WHISTLER, British Columbia The crash that resulted in the death of the luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili was caused by his errors on the course and not a deficiency in the Whistler Sliding Centre course, the Olympic organizing committee and the sports international governing body said in a joint statement issued late Friday.
Kumaritashvili, of the Republic of Georgia, lost control of his sled near the end of his training run on the tracks final curve while traveling nearly 90 miles an hour. The crash threw Kumaritashvili over a concrete wall on the left. He slammed into vertical supports over the course and was pronounced dead at a hospital.
It appears after a routine run, the athlete came late out of curve 15 and did not compensate properly to make correct entrance into curve 16, the statement said. This resulted in a late entrance into curve 16 and although the athlete worked to correct the problem he eventually lost control of the sled resulting in the tragic accident. The technical officials of the FIL were able to retrace the path of the athlete and concluded there was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track.
While officials did not fault the track, they did make alterations to the course. The Whistler Sliding Centre has created concern since opening in 2007 for its high speeds and frequent crashes.
Based on these findings the race director, in consultation with the FIL, made the decision to reopen the track following a raising of the walls at the exit of curve 16 and a change in the ice profile, the statement said. This was done as a preventative measure, in order to avoid that such an extremely exceptional accident could occur again.
The Coroners Service of British Columbia transferred the decision to the F.IL. on when the track can be re-opened, according to the statement. The F.I.L. will reopen the course Saturday morning for training and the start of the mens Olympic singles luge competition later in the afternoon.