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Olympic luger Nodar Kumaritashvili dies after crash

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M

Mr. Dobalina

Banned
elseanio said:
Wow, I never seen much of this sport, what was his top speed?

So sad that a a simple net up the side of the track may have saved his life :(
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Usually they get up to 70-80 MPH, this track has some guys topping out at 90 MPH (convert to km/h as you like :D )

They need something there - you can't let people fly into poles, it's instant death.
 
J

joelseph

Member
speedpop said:
If people want to be natural arseholes about it, then so be it. Hopefully they refrain from shooting their mouth off before they disrespect an athlete, a sport, and an organisation.
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Has this ever stopped anyone?
 
F

funkmastergeneral

Banned
Mr. Dobalina said:
Usually they get up to 70-80 MPH, this track has some guys topping out at 90 MPH (convert to km/h as you like :D )

They need something there - you can't let people fly into poles, it's instant death.
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surround the course in Jell-O
 
Z

zerostackers

Neo Member
btw i didn't know what skeleton was, so i looked it up.. it's like luge, except you're going head first and there's no steering or braking mechanism. W. T. F. and they're doing that on this course.
 
B

bjork

Member
Mashing said:
Crazy, were we talking at lunch the other day just how dangerous the luge is. Tragic. I'm really surprised this doesn't happen more often though.
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The only other one I remember hearing about was the street luge guy in the X-Games (or some similar event) around 1996 or so. He veered off the street and died later.
 
M

Mashing

Member
I mean common sense would dictate that you you do everything in your power to protect the athletes that careen off the track. However, at 90mph, I guess there isn't much you can do.
 
K

Kifimbo

Member
We fail at organizing Olympic Games. The stadium wasn't finish in 1976, we didn't win shit in 1988 and now this.
 
S

scorcho

testicles on a cold fall morning
the NYT image of Nodar mid-flight and an instant before he slams into that pole is haunting. :/
 
P

Pimpwerx

Member
If there was no element of danger, there would be no reason to watch or participate. Time trial events like this test the nerves of the competitors because it forces them to step over the line of safety and push to the limit to gain that last tenth. A sad death, but I'm not sure if some reactions aren't misplaced. PEACE.
 
D

Dr.Acula

Banned
Looks like the racer hit the top of the track coming out of the turn, and that was that -no way of recovering after that. Just a horrible way to start the games, and as a Canadian it just makes me feel awful. No snow, and a death-trap of a sled track. Fantastic.

--edit--
Does anyone know if Georgia is a strong luge country? Is the track unusually dangerous for anyone, or was it just too technical for those who may have less experience? I know the Olympics do incorporate countries which might not qualify normally, in the interests of diversity and inclusiveness.
 
S

seanoff

Member
the BBC has quotes of the athletes saying they thought the track was more than a little over the top before this accident.

but yeah, having steel pillars centimetres off the track doesn't seem like the best idea.


poor bastard :-(
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
Pimpwerx said:
If there was no element of danger, there would be no reason to watch or participate. Time trial events like this test the nerves of the competitors because it forces them to step over the line of safety and push to the limit to gain that last tenth. A sad death, but I'm not sure if some reactions aren't misplaced. PEACE.
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Giant steel pillar of death, I'm sure it was there to add to the thrill.
 
I

Igo

Member
EvilMario said:
Giant steel pillar of death, I'm sure it was there to add to the thrill.
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It's there to remind the athletes what awaits them should they exit the course.

Is this pretty much gameover for the luge in these olympics? Whats this no snow i've been reading about?
 
S

skybaby

Member
0,,36218001-EX,00.jpg
 
S

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
Dr.Acula said:
Does anyone know if Georgia is a strong luge country? Is the track unusually dangerous for anyone, or was it just too technical for those who may have less experience? I know the Olympics do incorporate countries which might not qualify normally, in the interests of diversity and inclusiveness.
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Zöggeler had an accident during the same training sessions, however it only resulted in him falling off his sled.

Coming from a man who is perhaps the greatest the sport has ever seen (alongside Georg Hackl of course) makes you wonder about it a tiny bit.
 
X

X26

Banned
Igo said:
It's there to remind the athletes what awaits them should they exit the course.

Is this pretty much gameover for the luge in these olympics? Whats this no snow i've been reading about?
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lack of snow has no impact on this event, it's mainly snowboarding and a few skiing ones that are fucked over by it and they need to fly/truck in snow to compensate
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
baaad track design

this sport is dangerous, but don't stick brick pillars like that.

You could see how he just over turned then hit the sharp almost 90 degree corner of the straight section it just flipped him instantly. This guy wouldn't have known what happened.

I could only think of the tunnel where lady Diana died for some reason (obviously because of the pillars I guess).

Jesus these tracks should have plexiglass. 144km/h into a post :(
 
K

[KoRp]Jazzman

Member
They wont cancel the luge, its terrible, but its a risk associated with riding a tiny ass sled down an iced chute. The way he hit the left wall made it pretty much impossible to prevent him from exciting the course unless it was completely encassed, but he still would have been fatally wounded i think.

As for the lack of snow, there are parts of some of the tracks that didnt have deep enough amounts of snow near the bottom of the runs, so they layed hay bails down and trucked in snow from nearby mountains, but everyone has said the hills are in almost perfect conditions.
 
V

Verano

Reads Ace as Lace. May God have mercy on their soul
Just now on Huffpost, I saw that pic of Nodar with his eyes almost to the back of his head, blood coming out from his mouth/nose, and having very pale skin. Damn, that dude died instantly.
 
A

AVclub

Junior Member
I couldn't work up the nerve to look at the video. This is really tragic. I want to blame the track, but it sounds like (from other posts) that the problem was more with the equipment on the sides of the track. If there was some sort of padding, netting, or something, it wouldn't take away from the speed or thrill of the sport.

Sorry to luge purists, but if you intentionally put dangerous things around the track for people to hit, the sport becomes no less morbid than watching a member of "Jackass" rolling themselves down a hill in a shopping cart.
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
AVclub said:
I couldn't work up the nerve to look at the video.
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it looks pretty much like 100 other slam videos, but the instant stilness aftwards and the speed which it all happens indicate the fatal nature pretty quickly, it's in no way gory though, just unfortunate and horrible.
 
D

Dresden

Member
Putting in plexiglass or something around the track is against the rules? Anything to make sure they don't get tossed out the course like a ragdoll would be good. They'd still get hurt, but it'd limit the damage, no?
 
O

OpinionatedCyborg

Member
Branduil said:
Whoever approved that track should be fired.
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The track was built by Stantec Architecture Limited, who designed the Salt Lake City bobsleigh, luge and skeleton track in Utah; construction began in 2005 and wrapped up in 2007, when safety testing was begun. The international luge and bobsleigh federations both signed off on the track’s design and safety.
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http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/02/12/...stions-about-course-canadian-competitiveness/

Whistler Sliding Center Project page:
http://www.stantec.com/project.html?id=48
 
P

Pimpwerx

Member
EvilMario said:
Giant steel pillar of death, I'm sure it was there to add to the thrill.
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Funny. It's much like the argument against restrictor plates. Do you nerf the tracks or equipment to limit speeds, or do you let the competition sort itself out as the best of the best? You and I have no idea why they needed pillars there, but it seemed to have passed inspection, and we haven't heard any fears concerned until today. Isn't it possible that this is just an accident? Isn't this danger (leaving the course) an inherent danger associated with flying down a hill on a tiny apparatus? It's not a fun run out there, it's luge. PEACE.
 
P

Pimpwerx

Member
AVclub said:
I couldn't work up the nerve to look at the video. This is really tragic. I want to blame the track, but it sounds like (from other posts) that the problem was more with the equipment on the sides of the track. If there was some sort of padding, netting, or something, it wouldn't take away from the speed or thrill of the sport.

Sorry to luge purists, but if you intentionally put dangerous things around the track for people to hit, the sport becomes no less morbid than watching a member of "Jackass" rolling themselves down a hill in a shopping cart.
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Pillars are generally used to support things. They are eyesores, so the rule is to limit their use, at least where there are sightlines. My only conclusion is that they needed them there to hold something up. Otherwise, they'd have the even tougher job of designing a levitation device...one that hopefully doesn't spit out tons of radiation. PEACE.
 
K

KHarvey16

Member
Sucks for that guy. But I don't think it's useful to comment on the competency of the designers and officials while knowing absolutely nothing about the sport. I have no idea if this was a freak accident or actual negligence.
 
W

whytemyke

Honorary Canadian.
Rather than trying to blame people I think we would all be better served by just accepting that accidents happen in any sport.

Even if he just hit the ground or the sidewall, he'd still be dead. You can't have your brain go from 90+ mph to a sudden stop and not have severe brain damage if not sudden death. That's essentially how Dale Earnhardt died at the Daytona 500 almost 10 years ago now, too.
 
S

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
I'd say that this was nothing more than a freak accident, as is evidenced by the international luge community to go ahead with the event. Georg Hackl is at the games as a coach (of Germany I presume) and he said that it could have happened anywhere.

If the bullet sausage says so, it is so.
 
A

Artadius

Member
Pimpwerx said:
Pillars are generally used to support things. They are eyesores, so the rule is to limit their use, at least where there are sightlines. My only conclusion is that they needed them there to hold something up. Otherwise, they'd have the even tougher job of designing a levitation device...one that hopefully doesn't spit out tons of radiation. PEACE.
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I'm glad this is all some big joke to you. Where'd you get your engineering degree from and how many other luge/sled tracks have you helped design and test in your years?

PEACE
 
T

The Omega Man

Member
Jesus Christ I am speechless, disturbed and sad after watching this video, poor guy, my heart goes out to his family, what sad way to start the Olympics.
 
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