CANADA: WINTER OLYMPICS VANCOUVER 2010 - Driver error caused fatal luge crash says head of International Luge Federation Svein Romstad

Record ID: 588969

  • Title: CANADA: WINTER OLYMPICS VANCOUVER 2010 - Driver error caused fatal luge crash says head of International Luge Federation Svein Romstad
  • Date: 16th February 2010
  • Summary: WHISTLER, BC, CANADA (FEBRUARY 14, 2010) (REUTERS) SVEIN ROMSTAD, INTERNATIONAL LUGE FEDERATION (FIL) SECRETARY-GENERAL, WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SVEIN ROMSTAD, INTERNATIONAL LUGE FEDERATION (FIL) SECRETARY-GENERAL, SAYING: "A mistake appeared to take place. That is the conclusion that we have to draw. But once again everyone does mistakes, from Armin Zoeggeler if you go to Felix Loch who won the gold medal today. If you bring me the tape I will show you that he made a mistake on the way down the track. That is something that every single athlete deals with in the sport. Unfortunately this one here, that small mistake had a fatal consequence." SVEIN ROMSTAD, INTERNATIONAL LUGE FEDERATION (FIL) SECRETARY-GENERAL, TALKING TO REPORTER SVEIN ROMSTAD, INTERNATIONAL LUGE FEDERATION (FIL) SECRETARY-GENERAL, SAYING: "We did discuss cancelling it. We talked to all the team managers and so on. I think there is a general consensus to go forward. I think we erred on the side of caution by going, lowering the mens start down to the women's start. It would be easier to keep the womens and doubles at the start...but we decided to go ahead and proactively move them down as well just once again to create an emotional comfort level because once you have and speaking as a former athlete - once you have, if you're up there you almost feel like if I go down there then you feel like everything is fine because I've done that. So I think that we have done the measures that we can. It might not be a decision that every body is happy with but I'm very comfortable that we've made the right decision." SVEIN ROMSTAD, INTERNATIONAL LUGE FEDERATION (FIL) SECRETARY-GENERAL, TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) SVEIN ROMSTAD, FIL SECRETARY-GENERAL, SAYING: "We've already met with Sochi and already have an agreement to construct a track. We are very comfortable that the speed is going to be lower. There is still going to be a high speed but it's going to be lower. So, I think we've already taken the steps before. Once again there is a certain...if this track didn't exist, then another track is the fastest track and I think it's Salt Lake and then it's 'is Salt Lake too fast?' And how far do you step back. That's hard to say. But based on the amount of runs we've had here, and based on the overall, yes it's fast but this is not any more unusual than any other track." SVEIN ROMSTAD, INTERNATIONAL LUGE FEDERATION (FIL) SECRETARY-GENERAL, TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) SVEIN ROMSTAD, FIL SECRETARY-GENERAL, SAYING: "Every organizer wants to say 'oh this is the greatest, the best, fastest,' whatever. We recognize that we are here and we don't want to go further than this direction. We consider this track safe, it is a very interesting track and our work with VANOC has been over years and years and I would never imagined this would happen. But we felt very comfortable with all the aspects of preparation for these games." SVEIN ROMSTAD, INTERNATIONAL LUGE FEDERATION (FIL) SECRETARY-GENERAL, TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) SVEIN ROMSTAD, FIL SECRETARY-GENERAL, SAYING: "I will stand by Nodar was absolutely qualified and deserved to be at the Olympic games. Absolutely, unequivocally, he was qualified and he was a good athlete. Once again I think we have the very safeguards in place. Where do you draw the line if you say you are only going to take the top three athletes and stop after that. I think we have plenty of safeguards. If there were no restrictions there would be a lot more people at the games that shouldn't be here. But we believe that everybody that qualified for the games were qualified and capable to get down the track." SVEIN ROMSTAD, INTERNATIONAL LUGE FEDERATION (FIL) SECRETARY-GENERAL, TALKING TO REPORTER
  • Embargoed: 3rd March 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Canada
  • Country: Canada
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA4OH2UYE4Q1PIVR86P3P3UA3FT
  • Story Text: Investigation shows that Georgian slider Nodar Kumaritashvili made an error that caused his deadly crash on the luge course in Whistler, according to the Secretary-General of the International Luge Federation (FIL) Svein Romstad.
    An investigation found that Georgian slider Nodar Kumaritashvili made a fatal error that caused his crash on the luge course at the Vancouver Olympics, according to the Secretary-General of the International Luge Federation (FIL), Svein Romstad.
    "A mistake appeared to take place. That is the conclusion that we have to draw. But once again everyone does mistakes, from Armin Zoeggeler if you go to Felix Loch who won the gold medal today. If you bring me the tape I will show you that he made a mistake on the way down the track. That is something that every single athlete deals with in the sport. Unfortunately this one here, that small mistake had a fatal consequence."
    After the crash the governing body and Vancouver Olympics organising committee determined that the men's luge competition would run from the lower women's start as an extra precaution. Romstad said that organisers considered cancelling the event all together.
    "We did discuss cancelling it. We talked to all the team managers and so on. I think there is a general consensus to go forward. I think we erred on the side of caution by going, lowering the mens start down to the women's start," Romstad said.
    Despite concluding that the accident was not caused by any deficiency in the track, organisers have also raised the walls at the exit of curve 16 where Kumaritashvili died and changed the ice profile as preventative measures.
    "I think that we have done the measures that we can. It might not be a decision that every body is happy with but I'm very comfortable that we've made the right decision," Romstad said.
    The difference in speeds reached by the men and women from their respective starts was around 10kph.
    Romstad said the decision had been taken primarily for emotional reasons, to reassure the shaken sliders after the tragic event.
    Looking ahead at how the accident will impact the 2014 Olympics, Romstad said a decision has already been taken to design a track for slower speeds for the Sochi games in 2014.
    "We've already met with Sochi and already have an agreement to construct a track. We are very comfortable that the speed is going to be lower. There is still going to be a high speed but it's going to be lower. So, I think we've already taken the steps," Romstad said.
    He added that while "every organizer wants to say 'oh this is the greatest, the best, fastest,' whatever. We recognize that we are here and we don't want to go further than this direction."
    The Whistler Sliding Centre is acknowledged as the fastest in the world, although an FIL spokesman said on Friday (February 12) there had been 2,500 runs with only a three percent crash rate.
    However, athletes have been remarking all week on the speed and technical difficulty of the 1,400 metre track which features corners nicknamed 50-50 and Shiver.
    Romstad recognised the track as the fastest track, but said it was not too fast.
    "We consider this track safe, it is a very interesting track and our work with VANOC has been over years and years and I would never imagined this would happen. But we felt very comfortable with all the aspects of preparation for these games."
    Asked about a suggestion that some Olympic competitors were not experienced enough to master the high-speed track, Romstad dismissed the allegation.
    "Nodar was absolutely qualified and deserved to be at the Olympic games. Absolutely, unequivocally, he was qualified and he was a good athlete. Once again I think we have the very safeguards in place. Where do you draw the line if you say you are only going to take the top three athletes and stop after that. I think we have plenty of safeguards. If there were no restrictions there would be a lot more people at the games that shouldn't be here. But we believe that everybody that qualified for the games were qualified and capable to get down the track."
    The first of the luge competitions ended on Sunday (February 14) with Germany's Felix Loch winning the gold medal in luge singles.
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