Olympic officials modify track where luge athlete died in horrific 90mph crash as champion says 'speed wasn't to blame'
By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 18:40 BST, 13 February 2010
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The luge track where an Olympic athlete was killed in a horrific high-speed accident has reopened just one day after the crash.
American luger Tony Benshoof slid safely down the 16-turn course following the accident that killed 21-year-old Georgian athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, who lost control of his sled, flew off the track and slammed into an unpadded steel girder.
Officials at the Vancouver winter Olympics delayed the start of training so workers could continue grooming the sweeping last curve, where the accident happened.
Crash scene: Workers re-shape the ice along turn 16 of the luge course, where Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed yesterday
They also moved the men's start further down the Blackcomb Mountain to help lower speeds before Benshoof navigated the course.
Before training resumed, officials modified the ice in the 16th curve and put up a wooden wall to cover the row of steel beams running alongside the finish area.
Meanwhile, three-times Olympic champion Georg Hackl claimed the speed of the luge track was not to blame for the death crash.
Retired German champion Hackl, described as the greatest luger of all time, told a Berlin newspaper: 'It doesn't have anything to do with speed.
'Whether that happpens at 60 or 150kmh makes no difference.
At 60 km/h he would have been dead too'.
Hackl, 43, also claimed the Georgian luger had made a 'tiny driving error', adding: 'It's a track that is faster than all other tracks we know.
'It's a challenge for all athletes to master that track and they have made it, including the Georgian until that tiny driving error.'
The death of Nodar Kumaritashvili cast a shadow over a spectacular opening ceremony in Vancouver last night.
The 21-year-old had been making his final practice slide at the Whistler Sliding Centre before today's competition.
Tragic: Nodar Kumaritashvili during training at the Winter Olympics yesterday before his fatal crash
He lost control on on a bend as he came to the finish and flew over the rim of the track at more than 90mph, crashing into an unpadded pillar.
Kumaritashvil, who had been about to compete in his first ever Olympics, was flown down the mountain by helicopter where he died in hospital.
There had been concerns about the speed of the Whistler course, believed to be the fastest in the world.
Shortly before the Georgian's accident, reigning Olympic champion Armin Zoggeeler also crashed but escaped unhurt.
The Canadian organisers had also been criticised for limiting access to other teams during the build-up to the Games in order to favour home competitors.
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At a press conference about the death yesterday, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge broke down in tears.
He announced an investigation would be launching into the causes of the crash, amid claims the track's boundary should have been higher and the pillars padded.
Games organising committee chief John Furlong said he was 'heartbroken beyond words' at the tragedy.
The Georgian team considering pulling out of the whole competition but eventually decided to go ahead and take part in tribute to their 'comrade'.
They wore black armbands and scarves and carried their national flag fringed with black at last night's incredible opening ceremony.
Horror: The moment he lost control on his final run, flew off the track and hit an unpadded pillar at 90mph
It was completely overshadowed by the accident, with a minute's silence held after the Olympic oath and the Olympic and Canadian flag lowered to half mast.
When the Georgian team walked into the stadium, the crowd stood in respect and applauded.
A visibly-upset Rogge said: 'It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the tragic loss of Nodar Kumaritashvili.
'We extend our deepest sympathies to his family, his friends, his teammates and countrymen.'
Furlong urged the Olympians to 'carry his Olympic dream on your shoulders and compete with his spirit in your hearts'.
Doctors were on the scene immediately when Kumaritashvili crashed and he was given chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth before being airlifted away.
But attempts to revive him failed.
At a brief, emotional press conference, Rogge said: 'This is a very sad day. The IOC is in deep mourning. Here you have a human being who has lost his life pursuing his passion.
'He had a dream to participate in the Olympic Games.
He trained hard and had his fatal accident. I have no words to say how I feel.'
He refused to comment on the future of the luge competition but officials have now decided it can go ahead.
After an initial investigation, they have ruled it is not unsafe and say the accident happened because the Georgian failed to 'compensate properly' going into the bend.
Extra training was scheduled for this morning and the luge competition will go ahead tonight.
However, as a precaution, the walls on the way out of the final curve where he was thrown from the track are to be made higher.
Asked yesterday if a less challenging course could have been prepared to safeguard the less experienced athletes competing in Luge, Rogge replied: 'It is a time for sorrow, not a time for reasons.'
Dangerous: Kumaritashvili's sled left on the track after the accident
Devastated: The Georgian team wore black armbands and scarves during the opening ceremony last night
Sombre: IOC president Jacques Rogge (second left) during a minute's silence for the Georgian
Poignant: The Canadian flag flies at half-mast during a minute of silence for the Georgian luge competitor
VANOC president Furlong also choked back tears as he said: 'Nodar came to Canada with hopes and dreams that this would be a magnificent occasion in his life.
'I'm told by members of his federation that he was an incredibly spirited young person and he came here to be able to feel what it is like to be able to call yourself an Olympian.
'He was in a tragic accident and he passed away from his injuries.
We are heartbroken beyond words to be sitting here. I am so sorry to be in this position reporting this to you.
'It is not something I have ever prepared for. My team has been devastated by this. Our thoughts and our prayers are now of course with Nodar's family, his friends, the athletes from Georgia.
'Now we turn to do everything we can to assist them, to support them, to help them in the most Canadian way that we can. The accident is tragic. There will be an investigation and when we know the substance of what happened you will know it.'
Rogge spoke to Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili.
The Georgian team, which includes seven more athletes, met to consider their future in the Winter Games but eventually decided to go ahead and compete as a tribute.
Luge training was immediately abandoned and the sport's close-knit community, including the British athlete Adam Rosen, were said to be devastated by the news of Kumaritashvili's fatal accident.
In vain: An ambulance takesNodar Kumaritashvili to hospital but he was later pronounced dead
Overcome: IOC president Jacques Rogge was tearful at a press conference about the tragedy
Rosen was taking part in the same training session as Kumaritashvili.
The Briton crashed on the same track in October and suffered a dislocated hip and has only just recovered from his injuries in time to compete.
In a statement issued through the British Olympic Association, Rosen said: 'As with most sports, we are a family in luge, so a sudden and tragic loss such as this impacts everyone deeply.
'As athletes, we know that the international federation, the IOC and VANOC have no higher priority than ensuring our safety, on and off the field of play.
I know they are looking into this and, should it be deemed necessary for them to introduce additional measures, they will do so.'
British skeleton's performance director Andi Schmid had previously warned that a lack of track time for athletes in the run-up to the Games had increased the risk of accidents.
Schmid had said: 'I would say especially for speed sports you need to have more access to tracks and whoever organises the Olympics needs to offer that.
'Not only so that everyone has a fair chance but also because of the danger. We need to be careful so that these sports stay great action sports and don't become dangerous killer sports.'
Kumaritashvili competed in five World Cup races this season and was ranked 44th in the world standings.
He is the fourth competitor to die at a Winter Olympics and none of them occurred during actual competition.
Austrian downhill skier Ross Milne and British luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki died in training crashes at the 1964 Games in Innsbruck and Swiss Nicholas Bochatay died after crashing into a snow grooming machine during training for the demonstration sport of speed skiing at the Albertville Games in 1992.
Later Georgian Minister for Culture and Sport Nikolos Rurua confirmed in a press conference in Vancouver that Georgian athletes will compete in the Games despite the death of team-mate Kumaritashvili.
Rurua said the luger's team-mates would dedicate their performances to him.
The athletes are fellow luger Levan Gureshidze, alpine skiing trio Iason Abramashvili, Jaba Gelashvili and Nino Tsiklauri and figure skating trio Otar Japaridze, Elene Gedevanishvili and Allison Reed.
Abramashvili was set to carry the Georgian flag in the athletes' parade during the opening ceremony at BC Place.
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