Op-Ed: Olympic Games Deadly?

by Morgan Miller

On February 12, 2010, the tragic death of Olympic luger Nodar Kumaritashvili shocked the Nation. With amazing athletes participating in this years Olympic Games competition is especially stiff for competitors. But, is the desire for gold causing athletes to put their lives in too much danger?

Athlete Kumaritashvili was on his first training run preparing for an upcoming race when he tragically crashed to his death at a speed of 88 miles per hour the end of a 4,500 foot course. According to the Vancouver Olympics web site, the Whistler course where Kumaritashvili was training is considered one of the fastest in the world. A report done by David Epstein who is a coverage reporter for the 2010 winter games, revealed that the track has caused many athletes to complain about the speeds that the course causes them to reach. He also said that at this winter games athletes will be setting record high speeds possibly over 100 miles per hour. That day athletes were even complaining about the lower portion of the course where Kumaritashvili had crashed

If there was evident danger, why wasn’t there anything done about it? Especially if athletes are complaining, Olympic Games courses should be checked and rechecked to see if conditions are in good enough shape for competitors.

In a similar situation, during the 1964 Winter Olympics, a downhill skier Ross Milne died when he struck a tree during a practice run days before competition. It was reported by the organizing committee that he caught an edge which sent him off course.  But, the skier’s manager John Wagner followed up on the incident and found that the top part of the ski course was overcrowded. This caused the skier to slow down and ski over a spot of the course that was not prepared for stopping which sent him off course. Although this speculation has not been verified, could the tragedy been avoided just by the portion of the hill being properly groomed?

Tragedies happen every year in athletic competition, but it is possible for these situations for be avoided by simply not ignoring the problem. If athletes are complaining about the conditions of a course or feel uneasy about competing, it should probably be checked out to avoid error. Hopefully after these tragic deaths of fallen athletes we can avoid more situations like these in future competitions.