Olympic Luger From Georgia, The Former Soviet Republic,Dies In Traumatic Crash While Training(VIDEO)

[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=luge+nodar&iid=7874790″ src=”6/9/4/c/Olympic_Preview_ba02.jpg?adImageId=10209056&imageId=7874790″ width=”380″ height=”235″ /]

Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a horrific crash at the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Friday, German IOC official Thomas Bach confirmed.

The Huffington Post has pictures and a video of the terrible accident that you can see by clicking on this link-Source, and Total pro Sports has two different views of the crash video as well.

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=luge&iid=7897112″ src=”4/6/1/9/Luge_2c1b.jpg?adImageId=10210229&imageId=7897112″ width=”234″ height=”282″ /]The 21-year-old was thrown off the sled as it bounced over the rim of the track at the Whistler Sliding Centre at around 90mph and slammed into a pole by the side of the course.

Track and medical workers dashed to his side and began performing CPR as an ambulance raced to the side of the track. An air-rescue helicopter was called in.

There has been speculation that the track is too fast. On Thursday, Romanian slider Violeta Stramaturaru was briefly knocked unconscious and required medical treatment.Nodar Kumaritashvili has competed in luge for just two years. He was ranked 55th in the World Cup rankings in 2008-09.

The Luge is considered to be one of the Olympics most dangerous sports, and it has today lived up to that reputation.It is basically a human body sledding in a prone position, at a high speed, down a mountain. Click on this link to Wikipedia for more information on the history of the Luge.(Source-Wikipedia)

Seasoned veteran athletes are reportedly having difficulty negotiating this track, which is considered to be one of the fastest in the world.[picapp align=”right” wrap=”true” link=”term=luge&iid=7896987″ src=”d/b/c/d/Luge_59f1.jpg?adImageId=10210242&imageId=7896987″ width=”234″ height=”144″ /]

It is possible to slow down the track by adding some frost to it which might have to happen to spare the lives of these élite athletes.

Training has been suspended, and the Olympic committee is meeting to review the situation, and resolve it.

The opening ceremonies for the Vancouver Olympic Games is set for this evening.

The tragic death of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili will certainly cast a dark shadow on the ceremony.

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