Georgian luger told dad ‘I will either win or die’

TBILISI (AP) — The father of a Georgian luger killed during a training run at the Vancouver Olympics said Monday that his son worried the track was too dangerous, but insisted on competing because he had come to the games to try to win.

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  Family mourns loss of Nodar Kumaritashvili

  The family of Nodar Kumaritashvili grieves his loss in the republic of Georgia.

• Georgian luger killed in crash

“He told me: Dad, I really fear that curve,” David Kumaritashvili, a former Soviet-era luger, told The Associated Press at his home in the snow-covered slopes of Georgia’s top ski resort. He said the two spoke by phone shortly before the fatal run.

“I’m a former athlete myself, and I told him: ‘You just take a slower start,’” Kumaritashvili recalled. “But he responded: ‘Dad, what kind of thing you are teaching me? I have come to the Olympics to try to win.’”

Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, died during Friday practice when he lost control of his sled and slammed into a trackside steel pole at nearly 90 mph. After the crash, the poles were wrapped in padding and the course was altered to make it slower.

“He told me: I will either win or die,” the elder Kumaritashvili said, and then paused. “But that was youthful bravado, he couldn’t be seriously talking about death.”

The International Olympic Committee and luge officials have taken criticism for blaming the accident on Kumaritashvili’s failure to make tactical corrections during his run, and for saying they were changing the course not to make it safer but to soothe the emotions of the athletes.

Concerns about the course, the world’s fastest, had been raised for months. There were worries that the $100 million-plus venue was too technically demanding, and that only Canada’s sliders would have enough time to adapt to it in practice.

Nodar Kumaritashvili takes to the Whistler track during a training session on Friday. The Georgian slider fatally crashed on Curve 16.

“They tested that track on my son,” the elder Kumaritashvili, 46, said bitterly.

“My son was training since he was 14, he ran tracks in France, Austria and Canada, and he never suffered an injury,” he said. “He has passed through all stages of the World Cup and made it to the Olympics, he couldn’t have done that if he were an inexperienced athlete. Anyone can make mistake and break a leg or suffer some other injury. But to die!”

Kumaritashvili is to be buried in his hometown of Bukuriani, a small ski resort about 110 miles from Tbilisi, the capital of the former Soviet republic. His death has devastated the community, and a steady stream of neighbors and friends have been bringing flower sprays and condolences to his family.

Kumaritashvili’s body will leave Monday afternoon on a flight to Germany and will then be flown to Georgia for arrival early Wednesday, a senior Olympic official told The Associated Press. The official spoke anonymously because the plans were being kept private.

The luger was the pride of his hometown, where he was loved for his high spirits and generosity.

David Gureshidze, a 28-year-old friend, said that Nodar was loved by children of the village, and had taught many of them to ski.

“He spent most of his time abroad, but he would never miss a chance to visit home and would bring gifts to everyone,” Gureshidze said.

The Kumaritashvilis’ neighbor, Gogi Laliyev, said the athlete was fond of Laliyev’s 4-year old son and promised to bring him a toy rifle from Vancouver.

“We told the boy that Nodar won’t come back, and he asked why,” Laliyev said. “We said that he died and my son asked: ‘Won’t he come back to life?’ We said no, and he broke into tears.”

Life is fucking precious, makes me wonder why I am still here with some of the shit I have done. But learning from that shit keeps you from repeating it. Live and learn. Crab fishing is fucking nuts what those guys put up with for about 2months of work, with 20 hour days in 40foot swells with gale force winds that are constant. I watch the show and love it. This captain was the most interesting because he held nothing back and acted the same whether the camera was on or off his crew said. R.I.P.

Sql.

Captain of the Cornelia Marie

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dad – Captain Phil Harris. Dad has always been a fighter and continued to be until the end. For us and the crew, he was someone who never backed down. We will remember and celebrate that strength. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. – Jake and Josh Harris

It is with tremendous sadness that I say goodbye to Phil Harris. Phil and I have been business partners and friends for nearly 20 years.  We have been through a lot of ups and downs together with the F/V Cornelia Marie. As a skipper, he was a great fisherman. He loved his family and cared for his crew. We will all miss him. – Cornelia Marie Devlin

Statement from Discovery – Discovery mourns the loss of dear friend and colleague Captain Phil Harris. He was more than someone on our television screen. Phil was a devoted father and loyal friend to all who knew him. We will miss his straightforward honesty, wicked sense of humor and enormous heart. We share our tremendous sadness over this loss with the millions of viewers who followed Phil’s every move. We send our thoughts and prayers to Phil’s sons Josh and Jake and the Cornelia Marie crew.

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Fatality At The Olympics

     I am one who gets gay for the Olympics, especially Winter. Ice Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Boarding, Speed Skating, and the gnarliest of all, Singles LUGE. I used to think rodeo riding was the craziest sport ever, but I have bumped it for luge. Reaching speeds of 90MPH+ !!! On ice with no brakes and no steering because the track steers you. The driver just tries to stay dead center while the G forces wage war against them. As fun and exciting the Olympics are, people can die. Don’t cancel the events, thats why its the worlds best. The remaining athletes of the Republic of Georgia are the real medalists. Just the fact that they still participated in the opening ceremonies is beyond me. Think of the life you led up to 21 years and then stop. Did you live enough or get it all in? FUCK NO, way to short. Kid got really squirrely at speed and the G forces took over acting like a vacuum sucking his body right out of the turn. The most brutal thing I have ever scene I think. They showed it a few times during the live broadcast and no one could survive coming to a dead stop from 80+MPH. He hit a solid structural pillar and never had a chance, sad thing is that he knew he most likely would not even do well. He apparently just wanted to compete for his country. R.I.P.

A real man, brave as fuck, only good intentions.

Nodar Kumaritashvili, a Georgian luger, has died from one of the most horrible accidents imaginable just hours before the official start of the Olympics. Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled, went over a wall, and slammed into a metal support beam. Observers said his sled was traveling nearly 90 mph.

The 21-year-old was knocked unconscious, then immediately administered CPR and air-lifted to a Whistler hospital where he died. The 2010 Games would have been Kumaritashvili’s first Olympics.

Kumaritashvili’s crash occurred at the fastest part of the track, which steeply declines for 152 meters, making it the world’s longest luge drop. This is the third crash there in the last two days. Earlier on Friday, defending gold medalist Armin Zoeggeler of Italy lost control but suffered no injuries. On Thursday, female Romanian luger Violeta Stramaturaru crashed and was air-lifted from the track. Her injuries are not considered serious.

Our prayers and condolences go out to Nodar Kumaritashvili’s family.