Nodar Kumaritashvili Crash Video – Georgia Luger Dies in Olympic Training

Nodar Kumaritashvili, an Olympic luger from Georgia, has just died while training in Vancouver hours before the opening ceremonies. This is absolutely insane. I found out via Twitter just minutes ago and it has yet to show up on ESPN, CNN or Drudge Report. I know this isn’t web development related at all, but the point I wanted to make was that traditional news outlets are no longer really relevant as far as breaking the big news stories.

UPDATE - The video is now available from CBS News and I have decided to post it below.

Caution – The video is very tragic and quite graphic.

Nodar Kumaritashvili Crash Video

February 12, 2010 | Breaking News, New Media

57 Comments 

Comments

57 Responses to “Nodar Kumaritashvili Crash Video – Georgia Luger Dies in Olympic Training”

  1. Dan Nedelko on February 12th, 2010 6:02 pm

    Thanks for finding this. It’s pretty tragic really but one side note. You’re embedding the video from CBS News to technically you’ve gotten this content from a traditional news source.

    I’m just sayin’

  2. admin on February 12th, 2010 6:41 pm

    @Dan – Excellent point. I actually added the video from CBS about 30 minutes after I made the post. I should have noted that fact. The traditional news outlets certainly are not going anywhere as far as providing comprehensive coverage, but as far as being the first to report breaking news, I think Twitter and other “new” media sources cannot be beat in that aspect.

  3. big on February 12th, 2010 9:08 pm

    why wouldnt they have padding there??? crazy rip

  4. admin on February 12th, 2010 9:21 pm

    @big – Yeah, I agree to some extent. However, I’m not sure how much padding would help since he was going 90 miles per hour and came to a sudden stop. I think the track is way too fast and should be shut down. If another track cannot be set up during the Olympics, they should postpone the Luge event entirely until a new track can be set up, whether that be a month from now or a year from now. One tragic death is one too many.

  5. cdn on February 13th, 2010 3:14 am

    As many lugers have been saying around here, they often see sleds flying off the track, but have never actually seen an athlete come off the track, hence not having any sort of netting or padding. It is a truly tragic event, and has put new weight on many athletes’ shoulders. The ceremonies tonight were quite reflective and respectful of the accident however.

  6. Mike on February 13th, 2010 6:07 am

    Horrible accident. My thoughts goes to he’s family.

    One thing that i think about is: Did he die, at the impact? Or did he die a little bit later? I mean, it seems like such crash would kill a person instantly.

  7. Bingo the monkey on February 13th, 2010 6:33 am

    That is crazy, they should have some kind of padding on those metal-rails….

    R.I.P

  8. Sergey on February 13th, 2010 7:09 am

    this route may be unsafe? error in the design? how many more must die so that the organizers are thinking about

  9. Lars Dworak on February 13th, 2010 8:16 am

    Who is the architecht that thought of putting steel beams next to the track without ensuring that there be some sort of safeguard to this construction. Eventhough there is a high edge, everything unexpected is bound to happen.
    Before even seeing the footage i saw those beams and thought, what were they thinking!!!

  10. larry on February 13th, 2010 9:39 am

    Hey this guy knew what he was getting into. I just don’t see the beneficial need for this sport. I’m not surprised that more don’t die. It’s an insane sport. When you do insane things…insane things happen.

  11. adam baum on February 13th, 2010 11:14 am

    they should NOT slow the track down, for one reason. these atheletes are the best in their respective sport. if vancouver doesnt probide the most challenging course in the world, why would the best in the world bother going? you go to the olympics to prove you are the best, and to do that you have to have the most challenging course.

  12. Nodar Kumaritashvili Crash Videos on February 13th, 2010 1:07 pm

    [...] Nodar Kumaritashvili Crash Video – Georgia Luger Dies in Olympic Training [...]

  13. martin on February 13th, 2010 1:26 pm

    Ja giv arkitekten en pris. Det er da for dumt, høje sider eller ej.

  14. John on February 13th, 2010 1:28 pm

    why would they have steel post there? i mean come on. these guys are going up to 155 km/h almost 100 mph and they put steel post right next to the track? they need to think a little harder than that. if there was spectators sitting on those benches there would probably have been several deaths. look at formula 1 racing i mean they not only have a huge buffer zone between spectator and the track but they also have sand pit tire walls and un-paralelled safety standards.

  15. r. dieckman on February 13th, 2010 5:11 pm

    God Bless that young man… my prayers to him and his family…
    To the morons who designed that track: obviously
    the word “SAFETY” is not part of their vocabulary!!

  16. Sue on February 13th, 2010 6:47 pm

    My Prayers to Nodar & his family & friends !

  17. pharaoh on February 13th, 2010 8:08 pm

    The course design was plain stupid! My prayers will go out to Nodar Kumaritashvilis. I think his family should sue the idiots that designed the course because of this innocent persons death who was just trying to live his Olympic dream.

  18. Van2010 on February 13th, 2010 8:56 pm

    I dont think padding would do much as they reach speeds of over 90 miles/h. The Canadian Louger coach even said thet he was too inexpirienced and that it was the athletes mistake. Yes, the track may be too fast, but it’s the best of the best competing and in my honest opinion the event shouldnt be shut down. I was watching the practise runs and it seems safe enough. But RIP never the less.

  19. JD on February 13th, 2010 8:59 pm

    The tracks for luge are much like ice sculptures. They must be kept at a certain temperature so not to melt. Any moisture on a luge track is immediate danger. Vancouver has had unusually warm weather. They had to truck in snow! This leads me to believe that ALL THREE accidents that occurred yesterday were weather related. There was moisture on that track and when he came around the curve, he built even more momentum, which caused him to flip. I think the Olympic committee were lax in their decision to allow the Luge and/or skeleton to continue. Seriously. Three accidents in one day? One fatal? I’m just saying, sometimes you have to put things off for the safety of the athlete. On the flip side, these guys and ladies KNOW the risks and could have had their trainers complain. To me, this was all about prestige and that just sucks. A Mother and Father lost their 21 year old son. Siblings lost their brother, etc. I know what it’s like to lose my only brother. This family, even though he trained just about all of his life, will never, ever be the same. Such a needless tragedy. Oh, and the steal beams are put there to hold up the cover of the luge track. One cannot compete in Luge or Skeleton if snow, ice or rain is falling. The should have been padded and there should have been nets up. Again, such a tragedy! My heart goes out to his family.

  20. JD on February 13th, 2010 9:00 pm

    @John-they usually reach 120 mph, which makes the whole thing even more tragic!!!

  21. jean on February 13th, 2010 9:43 pm

    omg….i offered a prayer to this courageous athlete. its almost clear until he went through that bend in the course that he would flip over. Justice for this athlete.

  22. zee on February 14th, 2010 2:04 am

    The curve walls are too low and unpadded! Anyone could go over and crash to death in a slight error of maneuvering (with or without moist).

    Based on olympic official’s investigation: “track didn’t cause the athlete’s death”.

    (even a 5th grader who may have watched the incident can proved them wrong)

    Well… Now, why they are planning to raised the wall? (contradicting isn’t it?)

    They should have thoroughly studied and planned the design of the structure before they had built it. They should not have waited for an example to realize and accept the possibilities.

  23. SortePer on February 14th, 2010 3:11 am

    Jeg tror han var pisse fuld han var selv uden om det så derfor spritkørsel dur sq ikke..det kun godt at ryge fed og ryge sig skæv hverdag der findes simpelthen ingen bedre ting at lave hverdag. Cigaretter er kun for svage Mennesker der ikke tør. Filipinsk fisse er verdens bedste fordi det er det strameste på hele jorden, mens dansk fisse er ligesom og bolle en viadukt. Manny Pacquiao kan til vær en tid nakke Mikkel Kessler og Brian nielsen til sammen. Man er svag hvis man arbejder bare for at tjene penge det gir ikke nogen mening.

  24. Makkan on February 14th, 2010 7:01 am

    R.I.P From Sweden

  25. Patrick on February 14th, 2010 8:07 am

    I don’t understand why there aren’t more security at this spot, i mean you can fall out on the site and get very hurt if not die (like this man). Well I think that the Olympic Community needs to take a look on it and make some changes that can prove the security for the atlets, because this can’t be accepted.

  26. Patrick on February 14th, 2010 8:08 am

    Well my prayers goes for him and his familie and i hope that other people like him can fell like more safe in the future.

  27. Feel Bad on February 14th, 2010 3:08 pm

    I feel bad for his family team members and loved ones but it is a dangerous sport and he should of known it could lead to this.

  28. Feel Bad on February 14th, 2010 3:10 pm

    I agree that the course was built by some idiot and my prayers to his family

  29. codyc3 on February 14th, 2010 4:53 pm

    Well im not really sure why they would have metal poles next to a luge track… Maybe they will put that into consideration at the next winter Olympics.. R.I.P NODAR

  30. AlexG on February 14th, 2010 8:47 pm

    very disturbing video….cant help but think if this was an American athlete they wouldn’t be showing this accident in slow motion over and over on the NBC nightly news….more respect needed in covering the story of a man who just lost his life so suddenly and tragically. feel sorry for his family so obviously surrounded by this media coverage all the time….shame on the news worried more about having the most intense video on their channel rather than sharing the real story of what a loss it is for the sport and his family/country

  31. Jenny on February 15th, 2010 12:06 am

    I think it’s in everyone’s best interest to respect his family at this very sad and unfortunate tragedy.

    Thank you

  32. gabby on February 15th, 2010 10:31 am

    rest in peace

  33. gabby on February 15th, 2010 10:33 am

    we will allways rember you. :)

  34. gabby on February 15th, 2010 10:35 am

    And how ever the idot that made that course is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo crazy:(

  35. gabby on February 15th, 2010 10:37 am

    we love u

  36. gabby on February 15th, 2010 10:39 am

    i am so mad because he was and very good player
    i am just so pist

  37. abe on February 15th, 2010 11:39 am

    There’s not too much to say when something tragic like this happens..its easy now to point fingers and say there should have been padding/nets by those beams, I am sure they tested this track hundreds of times before the olympics..sometimes things like this happen and we can only learn from them…I hope they look at the whole track again and add nets/padding anywhere where there’s a chance of an athlete flying over the side…my thoughts and prayers are with this man and his family.

  38. Mikkel on February 15th, 2010 3:46 pm

    This is tragic!

    Why are the supporters for the roof, placed in such a bad position. I hope this accident will mean new rules and regulation, to improve safety in a very entertaining sport!

    Mikkel

  39. calen on February 15th, 2010 6:50 pm

    wow he smacked that pole hard

  40. George on February 15th, 2010 7:05 pm

    Euhm, gj hardhat, ofc youd end up like this, better choose whatcha doing better next time eh?

  41. Anon on February 15th, 2010 8:37 pm

    Rest in peace.

    Very hurtful what happened to this young man.

  42. blomma on February 16th, 2010 3:03 am

    it is very sad indeed…justice be served!!!

  43. Raj on February 16th, 2010 10:52 am

    I would remove this turnament from the future Olympic.

  44. jojo33 on February 16th, 2010 11:53 pm

    this is so stupid there are poles right next to the damm thing and the poles don’t even have paddings on them.he did make a mistake,he went up too high at the turn and then he just slid and flipped until he hit the edge and then the pole

  45. jojo33 on February 16th, 2010 11:55 pm

    like i was saying,these people have the ordasiting to say it was his folt.ok maybe he made a little mistake but he could of recoverd

  46. jojo33 on February 16th, 2010 11:59 pm

    last thing
    rest in peace nodar kumaritashvili
    and for the people who made that track you can kess my a#*%$^

    jojo out
    r.i.p

  47. Angry on February 17th, 2010 12:29 pm

    The architect that designed this track obviously needs to go back and re-examine what he was thinking. Why would the olympic committee change the start heights unless they knew they were at fault. Blaming the athelete is cowardly and just pure stupid!

    My heart goes out to Nodar’s family and friends. God bless you all and may Nodar rest in peace!

  48. Zack on February 18th, 2010 2:33 am

    why do they have steal bars there because thy need to support the structure so it does not fall on top of all the spectators thats why they have steal bars there if they did not than hundreds would die because of the the track collapsing on them and the Olympics are for the best of the best he was not ready for that this is the fasts track in the world if you go on there and your not ready than its no ones fault but theirs sorry just getting a little Pissed off all the comments saying why did they put the bars there ,never the less RIP

  49. Adam on February 18th, 2010 4:16 pm

    you sick bastards. why in hell would people wanna see this for. its sad enough that this guy got killed.. just watching that broke my heart. you guys are fucked in the head to be showing this. im surprise the family haven’t said anything about this. RIP Nodar Kumaritashvili
    i wont stop until this video is taken off the internet.

  50. Stig on February 19th, 2010 10:50 am

    R.I.P
    It’s a crazy accident very horrible.

  51. Andey on February 20th, 2010 6:00 pm

    finally found the fucking video

  52. Eleyano on February 20th, 2010 11:08 pm

    oh my god, there should of been some sort of padding on that pole, who heard the big *DING* as he hit the metal pole, i think he died at that moment cause i kept watching this video over and over and he wasent moving a nerve after he hit the pole =( R.I.P

  53. Baggaz on February 21st, 2010 5:14 pm

    Why don’t they give the top of the whole track a glass roof so you can see them but they won’t go flying off anywhere?? Sure, the luge wouldn’t work on glass but it stops it being so dangerous

  54. Nathan Polaski on February 27th, 2010 5:09 pm

    this video is not even about the luger, and why is there a dumb tiger and stupid penguins in costumes!

  55. Melissa on March 1st, 2010 1:23 am

    Ok, padding and nets would have done nothing. At the speed they go, padding wouldn’t help anything.
    You go from 90-0 instantly, your heart will slam into you chest and explode. That is the reality, padding wont stop that.
    Also, the athletes are totally aware of what they are getting into, especially the lugers and skeletons. It is an extremely dangerous sport and thats sometimes part of why they do that.
    The best of the best are chosen to compete in the olympics, they are completely aware of what is possible.
    Also, at least he died doing what he loved, he died at the olympics. What an honor. At least he didn’t die laying around on life support man.
    This isn’t about the beams, construction design or the olympic committee, this is about the athlete and poor weather conditions.
    No one is to blame here.

  56. Ashley Tavares on March 2nd, 2010 2:19 pm

    You will always be remembered, you will always be in our hearts. God Bless. rest in peace Nodar.♥♥♥

  57. Lasse on March 22nd, 2010 4:25 pm

    Tragic accident. Looks so bad and at that speed. Wow. I have the greatest respect for him and the other competitors that compete in this “Sport” if you can call it that. The speed and the danger. Unbelievable that they have the courage do do this.

    R.I.P Nodar Kumaritashvili

Leave a Reply