Tim, your right. Accidents do happen.

Never done auto racing, (cepting' fast go-carts),.... have a dear young friend who's a rodeo clown, (now that's a bull fighter), and have done the ski racing.

You do accept the consequences of the sport.

Nothing can be regulated out, well I guess it could, but we'd all be wrapped in pillows, laying in bed. (Check out the OSHA cowboy)

I was just suggesting that someone could have done the math, and increased the height of the banking or increased the radius of the turn (maybe lengthened the course) in anticipation of the achievable speed and technological advancements with this sport.

just .02

Karl
88 Targa

from the news wire:

The FIL, the international governing body for luge, said that out of 2,250 training runs the track had a crash percentage of three per-cent - not out of line with most courses around the world.

Rick V, please review your Avatar and check shock value at the door.

crash sure, but I cant find (google) any other deaths in luge, I think thats more of the issue.

yuck!

To be fair to the track designers, I think it is extremely rare that competitors get flung from he track like that. Padding those posts would be like hanging a tire barrier to the pedestrian overpass on an auto racing circuit.

I dont think blame should be dealt out but I do think they should learn from the incident and work to prevent any further injuries or deaths. My initial though was to add glass like they have in hockey rinks.

Your post caused me to pause and think. I have hit a tree on my snowboard brusing the entire back side of my leg from just above the knee up to my ass. I have hung upside down in my kayak in class IV whitewater bouncing my head off rocks and have knocked myself out moutain biking. I could take up chess but I choose to do what I do because I enjoy it. I am sure that it would be the same for the Georgian luger, he did what he did because it was his passion and he most likely devoted his life to luge. While obviously tragic, he died doing something he loved.

Wow. Would you be so quick to judge the design if Toyota built it?

Anyway, I was shocked to see the freak mode ...where the the guy got launched UP and out. --generally, all their momentum keeps them in the chute.

Very sad. All the hand wringing will continue. :(

Christ that's awful video. Reminds me of Jeff Krosnoff. RIP.

Jeff Krosnoff and Greg Moore.. RIP...

My first thought is that they will hang "b-net", as used in the Alpine Skiing disciplines, along that stretch of the track and let em run.

My brother has been involved with the luge for 30 years and not seen a serious problem. He's been to every olympics since 1980 and is in Vancouver now.

It's definately a dangerous sport and not for the faint of heart. He's getting back to me after the opening ceremonies, but the death of the competitor has everyone in the luge community really shook up.

"He died doing what he loved"

Please. Everybody loves sex too, right? Would it be worth it if a tree suddenly strikes your face at 100 mph? To some, maybe.

When creating an artificial sports arena, the objective is to produce a challenging course while minimizing unexpected, life-threatening hazards - as opposed to a sports arena that involves natural terrain and the inherent risks posed by those surroundings. Luge racing is dangerous enough as it is. A steel pole situated close to a 90mph luge corner sounds like not enough thought was devoted to this possibility, among other possibilities.

MHO,
Sherwood

Life is a risky venture, things happen

I'm surprised that the other racers have not complained about the speeds at the track, it was built with 135KPH as a top speed , 155 has been clocked already. Pretty stupid place for steel poles, you'd think there would be people to check on these things

A simple catch wall to keep people from getting flung out like that would fix it.

That's just senseless that they wouldn't design safety runoff at those speeds like they do on racetracks...

My brother says the track is too fast and dangerous. They are working on a solution and don't know if they will race tomorrow.

I agree completely! Very sad and completely unnecessary. Fastest track in the world, they wanted someone to break the 100 MPH mark on that track. Senseless stupidity. It would have been simply a matter of starting the race at a lower point on the track and that young man would most likely be alive to compete today.

Discuss that with Stijn VanDamme.:D

agree it is very bad taste to post/run these videos. refuse to watch.

Apparently there was an interview with a luge coach who suggested the track was too technically difficult for the less skilled sliders. This deceased's name was specifically mentioned.

It appears to me that:

- the design of the 'sun block' was flawed, with steel columns too close to the track
- the design of the track in that area was flawed (lacks containment)
- the course might be too much for some of the participants, new world speed records are/were expected

Let me loose in a Formula 1 car and I would expect a similar outcome. This is a dangerous sport, not all competitors are at the same level.

I'm convinced they say it is graphic just to get the perverts to watch!