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  • Olympic athlete killed during practice

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/sp...cs/13luge.html

    An Olympic luger crashed during his practice run and collided with a steel pole. He was transported to a hospital but was pronounced DOA.

    This sucks. Nobody can remember the last time something like this has ever happened.
    My Wajas cave

  • #2
    A shadow on the Olympics

    Sadly, this morning, as athletes were completing their last training session before the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, a young luge athlete from Georgia (the country, not the state) lost control on the final turn of the track. He left the track while travelling at approximately 144 km/h (approximately 90 mph) and struck an un-padded metal support pole.

    Paramedics were on the scene literally within seconds and performed CPR, then intubating him and loading him into an ambulance to take him to the nearest medical facility. Minutes later, Nodar Kumaritashvili was pronounced dead.

    Let's send some good CS vibes not only to Mr. Kumaritashvili's family, but to all the other athletes for their safety over the next two weeks.

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    • #3
      Wow, I saw this headline on ABC News this afternoon but I didn't have time to read the story. That's so sad.
      I don't go in for ancient wisdom
      I don't believe just 'cause ideas are tenacious
      It means that they're worthy - Tim Minchin, "White Wine in the Sun"

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      • #4
        Only 21 years old, too. That's horrible.
        "I've found that when you want to know the truth about someone, that someone is probably the last person you should ask." - House

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        • #5
          They're dedicating the opening ceremony to him.
          The Olympic and Canadian flags will also be lowered to half-mast at some point.

          .....
          Just watching the teams enter...the Georgian team just came in. They are all wearing black armbands (as are some other athletes from other countries), and they have a black ribbon attached to their flag.
          Last edited by BookstoreEscapee; 02-13-2010, 02:08 AM. Reason: typo
          I don't go in for ancient wisdom
          I don't believe just 'cause ideas are tenacious
          It means that they're worthy - Tim Minchin, "White Wine in the Sun"

          Comment


          • #6
            I think it was incredibly brave of the Georgians to participate in the walk. There are no words to describe it.

            I've just finished watching it, and I was so pleased to see Mrs. Fox up there as well. I did cry, however, when the Native Peoples started welcoming the Olympics. That was just... yeah, I have no words, I'm so moved.
            "FUCK NO I DON'T WANT YOUR FREAKY ALIEN MOTHERSHIP ORANGES. " - Cookiesaur
            ~~

            Munkie's NaNo WC: 9648

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            • #7
              They just showed the unedited footage of the accident on the news... I never want to see something like that again.

              They were talking about how the speed of the track was much more than what the participants were expecting. Most tracks are made to keep the speeds down at around 120km and he was going around 140...

              Prayers and best wishes out to the friends and family of the deceased.
              "Kamala the Ugandan Giant" 1950-2020 • "Bullet" Bob Armstrong 1939-2020 • "Road Warrior Animal" 1960-2020 • "Zeus" Tiny Lister Jr. 1958-2020 • "Hacksaw" Butch Reed 1954-2021 • "New Jack" Jerome Young 1963-2021 • "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff 1949-2021 • "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton 1958-2021 • Daffney 1975-2021

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              • #8
                Quoth El Pollo Guerrera View Post
                They just showed the unedited footage of the accident on the news... I never want to see something like that again.
                They showed the video once, quickly, at the beginning of the news (I was only half paying attention but they only showed up to where he goes off the sled, not him hitting anything, or after); when they got to the actual story they showed him starting his run, but said they were not going to show the actual accident, which made me glad, because I was afraid they were going to show more of it than they had at the beginning. And I think that is just unnecessary.

                After the Olympic flag was brought in, they had a moment of silence (a minute, I think), with the Georgian team down on the floor near the flags, and they lowered the flags to half mast.
                I don't go in for ancient wisdom
                I don't believe just 'cause ideas are tenacious
                It means that they're worthy - Tim Minchin, "White Wine in the Sun"

                Comment


                • #9
                  Quoth El Pollo Guerrera View Post
                  They just showed the unedited footage of the accident on the news... I never want to see something like that again.

                  They were talking about how the speed of the track was much more than what the participants were expecting. Most tracks are made to keep the speeds down at around 120km and he was going around 140...

                  Prayers and best wishes out to the friends and family of the deceased.
                  It is a very fast track. A very technical track. It's a track that can be very unforgiving to less experienced sliders. That particular track has been likened to an "elevator shaft with ice."

                  And it's extremely rare that an athlete would leave the track like that. It's not uncommon for the sled to leave the track and the athlete to remain inside, but an accident like this is just about unprecedented.

                  I suspect that they'll build up that corner by about a metre or so just to be safe.

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                  • #10
                    It's very sad.
                    My heart goes out to his family and fellow athletes.

                    It really has cast a shadow over everything.
                    No matter how successful these Olympics turn out to be, the event is always going to be associated with the death of this young man in a practice run.
                    Too tired of living and too tired to end it. What a conundrum.

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                    • #11
                      Quoth El Pollo Guerrera View Post
                      They just showed the unedited footage of the accident on the news... I never want to see something like that again.
                      Yeah, I saw this morning on the Today show. Pretty damn grisly. They guy just went flying into that column at 88 mph (which is how fast the newscaster said he was going) and just stopped. That looked pretty much unsurvivable.

                      I also thought it was moving to see the Georgian team march in with their black armbands.

                      And now somebody's evidently made threats against Johnny Weir. These games aren't starting off on the right foot.
                      Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

                      "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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                      • #12
                        I've been pleasantly surprised (so to speak) that the news coverage I've seen has made a point of not showing the complete video of the accident. I've only seen up to where he starts to go off the sled.

                        Apparently one of his teammates (who was a neighbor and friend since childhood) decided not to compete tonight.
                        I don't go in for ancient wisdom
                        I don't believe just 'cause ideas are tenacious
                        It means that they're worthy - Tim Minchin, "White Wine in the Sun"

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                        • #13
                          The footage they showed of it happening was just chilling. Instantaneous silence and stillness in a body is a hard thing for me to digest...

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                          • #14
                            Saw the whole footage. Do NOT recommend seeing it, esp. if there's people under the age of 10 in the room.

                            Little brother made the classic 'So, what was the last thing on his mind' Joke. I slugged him in the shoulder until he apologized. Took only two hits.

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