This is ridiculous. As the finger pointing and the blame game begin, interesting stories are developing.
Apparently, the president of the International Luge Federation (ILF), Josef Fendt, issued a warning that the Whistler track was way too fast back in 2008 but he failed to raise any warnings in 2010 despite speeds of 90 mph on the track. (This is ironic because he was the one who recommended capping track speeds at 85 mph back in 2008)
The International Olympic Committee released a statement where they attributed the luger’s death because he failed to correct himself during the run thus, entering that portion of the track at a terrible angle. The Royal Mounted Police, officials of the ILF, and investigators agreed that the cause of the accident was mainly due to the lack of experience and errors of the luger yet they still built the wooden wall and moved the starting line to the women’s starting line (200 feet further down the track).
Ironically, the lack of experience by Kumaritashvili was due to his lack of practice runs, only 26 compared to the 200 practice runs of the “hometown” Canadiens.
This is a sad day. I have lost a lot of respect for the IOC and ILF and whoever ELSE is in charge. MAN UP! I am so tired of people in this current day and age, especially leaders, who have such problems owning up to the mistakes that they’ve made and admitting to them.
Mourners remember the young luger from the nation of Georgia who died during his training run
