Reply With Quote
Here's a better video:
It shows it in the first few seconds, then goes into a story.
So sad. The dude probably put so much of his time and effort into his young life into a sport that killed him. Even if he screwed up, they need to make tracks that allow for such mistakes without such devastating consequences.
Here's a better video:
It shows it in the first few seconds, then goes into a story.
I can't believe the designers were so stupid as to not having a barrier right after the curve. Nobody should be ably to fly into steel beams.
Is there a lawsuit coming?
Are all the courses wide open like that or was this one desired for a better television viewing experience? Even the waterslides at parks have the curved upper walls to keep the riders in the track.
Well, it's Canada, eh, so probably harder to file a lawsuit than here. But a damned stupid design nonetheless.
I have never seen any kind of net around a luge course in the Olympics. It would be horrible for television. As an aside, I wonder if he would have survived landing on the edge of the wall on his back if he didn't hit the support.
The still shot on those sites where his face is all bloodied and his eyes are open but you can tell there's no life in him is very haunting. Sports shouldn't kill you, but dangerous ones sometimes do.
Very sad. Watching the Georgian delegation walk in...you felt for all of them. Nice gesture by the crowd to give them a standing ovation.
You wouldn't have to net the entire course. Just in certain places near the corners.
lol have you seen google's sign for today?
There are no world records in luge/bob sleds. The courses are not standardized (size, no. of curves...). It's has the fastest recorded speed which in many ways has nothing to do with how good and/or difficult of a track it is.
The German are saying that the problem is a bad design of the track not it's speed and that it's length makes it very difficult/dangerous for less prepared athletes.
They can play with the ice temperature and regulate the speed of the track. Of course taking the ice temp out of its optimal range makes the conditions less stables and doesn't guarantee the same conditions for all compe ors.
Some are, others are not - depends on the track design.
Usually they only put nets where there's a need for them. One thing I would like to add is that a luge track is so expensive that there is a very limited number of operational tracks around the world. Those are quite old, which means they are very well known and data exist for track conditions for almost all combination of weather/temp.
To build the steepest, fastest track and not thoroughly test it (usually there's at least one international compe ion held on such installations a year before the main event for exactly these reasons) is irresponsible.
And finally the Olympics have created a situation where less experienced compe ors that wouldn't be allowed to compete in i.e. the world cup, are competing along side the best of the sport. So what do you do? Dumb down the event and transform it into a meaningless compe ion or keep it as the pinnacle of sport and tighten the participation rules at the risk of offending some nations?
I prefer the second solution, but politics are a powerful force.
Really depressing opening, to what should otherwise be a great sporting event...
Well, even though "there's nothing wrong with the track" They are starting everyone lower down the track to get them back into the 80's...
I understand they also erected some wooden siding near the end of the track as well.
I didn't think this story could get any more heartbreaking...
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/van...urn=oly,219592
Also the woman, Natalie Geisenberger, who said
"I'm not happy about the new start.
It’s not a woman’s start, it’s a kinder (German for children’s) start. The rest of the track is OK, but it's not as fast as from the proper start. It's the same for all the athletes, but I don't like it. I felt very good, but now because of the new start it's not fun."
is a real disrespectful . It's a kids race now? Really?
An impact at 90+ miles per hour impacts an extremely large amount of force on the body. This guy was destined to die the second he left the track. Car collisions at much lower speeds (50-60 MPH) can tear your aorta off your heart and smash the brain against the skull.
This is equal to jumping off a 22 story building and hitting an I-beam at ground level.
This.
If it wasn't for the suits he was wearing, I wonder how much more brutal this accident would've looked. At the end of the day, it doesn't take an engineer to realize that on a sharp turn where there are steel beams a few feet ahead, to put a damn wall up in front of them. If there was that simple wall they've put up in front of it as there is now, this accident could've ended much different. Sure, he'd have broken bones, but I doubt the accident would be fatal.
Reports are he was terrified of this track. Tragic stuff.
I guess there's not a "common sense" course that engineers take in school.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
