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Tragedy at the Olympics
Two Cents - Your Two Cents!

Last Friday, as Vancouver was poised to open the 2010 Winter Olympics, Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was tragically killed in a horrific crash on the luge course during a practice run. The course, which has been touted as being the fastest in the world, has produced speeds of up to 100 MPH. Much discussion has been had since the accident about the safety of the sport as trends push for higher speeds and more dangerous courses

Question: Do you think that the luge has become too dangerous of a sport for the Olympics?
Comments (16)Add Comment
Speed Kills
written by Joe, February 15, 2010
It is trite to say that Nodar died doing what he loved. But the reality is speed kills. There is danger involved when ever the edge of the envelope is pushed. I say the luge should stay. Nothing is more thrilling than to see an athlete rocketing down an ice chute at nearly 100 miles and hour with nothing between them and tragedy, but skill and luck. If he signed the waiver and knew the risks, LUGE ON!
Sad Story, But....
written by KGE, February 15, 2010
I love watching the Olympics, and watching the luge is always thrilling. I don't think that the sport should be banned from the Olympics, but I do think the governing body of the sport should limit how fast a track can be. They can still make it technically challenging without blowing the doors off the speed records. So sad for the luger and his family....
The Luge is too dangerous!
written by Theil, February 15, 2010
The luge is too dangerous. His death only proves it. The sport should be banned from the Olympics. These young athletes should not be risking their lives just to sell advertising and satisfy couch potatoes.
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written by TMR, February 16, 2010
Yes I do think it's to dangerous. Sad that we have to lose a life in order for this to come into question. Ask this young man's family.
Ban It!
written by Jewel, February 16, 2010
They need to ban it and all other similar sports. Just like boxing, it is an animal sport. You dont need that thrill to keep viewers. Keep the games tamed. I feel for the family who has to see the videos and photos. They also need to take off all the bloody photos of him.
Luge Too Dangerous
written by RAM, February 16, 2010
The luge is too dangerous. This young mans death proves it. This sport should be banned from the Olympics!!Speed kills!!
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written by RDM, February 16, 2010
I think it is a shame that young man had to lose his life. He probably could have been saved if they had looked at the safety issues ahead of time, instead of after his tragic death. I don't know if the sport should be banned, but those athletes have absolutely no protection to start with. Better protective gear might be something to think about.
Dangerous, but they know it...
written by Plenz, February 16, 2010
Yes it's a dangerous sport. Yes the speeds are probably higher than they should be.

But if one wishes to engage in a practice that is risky, one must accept the consequences of that participation. Boxers participate in a dangerous sport that is known to cause long-term brain damage and has the potential to result in sudden, traumatic death. It's a barbaric sport and I have no love of it, but if the participants are willing participants, they have a right to engage in it.

Similarly, many other sports and competitions have high degrees of life-altering or life-threatening injuries. If the participant is a willing participant, they have a right to do it. Should they be injured or killed, it's sad, but they knew and accepted that risk.

Should it be part of the Olympics? If the Olympic organization wishes to impose a speed limit or other requirements, that's their call and a reasonable reaction, but I don't think it should be banned... just handled rationally.
ha was scared.....
written by "P", February 16, 2010
His last phone call to his dad.....Nodar thought the track was too dangerous and was concerned about the safety of it.

- He said, 'Dad, I'm really afraid for that curve. I will either win or die '.

That is really sad !!!
Any Sport Pushed to the Extreme
written by Orville Jenkins, February 16, 2010
It is the tendency and focus to push any performance in any physical or motoized sport past the current limits. This is inherent in the concept of sport. Danger arises in each sport in different ways, and is not in itself a reason to ban the sport or inhibit the competitive expression of it.

Reason does require that re-evaluation occurs all along the way. New safety guidelines and equirements for tracks, etc., are reasonable possiblities to consider in the interest of safety. But each sports person incurs a certain amount of risk, and should be allowed some reasonable freedom in deciding how and in what way to participate. Personal freedom and expression should be a part. Sports participants are not just tools for a mechanism, but their own desires and intentions should also be kept in mind.

Of greater concern is the protection of participants against OTHER participants or administrators in the sport. This should be a component in assessing the overall danger in the luge or other sports. But accidents occur; death occurs sometimes in accidents.
Towards a Safer Luge
written by Ronnie Bray, February 16, 2010

If every sport in which a participant or spectator was injured or killer was banned, it is possible that even Tiddly-Winks would be proscribed.

What is essential is that the environment of certain sports need to be made safer. In the case of a luge or bobsled run a greater amount of safety could be add terylene-type netting along the whole length of the course. This would keep lugers and luges inside the 'safety zone' and not allow lugers or their flying machines to leave the enclosure.

The properties of the netting would cause deceleration on impact, and returning to its 'normal' shape would deliver the still living athlete onto the run from when he sprung.

This device could not be guaranteed to prevent all injuries, but like safety harnesses, air bags, and parachutes, etc, it would minimise the riosk of serious injury and prevent the sudden meeting of the person with unyielding objects of concrete, stone, wood, and iron.

I submit that a fourth Olympic Quality be added to "Faster, Higher, Stronger," and that would render it, "Faster, Higher, Stronger, safer."

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written by rob, February 16, 2010
The sport itself may have inherent dangers but this track design really was the problem... many people spoke of this before hand. For one thing the side boards at that spot were too low, the ice "curved up" between the bottom of track and the wall allowing the sled to mount the lower wall and flip AND there were metal posts nearby with ultimately killed Nodar when he went from over 100 kph to zero in a fraction of a second. Driver error or not anyone who flips off their sled should at least be contained within the track... poor track design was the ultimate cause of his death.
It is not speed that kills
written by Ronnie Bray - redux, February 16, 2010

Speed at impact will damage, but speed per se does not kill.

Even if the luge track had almost vertical drops, and was capable of producing speeds of,say, 500 mph, the speed itself neither harms of kills.

The danger to life and limb lies in the propensity for an athlete to leave the track and collide with objects that will result in physical injury.

A five year old child struck by a motorised vehicle travelling at 20 mph has a high risk of being fatally injured.

In re of luge safety, the risk of injury is significantly reduced by ensuring that an athlete's body cannot collide with solid objects.

There are few sporting activities in which the risk of injury or worse is zero. But banning such sports, or even limiting the range and degree of actions by participants changes the character of the sport to where it is no longer the sport it is intended to be.

If your baby keeps falling out of its pram, don't modify the baby; modify the pram.

The only sports that should be modified for the safety of the participants are those in which not all participants volunteer to take part.

Horse racing, Sukie driving, chariot racing, and the like in which animals are often injured and have to be put down spring to mind, but when an aspiring athlete has ambition to push the envelope further than anyone ever has, then unless he/she is certifiable insane, the only limits ought to be those that are self-imposed.

My two 'sense'

Who cares
written by Danny, February 16, 2010
We are a nation of Thrill Seekers. Always trying to better last year, last season last episode in this never ending quest for adrenaline...Lets start with Motorcycle Helmets and highway speed limits that are actually obeyed. While we are at it...what is the damn point of 300+ miles per hour on the Indy when the highway speed is no faster than 75 mph on the road....Safer you said...the more you pad the Olympic participant the faster they will go to please the sponsors, couch potatoes and news media.....give me a break.
Is it really a sport??
written by Rich, February 16, 2010
It's a dangerous sport and nobody knows that more than the people who do it. What I don't understand is why the idiot who designed the track put solid metal beams just inches off the course. Its stupid engineering!

On another note, what i found interesting during this whole thing is how much the track designers can control the speed of the lugers. They were predicting speeds of 92 mph, which some thought were too fast. And my moving the start lower down the hill they have reduced the speed to about 85 mph. If the track designers can control speed that much then what is the point of the race? What does the luger do? It's like having car race and every car goes exactly 125mph.

All olympic sports are dangerous.
written by Claude, February 16, 2010
Ski, skate, bobsleigh, luge, skelton even curling could cause accidents.smilies/smiley.gif

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