Saturday, February 13, 2010

A Fallen Athlete

February 12th is a day that everyone will remember as the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics, but for the Georgian it will forever be a day of morning. Nodar Kumaritashvili a Georgian Luge Athlete died in a tragic accident on Feb. 12. Nodar Kumaritashvili was only 21 years old and this was his first every Olympic appearance. Nodar was ranked 44th in the World and had qualified for the 2010 Olympics. The Georgian team still marched in the athletes parade in the opening ceremonies but wore black arm bands and a black ribbon on their flag in morning of their fallen team mate. The whole Olympic community is shocked by this death and their support is with the Georgian team and family of Nodar. My condolences to the family of Nodar, his team mates and the whole Georgian community. I hope they will find strength and win any medals in the honor of him.
The IOC and the Luge governing body state that the other Luge competitions will go on as planned. They have said that the death of Nodar was due to human error not the tracks speed. No matter what the officials or newspapers say it was truly unfortunate that he lost his life. He could have gotten gold. A sad start to the 2010 Olympic Games, my heart goes out to the family and friends. I will be going to the first Victory Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic games on Sunday!

2 comments:

  1. I think that's so rediculous what they said. If a professional athlete makes a small mistake and it costs their lives then that track needs adjusting. Anyone can make a little mistake like that.

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  2. Nodar Kumaritashvili’s death is a tragedy! I've seen videos of his crash and they are hoffific. Luge looks like such a neat sport, but also very dangerous at the same time. His death will cast a pall over these Olympic Games. RIP

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