As most of you know the day before the Olympics began Nodar Kumaritashvili of Georgia, was taking his final practice run before heading over to the opening ceremonies. Nodar banked to high on curve 15 and gravity slammed him into curve 16, the final curve. The force of the impact threw Nodar of of his sled into a beam support, killing him. The sport of Luge is no doubt very dangerous. It is the most dangerous out of the three sliding sports, Luge, Bobsled and Skeleton. The reasons for this vary, but the sled in Luge is only around 50 lbs, and when an accident happens the athlete is thrown of of his/her sled. Luge speeds also exceed upwards of 90 mph, with average falling around 80-85 mph. Bobsleds go about the same speeds, but are safer because the sled protects the driver, brakemen and side pushers in case of a crash. Skeleton sleds only top out at around 75 mph with an average of 70 mph. A skeleton sled is heavier and does not project their athletes into the air. With that being said all three sports are very dangerous.
Despite that being said, I am writing this blog to display my disgust with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and the FIL (Federation International Luge). Why you may ask? After the death of Nodar, they conducted a study to find out what caused the death. After three months of research they announced yesterday that, "driver errors" caused his death. They are essentially saying that Nodar was too inexperienced and should have not been driving on the Whistler track.
Really? Really? Don't bullshit me IOC. I know enough about your politics game to know where your headed with this one. For those who don't know the Whistler Sliding Centre, where the accident occurred is THE MOST DANGEROUS TRACK in the world. Bobsled driver Steve Holcomb, nicknamed curve 13 as the 50/50 curve, one day after a training run. His reasoning was that half of the sleds crashed on this curve. The Vancouver Organizing Committee or VANOC, wanted to make the Olympic track the fastes in the world. According the FIBT, the Whistler track has a vertical drop of 120 m and a degree of difficulty of 15 (the highest possible).
Days before the accident Lugers were wiping out all over the place, a Romanian was knocked unconscious. A Skeleton slider from Canada, who had been training on that track all year, crashed and DQd himself from competition. USA2 and their four man team also crashed among countless others. The fasted skeleton sled was clocked at 90.5 mph, thats 20 mph faster than the average! So IOC, you want to tell me it was Nodars fault? He was ranked 44th in the world. You want to tell me that the 44th best person in his sport was not, "experienced" enough to drive on your track. I call BS, if this had happened to an American slider, the outcome would be a lot different. The IOC would kissing the ass of the USOC. But since it happened to a slider from the small country of Georgia, the IOC can cover their ass's.
With sports becoming more and more action packed. Owners, Managers and Organizers look to make the Games exciting. But at what coast? The NFL moved kick offs back to the 30 a few years ago to limit touchback and allow more returns. According to NFL,com, 30% of all injuries occur on kickoffs. At the Torino Olympics four years ago the downhill skiing course was not covered with snow but ice, as skiers reached 70 mph. Are the lives and health to the people who perform these dangerous sports no concern to those who make money off them? I feel so. However, sports like these will continue to become more dangerous because of the athletes who play them. All of us are competitors and have been since birth. I have only taken 3 slides down a bobsled course in my life. However, I would totally enter a competition at the Whistler track. Thats just me, and I am sure any other Skeleton athlete would do the same.
Thatttta boy kicker. You tell them assholes!
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