Nodar Kumaritashvili's Father Says Son Feared Whistler's Luge Track

Late Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili reportedly told his father, who was himself a Soviet-era luger, that the track at Whistler frightened him during his training runs. From the Wall Street Journal:

[Nodar] called me before the Olympics, three days ago, and he said, 'Dad, I'm scared of one of the turns. I said, Put your legs down on the ice to slow down, but he said if he started the course he would finish it. … He was brave.

Nodar Kumaritashvili was ranked 44th in the world at the time of his death. He was 21 years-old.

(H/T Sporting News)

After releasing a report that more or less blamed Nodar Kumaritashvili for his own death during Friday's tragic luge crash, the FIL and VANOC are continuing to take steps to make the ultra-fast Whistler track safer for the athletes.

While the FIL's report concluded that there was "no indication that [Kumaritashvili's] accident was caused by deficiencies in the track" (aside from it being, you know, simply too fast), officials have already erected a 12-foot tall wooden wall around the steel beams on the final turn as a precaution, as well as changing the ice profile, presumably to make it slower.

As a final precaution, organizers will have the men lugers begin from the women's start position, according to Reuters. Moving the starting line up will prevent the men lugers from reaching the top-end speeds that have so worried both participants and onlookers during the training sessions at Whistler.

These are all sensible changes. But, for me, the most frustrating thing has been the way Olympic officials have shunted any blame for Friday's tragedy off of themselves. Beyond their probe that found "no deficiencies" in the track, they described their decision to move the men's starting position as due to the "emotional component" of the lugers' psyches, rather than as a simple safety precaution.

It's just so disingenuous. Yes, luge is a risky sport. If you throw yourself at speeds of 70-90 MPH on a glorified sled down a windy track, you know that bad things can happen. But just because luge is a risky sport, that doesn't absolve officials of any responsibility to make sure that the conditions are safe. And Whistler's clearly weren't: the athletes knew it, as did the officials.

Indeed, if Whistler wasn't an unsafe risk, why did Olympic officials tell track designers in Sochi not to make a course as fast as the one in Vancouver? Consider this tidbit from a piece on CTVOlympics.ca from last week:

Early in the planning for the 2014 Sochi Games, the Russian hosts were told flatly by the sport's governing bodies: those speeds at the Whistler Sliding Centre? Don't even dream of trying to match them.

So these types of speeds were safe for Vancouver but not for Sochi? Of course not. Organizers knew they were pushing the limit with Whistler and didn't want to replicate that mistake four years from now. They just didn't have the will to fix the problems at Whistler before tragedy struck. And in doing nothing, they acted recklessly.

The FIL has finished their probe of the Nodar Kumaritashvili accident and have concluded that the Whistler track is safe. Changes will be made to the track including raising the wall where Kumaritashvili crashed and changing the ice profile.

Here is the statement from VANOC and FIL:

It appears after a routine run, the athlete came late out of curve 15 and did not compensate properly to make correct entrance into curve 16. This resulted in a late entrance into curve 16 and although the athlete worked to correct the problem he eventually lost control of the sled resulting in the tragic accident. The technical officials of the FIL were able to retrace the path of the athlete and concluded there was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track.

The first two runs of the men’s competition will start at 5 pm local time on Saturday.

Georgia, which ultimately did decide to march in Friday night's Opening Ceremony, will remember Nodar Kumaritashvili, their fallen teammate, during the procession.

Georgian athletes to wear black stripes as they march into stadium in honor of dead teammate. Will also be black patch on flag

Additionally, the Canadian and Olympic flags were be lowered to half mast.

MSNBC is reporting that the Republic of Georgia plans to compete in the Olympics despite considering pulling out after the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili today:

Georgia to remain in #Olympics as tribute to luger killed in training crash, sports minister says – Reuters

The Republic of Georgia is considering withdrawing its remaining participants from the Olympics after today’s death of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili during a practice run. This from the Denver Post:

A visibly shaken Rogge said Georgia team officials were considering their options. The Opening Ceremonies were to be held tonight at 7 o’clock MST.

“The decision is not final that they are considering participating,” Rogge said.

Georgia has six remaining participants in the Olympics: three alpine skiers, two female figure skaters, and another luger. It’s unclear when the country will make its final decision.

Luge involves speed, and by definition is dangerous. Going ninety miles an hour is only considered safe in NASCAR, and doing it on a sled on ice with only a helmet between you and oblivion clearly implies a contract with fate: what I’m doing is a bit dangerous, and I accept this part of the bargain.

Lugers have died before on tracks, but never in the Olympics, and never in as shocking as fashion as Nodar Kumaritashvili did on Friday—an event American Tim Benshoof foresaw in this piece on the Whistler track last week.

Holcomb has since claimed that the course was designed backward, with tighter turns near the bottom where sleds max-out the speed. And American luger Tony Benshoof told NBC: “When I first got on this track, I thought that somebody was going to kill themselves.”

I’m torn as to what should be done. On one hand, no one wants to watch the Whistler track cripple the remaining field or worse (a scenario which is tragically real and possible). On the other, this is a chance lugers take every time they line up for a run, and it’s not like competitors haven’t run the Whistler track before without success.

Ideally this would be left to the lugers to decide whether continuing on would be the best tribute to their fallen comrade, but the IOC is extremely unlikely to let that happen. Meanwhile the Georgian Olympic team, according to ESPN, may be completely done at the Games altogether.

The International Olympic Committee has released a statement about the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was killed Friday afternoon during luge training at the Winter Olympics. It reads:

It is with great regret that we confirm the death of the Georgian luge athlete, Nodar Kumaritashvili, during the final training session at the Whistler Sliding Centre, this morning.

Mr Kumaritashvili died after crashing on the last corner of the course during training. Doctors were unable to revive the athlete, who died in hospital.

"Our first thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of the athlete. The whole Olympic Family is struck by this tragedy, which clearly casts a shadow over these Games", said the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge.

"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, the CEO of VANOC, the Games Organising Committee.

For the International Luge Federation, President Josef Fendt said: "This is a terrible accident. This is the gravest thing that can happen in sport, and our thoughts and those of the ‘luge family’, are naturally with those touched by this event."

An investigation is underway into the circumstances of the accident. Training was suspended and technical officials are now trying to establish the causes.

There’s still no word on whether the IOC will alter the track, which had already raised some concerns earlier in the week. In light of the tragedy, it has also been suggested that the luge events be canceled altogether.

More: SB Nation’s full coverage of the Winter Olympics

In the wake of Friday’s horrifying luge crash that claimed the life of 21-year-old Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili, members of the International Luge Federation were briefed on the matter and training was suspended at the Whistler Sliding Center in Vancouver, according to the New York Daily News.

ESPN reported that officials from the Vancouver Olympic Committee pledged to carry out an investigation to “ensure a safe field of play” for the games.

Kumaritashvili’s tragic accident is only the last in the past few days at Whistler, which was hyped as having the fastest luge track in the world. Gold medal favorite Armin Zoeggeler of Italy was among those who wiped out, along with a Romanian woman who was knocked unconscious and four Americans.

Australia’s Hannah Campbell-Pegg had this to say after she nearly crashed on Thursday night:

I think they are pushing it a little too much. 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.

Unfortunately, Campell-Pegg played the role of Cassandra in this tragedy. Indeed, her comments show how obviously dangerous this track was to any and all observers, and how easily preventable today’s events were.

More: SB Nation's full coverage of the Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Friday night will be marred by tragedy: Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili has died after a crash during training. He flipped over the track’s wall while traveling at around 90 mph and struck a metal pole on the outside of the track.

Rescue workers attempted CPR but were unable to save Kumaritashvili’s life. He was 21 years-old.

More: SB Nation's full coverage of the Winter Olympics