WHISTLER — Tragedy struck the Winter Olympics on Friday morning when Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, flew off the track at high speed, smashed into a metal girder and was taken to hospital by ambulance.
An hour after the crash, there were reports that he had died. Other reports listed him as having life-threatening injuries.
The crash occurred near the bottom of the course, which is both fast and challenging. Kumaritashvili hit the track's inside wall, flew in the air up and over the outside wall and struck the girder. His speed was estimated at 144.3 kilometres an hour.
Medical staff were on the scene applying CPR through a plastic tube.
The training run — the second of two scheduled for Friday and the final one before the event's scheduled start on Saturday — was suspended.
International Luge Federation officials and coaches were meeting but no statement had been made yet.
Kumaritashvili comes from the town of Borjomi.
The 21-year-old was knocked unconscious and immediately placed on a stretcher with blood pouring from his face before he was taken away in an ambulance.
Witnesses said he hit a metal column on the side of the track after he flew over the wall.
"Georgian slider Nodar Kumaritashvili has had a serious crash in the final run of official training," said an official statement.
"The 21-year-old fell out of the track when he crashed. He was treated onsite by medical staff who administered CPR and was then taken away in an ambulance."
The track is widely-regarded as one of the most dangerous in the sport and there had been several scares in the past few days, with 2002 and 2006 gold medalist Armin Zoeggler of Italy also crashing but escaping unhurt.
This track has been a challenge. Moments before the crash, American luger Bengt Walden, who had just crashed in his run, said that international luge federation officials had already expressed concerns about the speed of the track.
"I don't think they're going to build more faster tracks than this," he said when asked if this one was at the outer limit of how fast a track can be.
"The (federation) was almost unhappy with how fast the track turned out to be but we'll see."
Moments later, Kumaritashvili crashed.
Italy's Armin Zoeggeler, the 2002 and 2006 Olympic champion, crashed in his first run but wasn't hurt. His sled seemed to slide from beneath him on Corner 11 and he slid for about 200 metres. He was able to hold his sled to keep it from crashing into his body.
He did his second run and seemed fine. He walked quickly past reporters and had nothing to say.
Hundreds of millions of television viewers are expected to watch the opening ceremony starting at 6 p.m. Friday, culminating years of planning with some 2,500 athletes from 82 nations competing in the February 12-28 showpiece.
As the clock ticks down, organisers continue to battle warm weather in Vancouver and on nearby Cypress Mountain, the host of the freestyle events.
Tonnes of snow have had to be driven and helicoptered in from higher elevations to Cypress, and forecast rain and high winds have further complicated matters.
There are no such problems at Whistler, site of the blue-riband alpine skiing events, where the Olympics officialy got under way with the ski jumping individual qualification rounds on Friday.
The build-up all culminates with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron at BC Place in Vancouver later Friday, a ceremony held indoors for the first time in the competition's history.
The identity of the athlete who will have the honor of lighting it is a tightly-guarded secret, but it signals the end of a marathon which has seen the Olympic torch cross the globe.
It met small-scale protests on the final leg on Friday.
Around 100 demonstrators, protesting over the financial and environmental impact of the Olympics, blocked the relay route, sparking a security headache.
The incident took place in one of the city's poorest areas as groups targetted the support vehicles which have accompanied the torch relay on its 45,000 kilometre (27,961 miles) journey spread over the last 106 days.
In a tense 20-minute stand-off, they faced up to security personnel before police reinforcements dispersed them without further incident.
Eleven venues are being used for the Games, from the Games BC Place where the opening and closing ceremonies are held to Canada Hockey Place, which hosts the ice hockey and where the home nation starts as men's gold medal favourites,
In all, 15 sports will be contested with Germany and Canada the bookmakers' tips to top the medal table, with the United States, South Korea and Japan also challenging.作者: totori 時間: 2010-2-12 12:40
That's really sad news... R.I.P Nodar作者: ACC-HE 時間: 2010-2-12 12:50
Statement from IOC, LIVE作者: FeiZai 時間: 2010-2-12 13:49
This really sucks man! Loads of discussions surrounded the safty concerns of the fastest luge track in the world. Does it really take a life for Vanoc to wake up and look into the track? Come on! The opening ceremony is just hours away, let see if they'll address the issue at all.
