Yeah, that's the problem with new facilities that have not been properly vetted. I'm sure that every single coach went over that course (as I am sure they all did) and saw those pillars and said flat out, either muttering or out loud, 'that is going to be a problem, an accident waiting to happen'. And they were not properly padded and covered or blocked off, as they should have been. And now there are about 50-100 people all knowing that they should have spoken up, but did not. And now they know the price of silence.

A nasty - and very unnecessary - accident. Sad...

The truth is coming out.

It was an overt attempt to create a home advantage for the Canadian team with and by creating a situation and luge track of extreme and dangerous speed for the new users of the luge, by cowing them into fear, danger, and potential loss, at the same time the vast experience with this dangerous track by the given Canadian group would give them a great advantage. It appears that the Canadian team and those involved on the Canadian side of the Olympics wanted a Luge medal, that badly. Badly enough to endanger new users of this notably dangerous luge course, the fastest in known history, with the highest level of G forces.

Too bad it slipped into something that looks a lot more like manslaughter. Some even say third degree murder, as the points and facts of this situation were and are well known on the circles surrounding it's creation and enacting.

Thus, purposeful intent is established, and you have an indictable offense that led to death. This is possible, under Canadian Law.

If you look at the press surrounding it, it is clear that there is an action surrounding the covering of this fact..up.

This sort of level and type of international scandal is almost never allowed to take place, so look to absolutely nothing ever being done about the fact that there was a purposeful attempt to place the new users of the luge course in a position of 'loss of life' danger.

That, boys and girls, with purposeful intent established, is a Murder charge, under Canadian Law. Without intent, or lack of conspiracy, you have unknowing endangerment or 'wreckless endangerment', which is a Manslaughter charge under Canadian Law. But here, in this case you have 'conspiracy to endanger' and thus a clear cut case of a Murder Charge.

All over a fucking sports medal. These people disgust me, for all the right reasons.

Yea, bring on the curling. Now there's a real fucking sport!

Can't wait to hear your conspiracy theories surrounding that one!

Quote:
Yea, bring on the curling. Now there's a real fucking sport!

Can't wait to hear your conspiracy theories surrounding that one!

Are you kidding me?

Every book, story, plot, film, stage play, and, of course, politics and business, are all based on some sort of 'conspiracy' of some nature. It is part and parcel of the human condition.

Like you are conspiring right now, to place in our minds and the minds of others, to re-enforce and bask your ego in this attempted reflection of a self-created reality....you conspire to make it look as if I'm some sort of conspiracy freak! I am merely complete in my ruminations. Whereas most people are not. And that is the place where real conspiracies of a nasty nature hide, like fungus, shit, and mushrooms. They hide in your blindspots.

You chose the word conspiracy to try and tie me to a state of ridicule in the mind of yourself and of others. You used negative connotation in the social sense. I use 'the truth', which is one of having a complete thought package which is what is required to suss things out fully.

Pot.

Kettle.

Black.

If your ego would let your monkey brain out of your monkey ass you would see the truth is that sadly an athlete competing in the most dangerous extreme winter sport known to man made a mistake that cost him his life, period.

I do wish we could chat longer but

With a fine Chianti and some fava beans?

___

I can dig the "he knew the job was dangerous when he took it" part, but one look at that area and your brain says, "That doesn't look right."

Exposed steel beams three feet above the exit of a 90 MPH curve....what could go wrong?

The job of the Olympics is to provide as safe a venue as possible, and that area looked sorely lacking.

I bet those planners wear "Bad Idea" jeans.

The crash was caused by the human desire to go faster to accomplish more.

It is a a complex and difficult course, purposefully so.

It was used all last year in World Cup events and opening training. If anyone anticipated this specific event the track would have been modified. If it was wholly and obviously unreasonably dangerous teams would have refused to compete until something was done.

Everyone knew the track and its dangers.

Unfortunately the unexpected, unanticipated occurred. It is exceedingly rare that someone is thrown over the wall but it happens, regardless of the track's design.

This is why they call them accidents.

Nodar Kumaritashvili, while less experienced than some, knew what he was facing. He was afraid of the track but, like most of us who have competed in speed sports, went forward anyway.

While sad, he died doing what he loved.

So, Elk, would you line the exit of a 90 MPH turn with steel girders?

I wouldn't line the last turn on the downhil with trees, either.

I think we saw some terrifically dumb ass design there.

It appears obviously stupid after the fact.

Prior to the accident I suspect the possibility of someone actually being thrown over the wall never occurred to anyone.

Just like no one expected Mercedes race cars to take flight at Le Mans. Damn idiot course officials should have had catch nets to soften the landing. Mercedes CLK CTR flies over the armco

If only we enjoyed 20/20 hindsight as prescience.

Put up a 10 foot high wall there. What happens when you get slammed into it from across the track at 90 mph.? Your dead body slides on down the track?

Look at the sports track record. I can find only one other death and no other instances of athletes being thrown from the track.

From the FIL report:

"Josef Fendt, the FIL president, was so concerned about the speeds of the course that he criticized the designers of the $105-million Olympic track last November and raised the possibility of the federation adopting a speed limit for tracks in the future.

Yet despite the FIL concerns, Canadian Olympic officials limited the access of foreign athletes to the track and did not make alterations to slow down the track. Instead Olympic officials' desire to build the fastest track on the planet and live up to luge's claim as "the fastest sport on ice" were put ahead of safety concerns for the riders, several top athletes said."

""This is not in the interest of our international luge federation and makes me worry," Fendt said in November, according to the FIL's official website."

It seems people were trying to raise issues.

"Riders and coaches said they have raised concerns with the FIL and VANOC about the need for a higher wall or padding coming out of curve 16.

"You need to listen to the athletes, need to listen to coaches," Saakaschvili said. "If there are questions asked you need to listen to them."

A larger wall was in place in time for Saturday morning's re-scheduled practice runs, riders speeding down the course past wet paint signs."

Why change the course it there isn't a problem?

(Sorry for the last question, that's just using Dan Quayle Nancy Pelosi logic!)

The FIL decided that human error was solely to blame for the accident.

"He made a mistake," Romstad said. "Having said that, on the same day Armin Zoeggeler, who won the bronze medal today and is a two-times Olympic champion, also made a mistake and crashed.

"I think it is very important to stress that Nodar was a very good athlete. I think it could have happened to any athlete. It's just circumstances.

"We haven't had a fatality in this sport for 35 years...any fatality is unacceptable.

"When we construct tracks we go through every single scenario, we follow all the expertise, experience we have to try to safeguard a track. We thought we had covered everything."

Interesting last two posts.

I wonder if there was specific concern about this corner and the way it was constructed. It appears as the concern was that it was exceptional fast and technical.

It must take serious strength to deal with the G forces at speed in the corners. These things go where they are told to go. The competitors are exceptionally muscular.

Canadian luger Ian Cockerline :

"If we'd given everybody a lot of runs, we would have got in trouble for doing that, because there's pressure on us to win medals. There's money invested in it. It's really what it comes down to at the end of the day, I suspect."

If I were sitting on a jury to award damages to the family of this guy, his family would own Canada.

Yea, the lawyers love guys like you.

(Sorry for the last question, that's just using Dan Quayle Nancy Pelosi logic!)

Nancy Pelosi and logic in the same sentence???