a death of an olympian and the Vancouver games

Yes, I saw that. The wall he went over was "supposed" to be a safety feature. Well that proves it's not serving it's purpose. So sad, this was his first time to the olympics. They say the speed that the lugers are going is dangerous, so if they get out of control they are pretty much in trouble and can end in tragedy just like the young man that lost his life. Those walls need to be going all the up so that they can't go flying out of the tunnel. Hopefully they will change that. This is the 3rd time someone has died in that particular sport.

me too, like safety nets

Oh my gosh. The Olympics should be about promoting safe sports. I hope they fix this problem. It would be sad to hear more stories like this...

well maybe correcting the safety issues, like higher walls on the luge and bobsled

It was really sad, but sadly with a sport like luge thats always a part of the risk. They did adjust the start for the mens competition, so they start from the same place as the women now, and as such pick up less speed.

I think it was probably a combination of a fast track, but also an unfamiliar track. The Canadians team has been training on that track since its completion and while it has had a few crashes none were serious until the Georgian Luger.

I really did appreciate that they had a minute of silence for him during the opening ceremonies, but that won't make his family's pain any less.

yes, that is sad, and many countries like the UK have been slamming us (Canada) about that. These happen in every olympics, and the tested the track, said it was driver error, plus he skipped his two earlier runs and just opted for the trial run. There is no dening the paperwork, he never completed the training runs.

Its sad, I am glad they fixed the proplem, but we can't blame either party, its sad. But evey game in the olympics has its dangers, figure skating(blades, jumps-broken bones and serious cuts to the face/body), sking(broken bones), even bialothion(the guns sometimes misfire)

any sport can be dangerous, but I hope the rest of the games go well

It's always hard when others blame your country, Michelle. I'd just like to say that I don't, though, and I'm sure nobody else does here, either.

*hugs*

It really isnt fair to go after Canada for the accidents that happen, since the IOC overlooks everything and really has the final decision on any tracks etc that goes forward.

As I'm watching the Olympics, it has just been a weird Olympics...the figure skaters are falling left right and center; the Norwegian Cross country skiier who fell off the track and fell off an edge and into a tree; the American womens snowboard cross...who actually fell the last olympics too.

Its been a lot of falls...way more than I can remember from any other Olympics.

I noticed that too, it seems to be a year for falling

On a happy note though its also the year for cheering, I have never in my life ever heard anyone cheer for curling. This year, people are doing the wave in the curling rink, its actually pretty incredible.

Also, I found out from my mom that the Slovenian cross country skier Petra (I thought she was Norwegian earlier) ended up breaking 5 ribs and collapsing a lung in the fall during training. But still competed and ended up placing third! That is absolutely incredible! She had to do a qualification run and (I believe) a semi final...and then a final!