Nodar Kumaritashvili
Encyclopedia
Nodar David Kumaritashvili was a Georgian
luge
r, who suffered a fatal crash during a training run for the 2010 Winter Olympics
competition in Vancouver, Canada, on the day of the opening ceremony. He became the fourth athlete to have died during Winter Olympics preparations, after British
luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski
, Australian skier Ross Milne
(both Innsbruck 1964
), and Swiss speed skier Nicolas Bochatay
(Albertville 1992
), and the sixth athlete to die in either a Summer or Winter Olympic Games.
Kumaritashvili, who first began to luge when he was 13, came from a family of seasoned lugers; a relative of his was the founder of organised sledding Georgia, and his father competed when he was younger. A cousin of Kumaritashvili's father was the head of the Georgian Luge Federation; Kumaritashvili himself began competing in the 2008–09 Luge World Cup
, where he finished 55th out of 62 racers. Outside of luge, Kumaritashvili had been a student at the Georgian Technical University
, where he earned an economics degree in 2009.
, Georgian SSR, present day Georgia
, to David and Dodo Kumaritashvili. He had one younger sister, Mariam, who is four years younger. The region Kumaritashvili grew up has many ski hills, and he enjoyed several different winter sports. Kumaritashvili started luge when he was 13 years old. While he maintained a rigorous training and competition schedule, Kumaritashvili graduated from the Georgian Technical University
, where he received a bachelor's degree in economics in 2009. A devout member of the Georgian Orthodox Church, he prayed at a local church before leaving for the Olympics. Though his family endured economic hardship, Kumaritashvili attended as many luge events as he could, often driving for days to reach World Cup events.
Kumaritashvili's family has had a long association with luge. His father, David, is a seasoned luger who won a USSR Youth Championship when Georgia was part of the Soviet Union
. The cousin of Nodar's father, Felix Kumaritashvili, is the head of the Georgian Luge Federation. Nodar was also related to Aleko Kumaritashvili, the founder of organized sledding sports in Georgia.
During his first season of competition, Kumaritashvili finished 55th out of 62 competitors in the 2008–09 Luge World Cup
as he entered four races. Kumaritashvili finished 28th out of 32 competitors in the 2009–10 Luge World Cup
event at Cesana Pariol
in January, which was his fifth and last World Cup event. At the time of his death he was ranked 44th out of 65 competitors in the 2009–10 World Cup season and was regarded as one of the best lugers to come from Georgia.
at the 2010 Winter Olympics
, which would be his Olympic debut. On February 12, 2010, Kumaritashvili was fatally injured in a crash during a training run at the Whistler Sliding Centre
when he lost control in the final turn of the course and was thrown off his luge and over the sidewall of the track, striking an unprotected steel support pole at the end of the run. He was travelling at 143.6 km/h (89.2 mph) at the moment of impact. At a test event in 2009, a luger had clocked a record 153.937 km/h (95.7 mph) on the same track, prompting Josef Fendt
, president of the International Luge Federation (FIL), to comment: "It makes me worry."
Medics were at his side within seconds of the crash. Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation began within one minute, and a plastic breathing tube
was inserted into his mouth. He was airlifted to a Whistler
hospital, where he died of his injuries. It was luge's first fatality since December 10, 1975 when an Italian luger was killed. Kumaritashvili's final run had been his 25th on the Whistler track, and his 13th from the men's start. Some United Kingdom newspapers blamed the crash on Canada's aggressive Own the Podium
program, which had given Canadian athletes more time to train at the Olympic venues to the detriment of Olympians from other countries. Kumaritashvili was the fourth athlete to ever die during the Winter Olympics preparations, after British
luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski
, Australian skier Ross Milne
(both Innsbruck 1964
), and Swiss speed skier Nicolas Bochatay
(Albertville 1992
), and the sixth athlete to die in the Summer or Winter Olympics.
announced that it would consider skipping the opening ceremonies
or withdraw from the games entirely. However, Nika Rurua
, the Georgian minister for sports and culture, later announced the team would stay in Vancouver and "dedicate their efforts to their fallen comrade." The other seven members of the Georgian Olympic team wore black armbands during the opening ceremony, tied a black ribbon to the Georgian flag, and left a space vacant in the procession as a mark of respect. They were greeted with a standing ovation from the assembled crowd, and immediately left BC Place Stadium
after the procession.
A moment of silence
was held during the opening ceremonies to honour his memory, when both the Canadian and Olympic flags were lowered to half-staff
. Upon learning of Kumaritashvili's death, the Governor General of Canada
-in-Council
ordered flags on federal government buildings
throughout the province of British Columbia, including at all Olympic venues, flown at half-staff until midnight, February 13, 2010.
In the early morning on February 17, 2010, Kumaritashvili's body arrived in Tbilisi
, Georgia via Munich
, Germany. It reached his hometown of Bakuriani
later that day and he was buried on Saturday, February 20, at the church he attended. Thousands of Georgians attended a funeral feast for him the day before and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili
attended his funeral service dressed in a Georgian Olympic uniform. The street where his childhood home is located was renamed in his honour.
Training runs on the track resumed on February 13, after the changes to the track had been finished. Three lugers, including Kumaritashvili's teammate Levan Gureshidze
, did not participate in any training runs on February 13. Gureshidze decided to fly back to Georgia to mourn the loss of his deceased teammate, and the athletes who decided to participate all wore a black stripe on their helmets in honour of Kumaritashvili.
On March 10, 2010, the FIL announced that it had made a €10,000 donation to the Kumaritashvili family in Georgia at the request of the Georgian Luge Federation in an effort to rebuild the Kumaritashvili family house.
into Kumaritashvili's death. The report found that the sled used by Kumaritashvili had met all FIL criteria and standards. It attributed the accident to "driving errors starting in curve 15/16 which as an accumulation ended in the impact that resulted in him leaving the track and subsequently hitting a post ... This is a tragic result that should not have occurred as a result of an initial driving error". As the sled hit the wall at the curve 16 exit, it catapulted off the track, causing Kumaritashvili to lose control of it entirely. This was a type of accident not seen before, and therefore "[w]ith the unknown and unpredictable dynamics of this crash, the calculation and construction of the walls in that section of the track did not serve to prevent the tragedy that happened". However, the report also determined that during the homologation
process and later sessions of the Whistler Sliding Centre, the track was faster than originally calculated. While calculations called for a top speed around 136 km/h (84.5 mph), the highest speed recorded was 153.98 km/h (95.7 mph). The FIL felt that luge athletes were able to cope with this speed, but "this was not a direction the FIL would like to see the sport head", and that President Fendt had written to the Sochi 2014
Organizing Committee that the FIL would only homologize the proposed Sochi track if speeds did not exceed 130 kilometre per hour. The FIL also said it was "determined" to do what it could to prevent such accidents occurring. It would re-examine changes to the sport, sled design and track technology. FIL Secretary General Svein Romstad summarized: "What happened to Nodar has been an unforeseeable fatal accident".
who crashed on the track on November 13, 2009 and suffered severe concussion, and information suggesting that the track was constructed in its present location near the Whistler and Blackcomb
mountains for commercial reasons despite it being too narrow and steep. The track designer, Udo Gurgel, said: "The track had to be near Whistler, for use after the Olympics. You don't want to ruin an investment so the track is on terrain that's a little steep." According to John Furlong
, the chief executive of the 2010 Winter Olympics organizing committee, proposals to build the sliding centre on Grouse Mountain
near Vancouver were rejected early in the bid phase due to reservations expressed by international bobsleigh, luge and skeleton federations.
In a report dated September 16, 2010, the coroner ruled Kumaritashvili's death an accident brought on by a "convergence of several factors", including the high speed of the track, its technical difficulty and the athlete's relative unfamiliarity with the track. He wrote that during Kumaritashvili's training runs, it was reasonable to assume that "Mr. Kumaritashvili was sliding faster than ever before in his life, and was attempting to go even faster, while simultaneously struggling to learn the intricacies of the track and the dynamics it created". The coroner accepted that luging would always carry an element of risk and that best practices known at the time had been followed in the construction of the Whistler track. However, he called upon the International Luge Federation to require athletes to engage in more mandatory training sessions prior to the Olympic Games and other major competitions. Responding to the report, Kumaritashvili's father said: "I don't accept the statement about Nodar's lack of experience. He wouldn't have won the right to take part in the Olympics if he lacked experience."
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
luge
Luge
A Luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine and feet-first. Steering is done by flexing the sled's runners with the calf of each leg or exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh 21-25 kilograms for singles and 25-30 kilograms for doubles. Luge...
r, who suffered a fatal crash during a training run for the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
competition in Vancouver, Canada, on the day of the opening ceremony. He became the fourth athlete to have died during Winter Olympics preparations, after British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski
Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski
Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki was a Polish-born British luge racer.Kay-Skrzypecki was a former pilot in the Royal Air Force. He died during one of the training runs for the first Olympic luge competition at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. Three days later, on 26 January 1964, Australian...
, Australian skier Ross Milne
Ross Milne
Ross Milne was an Australian Olympic downhill skier who died when he struck a tree during a practice run three days before the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria....
(both Innsbruck 1964
1964 Winter Olympics
The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964...
), and Swiss speed skier Nicolas Bochatay
Nicolas Bochatay
Nicolas Bochatay was a Swiss speed skier who died during the 1992 Winter Olympics. Bochatay was killed when he collided with a snow grooming vehicle on the morning of the speed skiing finals. He was the nephew of Olympic skier Fernande Bochatay.-Personal life:Bochatay, a carpenter, was...
(Albertville 1992
1992 Winter Olympics
The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics...
), and the sixth athlete to die in either a Summer or Winter Olympic Games.
Kumaritashvili, who first began to luge when he was 13, came from a family of seasoned lugers; a relative of his was the founder of organised sledding Georgia, and his father competed when he was younger. A cousin of Kumaritashvili's father was the head of the Georgian Luge Federation; Kumaritashvili himself began competing in the 2008–09 Luge World Cup
2008–09 Luge World Cup
The 2008–09 Luge World Cup is a multi race tournament over a season for luge. The season started on 29 November 2008 and ended on 21 February 2009. The World Cup is organised by the FIL and sponsored by Viessmann...
, where he finished 55th out of 62 racers. Outside of luge, Kumaritashvili had been a student at the Georgian Technical University
Georgian Technical University
Georgian Technical University – GTU , now Technical University of Georgia is main and largest technical university of Georgia, it is located in the capital city of Tbilisi.- History :...
, where he earned an economics degree in 2009.
Life and career
Nodar Kumaritashvili was born on November 25, 1988, in BorjomiBorjomi
Borjomi is a resort town in south-central Georgia with a population estimated at 14,445. It is one of the districts of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and is situated in the northwestern part of the region in the picturesque Borjomi Gorge on the eastern edge of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park...
, Georgian SSR, present day Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, to David and Dodo Kumaritashvili. He had one younger sister, Mariam, who is four years younger. The region Kumaritashvili grew up has many ski hills, and he enjoyed several different winter sports. Kumaritashvili started luge when he was 13 years old. While he maintained a rigorous training and competition schedule, Kumaritashvili graduated from the Georgian Technical University
Georgian Technical University
Georgian Technical University – GTU , now Technical University of Georgia is main and largest technical university of Georgia, it is located in the capital city of Tbilisi.- History :...
, where he received a bachelor's degree in economics in 2009. A devout member of the Georgian Orthodox Church, he prayed at a local church before leaving for the Olympics. Though his family endured economic hardship, Kumaritashvili attended as many luge events as he could, often driving for days to reach World Cup events.
Kumaritashvili's family has had a long association with luge. His father, David, is a seasoned luger who won a USSR Youth Championship when Georgia was part of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. The cousin of Nodar's father, Felix Kumaritashvili, is the head of the Georgian Luge Federation. Nodar was also related to Aleko Kumaritashvili, the founder of organized sledding sports in Georgia.
During his first season of competition, Kumaritashvili finished 55th out of 62 competitors in the 2008–09 Luge World Cup
2008–09 Luge World Cup
The 2008–09 Luge World Cup is a multi race tournament over a season for luge. The season started on 29 November 2008 and ended on 21 February 2009. The World Cup is organised by the FIL and sponsored by Viessmann...
as he entered four races. Kumaritashvili finished 28th out of 32 competitors in the 2009–10 Luge World Cup
2009–10 Luge World Cup
The 2009–10 Luge World Cup was a multi race tournament over a season for luge. The season started 17 November 2009 in Calgary, Canada and ended 31 January 2010 in Cesana, Italy. The World Cup was organised by the FIL and sponsored by Viessmann...
event at Cesana Pariol
Cesana Pariol
Cesana Pariol was the venue for bobsled, luge and skeleton during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The track, built for the games, is located in Cesana...
in January, which was his fifth and last World Cup event. At the time of his death he was ranked 44th out of 65 competitors in the 2009–10 World Cup season and was regarded as one of the best lugers to come from Georgia.
Accident and death
By December 31, 2009, the cut-off date for luge qualifications for the Olympics, Kumaritashvili was ranked 38th overall. As he had also raced in the minimum of five World Cup races over the previous two years, he qualified for the luge men's singles eventLuge at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Men's singles
The men's luge at the 2010 Winter Olympics took place on 13–14 February 2010 at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia. Germany's Felix Loch was the two-time defending world champion and won the gold medal with the fastest time in each of the four runs...
at the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
, which would be his Olympic debut. On February 12, 2010, Kumaritashvili was fatally injured in a crash during a training run at the Whistler Sliding Centre
Whistler Sliding Centre
The Whistler Sliding Centre is a Canadian bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in Whistler, British Columbia, that is north of Vancouver. The centre is part of the Whistler Blackcomb resort, which comprises two ski mountains separated by Fitzsimmons Creek...
when he lost control in the final turn of the course and was thrown off his luge and over the sidewall of the track, striking an unprotected steel support pole at the end of the run. He was travelling at 143.6 km/h (89.2 mph) at the moment of impact. At a test event in 2009, a luger had clocked a record 153.937 km/h (95.7 mph) on the same track, prompting Josef Fendt
Josef Fendt
Josef Fendt is the current president of the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course . He was a West German-German luger who competed from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s...
, president of the International Luge Federation (FIL), to comment: "It makes me worry."
Medics were at his side within seconds of the crash. Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation began within one minute, and a plastic breathing tube
Tracheal tube
A tracheal tube is a catheter that is inserted into the trachea in order for the primary purpose of establishing and maintaining a patent airway and to ensure the adequate exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Many different types of tracheal tubes are available, suited for different specific...
was inserted into his mouth. He was airlifted to a Whistler
Whistler, British Columbia
Whistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately north of Vancouver...
hospital, where he died of his injuries. It was luge's first fatality since December 10, 1975 when an Italian luger was killed. Kumaritashvili's final run had been his 25th on the Whistler track, and his 13th from the men's start. Some United Kingdom newspapers blamed the crash on Canada's aggressive Own the Podium
Own the Podium
Podium Canada, or more commonly Own the Podium, is a Canadian umbrella sport technical program launched in January 2005 Originally created as Own the Podium - 2010 to prepare Canadian athletes to reach medal finishes at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the program has since expanded to include a...
program, which had given Canadian athletes more time to train at the Olympic venues to the detriment of Olympians from other countries. Kumaritashvili was the fourth athlete to ever die during the Winter Olympics preparations, after British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski
Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski
Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki was a Polish-born British luge racer.Kay-Skrzypecki was a former pilot in the Royal Air Force. He died during one of the training runs for the first Olympic luge competition at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. Three days later, on 26 January 1964, Australian...
, Australian skier Ross Milne
Ross Milne
Ross Milne was an Australian Olympic downhill skier who died when he struck a tree during a practice run three days before the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria....
(both Innsbruck 1964
1964 Winter Olympics
The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964...
), and Swiss speed skier Nicolas Bochatay
Nicolas Bochatay
Nicolas Bochatay was a Swiss speed skier who died during the 1992 Winter Olympics. Bochatay was killed when he collided with a snow grooming vehicle on the morning of the speed skiing finals. He was the nephew of Olympic skier Fernande Bochatay.-Personal life:Bochatay, a carpenter, was...
(Albertville 1992
1992 Winter Olympics
The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics...
), and the sixth athlete to die in the Summer or Winter Olympics.
Georgian response
There was shock and mourning in Georgia after footage of his tragic death was televised. In response to the accident, the Georgian teamGeorgia at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Georgia participated in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with a team of 8 athletes. On the day of the opening ceremony, Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died in an accident while practicing during for games.- Alpine skiing:...
announced that it would consider skipping the opening ceremonies
2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
The Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics was held on February 12, 2010 beginning at 6:00 pm PST at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This was the first Olympic opening ceremony to be held indoors...
or withdraw from the games entirely. However, Nika Rurua
Nika Rurua
Nikoloz "Nika" Rurua is a Georgian politician, and a member of the Cabinet of Georgia in the capacity of Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia, appointed on December 10, 2008....
, the Georgian minister for sports and culture, later announced the team would stay in Vancouver and "dedicate their efforts to their fallen comrade." The other seven members of the Georgian Olympic team wore black armbands during the opening ceremony, tied a black ribbon to the Georgian flag, and left a space vacant in the procession as a mark of respect. They were greeted with a standing ovation from the assembled crowd, and immediately left BC Place Stadium
BC Place Stadium
BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium located at the north side of False Creek, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the home field for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer . Originally opened on June 19, 1983 as the...
after the procession.
A moment of silence
Moment of silence
A moment of silence is the expression for a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of respect, particularly in mourning for those who have recently died or as part of a commemoration ceremony...
was held during the opening ceremonies to honour his memory, when both the Canadian and Olympic flags were lowered to half-staff
Half-staff
Half-staff is the American term for to describe a flag flying a flag below the summit of the flagpole . The rest of the English-speaking world uses the term half-mast. Technically the flag should be flown one breadth lower to allow for the invisible flag of death...
. Upon learning of Kumaritashvili's death, the Governor General of Canada
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
-in-Council
Queen-in-Council
The Queen-in-Council is, in each of the Commonwealth realms, the technical term of constitutional law that refers to the exercise of executive authority, denoting the monarch acting by and with the advice and consent of his or her privy council or executive council The Queen-in-Council (during...
ordered flags on federal government buildings
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
throughout the province of British Columbia, including at all Olympic venues, flown at half-staff until midnight, February 13, 2010.
In the early morning on February 17, 2010, Kumaritashvili's body arrived in Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, Georgia via Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany. It reached his hometown of Bakuriani
Bakuriani
Bakuriani is a skiing resort in the Borjomi district of Georgia. It is located on the northern slope of the Trialeti Range, at an elevation of 1,700 meters above sea level....
later that day and he was buried on Saturday, February 20, at the church he attended. Thousands of Georgians attended a funeral feast for him the day before and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian politician, the third and current President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party.Involved in the national politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003...
attended his funeral service dressed in a Georgian Olympic uniform. The street where his childhood home is located was renamed in his honour.
Other responses
The FIL stated that Kumaritashvili's death "was not caused by an unsafe track". As a preventive measure, the walls at the exit of curve 16 were raised and the ice profile was adjusted. Padding was also added to exposed metal beams near the finish line. Olympic officials claimed the changes were "not for safety reasons but to accommodate the emotional state of the lugers". In addition, the start of the men's luge was moved to the women's starting point to reduce speed, while the start of the women's luge was also moved further down the track.Training runs on the track resumed on February 13, after the changes to the track had been finished. Three lugers, including Kumaritashvili's teammate Levan Gureshidze
Levan Gureshidze
Levan Gureshidze is a Georgian luger who has competed since 2008. He finished 55th in the 2008-09 Luge World Cup.Gureshidze qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics but withdrew from the competition after teammate Nodar Kumaritashvili died during a training run accident at the Olympics...
, did not participate in any training runs on February 13. Gureshidze decided to fly back to Georgia to mourn the loss of his deceased teammate, and the athletes who decided to participate all wore a black stripe on their helmets in honour of Kumaritashvili.
On March 10, 2010, the FIL announced that it had made a €10,000 donation to the Kumaritashvili family in Georgia at the request of the Georgian Luge Federation in an effort to rebuild the Kumaritashvili family house.
International Luge Federation report
On April 19, 2010, the FIL published its final report to the International Olympic CommitteeInternational Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
into Kumaritashvili's death. The report found that the sled used by Kumaritashvili had met all FIL criteria and standards. It attributed the accident to "driving errors starting in curve 15/16 which as an accumulation ended in the impact that resulted in him leaving the track and subsequently hitting a post ... This is a tragic result that should not have occurred as a result of an initial driving error". As the sled hit the wall at the curve 16 exit, it catapulted off the track, causing Kumaritashvili to lose control of it entirely. This was a type of accident not seen before, and therefore "[w]ith the unknown and unpredictable dynamics of this crash, the calculation and construction of the walls in that section of the track did not serve to prevent the tragedy that happened". However, the report also determined that during the homologation
Homologation
Homologation is a technical term, derived from the Greek homologeo for "to agree", which is generally used in English to signify the granting of approval by an official authority...
process and later sessions of the Whistler Sliding Centre, the track was faster than originally calculated. While calculations called for a top speed around 136 km/h (84.5 mph), the highest speed recorded was 153.98 km/h (95.7 mph). The FIL felt that luge athletes were able to cope with this speed, but "this was not a direction the FIL would like to see the sport head", and that President Fendt had written to the Sochi 2014
2014 Winter Olympics
The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially the XXII Olympic Winter Games, or the 22nd Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event scheduled to be celebrated from 7 to 23 February 2014, in Sochi, Russia with some events held in the resort town of Krasnaya Polyana. Both the Olympic and...
Organizing Committee that the FIL would only homologize the proposed Sochi track if speeds did not exceed 130 kilometre per hour. The FIL also said it was "determined" to do what it could to prevent such accidents occurring. It would re-examine changes to the sport, sled design and track technology. FIL Secretary General Svein Romstad summarized: "What happened to Nodar has been an unforeseeable fatal accident".
Coroner's report
The British Columbia coroner's office investigated the incident. It was reported to be considering, among other pieces of evidence, written complaints about the safety of the Whistler track by Venezuelan luger Werner HoegerWerner Hoeger
Werner Hoeger is a professor emeritus of exercise science at Boise State University. He has published 51 editions of Fitness & Wellness college textbooks. He is one of the most widely read fitness and wellness college authors in the United States...
who crashed on the track on November 13, 2009 and suffered severe concussion, and information suggesting that the track was constructed in its present location near the Whistler and Blackcomb
Blackcomb Peak
Blackcomb Peak is a mountain located east of Whistler, British Columbia and forms the boundary between the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort and Garibaldi Provincial Park...
mountains for commercial reasons despite it being too narrow and steep. The track designer, Udo Gurgel, said: "The track had to be near Whistler, for use after the Olympics. You don't want to ruin an investment so the track is on terrain that's a little steep." According to John Furlong
John Furlong (Canadian)
John Furlong, O.C, O.B.C was the President and Chief Executive Officer of VANOC which oversaw the preparation and execution of the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics Games...
, the chief executive of the 2010 Winter Olympics organizing committee, proposals to build the sliding centre on Grouse Mountain
Grouse Mountain
Grouse Mountain is one of the North Shore Mountains of the Pacific Ranges in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Exceeding 1,200 m in altitude at its peak, is the site of an alpine ski area in the winter season overlooking Greater Vancouver with four chairlifts facilitating 26 runs...
near Vancouver were rejected early in the bid phase due to reservations expressed by international bobsleigh, luge and skeleton federations.
In a report dated September 16, 2010, the coroner ruled Kumaritashvili's death an accident brought on by a "convergence of several factors", including the high speed of the track, its technical difficulty and the athlete's relative unfamiliarity with the track. He wrote that during Kumaritashvili's training runs, it was reasonable to assume that "Mr. Kumaritashvili was sliding faster than ever before in his life, and was attempting to go even faster, while simultaneously struggling to learn the intricacies of the track and the dynamics it created". The coroner accepted that luging would always carry an element of risk and that best practices known at the time had been followed in the construction of the Whistler track. However, he called upon the International Luge Federation to require athletes to engage in more mandatory training sessions prior to the Olympic Games and other major competitions. Responding to the report, Kumaritashvili's father said: "I don't accept the statement about Nodar's lack of experience. He wouldn't have won the right to take part in the Olympics if he lacked experience."
See also
- Sergei ChalibashviliSergei ChalibashviliSergo Shalibashvili was a Georgian competitive diver from the Soviet Union. He died at the age of 21 following an accident during competition at the 1983 World University Games in Edmonton, Alberta, when he hit his head on the platform while attempting a reverse 3½ somersault in the tuck position....
- List of sportspeople who died during their careers