By Tyler Meissner
The 2010 Olympics have started this year with a dramatic and upsetting entrance. Friday was the the Men's single luge first training session and the location of the death of 21 year old luger Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili. According to sources, he was going 88 mph when his sled flew off the course after rounding the final corner of the track. According to Michelle Kaufman, writer and reporter for the Miami Herald, Kumaritashvili slammed his body into a metal pole and was considered unconscience and was unable to be revived.
This young olympian's death stunned the world and the International Olympic Committee. The president of the IOC was horrified by the accident and stated "Here you have a young athlete that lost his life in pursuing his passion. He had a dream to participate in the Olympic Games. He trained hard and he had this fatal accident. I have no words to say what we feel. The whole Olympic family is struck by this tragedy, which clearly casts a shadow over these Games."
As for the track, the International Luge Federation conducted and experiment investigating the circumstances of the accident. Multiple lugers crashed and many complaints were made about the speed of the track. U.S. luger Tony Benshoof said of the dangers of the sport: "The tracks are getting faster and faster. It's getting pretty crazy" while an Australian luger, stated "I think they are pushing it a little too much." "To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we're crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives."
Although the tragic death of Nodar Kumaritashvili will haunt the Olympics this year, many if not all participants have made it clear that they will still compete; the Georgia Minister of Culture and Sport Nikolos Rurua stated that his team would compete in honor and memory of their fallen team mate.
5 comments:
(Sam)
-I really enjoyed this article because it was very recent and pretty big news considering the Olympics are being watched by people all around the world. It was very well written with great detail and quotations.
-Maybe more background information on Nodar Kumaritashvili's as an luger but not neccessary.
I loved your article, mainly because it was well written and about an interesting current news event. Your quotes also added to its appeal.
(Jane)
- I liked this article. Its a very interesting topic escpecially because it is so recent and the Olympics are on everyones minds.
- More background on where he came from and how he start to luge would have been interesting
(Jared)
-Good, relevant topic choice. You did a good job of summarizing the incident.
-It might have been better if you expanded on it just a little bit, perhaps including more about Kumaritashvili's background.
(Anne)
-Well written and very well organized, it was clear and easy to follow.
-Consider stating what is exactly happening with the track now, and if they used it in the Olympics.
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