Luge Report Vows to Prevent Killer Tracks

A report from the International Luge Federation says even though driver error was one factor, the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili at the Vancouver Olympics, "should not have occurred."

The report, publicly released Monday, says an accumulation of driving errors helped cause the crash during a training run the day of opening ceremony for Vancouver 2010, Feb. 12.

The 20-page report, delivered to the IOC last week, also discloses for the first time a cause of death. The report is available at the FIL website.

"The findings from examining the fatal run indicate that Nodar did commit driving errors starting in curve 15/16 which as an accumulation ended in the impact that resulted in him leaving the track and subsequently hitting a post, causing blunt force trauma to the base of his skull, causing the fatality," the report says.

"This is a tragic result that should not have occurred as a result of an initial driving error," says the report which adds that FIL is "equally committed to doing everything in its power to ensure, around the globe, that this tragic incident never happens again."

The fatality was the first for a FIL-sanctioned event in 35 years.

FIL Secretary General Svein Romstad, who prepared the report along with FIL Vice President Claire DelNegro, tells Around the Rings that the report is not "the end-all."

"The primary purpose was basically to analyze what happened and how we responded to it,' Romstad says.

"The next step is how do we go forward from here?"

He says FIL has expert commissions that review the sport and the tracks on a regular basis and make recommendations as warranted.

"We are reviewing every single track," Romstad says.

Although the $110 million Whistler track has drawn the most interest, "we are reviewing all tracks, just to be sure."

If any changes are proposed to the Executive Board or FIL Congress, they also must be approved by the international bobsled and skeleton federation (FIBT), which also uses the tracks.

The report went into great detail on the Olympic qualification process, especially regarding Kumaritashvili, and said FIL rejected pleas from Hungary, Croatia and Tonga to allow athletes to compete in Vancouver.

"The FIL believes its current qualification system is correct and stringent enough," the report said. "It does not foresee making any recommendations to the IOC for changes."

The report began with a tribute to Kumaritashvili.

"The awful accident that ended his dream cut short a life full of promise, but he was doing exactly what he wanted to be doing on the day he died, he was racing toward a goal that he had pursued with uncompromising devotion since he was a young boy."

Examining the accident and its aftermath, FIL acknowledged that it knew the track was fast, although it had proven to be faster than expected. Kumaritashvili was traveling 145 kph at the fatal turn.

"This is not a secret event, everybody's seen it on tape," Romstad says.

"It's not like we were trying to explain something nobody saw."

He adds that driver error is a misinterpreted term; even Italy's Armin Zoeggeler, one of the most highly decorated lugers, crashed during training.

"One thing led to another and led to another and (Kumaritashvili) ended up crashing into the wall at this exceptional angle," Romstad says, "which caused this catapult effect. No athlete, (Georg) Hackl or Zoeggeler or Nodar, there's nothing you can do with it."

He says typically the sled will bounce off the wall and disintegrate, alleviating the pressure, but police told luge officials they had seen such a catapult effect from auto accidents. "We were dumbfounded," Romstad says. "We had never seen that happen."

The report said "the catapult effect of the sled sent Nodar over the wall onto the outside of the track. Once he departed the track he hit a metal pole tragically ending his life. Due to the unusual behavior of the sled at the moment of impact, the sled was inspected by both the police and FIL experts to determine if there were any deficiencies in sled construction. The findings showed that the sled met all FIL criteria and standards and was found to be compliant to every regulation."

Romstad says he doubts a steel pillar of the sort that Kumaritashvili hit will be used in a similar position again, even with the padding that Whistler added after the crash.

"We have to look at all future designs to make sure all such structures are far away from the track."

He says the key is to keep the athletes in the track. "They're going to be bumped, bruised and hurt, but not fatally."

In the report, FIL reiterated its warning to Sochi that it will not certify its track if it is too fast.

Whistler is scheduled to host a World Cup race in 2012 and the 2013 World Championships in luge. There is a desire to move the starts back to their originalpositions instead of the lower starts used during the Olympics in the wake of the accident.

"If you interview the vast majority of athletes, they all want to go to the top again," Romstad says.

"That doesn't mean we're going to do that. We owe it to the track to look at all the options."

He says there are ways to slow things down besides moving the start positions.

Kumaritashvili's death on the day of the Vancouver opening ceremony continues to have a profound effect on VANOC CEO John Furlong, who praised the report.

"The FIL has undertaken what is quite possibly the greatest honour to Nodar's memory: a thorough investigative report designed to understand precisely what happened on his final, fatal training run and a report that is the starting point to ensuring that, through the lessons learned, such a tragic incident may never happen again," he said in a statement.

"Nodar lived his life for the love of his sport and the FIL has made it clear in this report that this accident's circumstances were indeed unique. We are grateful for their affirmation of the safety measures at the WSC that they took to protect all athletes and for their determination to learn from this tragedy."

The report was prepared with the support of the IOC, VANOC, the Canadian Luge Federation, CLA, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, RCMP, as well as the Coroner's Service of British Columbia, which is expected to publish its report next month of how Kumaritashvili died and could decide to hold a formal inquest hearing.

David Kumaritashvili, Nodar's father, told the Associated Press that pilot error should not be held responsible for a luge death.

"Yes, any sportsman could make a mistake, but it shouldn't result in a tragic and fatal accident," the father said.

"He flew off the track. No matter what mistake he had committed, he should not have flown off it. Security measures must be provided."

The AP said Kumaritashvili was driving to Tbilisi to visit his wife in a hospital Monday and said he had no time to read the report thoroughly because of his wife's illness.

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Written by Karen Rosen.