Georgian Luger Dies (1 Viewer)

Wheew thats terrible. At least he didn't feel anything. :(


Hopefull they can put up some taller walls to keep that from happening.
 
The Olympics coverage started out tonight on NBC with interviews with Olympic officials regarding this accident and one man who I didn't catch his name but who I recognized mentioned how dangerous many of the events are and how the athletes know the dangers and realize that something can go wrong at any time such as this luge accident, and then he mentioned drag racing and Scott Kalitta's accident and stated he was at Englishtown when it happened. His point was that as horrible a thing it was, the next day everyone showed up and strapped in and competed even though it was really tough to do. Did anyone else catch this segment on TV? Does anyone know who the guy was being interviewed?
 
They already had a few crashes on that turn, I think I heard that they had air evaced someone else the day before after a crash.
 
Yea scary. i doubt he ever knew what hit him,i saw a pic of him when they were trying to revive him,he looked dead there?
 
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The Olympics coverage started out tonight on NBC with interviews with Olympic officials regarding this accident and one man who I didn't catch his name but who I recognized mentioned how dangerous many of the events are and how the athletes know the dangers and realize that something can go wrong at any time such as this luge accident, and then he mentioned drag racing and Scott Kalitta's accident and stated he was at Englishtown when it happened. His point was that as horrible a thing it was, the next day everyone showed up and strapped in and competed even though it was really tough to do. Did anyone else catch this segment on TV? Does anyone know who the guy was being interviewed?

I caught a little bit of that interview too Kurt, but I thought I heard the official say he was at the Motorplex and saw the Force/Bernstein crash. My girlfriend was changing the channel and the interview was off by the time I screamed at her to change it back, I'm still not sure how she got ahold of the remote.
 
What amazes me is that probably anyone who visits here would say that course is dangerous.
I know the sport is inherently dangerous.
The race tracks we see there have been measures taken to minimize those dangers. That luge course has no method to keep the sled on the course in the event of an error. Then those support Ibeams have absolutely no padding or protection.
If that were a car or motorcycle race course the participants would strike until something were done. Add netting above the course to keep the participants from flying like the Georgian did.
RIP
 
I just saw the video, holy crap, he was flying. He had no chance at all.
 
My girlfriend was changing the channel and the interview was off by the time I screamed at her to change it back, I'm still not sure how she got ahold of the remote.

If your anything like Rick... you nod off with it in your hand, then he starts this muscle twitch zapping, so I go gently remove the remote. As long as I don't turn the TV off, he stays asleep. :D:D:D

It's a pretty horrible accident and if not the first, it makes a person wonder if the track itself is off camber.
 
there have been several complaints from some of the competitors about the safety of the track....padding on those poles wouldn't have done anything when traveling 90+ MPH except maybe the thud wouldn't have been as loud, and unfortunately it's like everything else.....it's not a problem until you have a problem
 
I just read a story on fox sports that the Olympic officals do not blame the accident on the track, and say it was human error. They might raise the wall a little bit down there, that's it. Full steam ahead with practice.
 
Minick is right

Being from Vancouver, a life long sports enthusiest, and heavily involved in Winter sport for a couple decades (owned ski shops and hosted downhill ski races which even involved world cup skiers) and being involved in the sport we all love a couple (Drag Racing) a few things are prominent here.

We all know that Drag racing reacts to tragedies usually after the fact. Ie Darrell Russell and the changes, Eric Medlen and the changes after. Scott Kalitta the same
Why would this sport (Luge) be any different.

The track is fast and technical perhaps more so that they anticipated. In hindsight should there have been a few other things done?... Of course.

The changes they have made this morning are: They shortened the track (To the womans start), they added padding to the beams, and they raised the walls up at the finish.
This is an extreme sport, and all the riders know the risks.
No one wants this to happen of course and if the organizers and the architects could have had forsight into this tragedy they would have made changes earlier. Every sport is the same, improvements to safety are made after tragedies.
Most Luge tracks have a covered area near or at the finish, so most have posts and beams in that postiion.

Hopefully they all have learned from this and hopefully it never happens again

Dean,
In the olympic city and taking in many events
 
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The Luge Community's evolution in safety technologies appears to be at about the same level that auto racing was in the late forties.

Sorry, as an outsider it seems like they lack a lot of imagination in the area of what can go wrong on these tracks at such high speeds with such curves and banks!

That same lack of imagination "nobody would ever loose the body hang the throttle open boil the brake fluid out and leave the driver helpless, so this big boom will be just fine here behind these inadequate guardrails" might have been a factor in Scott Kalitta's death?

-jim
 
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