Rest In Peace, young man.
First, I want to convey how horrified I was to watch the tragic death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili. The sound made when he hit that metal pillar is chilling, and there can be no doubt that the incident cast a shadow on a day otherwise filled with joy, magnificence and anticipation. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, his teammates and his country.
I’ll let the pontifications on the safety of the track design and the risk profile of the sport be offered by experts that are far more informed about such things than I. I will offer this question though, which has burdened me since I saw the footage of the accident: how can metal posts like that be left uncovered with a sport that sends an athlete down an ice track at over 150 kilometres per hour?
But alas, the sombre mood from Kumaritashvili’s untimely passing was met in the evening with an outpouring of emotion on the other end of the spectrum for the most anticipated event that this city has ever seen.
