Luge is a dangerous sport. This was a terrible accident. That's it.

At a Formula One race where a driver crashes have you seen Mr. American blaming the track? Ever?

Two things that disturbed me.

1. It was reported that Nodar hadn't gone down a track in 6 weeks. How is this Canada's fault?

2. He called his father and said he was scared of the track.

These 2 things make me wonder why on earth he was there?

It's very unfortunate for all the other athletes that the have to compete (especially the woman) on the "sipping cup" track thanks to an unprepared athlete and the bad press.

Maggie, 2010-02-15 13:22:25

No brian (2010-02-14 23:40:07) - no one but you understands the concept that you've so clearly laid out for us. Thank you for that.
Jake, 2010-02-15 11:19:22

Dear Mr. Rossi ,Hannah Campbell-Pegg and James(poster) everyone has a right to an opinion. Sadly even you idiots. Canada's not to blame and to suggest that is just plain ignorant. It really pisses me off and it figures another arrogant american(yes I mean you Mr. Rossi)is shooting his mouth off. ACCIDENTS HAPPEN!!! RIP Nodar God Bless
Rick P., 2010-02-15 00:58:07

This has been a terrible tragedy, but this is not the first accident in the sport.

As has happened throughout the history of this and any other dangerous sport, assessments will be made and recommendations put in place to optimize on improved safety.

But people are jumping on the politically correct bandwagon, and also embracing the absolutes to bolster their polarized arguments on this.

No it was not Canada's fault.

People are making comments as if the track was built last week.

It has had more than 5000 runs made on it. It has been approved by the international body that governs the sport. Statistically there are other tracks in the world which have had many more accidents.

As for the Canadian advantage, the same has been done for previous host nations. All of a sudden this is the basis for someone's safety.

No rules have been broken here.

Some people are clinging to the half-minded logic that because the athlete was not alotted as much training time, therefore that caused the tragedy ?

a) all Canadian athletes started from zero runs on the same track as well

b) if the athlete that crashed had been alotted as much training time as he desired, but still died on the 2nd run, how would you argue that as a factor towards practice time alottment ?

Maybe we should take all the turns out and just put huge air bags at the end of the run.

As for the mouth piece Aussie - did someone put a gun to his head to participate in this sport ?

Mistakes will continue to be made in any dangerous sport, and we will hopefully learn from them and move on. Do you think you're going to get some guarantee on participant safety ?

Someone righteously referenced the works of President Truman to emphasize particpant safety....here's another Truman quote: "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Paul, 2010-02-15 00:53:54

Some of these Aussie weenies make it sound like there is an accidental death on each runner. Duh!! No one else got hurt before or since this. People are asking questions? Baloney! People are making slanderous allegations that are what! What the hell do Australians know about the LUGE anyway? Now, if it was the Germans or the other top notch European teams that were complaining...But they are not!
Huge Olympic Fan, 2010-02-15 00:31:12

The Olympic motto is “Faster, Higher, Stronger” and not ‘slower, lower, weaker’.

What is the point in having a competition that aims for the lowest common denominator?

Some competitors went through approximately 200 test runs with no incident.

That information was revealed by an IOC member involved with the sledding discipline. It was a televised interview with him and other IOC members at a press conference yesterday. Both CTV and NBC carried it at various times.

Vince in Ottawa, 2010-02-15 00:25:55

Here we go again. Pick on little old Canada. It should not work. It is a lot of crock! Canada followed the same rules as every other country prior to these Olympics. The Americans wanted more time than anyone else to train. That is the heart of the matter. They always want special rules for themselves to get the upper edge on competitions. Some racers went down the hill some 200 times without any incident. Lack of experience and athlete error on the part of the unfortunate Georgian were the real cause of his death. This is not the first time an athlete has died because of an accident. Get off on dumping on Canada already, you weasels! Our media are our own worst enemy. Spoil anything that is positive, you crummy ink stained wretches!

The criticism is anything but constructive on this issue. It is intended to be divisive and disruptive, with the objective to result in it being destructive. People are making witless allegations without knowing the facts.The biggest whiners are from countries that know that they don’t have a snowball’s chance in HADES at winning a medal. We did not hear the Germans, the Russians, the Austrians, the Italians or the Swiss complain. The others say that “They’re asking questions” What bull flap! The reasons that changes were made to the run by adding the padding, and to change the start location was to appease the weasels.Enough already, go back to your militant protesting of the Seal Hunt and the Global Warming,er, Climate Change.

Vince in Ottawa, 2010-02-15 00:22:12

South Park puts it best: "Blame Canada."

Canada did nothing outside the rules set by the ICO, and the track was fully accredited by the International Luge Federation. What more can be asked?

It is extremely unfortunate that a young athlete lost his life--however, would you strap yourself to a piece of steel and hurdle your largely unprotected self down a icy slope at great speeds? No, you wouldn't.

It is a dangerous concept from the start, and frankly, I am not terribly surprised that it has finally taken a life.
Mike, 2010-02-15 00:11:57

What happened was a tragic accident.The luge event is one that pushes the envelope of safety and there are bound to be accidents happening. All the facalities were approved by the individual federations as well as the IOC. Canada has allowed more luge training than for example we received in Italy in 06.Does anyone really think we could get away with a restriction that was not allowed by international rules? It is very sad the young man lost his life but it appears to me if there was fault in this situation it was in allowing an individual who was in over his depth to compete in a very dangerious sport.
Robert, 2010-02-15 00:05:33

..do people even realize that any facilities in any olympics..must be approved by the olympic committee..According to them the design was fine..if it wasn't it wouldn't have been approved...doe's anyone understand that concept?..
brian, 2010-02-14 23:40:07