2010 winter olympics

[PETE'S BROTHER]

they better not have any fake firework footprints during the opening ceremonies tonite!!!

[PETE'S BROTHER]

AP source: Georgian Olympic luger dies after crash - 2010 Olympics - Yahoo! Sports

[Kristy]

they better not have any fake firework footprints during the opening ceremonies tonite!!!

Look for America, Sweden, Norway, and Russia to take the lion's share of the gold and the Canadians to whine for the next four years about it.

Don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to the limeys winning the bronze in curling. Why they almost took gold in badminton!


Sure to kick your insomnia.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

i like the clip of the announcer from the last curling competition, and he's screamin' happy about some points scored during the finals.

[Kristy]

Oh yeah, and how exciting they make curling to be.

Announcer: "Amazing how the iron gracefully makes it long arc along the cold, unforgiving ice. The friction to keep it moving make be painstaking as it search for its mark towards the destination."

WTF?

Am I watching a sport or having a high school kid's essay being read back to me?

[chefcraig]

AP source: Georgian Olympic luger dies after crash - 2010 Olympics - Yahoo! Sports

How awful. ESPN just broke in with the news.

Olympic luger from Georgia dies after crash

25 minutes ago


By STEPHEN WILSON AP Sports Writer

VANCOUVER, British Columbia(AP)—A men’s Olympic luger from the country of Georgia died Friday after a high-speed crash on a track that is the world’s fastest and has raised safety concerns among competitors. IOC president Jacques Rogge said the death hours before the opening ceremony “clearly casts a shadow over these games.”

Nodar Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled during training, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center. Doctors were unable to revive the 21-year-old luger, who died at a hospital, the International Olympic Committee said.

“We are deeply struck by this tragedy and join the IOC in extending our condolences to the family, friends and teammates of this athlete, who came to Vancouver to follow his Olympic dream,” said John Furlong, chief executive of the Vancouver organizing committee.

Rescue workers were at Kumaritashvili’s side within seconds. Chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation started less than one minute after the crash, and he was quickly airlifted to a trauma center in Whistler.

Kumaritashvili struck the inside wall of the track on the final turn. His body immediately went airborne and cleared the ice-coated concrete wall along the left side of the sliding surface. His sled remained in the track, and it appeared his helmet visor skidded down the ice.

Men’s luge competition is to begin Saturday. It’s unclear if the schedule will change.

Kumaritashvili is the fourth competitor to die at the Winter Games and the first since 1992.

“It’s a very rare situation,” three-time Olympic champion and German coach Georg Hackl said before learning of the death, clearly shaken after seeing Kumaritashvili tended to furiously by medical workers.

Shortly before the accident, Hackl said he didn’t believe the track was unsafe.

“People have the opinion it is dangerous but the track crew does the best it can and they are working hard to make sure the track is in good shape and everyone is safe,” he said. “My opinion is that it’s not anymore dangerous that anywhere else.”

It was Kumaritashvili’s second crash during training for the Vancouver Games. He also failed to finish his second of six practice runs, and in the runs he did finish, his average speed was about 88 mph - significantly less than the speed the top sliders are managing on this lightning-fast course.

It was unclear how fast Kumaritashvili was going, although many sliders have exceeded 90 mph on this course. The track is considered the world’s fastest and several Olympians recently questioned its safety. More than a dozen athletes have crashed during Olympic training for luge, and some questioned whether athletes from smaller nations - like Georgia - had enough time to prepare for the daunting track.

At the finish area, not far from where Kumaritashvili lost control, athletes, coaches and officials solemnly awaited word on Kumaritashvili before eventually being ushered away. Access to the crash area was closed within about 30 minutes.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Shiva Keshavan, a four-time Olympian from India.

The remainder of men’s training was canceled for the day, with VANOC officials saying in a release that an investigation was taking place to “ensure a safe field of play.”

Kumaritashvili competed in five World Cup races this season, finishing 44th in the world standings.

Earlier in the day, gold-medal favorite Armin Zoeggeler of Italy crashed, losing control of his sled on Curve 11. Zoeggeler came off his sled and held it with his left arm to keep it from smashing atop his body. He slid on his back down several curves before coming to a stop and walking away.

Training days in Whistler have been crash-filled. A Romanian woman was briefly knocked unconscious and at least four Americans - Chris Mazdzer on Wednesday, Megan Sweeney on Thursday and both Tony Benshoof and Bengt Walden on Friday in the same training session where Zoeggeler wrecked - have had serious trouble just getting down the track.

“I think they are pushing it a little too much,” Australia’s Hannah Campbell-Pegg said Thursday night after she nearly lost control in training. “To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we’re crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives.”

At the 1992 Albertville Games, Nicholas Bochatay of Switzerland died after crashing into a snow grooming machine during training for the demonstration sport of speed skiing on the next-to-last day of the games. He was practicing on a public slope before his event was to begin.

Austrian downhill skier Ross Milne died when he struck a tree during a training run shortly before the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. British luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki also died in a crash during training in Innsbruck.

At the 1988 Calgary Games, an Austrian team doctor, Jorg Oberhammer, died after being hit by a snow grooming machine.

Olympic luger from Georgia dies after crash - 2010 Olympics - Yahoo! Sports

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I saw the video before they yanked it off of Youtube... It was horrible....

I'm really looking forward to the hockey tournament... Canada, Russia, US, and Sweden should battle it out....

[chefcraig]

I saw it as well, it was simply horrible. ESPN has reported it is believed Kumaritashvili was doing upwards of 90 mph when he left the sled. He was just coming out of a banked curve, which only would have increased his speed at that point.

[sadaist]

I saw the video before they yanked it off of Youtube... It was horrible....

Follow this link, video of the crash is on the front page. Dude was going so fast it's incredible. I get scared just watching these guys. Poor kid. Prayers to his family & friends...and to all the other athletes pushing the envelope.

KFI AM 640 More Stimulating Talk Radio

[chefcraig]

Yeah, more than a few have complained about the track, which is billed as the fastest in the world. Australia’s Hannah Campbell-Pegg nearly lost control in training Thursday, and had this to say: “To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we’re crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives.”

[FORD]

That little helmet don't do you a goddamn bit of good when you're thrown into a steel beam at 90 MPH.

Maybe they should find a way to strap the guys into those damn luges?

[Little Texan]

That little helmet don't do you a goddamn bit of good when you're thrown into a steel beam at 90 MPH.

Maybe they should find a way to strap the guys into those damn luges?

Maybe they should find a way to put thick padding around those steel beams.

[Little Texan]

Look for America, Sweden, Norway, and Russia to take the lion's share of the gold and the Canadians to whine for the next four years about it.

Don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to the limeys winning the bronze in curling. Why they almost took gold in badminton!


Sure to kick your insomnia.

I'm wondering if you have to have janitorial experience in order to be an expert curler?

[chefcraig]

That little helmet don't do you a goddamn bit of good when you're thrown into a steel beam at 90 MPH.

Maybe they should find a way to strap the guys into those damn luges?

Maybe they should find a way to put thick padding around those steel beams.

Hows about not continue further? One of your competitors dies, not even during competition. What...this should go forward, in the spirit of the deceased?

Yeah...OK, it's now your turn in the chute, friend. See if you can honor his memory...

[BigBadBrian]

Curling is not as prominent in America as it should be.

A sport is truly great if you can drink a beer while doing it.