Luger Dies At Olympics

[Richard in Smithville]

Thinking of all olympians at this time.

http://olympics.thestar.com/2010/art...gh-speed-crash

[RAFlorida]

Tragic. It was his first

at the Olympics and then this happens. Prayers for him, his family, friends and for all the Olympians.

[germdoc]

Those fast events on ice and snow are dangerous!

Sad beginning to the Olympics...

[cgallery]

Tragic.

Getting a little concerned about the reports of training injuries and hoping the media is just concentrating on it more this time around and that it isn't an indication of extreme athleticism resulting in extreme injuries.

[ironhat]

That spill was as though he fell several stories. They noted that several lugers were having problem controling their sleds. Wouldn't it be reasonable if they placed restrictions on the sleds or tracks. Take a lesson from NASCAR's restrictor plate regs on some tracks. In this case it's unlikely that there's enough of a tweek in the sleds to do much, But, with the software available for roller-coaster design the tracks can be redesigned for limitations of G-forces and speed. Prayers and blessings up for Mr. Kumaritashvili's family.

[Uncle Cracker]

It seems to me that the venues are getting as obsessive about breaking records as the athletes are. Add to that the huge investment by the media, and you have an environment where safety and sanity can easily get tossed out the window.

[ironhat]

It seems to me that the venues are getting as obsessive about breaking records as the athletes are. Add to that the huge investment by the media, and you have an environment where safety and sanity can easily get tossed out the window.

Amen!!

[JoeyGee]

I didn't look at the link, so I don't know if it was included there or not, but ABC news showed the crash in real time, and then showed stills from it. This was followed by closeups of first responders working on the man.

Am I too soft to see this as inconsiderate and borderline sick? I was shocked when I saw it. I never imagined they would show that. Not even that it was gruesome (it happened very fast, but was still bad) but the man died.

Am I a prude?

[gerti]

I didn't look at the link, so I don't know if it was included there or not, but ABC news showed the crash in real time, and then showed stills from it. This was followed by closeups of first responders working on the man.

Am I too soft to see this as inconsiderate and borderline sick? I was shocked when I saw it. I never imagined they would show that. Not even that it was gruesome (it happened very fast, but was still bad) but the man died.

Am I a prude?

I don't think so. I remember at the bombing in Atlanta a news anchor repeatedly asking "Did you see blood?".

Thinks kind of stuff doesn't belong on TV. Period.

[tommyt654]

I didn't look at the link, so I don't know if it was included there or not, but ABC news showed the crash in real time, and then showed stills from it. This was followed by closeups of first responders working on the man.

Am I too soft to see this as inconsiderate and borderline sick? I was shocked when I saw it. I never imagined they would show that. Not even that it was gruesome (it happened very fast, but was still bad) but the man died.

Am I a prude?

No, and I agree with you that should not have been shown on any T.V. station , Seeing him hit that post at 80 mph was shocking to me and I have a cast iron gut but almost made me want to puke for some reason, Totally inappropiate in my opinion and distasteful. I wonder how the kids family felt seeing that for the 1st time.

[Uncle Cracker]

Am I a prude?

Nope. But humans are ghoulish sometimes, and we already know that TV networks will do practically anything to gain viewers.

[crokett]

Local news here had the story and the anchor was saying it was pretty graphic as they showed a picture of the crash.

It's a lot like the Don Henley song.

[jussi]

I just heard some of the athletes are refusing to use that course. Who could blame them.

[Richard in Smithville]

Some are questioning if Canada is at fault for the death of the athelete. I realize that I am biased but this is a sport of speed and skill. The tracks are expected to be faster and more challenging. The equipment is designed to be faster. Articles that I have read stated the the atheletes were aware that this corner was difficult to negotiate. The competitors try to eek out the precious hundreds of a second. It's very unfortunate event indeed.