I assume most of us only pay attention to the sliding sports during the Olympics. However, over the years I've seen quite a bit of luge (really got tired of Georg Hackl winning the gold every freakin' time) and I've never seen an accident like that. Usually, the rider and the sled part company and both slide down the track 'till the rider is able to stop. The biggest concern is always whether the sled's gonna hit the rider. Bumps, bruises, the occasional tendon or ligament damage, but not this. I've never seen an accident where the slider is thrown up and off the track like that. And neither, apparantly, have any of the other sliders.
Speaking of Hackl, he says the course is safe. And I think it's not quite honest to make references that the sliders "were concerned about safety." They were concerned about accidents, to be sure, but not what we saw yesterday.
You guys evidently believe that the changes made to the course are an acknowledgment that there were flaws in the design. I respectfully disagree. I believe these changes (including moving the start line) came significantly in response to the pressure "to do something" in the wake of this horrible accident--a "one in a million" accident. And I believe the young man was overmatched by this track, and probably other tracks as well. Obviously I'm not blaming the victim, but we should not ignore his evident lack of experience as contributing significantly to this tragedy.
And a reminder, whatever changes were made to the track were the responibility of the sports federations working with the Vancouver officials. The IOC probably showed an "interest" in whatever they decided to do, but the IOC does not run these competitions--the sports federations do.
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