John Goodwin got a strange phone call the first Sunday morning of the 2010 Olympics.
The volunteer protocol officer for Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was told the president was keen to skate on an artificial ice rink at Park Royal Mall in West Vancouver.
PARIS (AP)—The International Luge Federation’s 20-page—is that all his death deserved?—report into the horrific accident that killed Georgian Olympian Nodar Kumaritashvili is exactly what was expected: a self-serving whitewash.
His crash couldn’t be foreseen, the FIL claims.
By Karolos Grohmann
BERLIN, April 19 (Reuters) - The death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, killed during a training run at the Vancouver Olympics, was not caused by one single event, the International Luge Federation (FIL) said on Monday.
Kumaritashvili lost control and slammed into an exposed steel pillar during his last training run at the Whistler Sliding Centre on Feb. 12, hours before the Games’ opening ceremony.
VANCOUVER ' On 10 occasions over the years, John Furlong has given a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade.
As regular as clockwork every fall, the main face of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics took the stage to talk about the progress in bringing the Games to Canada. He would talk about the financial struggles, the need for volunteers, the sport challenges and even the Vancouver Games in context to other Olympics.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP)—A group of Vancouver business leaders has given $10,000 to the family of the luger killed on the first day of the Olympics.
Nodar Kumaritashvili of Georgia died in a training run on Feb. 12.
The Vancouver Board of Trade made the donation Friday in honor of John Furlong, head of the 2010 Games.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND(AP) —The IOC says an official report into the accident that killed luger Nodar Kumaritashvili at the Vancouver Olympics will be published next week.
International Luge Federation leaders delivered their findings to Olympic officials on Monday.
The International Olympic Committee said the investigation “covers the immediate circumstances of the accident and the response by the concerned authorities.” The IOC said the report will be shown to Kumaritashvili’s family before being made public next Monday.
BERLIN, April 12 (Reuters) - Olympic officials have started studying an International Luge Federation (FIL) report into the death of Georgian athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was killed during a training run at the Vancouver Olympics.
“We have received the report (from the FIL) this morning and are looking into the findings,” an IOC official told Reuters on Monday.
ST. LEONHARD, Austria (AP)—A top Russian luge official says organizers of the 2014 Sochi Olympics will be “extra cautious” building a sliding center after originally planning the world’s fastest and most difficult track.
Genady Rodionov told The Associated Press on Saturday that luge “must try to exclude” incidents like the high-speed crash that killed Nodar Kumaritashvili at the Vancouver Games two months ago.
ST. LEONHARD, AUSTRIA(AP) —A top Russian luge official says organizers of the 2014 Sochi Olympics will be “extra cautious” building a sliding center after originally planning the world’s fastest and most difficult track.
Genady Rodionov told The Associated Press on Saturday that luge “must try to exclude” incidents like the high-speed crash that killed Nodar Kumaritashvili at the Vancouver Games two months ago.
GENEVA (AP)—The leaders of the International Luge Federation will meet in Austria this weekend to complete their investigation into the accident that killed Nodar Kumaritashvili at the Vancouver Olympics.
Officials from the federation’s sport and technical commissions hope to sign off on a report analyzing the 21-year-old Georgian’s crash at the Whistler Sliding Center, the world’s fastest track.
