Luger dies in Olympics practice crash
- Thread starter Kantham
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The issue is indeed with track design in that it pushes speeds to the limits. But it's been concluded that there is no problem with it and this was just an "unfortunate accident". In other words, **** all is going to be changed and someone else will probably die get themselves killed.
Glorification. That's like saying soldiers shouldn't use weapons and should fight out with machetes. Or driving around without a seat belt because you're brave. The human body doesn't stand a chance against solid metal at those speeds, especially with skin-tight clothing that offers zero protection. It's as simple as that. Plus, the above article DOES mention padding.
Plus, it's totally ****ed up to see some 21-year old killed in this way. When you're that age, you're still under the illusion that you're invulnerable. Can you really say that this particular competitor knew what he was signing up for? Yeah, the rare person does get killed but most assume they will walk away injured. Could you say that he would have taken that practise run if he knew that he'd be slammed dead in the blink of an eye?
It's pretty obvious what would have happened anyway. Take a human body of 75-90 kilos, throw it out of that final curve at+140 km/h and, given the momentum, anyone would have hit those steel supports.
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It's a sad thing...but Azura, I'd like to think anyone who performs in a sport where you wear spandex and ride a board along a tube at super speeds would be aware of the dangers. And if they don't then they have no business doing it. I mean throwing a ball around is one thing...
Festering Anus
Cheeto Hans
Ok. I'm just saying that if people are in a sport like this, it's for the good moments and not the bad. I'm not saying you can't appreciate danger at that age because that's not true but maybe this guy got himself into something that wasn't what he signed up for.
It's obvious from the above article that the track was suped up from the original design. It's this divide between what competitors are humanly capable of and what sponsors expect that is problem here. If there was even the slightest defect in the track, I'd be among those people shouting out murder. After all, sports are supposed to bring out what's the best in the human genre, not serve as fodder for some stupid commercial types who are only interested in money.
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normally you'd be right.
but they have actually made some major changes to this course since the accident.
aside from raising the wall around that corner and padding the steel beams, they moved the starting position for both mens and womens track events which has dropped the average top speed on the course by about 10 MPH.
unfortunately, this is more of an emotional fix than anything, to put other competitors minds at ease. it doesn't really address the heart of the problem.
uhhh, no it's nothing like that at all.
that would just be careless and stupid.
sorry, you've chosen poor analogies.
all competitors understand the risk, you're preaching to the choir man.
no one is under any illusions about the potential danger.
as for the article mentioning padding?
that doesn't make you right.
it only makes the person who wrote it sound as naive as you
putting some padding on steel beams outside of the course is not a solution. it's merely a band-aid that completely ignores the underlining issue.
yes, I can really say that this particular kid knew exactly what he was signing up for. they all do.
lol, what are you talking about??
these guys understand the risk.
they are well aware of the fact that one little mistake could end it all within a fraction of a second. obviously, that doesn't stop them from doing what they love to do. they take the risk with the potential rewards.
so what's your point?
it was a freak accident. you can't account for every possible accident in every possible situation. it's not feasible. and the only alternative would be to outlaw and ban the sport entirely which won't happen.
sh*t happens.
Sure it's an accident. But I don't think security should be overlooked and I don't think that it was entirely the luger's fault that he got killed. There was already concern before the event and some atheletes had alredy complained about the track. The fact that it's been modified since indicates that there was a problem, one of them being the wall on this photo.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/35369187/ns/sports-olympic_sports/
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you're still not making a point Azura.
everyone is already well aware that the track has had complaints. we have heard about the bobsled and skeleton guys who also wiped out in practice. Whistler is famous for being the fastest track in the world, this is not news.
the bottom line is that it was a freak accident, and there's only so much you can do to account for such an accident without compromising the sport. it has nothing to do with glorifying death and everything to do with the fundamentals of competition when you have athletes competing at such a high level.
they understand the risk, they accept it willingly. you can't change the basic mechanics of the sport just because there's a one-in-a-million chance something like this could happen again.
it's not necessarily the tracks fault.
it's not necessarily the kids fault.
sh*t happens.
everyone is already well aware that the track has had complaints. we have heard about the bobsled and skeleton guys who also wiped out in practice. Whistler is famous for being the fastest track in the world, this is not news.
the bottom line is that it was a freak accident, and there's only so much you can do to account for such an accident without compromising the sport. it has nothing to do with glorifying death and everything to do with the fundamentals of competition when you have athletes competing at such a high level.
they understand the risk, they accept it willingly. you can't change the basic mechanics of the sport just because there's a one-in-a-million chance something like this could happen again.
it's not necessarily the tracks fault.
it's not necessarily the kids fault.
sh*t happens.
Haven't people been running on this track for 2 years at least now? Should they have known about the potential dangers and made adjustments? Maybe, but it was just a freak accident. Now that they know the problem in that one area, they made some adjustments and the games go on. The sound of his head hitting the steel beam in the video is pretty freaky though.
If I was one of the competitors I'd be pissed. This track was a monster, and this event was set to be one of the most intense events of the Olympic games. I can understand raising the wall and so forth, but moving the starting point up totally ruined the course. Watching the event on TV right now it's clear that the course was meant to have much higher speeds at the beginning. I'm sure those that were up for the challenge and thrill are disappointed by this unfortunate turn of events. Maybe the track was a little too fast, and it does appear that the course has turned out to be much faster than it was original intended to be. However, now it's just flat out nerfed.
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All that is true, but the track was just too fast. During practice runs, over half the field crashed at least once. This wasn't limited to just the newbie lugers either. Even the guy (think from Germany) who is considered the most technical luger had a crash. The last several events, the average speed was 80 mph. This one was over 90. The officials did nerf the track, but it needed it, unfortunately. The track was just way too dangerous.
A sad death.
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I'll be interest to see where they start the skeleton at. The other changes especially the change to turn 50/50 were good ones. I'm just not so sure about the start position.
I totally agree. I don't think that the threads only tag is far off. Worst post of the year, and it's only February...
Posting on a forum with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation shouldn't be made into a joke but you manage to do that on a near-daily basis. You're not typing text messages. You have a full keyboard at your disposal, and I implore you to use it from now on.
And anything can be made into a joke these days.
Does this mean I'll win an award? Cause that would be just awesome!
Too soon? Seriously? You guys must be going soft.
Okay, well look, I feel sorry for the guy that died. Really, I do. But hey, he's the one that signed up for Luge. Luge is a dangerous sport. It's known to be a dangerous sport. There is no way you can sugercoat it to make it not look like a dangerous sport. People die doing crazy **** every day and you never hear anything about them in the news. I guess if you want to die doing an extreme sport you just have to make sure it's going to be televised; then, you'll be a big hero and a worldwide sensation. What better way to go out than with a huge bang?
And I'm sorry, but that .gif is ****ing hilarious and if you can't see it you really need to pull the large stick out of your ass. It's life. **** happens. People die every day by the thousands for no good reason. There's no better or more positive way to deal and come to terms with it than to turn it into a joke. At least then you get some laughter out of it and it's not entirely negative.
EDIT: I was actually thinking about that .gif and I was thinking I might add this to the end of it:
Toyota is a sponsor, after all. It'll be a trifecta of dark humor.
Groan at will.
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