Not a very good start to the winter games. With the tragic death of Georgia's Nodar Kumaritashvili, a 21 year old Olympian who died yesterday training on the luge track, the Olympics is already a bit off kilter.
Have we gone too far?
Pushing the speed of 90 mph on the new $100 million track, the luger went high in a corner, and his sled swooped out from under him causing him to rocket into air and into a thick metal pillar. Many are questioning the design of the Whistler track that has been labelled by many as the most difficult track ever designed. A few countries, including the U.S. have been upset over restrictions for access to the facility by nations other than Canada.
This isn't the only sport that may have a few nasty crashes. Many of the snowboarders have been pushing the envelop in speed, difficulty... and danger. Shaun White, a U.S. gold medal favourite has a possible back to back double corks and a double McTwist 1260 trick in competition. Although it would be incredible if he accomplished the feat in his event, I wouldn't ever want it to be at the risk of his health... or life. The tragedy is a harsh reminder of how dangerous some of these sports are.
Who would've thought Canadians could be such hogs...
Vying for access to the newly built Olympic facilities is old news to me, daily papers have reported complaints of unfair seniority to Canadian teams for the past year. It seems that Canada's spoiled ways may come to bite us in the ass, but then again I imagine every host country pulling the same stunts to boost their chances for a medal. I'm just hoping that the group organizing this event has dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's, because if anything happens like this again, it's not going to be pretty. In the end, perhaps it's the spirit of the Olympics, to push the boundaries of what mankind is capable of... but are we tempting fate?
