I have seen many bobsled and luge tracks with the same open beam structures along the side of the track that this young man tragically hit. When I first saw the footage my immediate reaction was that the area where the accident occurred needed safety netting, but upon reflection, the whole open space would have needed a solid wall enclosure to protect against flying off the track like this. Either that, or the open beams needed to be farther back from the track.
One wonders though... how many similar designs could be found at other luge courses.
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Luger killed in training
The training mishap that killed an Olympic luger Friday was reportedly his second crash in as many days at the dangerously-fast Whistler sliding centre.
Amid mounting safety concerns over the speed lugers have been reaching on the track ? there have been more than a dozen crashes during training this week ? Nodar Kumaritashvili, a 21-year-old from Georgia, died after flipping off his sled and into a metal pole.
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"The luge track, which snakes through the trees -avoiding the need for a clearcut -has proven extremely friendly to wildlife," reads the Five Events post. "One Canadian luge athlete described how he was set to launch himself down the track when he saw a "huge black thing." Next thing he knew, a bear had its claws in the side of the track. His teammates have also had run-ins with bears, while visiting Europeans apparently have pet local raccoons.
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But not the first in Olympic competition. Deaths have also happened in bobsledding and skiing.
Some of the sports have noticeably become more challenging as athletes improved. For example,
in figure skating a competitor must now do 3 revolutions in jumping to be competitive. The sleds got more and more technically designed, and could handle faster courses. More daring-do events have been added. like acrobatic snow boarding and skiing which combines 2 skills.
As to bob/luge sleds, it seems that the technical attributes of the sleds might be more responsible for the best speeds than capable drivers/riders.
Competitors began artificially increasing their skills with drugs. Even some athletes were pumped with them by their coaches. Then it became possible to catch them.
It all seemed to start with the advent of professionals competing in what was for amateurs before.
My heart goes out to the family and friends of the young Georgian luger.
Angeline
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the track structure above the level of the sliding surface appears to be uncushioned concrete or steel frames, and there are no nets to keep the sliders inside the track. I'd assume but don't know for sure that the installation was approved by the IOC and whatever body governs the Luge community. This may just be one of those sad oversights not recognizing the advances in technology both of the sleds and of the freezing plants that make sure the ice is hard and therefore very fast.
They need to respond to the problems in this competition.
Rob
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Just so you know, the course is built of concrete with chilling tubes containing ammonia in the concrete. By varying the amount of refrigeration at various points on the course, the operators can subtly alter the track conditions to increase friction at various points on the course, thereby slowing the sleds.
In addition, they have raised the retaining wall at that part of the course and shortened it by changing the start points for the sleds; http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20100214/OLY.Olympic.Rdp/
Competition began on a repaired, reconfigured track the day after Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a crash during a training run.
The men were pushed up 600 feet to the women's start ramp, while women and doubles moved 800 feet to the junior start ramp.
The changes produced slower speeds, as intended. They also drew some backlash, with the Canadians saying they lost their home-ice advantage and a top American luge official saying, "The elite deserve to race from the hardest test."
Is there something so wrong with some people that they can't accept the fact that the designers of the Whistler Mountain course made it too fast and too dangerous, IMO?
As for nets: If you have in mind something along the lines of the catch fences used at racetracks to keep cars from going into the stands, I honestly doubt that would work, as they would only fling a slider - a person - back down onto the ice.
Perhaps a net barrier like those found at airports and on aircraft carriers, which give on contact and gradually slow a runaway plane to a stop might work. They'll have to look at all of this, just as auto racing has done in recent years, now that the technology of speed has outstripped the technology of safety.
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