Olympic Updates

Very, very tragic news today from the Vancouver Olympics.

Nodar Kumaritashvili, a Georgian luge slider, died today after losing control during a steep turn and crashed into a metal pole. He was 21. The Huffington Post [link contains some graphic photos] reports of the accident and medial teams tending to Nodar but thankfully the video of Nodar Kumaritashvili's crash has been pulled by the IOC.

Edit: I am surprised but NBC has added the footage of Nodar Kumaritashvili's crash.

Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled near the finish that curved heavy to the right and he went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center. Almost immediately people rushed to him.

Why there was no netting or padding on these exposed beams is a mystery that will no doubt be heavily scrutinized by officials.

The tragic events will no doubt be looked at deeply now as this not the first crash on this course. The Vancouver Sun reports that Nodar was traveling at speeds of 90 mph when he made the curve.

Defending Olympic gold medalist Armin Zoeggeler fell victim to Whistler's treacherous ways during the men's singles first training run on Friday. He crashed and slid for a long time but thankfully was unhurt. That Armin Zoeggeler crash video is here.