Olympic Death Casts Shadow Over Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony for this year’s Olympics held a somber moment of silent, in an event that has only happened four times in the 86 years of Olympic history. Hours before the opening ceremonies began, 21-year-old Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a training accident.
The 21-year old Olympic hopeful was training at high speeds when his sled flew off the track in the last turn on the Whistler mountain. The track, which has been closed by officials, was criticised earlier for too many accidents. Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed when his sled collided with an unpadded concrete pillar.
Although paramedics where rushed to the accident, emergency resuscitation was unsuccessful. The sledder was then airlifted to the closest hospital, but was later confirmed dead by Thomas Back German International Olympic Committee official.
The President of the Games Committee said that the death would place a shadow over this year’s festivities. The track has been deemed as unsafe since the beginning, and other lugers including gold-medal favourite, Armin Zoeggeler of Italy, came off his sled that same day but walked away from the crash.