The Luger vs. the Track

[3113]

As everyone's probably heard, an winter Olympic athelete was killed on what is becoming an infamous track for bobsled, luger and skeleton. There's been a question as to whether the track is too dangerous. Here's the latest (full story here):

Fast and frightening, yes. Responsible for the death of a luger, no. Olympic officials decided late Friday night against any major changes in the track or any delays in competition and even doubled up on the schedule in the wake of the horrifying accident that claimed the life of a 21-year-old luger from the republic of Georgia.

They said they would raise the wall where the slider flew off the track and make an unspecified "change in the ice profile" — but only as a preventative measure "to avoid that such an extremely exceptional accident could occur again." Within sight of the finish line, Nodar Kumaritashvili crashed coming out of the 16th turn and slammed into an unpadded steel pole while traveling nearly 90 mph. Despite frantic attempts by paramedics to save his life, he died at a trauma center.

Concerns about the lightning-fast course had been raised for months. There were worries that the $100 million-plus venue was too technically difficult, and a lack of significant practice time by everyone but the host nation's sliders would result in a rash of accidents. But the International Luge Federation and Vancouver Olympic officials said their investigation showed that the crash was the result of human error and that "there was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track." In a joint statement they said Kumaritashvili was late coming out of the next-to-last turn and failed to compensate. "This resulted in a late entrance into curve 16 and although the athlete worked to correct the problem, he eventually lost control of the sled, resulting in the tragic accident."

Okay. Someone explain this to me. I get that just about every sport at the Winter Olympics is dangerous and someone could die. They're doing very complex maneuvers on very slick surfaces going very fast. A skier or ice skater could die. BUT the ice skating rink is the ice skating rink. It doesn't change year to year. And skiing occurs down certain slopes--those do change year to year, but that's all up to mother nature, right? You pick the ones right for the competition.

But this track was built by people. That means they can make it how they want it--not have to take what mother nature gives them. And obviously, it's gotta be different from other tracks built in the past because everyone's saying those using it are clocking in at speeds that no one's gotten from other tracks. They're having tons of crashes and, apparently, never had so many on any other course.

So why is it the fault of the luger guy and not the track? I mean, yes, he missed the curve--but didn't he miss the curve thanks to the track's speed and such?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Dear, its not your Special Olympics and there are no nannies to hold hands and wipes little noses. The function of the Real Olympics is to push the envelope NOT be bundled up and forced to eat chicken soup.

 

[R. Richard]

But this track was built by people. That means they can make it how they want it--not have to take what mother nature gives them. And obviously, it's gotta be different from other tracks built in the past because everyone's saying those using it are clocking in at speeds that no one's gotten from other tracks. They're having tons of crashes and, apparently, never had so many on any other course.

So why is it the fault of the luger guy and not the track? I mean, yes, he missed the curve--but didn't he miss the curve thanks to the track's speed and such?

The track was, as you say, built by people. The track is also tested by people. Unfortunately, the people who test the track aren't Olympic lugers with the latest go-fast Olympic luges and the Olympic 'gotta win' drive.

The trouble with the current Olympic luge course is not just one guy's trouble. There are several Olympic lugers who have crashed and complained. The guy who died, died because he was thrown from his luge and hit a pole of some kind on the edge of the course. The impact with the pole is what killed him. Several other Olympic lugers have also crashed, but managed to survive.

The problem is that the luge course, at least the luge course of the last few days, is too fast for safety. Too fast for safety happens from time to time and will continue to happen inb the future. Normally, when a luge course is too fast for safety, they just shut the luge course down until they can figure out how to slow the luges down a little. However, this is the Olympics and they can't just shut down the course, unless they cancel the luge events.

By the way, if they sprinkle some go-slow-dust on the Olympic luge course, there would be a veritable plethora of complaints about a 'kiddie luge course.'

 

[jomar]

Fine, the crash was human error, but the track design killed him.

I don't understand why, with the track's not new notoriety for speed, there isn't some sort of "guard rail" system in place to keep them on the track.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

RICHARD

If the Olympics become the Special Olympics with go-slow crap and mama's arms to catch you no one will watch and gozillions of dollars go away forever. The Olympics is about having THE RIGHT STUFF; you can get whining and seat belts and bicycle helmets everywhere else in your life.

I read that Walter Chrysler used to load his demo cars with bankers and let stunt drivers scare the shit out of everyone in the car.

 

[JackLuis]

From the film I saw, he lost it in the last turn and clipped the inside corner of the track, which threw him off the luge.

I wonder why the posts were so close to the side of the track?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

From the film I saw, he lost it in the last turn and clipped the inside corner of the track, which threw him off the luge.

I wonder why the posts were so close to the side of the track?

Uh, the luge is suppose to stay on the track. Walls dont help NASCAR racers, and theyre supposed to stay on the track, too.

 

[DeeZire]

Walls dont help NASCAR racers, and theyre supposed to stay on the track, too.

Actually, it's the wall that keeps the cars on the NASCAR track, except in the rare instance when the car jumps the wall. Then it's stopped by the reinforced chain link fence. What we have in the luge competition is the equivalent of a NASCAR track with no wall, no reinforced fence, and posts for the human bodies to slam into when they go off the track. It is a poorly designed track which, in the context of spending 100 million dollars, could have been made much safer.

 

[Pure]

right now on tv, is a show about danger in speed skiing. one fellow was saved by a netlike fence. back injuries are common.

i agree that 'human error' is too glib. 'pilot error' too is often blamed in airplane crashes. "driver error" as well. track design has to consider unfortunate cases; that's why the guardrails on curves on mountain roads. i guess it was the 'whiners' who wanted that.

safety measures don't make a 'nannyish' setting. there is plenty of intrinsic danger. it's all very macho to thumb one's nose at preventive or protective measures. the macho dudes don't want to use helmets in motorcycle racing. in this case, the paraplegic may well end up feeling more foolish than manly.

america was founded, after all, by tea partying patriots who picked up muskets and rifles and looked danger in the eye, unguarded by any 'nanny' measures. not like today's pussy police officers in bullet proof vests.

i remember reading that the manly soldiers of the day (and later, up to the battle of Gettysburg), marched, standing up, into rifle fire. not sneaking around on their bellies at night like commie guerrillas.

 

[Austin8]

He was a young, relatively inexperienced luger, speeds haven't been excessive, these guys are used to speeds up and beyond 85, last years World Cup they were running 95+, so perhaps lack of experience was the cause of this accident, not course error.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

right now on tv, is a show about danger in speed skiing. one fellow was saved by a netlike fence. back injuries are common.

i agree that 'human error' is too glib. 'pilot error' too is often blamed in airplane crashes. "driver error" as well. track design has to consider unfortunate cases; that's why the guardrails on curves on mountain roads. i guess it was the 'whiners' who wanted that.

safety measures don't make a 'nannyish' setting. there is plenty of intrinsic danger. it's all very macho to thumb one's nose at preventive or protective measures. the macho dudes don't want to use helmets in motorcycle racing. in this case, the paraplegic may well end up feeling more foolish than manly.

america was founded, after all, by tea partying patriots who picked up muskets and rifles and looked danger in the eye, unguarded by any 'nanny' measures. not like today's pussy police officers in bullet proof vests.

i remember reading that the manly soldiers of the day (and later, up to the battle of Gettysburg), marched, standing up, into rifle fire. not sneaking around on their bellies at night like commie guerrillas.

Those manly soldiers of which you speak were British. The Americans learned to fight from the Indians during the French and Indian War. They hid behind stone fences and big trees and shot the redcoats as they passed. The bloody tactics of the Civil War came from trying to apply Napoleonic doctrine based on muskets against entrenched opponents armed with rifles. The result was slaughter.

 

[3113]

Fine, the crash was human error, but the track design killed him.

Ha! See. You get what I'm sayin' here. This is what's confusing me--why is the track not to blame?

He was a young, relatively inexperienced luger, speeds haven't been excessive, these guys are used to speeds up and beyond 85, last years World Cup they were running 95+, so perhaps lack of experience was the cause of this accident, not course error.

But consider the number of crashes from others of equal or greater experience. I mean, this guy did qualify for the Olympics. This is something you train for rather exclusively and for a long time. He couldn't have been that inexperienced.

I don't mean, by the way, that things should be slowed down and made safe enough that crashes are impossible--that's not the sport. Crashes are part of the risk of luger and bobsled just as in ice skating falls are part of the risk. But if crashes are excessive for even trained professionals, then haven't you created a track that unnecessarily risky? If it's likely to do damage to someone of gold/silver caliber, what might it do to those who aren't--yet who are still good enough to qualify to compete in the Olympics?

Why isn't the track to blame?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Actually, it's the wall that keeps the cars on the NASCAR track, except in the rare instance when the car jumps the wall. Then it's stopped by the reinforced chain link fence. What we have in the luge competition is the equivalent of a NASCAR track with no wall, no reinforced fence, and posts for the human bodies to slam into when they go off the track. It is a poorly designed track which, in the context of spending 100 million dollars, could have been made much safer.

You and 3113 will have them all in enclosed bumper cars (with a chaperone) if you get your way.

 

[oggbashan]

The difference between the main Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics is simple.

In the Winter Olympics, serious injury and death is a few inches away in many of the disciplines. That sort of risk isn't present in the Summer Olympics.

Og

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Those manly soldiers of which you speak were British. The Americans learned to fight from the Indians during the French and Indian War. They hid behind stone fences and big trees and shot the redcoats as they passed. The bloody tactics of the Civil War came from trying to apply Napoleonic doctrine based on muskets against entrenched opponents armed with rifles. The result was slaughter.

Where the battlefields had 125,000 troops, and most of the Virginia battles had at least 125,000 troops on the field, fighting injun style was idiotic and pointless because there were too damned many people and too few trees.

 

[jomar]

You and 3113 will have them all in enclosed bumper cars (with a chaperone) if you get your way.

Yeah, I'd hate to see them sled on rusty skids too, but it's not death luge 2010 so a little barrier here and there to prevent the lesser Olympians from flying into steel beams wouldn't be such a bad thing.

 

[Handley_Page]

Looking at some of the frames of the accident, the only thing which occurred to me was something relatively soft wrapped round the pillars or a slightly higher outside wall.

The object of the exercise is to put yourself IN harms way by going down the track faster that the others and this track is a highly technical track demanding great skill and guts.

Yes, perhaps a chain link fence, higher off-side wall and cladding the pillars might have helped, but there will always be some who say - "Nah - too much 'Elf n Safety".

 

[Austin8]

they have moved the starting line it seems, eliminating the first turn, and slowing everyone down.

 

[3113]

Yeah, I'd hate to see them sled on rusty skids too, but it's not death luge 2010 so a little barrier here and there to prevent the lesser Olympians from becoming the human equivalent of bugs on a windshield wouldn't be such a bad thing.

JBJ thinks all sports oughta be Death Race 2000. In his perfect world. the only gold/silver winners would be those still alive and on their feet at the end. Except maybe the winner of the bronze who gets awarded the medal while in a full body cast in the hospital.

I do hope this means that JBJ, following the beliefs he spouts here, drives way faster than the speed limit without a seatbelt, airbags or, better yet, on a motorcycle without a helmet. He wouldn't be such a hypocrite, would he as to use safety features himself after talking about how much he disdains them? No! I'm sure he defies the nanny state laws every day! And when he crashes and burns, I, for one, will go to his funeral to applaud him for for being a real man and never giving into those silly safety laws.

Honestly, JBJ, I want you to live life as you argue it ought to be lived. No safety nets at all. Please. Live it that way and show us safety nuts how it oughta be done.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

An accident is when you step in a pile of dog shit on the front lawn at 5AM. Youre werent expecting it.

A mistake is grabbing a carton of large eggs when you wanted extra-large.

Incompetence is when youre a world class athlete and wreck your luge on the track. Michael Jordan will be the first to say that when things turn to shit GO WITH THE PLAN.

 

[Handley_Page]

An accident is when you step in a pile of dog shit on the front lawn at 5AM. Youre werent expecting it.

A mistake is grabbing a carton of large eggs when you wanted extra-large.

Incompetence is when youre a world class athlete and wreck your luge on the track. Michael Jordan will be the first to say that when things turn to shit GO WITH THE PLAN.

Erm. . . Who ?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Erm. . . Who ?

All are welcome to profit from my post.

 

[trysail]

Life has risks. They are unavoidable.

For the last several decades— thanks to the tort bar— upon purchase of a lift ticket, one will find a legal disclaimer on the obverse side. It states the obvious: skiing/snowboarding is an inherently dangerous activity and the purchaser voluntarily accepts that risk.

When one ventures offshore on a small vessel, there are risks. When one climbs mountains, there are risks. When one crosses the street, there are risks.

The day each of us begins life is the same day Mother Nature starts trying to kill us. In the long run, she always prevails.



____________________________
"There are millions of wildebeests on the African plain. Not one will die of old age."
-Author ( regretfully ) unknown
{ I heard the sentences spoken while viewing an episode of PBS' Nature and was unable to determine authorship. They [ obviously ] struck a chord. }

 

[3113]

The latest from the New York Times:

While announcing a major change to the luge competition, the Olympic organizing committee and the sport’s international governing body maintained Saturday morning that the Whistler Sliding Centre track was safe, saying changes were being made to satisfy the emotional state of the athletes rather than because of safety concerns.

The officials, speaking at a morning news conference, outlined the changes...The men’s singles luge start will be lowered to the women’s start and contain two fewer curves and cover 176 fewer meters. The change is expected to reduce speeds on the track....While labeling Kumaritashvili’s death as the “worst event ever happening in the sport,” Josef Fendt, the president of the International Luge Federation, called the track safe, despite being much faster than originally expected for the track. The lower start is expected to reduce speeds by about 6 miles an hour.

“It is true it is one of the fastest tracks,” Fendt said. “We never said it was too fast. That doesn’t mean we want tracks in the future that are faster. We don’t want to push our athletes too far to the limit.” The track has hosted about 5,000 runs since its debut two years ago. Fendt said the crash rates were similar to those of the other 15 artificial tracks throughout the world. While not blaming the track, alterations were made overnight. Changes to the ice surface were made to help keep the sliding athletes from being ejected should they crash. Officials also modified the final curve where Kumaritashvili crashed and erected a wooden wall over the steel beams.”

 

[Katyusha]

It reminds me a bit of some of the downhill ski events at Nagano, and the crash that Austrian skier Hermann Maier took around the one curve. A lot of very experienced, and some of the world's best, skiers were losing control around that turn and going through all the layers of fencing. It got to the point where there was speculation going around about the safety of the run and whether the remainder of the alpine events on that run should be postponed or even canceled.

I don't think that ever came back as skier error or poor run design (they do groom AND inject ice into Olympic runs; they're not left completely to the elements). I think it was both. To me, this would be the same; a combination of luger error and poor track design.

His death, however, could have been prevented had the posts near the track been covered with heavy padding. He hit that post at an ungodly speed. He might not have escaped injury with padding there but the chances are a lot higher that he would have survived that crash. That's where I say the major mistake was made.