Olympics Luge Tragedy

A Georgian men’s luger died Friday after crashing during a training run at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Nodar Kumaritashvili, a 21-year-old who was scheduled to compete in the men’s luge, apparently lost control of his luge, flew off the track and slammed into a metal pole near the base of the luge track in Whistler, British Columbia.

Olympics Luge Tragedy

According to a report by the BBC, Kumaritashvili was travelling at almost 100 miles per hour when he collided with the pole.

Moments after Kumaritashvili crashed, rescue workers attempted to perform CPR on him. Kumaritashvili was then immediately airlifted to the Whistler Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The tragic accident happened just hours before the beginning of the Opening Ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, BC. During the ceremony, the remaining seven members of the Georgian delegation wore black arm bands to mourn Kumaritashvili.

Following Kumaritashvili’s death, Olympic safety officials made several adjustments to the luge track in order to make it less dangerous. After Kumaritashvili came out of turn 15 too late, he was flung up and over the wall on turn 16. In response to this, the officials raised the wall on turn 16 by about a half meter. In addition, officials have changed the “ice profile” slightly.