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A men's Olympic luger from
the country of Georgia died Friday after a high-speed crash on a
track that is the world's fastest and has raised safety concerns
among competitors. 


A tearful IOC president Jacques Rogge said the
death hours before the opening ceremony "clearly casts a shadow
over these games."

      Nodar Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled during training,
went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the
finish line at Whistler Sliding Center. Paramedics and doctors were
unable to revive the 21-year-old luger, who died at a hospital, the
International Olympic Committee said.


      "We are heartbroken beyond words," said John Furlong, chief
executive of the Vancouver organizing committee.
     


 Before speaking at a news conference, Rogge took off his
glasses, rubbed his eyes and said, "Sorry, it's a bit difficult to
remain composed."


      "Here you have a young athlete that lost his life in pursuing
his passion," Rogge added. "He had a dream to participate in the
Olympic Games. He trained hard and he had this fatal accident. I
have no words to say what we feel."


      Rogge said he was in contact with Kumaritashvili's family and
officials from the Georgian government. Georgia's Olympic committee
was deciding whether to remain in the games, Rogge said.


      An investigation into the crash started quickly, although Rogge
said this was not the time to talk about it. The men's luge
competition is scheduled to begin Saturday afternoon. Officials at
the Whistler track said they were uncertain if the schedule would
be affected.

      Rescue workers were at Kumaritashvili's side within seconds.
Chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation started less
than one minute after the crash, and he was quickly airlifted to a
trauma center in Whistler.

      Kumaritashvili struck the inside wall of the track on the final
turn. His body immediately went airborne and cleared the ice-coated
concrete wall along the left side of the sliding surface. His sled
remained in the track, and it appeared his helmet visor skidded
down the ice.

      The remainder of men's training was canceled for the day, with
VANOC officials saying an investigation was taking place to
"ensure a safe field of play." Men's luge competition is to begin
Saturday. It's unclear if the schedule will change.

      The danger of the Whistler track has been talked about for
months - particularly after several nations, including the U.S.,
were upset over restrictions regarding access to the facility by
nations other than Canada, with some noting it could lead to a
safety issue.


      Kumaritashvili is the fourth competitor to die at the Winter
Games and the first since 1992.


      "It's a very rare situation," three-time Olympic champion and
German coach Georg Hackl said before learning of the death, clearly
shaken after seeing Kumaritashvili tended to furiously by medical
workers.


      Shortly before the accident, Hackl said he didn't believe the
track was unsafe.


      "People have the opinion it is dangerous,  but the track crew
does the best it can and they are working hard to make sure the
track is in good shape and everyone is safe," he said. "My
opinion is that it's not anymore dangerous that anywhere else."


      Five-time Olympian Mark Grimmette, chosen as the U.S. team's
flag bearer, said the speeds on the track are pushing the
boundaries of safety.


      "We're probably getting close," he said the night before the
death. "This track is fast and you definitely have to be on your
game. ... So it's definitely something they are going to have to
take into account on future tracks."


      American luger Christian Niccum crashed during a World Cup event
in Whistler last year.


      "When I hit that ice going 90 mph it turns into fire," Niccum
said Thursday. "I remember coming around to the finish and I just
wanted to rip off my suit, 'I'm on fire. I'm on fire.'"


      This was Kumaritashvili's second crash during training for the
games. He also failed to finish his second of six practice runs,
and in the runs he did finish, his average speed was about 88 mph -
significantly less than the speed the top sliders are managing on
this lightning-fast course.

      It was unclear how fast Kumaritashvili was going, although many
sliders have exceeded 90 mph on this course. More than a dozen
athletes have crashed during Olympic training for luge, and some
questioned whether athletes from smaller nations - like Georgia -
had enough time to prepare for the daunting track.
     


 At the finish area, not far from where Kumaritashvili lost
control, athletes, coaches and officials solemnly awaited word on
Kumaritashvili before eventually being ushered away. Access to the
crash area was closed within about 30 minutes.
      

"I've never seen anything like that," said Shiva Keshavan, a
four-time Olympian from India.
      


Representatives from the three U.S. sliding federations were to
release a joint statement later Friday. American athletes were not
immediately made available for reaction after news of the death was
confirmed.

      "My thoughts and prayers are with the Georgian Olympic team,"
U.S. bobsled pilot Steven Holcomb said on Twitter. "The sliding
community suffered a tragic and devastating loss to our family
today."


      "RIP Nodar Kumaritashvili," wrote American skeleton athlete
Kyle Tress, who did not qualify for the Olympic team. "Let's never
forget how dangerous these sports can be."
      

Kumaritashvili competed in five World Cup races this season,
finishing 44th in the world standings.
      

Earlier in the day, gold-medal favorite Armin Zoeggeler of Italy
crashed, losing control of his sled on Curve 11. Zoeggeler came off
his sled and held it with his left arm to keep it from smashing
atop his body. He slid on his back down several curves before
coming to a stop and walking away.
     


 Training days in Whistler have been crash-filled. A Romanian
woman was briefly knocked unconscious and at least four Americans -
Chris Mazdzer on Wednesday, Megan Sweeney on Thursday and both Tony
Benshoof and Bengt Walden on Friday in the same training session
where Zoeggeler wrecked - have had serious trouble just getting
down the track.

      "I think they are pushing it a little too much," Australia's
Hannah Campbell-Pegg said Thursday night after she nearly lost
control in training. "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."

      At the 1992 Albertville Games, Nicholas Bochatay of Switzerland
died after crashing into a snow grooming machine during training
for the demonstration sport of speed skiing on the next-to-last day
of the games. He was practicing on a public slope before his event
was to begin.

      Australian downhill skier Ross Milne died when he struck a tree
during a training run shortly before the 1964 Winter Games in
Innsbruck, Austria. British luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki also
died in a crash during training in Innsbruck.

      At the 1988 Calgary Games, an Austrian team doctor, Jorg
Oberhammer, died after being hit by a snow grooming machine.
      

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A men's luger from the former Soviet republic of Georgia died Friday after a crash during training in Vancouver, the IOC confirmed.

Olympic luger dies after crash

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