The Olympic luge competition in Whistler, Canada, will go ahead but officials have lowered the start of the men’s event and made changes to turn sixteen in the wake of the tragic accident which claimed the life of a Georgian athlete yesterday.

A spokesman for the International Luge Federation (FIL) told a media conference the decision to abandon the men’s start ramp was to help the athletes deal with the “emotion” of the fatal crash.

“We want the athletes to step on to the track with confidence and have an Olympic competition”.

The track was reopened for practise this morning.

The Vancouver Organising Committee (VANOC) said they had worked hard to provide a safe field of play for all athletes in the sliding sports, luge, skeleton and bobsleigh.

They denied the track is unsafe but did admit it is “a fast track”.
 

An investigation into the death of 21 year old Nodar Kumaritashvili found it was a “routine run” till curve fifteen when he lost control of the sled and was “late” into turn sixteen where he was thrown off the track and hit a steel pole.

They described Kumaritashvili “as a good athlete who’d had 26 runs on the Whistler track and had competed in five world cup events last year”.

VANOC said there had been five thousand runs on the track in the past two years.

” We have done everything to make it as safe as we can” Tim Gayda, VANOC Vice-President of Sport said.

FIL said there were unaware of any athletes not wanting to compete. The last fatality in luge occurred in 1975 when an Italian athlete lost his life.

Mike Tancred
AOC - Vancouver