Report: No Single Reason for Deadly Luge Crash
The secretary general of luge's governing body says an official investigation into the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili at the Vancouver Olympics will find no single reason that can explain his fatal accident.
Svein Romstad tells the Associated Press that the International Luge Federation report is set to describe the 21-year-old Georgian's crash at 145 kph (90 miles) on Whistler's sliding track, hours before the games opened, as a one-off that could not have been foreseen.
He said Wednesday that the report will show the crash was caused by "an amalgamation of a lot of different things."
Luge officials will finalize the report this weekend before delivering it to the International Olympic Committee.
Photos: Tragedy at the Olympics
Kumaritashvili died when he lost control of his sled, flew off the course and slammed into a steel pole at nearly 90 mph. After the crash, the poles were wrapped in padding and the course was altered to make it slower.
The International Olympic Committee and luge officials took criticism during the Olympics for blaming the accident on Kumaritashvili's failure to make tactical corrections during his run, and for saying they were changing the course not to make it safer but to soothe the emotions of the athletes.
Kumaritashvili's father said that his son worried the track was too dangerous, but insisted on competing because he had come to the games to try to win.
"He told me: I will either win or die," David Kumaritashvili told The Associated Press in February. "But that was youthful bravado, he couldn't be seriously talking about death."
"He told me: Dad, I really fear that curve," the elder Kumaritashvili said. "I'm a former athlete myself, and I told him: 'You just take a slower start.' But he responded: `Dad, what kind of thing you are teaching me? I have come to the Olympics to try to win."'
The luger was the pride of his hometown, where he was known for his high spirits and generosity. The village of 1,500 was one of the sites Georgia proposed in its failed bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.