{"id":7,"date":"2010-02-16T08:19:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-16T08:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waiting.com\/blog\/2010\/02\/olympics-marred-by-luger-death-before-the-really-dangerous-sport-kicks-off-snowboarding.html"},"modified":"2010-02-16T08:19:00","modified_gmt":"2010-02-16T08:19:00","slug":"olympics-marred-by-luger-death-before-the-really-dangerous-sport-kicks-off-snowboarding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waiting.com\/blog\/2010\/02\/olympics-marred-by-luger-death-before-the-really-dangerous-sport-kicks-off-snowboarding.html","title":{"rendered":"Olympics Marred by Luger Death Before The Really Dangerous Sport Kicks Off, Snowboarding"},"content":{"rendered":"Observers feared that daredevil snowboarders might wind up dead at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, pounding their skulls while attempting death-defying feats in the competition. But it was the luge sport that right out of the gate turned the games \u201cinto a gallows,\u201d as one sportswriter out it. <br \/><br \/>And Olympic officials appeared more concerned about covering their asses than addressing the why of what happened. <br \/><br \/>This weekend there were many eloquent stories in the national press about the cowardice of the sports officials who blamed Nodar Kumaritashvili, the Georgian Luger killed at the Vancouver Olympics last week, for causing his own tragic death.<br \/><br \/>In its five-paragraph statement Friday, the International Luge Federation said that the Kumaritashvili came out of a curve and \u201cdid not compensate properly\u2026there was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track.\u201d<br \/><br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vancouver2010.com\/olympic-news\/n\/news\/fil-statement-on-mens-luge-competition_274462nE.html\">http:\/\/www.vancouver2010.com\/olympic-news\/n\/news\/fil-statement-on-mens-luge-competition_274462nE.html<\/a><br \/><br \/>There was no mention of the fact that the steel pillar that the 21-year-old luger slammed his back into at racetrack speeds wasn\u2019t padded, or that Olympic lugers were terrified of the track.<br \/><br \/>The New York Times did a Page One story Sunday on that topic, headlined \u201cFast and Risky, Sledding Track Drew Red Flags.\u201d<br \/><br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/02\/14\/sports\/olympics\/14track.html?ref=sports\">http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/02\/14\/sports\/olympics\/14track.html?ref=sports<\/a><br \/><br \/>Also on Sunday, The Times blasted the luge federation for its findings in a story headlined \u201cQuick to Blame in Luge, and Showing No Shame.\u201d <br \/><br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/02\/14\/sports\/olympics\/14longman.html?hp\">http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/02\/14\/sports\/olympics\/14longman.html?hp<\/a> <br \/><br \/>\u201cOlympic officials treated the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the Georgian luge athlete, less as a tragedy than as an inconvenience,\u201d<br \/>The Times wrote.<br \/><br \/>Back injuries aren\u2019t the only thing to anticipate with these luge races. Last week a Romanian, Violeta Stramaturaru was knocked unconscious on Thursday and taken to a hospital after slamming into a wall several times.<br \/><br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/sports\/more_sports\/winter_olympics_2010\/2010\/02\/12\/2010-02-12_luger_nodar_kumaritashvili_rushed_to_hospital.html?page=1#ixzz0fYFguzaH\">http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/sports\/more_sports\/winter_olympics_2010\/2010\/02\/12\/2010-02-12_luger_nodar_kumaritashvili_rushed_to_hospital.html?page=1#ixzz0fYFguzaH<\/a><br \/><br \/>Here\u2019s the best summation we read of the tragedy over the weekend, by New York Daily News sports columnist Filip Bondy.<br \/><br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/sports\/more_sports\/winter_olympics_2010\/2010\/02\/13\/2010-02-13_quit_playing_a_risky_game.html\">http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/sports\/more_sports\/winter_olympics_2010\/2010\/02\/13\/2010-02-13_quit_playing_a_risky_game.html<\/a><br \/><br \/>\u201cIn the end, it wasn\u2019t the halfpipe or the freestanding aerials that turned the Winter Olympic into a gallows,\u201d he wrote Saturday. \u201cIt was as slippery-sloped luge track, designed by someone who didn\u2019t know the sport and nurtured by a system that reward outrageous risk-taking.\u201d<br \/><br \/>The New York Times Saturday said in a Page One story that the Georgian\u2019s death \u201ccasts a pall\u201d over the Winter games.<br \/><br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/02\/13\/sports\/olympics\/13luge.html?hp\">http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/02\/13\/sports\/olympics\/13luge.html?hp<\/a><br \/><br \/>On the sports pages that same day, The Times noted that the Winter Olympics have \u201chad ample adversity and controversy,\u201d from too-little snow \u201cand doping\u201d scandals, \u201cbut genuine tragedy has been a rarity.<br \/> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/02\/13\/sports\/olympics\/13clarey.html?hp\">http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/02\/13\/sports\/olympics\/13clarey.html?hp<\/a><br \/><br \/>Prompted by last week\u2019s death, Olympics officials have taken steps to make the luge track safer. For example, they have moved the men\u2019s start line farther down the track.<br \/><br \/>We\u2019ll see if that helps \u2013 and hold our breath for when the supposedly really dangerous competition starts: snowboarding.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Observers feared that daredevil snowboarders might wind up dead at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, pounding their skulls while attempting death-defying feats in the competition. But it was the luge sport that right out of the gate turned the games \u201cinto a gallows,\u201d as one sportswriter out it. And Olympic officials appeared more concerned about [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5,3,4,25,24,26],"class_list":["post-7","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-accident-brain-injury","tag-brain-injury","tag-brain-injury-attorney","tag-luge-death","tag-nodar-kumaritashvili-death","tag-winter-olympics-luge-death"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Olympics Marred by Luger Death Before The Really Dangerous Sport Kicks Off, Snowboarding - Brain Injury Lawyer Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/waiting.com\/blog\/2010\/02\/olympics-marred-by-luger-death-before-the-really-dangerous-sport-kicks-off-snowboarding.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Olympics Marred by Luger Death Before The Really Dangerous Sport Kicks Off, Snowboarding - Brain Injury Lawyer Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Observers feared that daredevil snowboarders might wind up dead at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, pounding their skulls while attempting death-defying feats in the competition. 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