The 2010 Winter Olympics are scheduled to have their Opening Ceremonies tonight in Vancouver to kick off 2 weeks of events. However, tragedy struck the Games that has cast a cloud over the entire city.
21-year old Luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, from the Republic of Georgia, fatally crashed into a steel support beam while doing a training run at the nearby Whistler tracks.
Georgian luge Olympic athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili fatal crash
Nodar lost control of his sled during a hard curve and slide up over the concrete barrier and into a steel beam. People immediately surround the fallen athlete and after about a minute started CPR before taking Kumaritashvili to the hospital where he was later declared dead.
The horrific events have cast doubts about safety on the course even after several athletes have claimed it was designed to be too fast. For the sake of speed records, the engineers may have created a situation where the course may be shut down until safety concerns for the athletes are resolved.
Further training runs on the course have been suspended while the IOC [International Olympic Committee] further investigates the situation.
photo source : Vancouver Sun/Getty Images
