Why the Tragedy at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games?

The 2010 Winter Olympics opened in Vancouver under emotional circumstances. Earlier in the day 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili of Georgia crashed and died during a practice run on the Whistler luge track. The track was immediately closed for an investigation, leaving the women's teams, scheduled for Saturday morning practice, waiting in limbo. The Georgian team considered withdrawing from the games, but in the end decided to attend the opening ceremonies and dedicate their performances to Kumaritashvili.

There had been complaints about the track from teams and competitors leading up to the accident. Other athletes had crashed with less lethal results, and reported that the track was too fast, and that small movements on the luge could lead to major steering errors and loss of control. The track was built to provide opportunities to set speed records, but also to push the competitors to their limits. Kumaritashvili was a young athlete, possibly less experienced than some of the competitors, and he made some small, fatal mistake.

Over the years, there has been a constant push for records in sports competitions, for higher speeds and more sensational tricks. The official track speed record for the luge is currently 153.98 kilometers per hour, or 95.68 miles per hour, and the Canadian course was built in the expectation that athletes would improve on that record. However, this kind of speed leaves no room for small mistakes, and with no margin for error, then it puts the athlete’s lives in danger. Competitors at the games also complained that the policy of limiting their practice time in favor of Canadian athletes increased the risk. Others questioned the design that placed the unpadded canopy supports too close to the track.

“To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we’re crash-test dummies?” said Australia’s Hannah Campbell-Pegg. “I mean, this is our lives.” Maybe it’s time to temper the expectation for new records with better considerations for safety.