http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/02/12/olympic.luge.crash/index.html?hpt=T1
At 21. What a silly way of dying. :S
At 21. What a silly way of dying. :S
Luger dies in Olympics practice crash
- Thread starter Kantham
- Start date
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Whatever! Smashing into a wall at 90 MPH in a sled? I think that's an awesome way to die.
It's just a shame that it had to happen like that. Before the olympics to a young person with a promising future and all.
It's "dead OPEN" because it's the finish line.
You talk about security as if it could be 100% guaranteed in a sport where you travel at 140km/h on a 5cm thick carbon fiber and composites board and experience turns pulling up to 7Gs (5Gs on this track) at 30cm from the ground. Do you have any idea what that represents?
Putting up plastic windows, hell why not have them race in a fully enclosed tube so that way they will never fall off the track. It will only make it easier should someone crash along the way down and you have to climb an icy 152m drop to get to them because you can't drill through the 6in concrete walls. Makes no sense.
I'll ask one question: have you watched any bobsleigh/skeleton/luge races? The open sections are kind of common-place, to be honest. Yet nobody cries foul about them. Wanna know why? Because these tracks are rigorously tested for security before being approved. Such was the case here.
So why did this happen? It's not some "dumb" lack of security as you seem to think, but a tragic accident. He lost control of his sled, which went high up in the final 270 degrees banked turn. He came back down on exit to crash in the apex of the turn, which sent him flying high over the track walls and into the spectator stand (That's what it is, those steel beams hold the canopy up to prevent thawing of the ice surface.) A quick browse over at ctv.ca will get you to a video of the crash, which I won't link for obvious reasons, but it will allow you to find out exactly how it happened.
But, no matter how it happened, it did, and that's a tragedy for the family. He was living his dream, as are many athletes participating in these olympics. It is very sad that it has come to an end like this for him. My thoughts are with the family, I wish them well.
yikes.
I heard about this today but didn't bother to search for any information about it, let alone the video, until I saw the evening news tonight.
you know, stuff like this could easily be prevented without compromising the spectator aspect of such a sport. you don't have to build "6in concrete walls" all the way around the course in order to better protect these guys.
sure, this was a relatively freak accident. but it could have been stopped without drastic measures. I don't understand why the IOC (or the luge/bobsled/skeleton committees) wouldn't just put full netting over the most dangerous parts of the track. they know where these parts of the track are, so why not just cover them with a thin, veiled net?
this would at least prevent guys who crash from flying over the edge into solid steel beams. light netting over certain parts of the track would not interfere with spectators or competitors and would put an end to people flying (literally) off course.
I heard about this today but didn't bother to search for any information about it, let alone the video, until I saw the evening news tonight.
you know, stuff like this could easily be prevented without compromising the spectator aspect of such a sport. you don't have to build "6in concrete walls" all the way around the course in order to better protect these guys.
sure, this was a relatively freak accident. but it could have been stopped without drastic measures. I don't understand why the IOC (or the luge/bobsled/skeleton committees) wouldn't just put full netting over the most dangerous parts of the track. they know where these parts of the track are, so why not just cover them with a thin, veiled net?
this would at least prevent guys who crash from flying over the edge into solid steel beams. light netting over certain parts of the track would not interfere with spectators or competitors and would put an end to people flying (literally) off course.
I live in Vancouver and this is all over the news. Poor Georgians, they only had 8 athletes in the Olympics to start with.
I had never really considered how dangerous Luge is before and it makes you think, it must be a pretty exhilarating sport (when you're not getting yourself killed). Blasting down tubes of ice at 90 mph? Major adrenaline rush.
I had never really considered how dangerous Luge is before and it makes you think, it must be a pretty exhilarating sport (when you're not getting yourself killed). Blasting down tubes of ice at 90 mph? Major adrenaline rush.
I don't care what anyone says, those steel beams shouldn't be there. They might have a purpose construction wise but there's nothing stopping the canopy being wider and some padding on the sides just in case something like this goes wrong. Anyone who says the opposite is just glorifying a potentially deadly sport.
Really, you never considered how dangerous it is? Every single time I watch it I have a moment of wishing I could do it followed by clearheadedness that hurtling down a steep ice-hill on a sled while lying on your back at 90mph is probably about as safe as trying to pat a great white on the head.
~Jason
Better to have no canopy protecting from the sun and have the ice surface melt, so when you exit this turn at 120km/h (Planned speed in the design) you lose control because of an uneven surface yes?
He would have been seriously hurt or killed no matter what type of material he would have hit. Remember: he was flying in the air head first.
You should not look at removing whatever is outside of the track, rather you should aim at keeping the rider inside the track for that is the safest place he can be when he crashes.
The German designer, who built six tracks before (and for which there were no accidents) recommended raising the height of the walls. (From newspaper this morning)
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several things wrong with this post.
A: I don't care what you say, those steel beams are not the problem. the issue here is being able to keep a competitors body inside the course/on the track should they lose control.
B: you can't put "padding" on the sides of the course, that compromises the very integrity of the sport.
C: every sport is "potentially deadly" but you can't go around trying to compensate for every possible freak accident. these competitors know what they're signing up for, there are no illusions about the dangers involved. it's their choice to put their bodies on the line.
someone who disagrees with your idea about padding isn't trying to glorify death, they're trying to be pragmatic. it's unrealistic to modify the course with safety bumpers. the issue here is about track design, not a lack of precautions.