Crash at the luge track.

[coolngroovy]

G'day all,
I saw on the news this morning.....21yo killed during practice at the Olympic luge track. I believe the video has been withdrawn while investigations continue.

There seems to be a raging debate already regarding fault/liability. There has been talk of withdrawing the event from the calander.

My question is: Is the track too challenging for the worlds best luge racers?

My thoughts & prayers go out to the family of the young bloke killed.

[Dave L]

On the news I saw them report that the lugers have named one corner 50/50 because thats your chance of making it. Apparently the luger killed was going about 140km/h, I dont know what the normal speed is but it is apparently the steepest track. One luge commentator said that sometimes the luge will leave the track but the luger never does. In this case the luger exited the track after a crash and hit a pole.

A very sad event.

[svandamme]

i saw the vid... one second he was going like stink... not even half a second after that he was at 0 km/h... i doubt he had time to realize it was going bad...

is this a new track built for these Olympics?

[coolngroovy]

From what i can gather, he had actually finished the run & posted a time when the accident happened.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by svandamme

is this a new track built for these Olympics?

I watched a TV show last night on the track, it is the fastest most technical Bobsled/Luge track ever built, and these guys are going scary fast. New records await, but at what cost?

My heart goes out to the family of the Luge rider.

[Dave L]

I hope they will put up some fencing or other barriers around some of the corner exits. With the speeds they are hitting they need to ensure they are staying IN the track.

[svandamme]

i find it unbelievable that they have steel poles so close to the track...
these days they make everything super safe, to the point where it takes the fun out of things...

but such a low edge on that track, after a super fast bend.... and steel poles right next to the track... surely it can't be so difficult to raise that edge a bit.. with a curved lip to keep whatever is going through that pipe..in the pipe

[carambola]

he came down off the turn and almost T-boned the inside of the turn. shame the kid died. i assume the quick fix would be to raise the elevation of the walls coming out of that final turn.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6202459n

[equality72521]

OMG, I just saw it. Just tragic. I can't believe there are poles right there without some kind of barrier.

[pwd72s]

From being proud of your child being in the olympic to grief stricken in a heartbeat...man, how those poor parents must feel!

[Neilk]

Originally Posted by equality72521

OMG, I just saw it. Just tragic. I can't believe there are poles right there without some kind of barrier.

+1

What were they thinking when they built that? The speed at which it happened was shocking. Like Stijn said, 100 to zero in a split second.

[KarlCarrera]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

From being proud of your child being in the olympic to grief stricken in a heartbeat...man, how those poor parents must feel!

How did they (Olympic committee/safety committee) miss this? What a tragedy.
Prayers to all involved

Karl
88 Targa

[UconnTim97]

That is terrible.

ESPN reported that he was going 89.4 MPH, his fastest practice run on the track.

[Rusty Heap]

The guy died doing what he loved.

The steel pole wasn't to fault, it's 90 mph feet first on a non-steerable sled and he missed the apex of the turn and yeah, 90 mph to 0 in .2 seconds.

He bought the ticket, took the ride, and accepted the consequenses, don't blame the track designers, padding the pole wouldn't of helped, nor moving the poles back 40 feet...just as don't blame porsche for oversteer in a rear engine car.

Life's short, he died doing what he loved. Cheers and I salute him for his skill and bravery.

I mean who remembers the openning of the Wide World of Sports, the "agony of defeat" with the skier major losing it tumbling off the ski ramp.

fail happens.

[Tim Hancock]

Tragic accidents happen in all aspects of life. I can't stand hearing people playing the blame game every time something bad happens in the world. Sports like motorsport racing, bull riding, whitewater kayaking, ski racing etc are dangerous sports/hobbies. If I choose to partake, I do so at my own risk.

[creaturecat]

Unbelievable speed.
That sport must be absolutely frightening

[teenerted1]

yep looks like it is after the finish line...they will probably fix the shut down area to keep sliders inside the tracks walls before they have any more runs.

140k=@85mph so that is what they have for a max speed in the luge at other tracks.

[Rick V]

They just ran the clip on the news, like 17 times. Gotta love the heartless people who think things like that are okay to run.

[jyl]

Would you place big steel poles in the runout area after an F1 turn? The sport is inherently dangerous, but it shouldn't be made more dangerous by faulty track design.

[masraum]

Wow, just saw the video and some pics of the kid getting cpr at huffingtonpost.com.

Very fast, very crazy, and very sad. I've seen some olympic events, and don't ever remember seeing a track that was so completely closed in by poles and beams and stuff. Normally, it seems like most of it is down through the middle of a forest with the occasional tree, and possible something on the outside of the big corners. That seems like an extra dangerous track. The thing said that he died later at the hospital. It's hard to believe that he could have been alive that long.

Very sad indeed.