I thought the statement which essentially blamed Kumaritashvili for his own death was callous and suspect. If their were no defects why did he slam in to a bare metal support at 90 MPH? How that even possible if the track was as safe as they say below? I thought the whole thing stank of self serving blame shifting:
The sport’s international governing body released a callous statement late Friday night, about 10 hours after Kumaritashvili died, publicly blaming the 21-year-old for his own death. Athletes were attaining speeds at the Whistler Sliding Center far exceeding what the track was designed for, but the track was not the problem. It was a user error, the statement implied.
Kumaritashvili failed to compensate properly as he entered Curve 16 before he crashed at nearly 90 miles per hour, the federation’s statement said. It added, “There was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track.”
A thorough investigation was supposed to have been conducted. Instead, the luge federation seemed more concerned about getting the track opened again for competition on Saturday than about taking a hard look at the conditions that might have contributed to Kumaritashvili’s death.
There was at least tacit admission Saturday morning that the course was dangerous: the ice had been contoured to direct sleds toward the center of the track. A high wooden wall had been erected just beyond the curve where Kumaritashvili died after crashing into a support post. Signs reading “wet paint” were still stuck to the wall when the first of two training runs began.
Padding was placed on exposed metal beams just before the finish line. And the men’s start was moved to the women’s start, a lower position that will slow maximum speeds by about five or six m.p.h.
Olympic officials insisted that the changes were not made for safety reasons, but rather to accommodate the emotional state of Kumaritashvili’s fellow athletes — a bogus notion.
“They don’t know what the emotions of the athletes are, because they don’t see the athletes on a day-to-day basis,” said Wolfgang Staudinger, the Canadian Olympic team coach.
Officials said Kumaritashvili’s death was the first luge fatality since 1975. Several sliders and officials said it could not have been foreseen. But the idea that something terrible might happen here, on the fastest course in the world, was talked about publicly and feared for a year.
