

[Hoofbite]

I think that wooden wall he is grazing over was heightened.

Had it been there it would have kept him in the track at least.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

I don't know.

He wouldn't really have landed in the net like you would want, I don't think.

He was coming in at such and angle that the net likely would have kept him from hitting the pole square but I think he still would have hit it and with nearly as much speed.

Would have been like skipping a rock off the surface of a pond. That would have been his angle coming into the net and I think he would have still hit the pole.

Honestly, how those poles are even there is beyond belief.

That sure is true. I would think there would be some negligence involved when it was designed. Very poor on the part of the architect.

 

[CowboysFan02]

You don't think it would have at least slowed him so the impact wouldn't have been so severe?

Well if they did put in netting he would have gone into the pole anyways since it looks like they are right against the track or he could have gotten something caught in the netting and have it get ripped off. Besides obviously hitting the pole I think the sudden stop from 90ish mph to 0 is almost as deadly, I have read somewhere that the human body can't take sudden stops like that really well.

It is just a sad situation all around, it is too bad they didn't have those walls raised before to separate the track and those posts.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

apparently the guy, RIP, was scared of the track

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/va...old-father-he-was-terrified-of?urn=oly,219592

Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:55 pm EST
Luger who died told father he was terrified of Whistler track

By Chris Chase

The day before he died, luger Nodar Kumaritashvili spoke to his father by phone and said he was terrified of the track at the Whistler Sliding Center.

David Kumaritashvili gave an interview Sunday outside his house in the Georgian mountain town of Bakuriani, recounting one of the last conversations he had with his 21-year-old son. The Wall Street Journal reports:

"He called me before the Olympics, three days ago, and he said, 'Dad, I'm scared of one of the turns.'

"I said, 'Put your legs down on the ice to slow down,' but he said if he started the course he would finish it. ... He was brave."

Nodar Kumaritashvili also spoke with his parents minutes before his fateful slide, telling them he planned to make them proud, according to The Globe and Mail.

Since his death, many people have debated whether the track was too fast or the relatively inexperienced luger was out of his element. A number of Olympic lugers think the track was fine. They fault Kumaritashvili – a sentiment shared by luging officials who deemed the track safe (even while hypocritically lowering the starting location and adding pads to the metal beams that caused the death).

Germany's Natalie Geisenberger, who won a race at Whistler last year, said the women's event has turned into a kids race, a startlingly insensitive remark given the tragedy of Friday:

I'm not happy about the new start.

It’s not a woman’s start, it’s a kinder (German for children’s) start. The rest of the track is OK, but it's not as fast as from the proper start. It's the same for all the athletes, but I don't like it. I felt very good, but now because of the new start it's not fun.

Canadian Regan Lauscher complained that the lowered start means her nation's home-track advantage is "basically gone." Given that some have said Canada's resistance to allow other countries to train at the Whistler track played a role in Kumaritashvili's death, that comment beats out even Geisenberger's for insensitivity. Maybe Lauscher is taking cues from her coach, Wolfgang Staudinger, who said that "exotic sliders" are the reasons luge accidents happen.

 

[jcollins28]

The raised wall height is what should have been done when this track was build. If anything that kid may have had some broken bones but would have lived to tell about it. I don't think a net would be a better option because it is the sudden stops that hurt you. In this case if he had crashed with the raised walls he would have stayed on the track and slid down the track rather then flying off and striking the pole.

Uh since when did NASCAR create the Safer Barrier? The safer barrier was funded by the IRL and created by a group out of the University of Nebraska.

 

[Kangaroo]

Sad to say neither the IOC not the major players (the National Heads of the various Olympic Committees) will take any action. They never do. There is supposed to be equal time to all competitors during the games practice sessions, which will probably be held to. It looks like though prior to the games the Canadians were pulling tricks- now I hope all those involved will be looked at with the contempt they deserve.

Bottom line though was as the article pointed out there was no need to make the track that dangerous-and clearly they had no concern for the safety of the lugers. Or there would have been catch nets at all dangerous areas on the track. Actually what they need for those areas is to make it a tube- smooth and without barriers- so that if you lose it you just keep sliding until you stop, which is not too bad since you have those thicks suits on.

Please the IOC has become one of the most corrupt organization in the world they are rarely about doing what is right (they make the NCAA look like choir boys) and all about getting their kickbacks, money and royal treatment from countries and cities.

I have come to disdain the Olympics and part of it has to do with the IOC. In my opinion part of the death falls on their shoulders and the way they handle things.

 

[burmafrd]

if a member of the IOC was laying on the ground on fire I would not stop to piss on him.