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The death of a luge competitor who left the track at high speed has cast a shadow over the Winter Olympics in Canada ahead of the opening ceremony. Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili’s sled flipped and he smashed into a steel pole at the Whistler Sliding Centre. An Olympic official later confirmed the 21-year-old had died as a result. Training was immediately suspended after the accident, which happened just hours before the ceremony to open the 21st Winter Games in Vancouver. The World’s Katy Clark has been following events. (Photo: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images)
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MARCO WERMAN: The Winter Olympics in Vancouver officially start tonight. But the games got off to a terrible start even before the opening ceremony got underway. There was a fatal accident at the Whistler Sliding Center. An athlete training for the luge competition was killed. His name is Nodar Kumaritashvili and he was 21 years old. The World’s Katy Clark has been following Olympic preparations today. Katy, certainly not the kind of news anybody wanted as the Olympics get underway. What happened exactly?
KATY CLARK: Well Kumaritashvili who was part of the Georgian delegation lost control of his sled near the finish line. He went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole. They tried to revive him on site then rushed him to a hospital where he was reported to have died and I.O.C. President Jacques Rogas said today issuing a statement saying that the death clearly casts a shadow over these games.
MARCO: Now apparently other athletes have expressed concerns about the safety of the Whistler Sliding Center, that’s where the luge and other similar competitions are due to take place. Yesterday in fact an Australian woman luger almost lost control in training at that track and said to what extent are we little lemmings that they just throw down the track? Katy, just how dangerous is this track?
KATY: The track at Whistler has a reputation as one of the fastest and most dangerous in the world. In recent weeks several teams have raised concerns about it. And these guys aren’t afraid of the speed so they’re not being wimps about all of this stuff. And there have been claims that the athletes haven’t had enough time to train on this track and that can also increase the risk of injuries.
MARCO: Awful news indeed. Presumably the games will go on but let’s move onto some other stuff here in Vancouver before the crash the big worry was the weather. What’s the forecast now? What else are people talking about that?
KATY: Oh rain in the forecast through next week so fans, spectators and athletes who are not competing advised to bring their umbrellas along with them. I mean not that unusual for that area but when you’re hosting the Winter Olympics and you have to truck in snow it’s a little bit strange. The Canadians are also doing their best to give visitors a big Canadian welcome and they’re aiming to take advantage of being hometown favorites by shooting for a record number of medals.
MARCO: Katie what else are we, should we be looking for on the eve of these Winter Games?
KATY: Well there’s going to be a bunch of African athletes competing, which is very interesting. Not medalling likely though, and look for Iran’s first female athlete at these games. She’s an alpine skier. Pakistan is also making its alpine skiing debut in Vancouver.
MARCO: We’ll leave it there, The World’s Katy Clark. Thanks very much.
KATY: You’re very welcome.
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