The events surrounding the crash of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili Friday morning at the Whistler Sliding Centre, as witnessed by The Star’s Dave Perkins.
10:45 a.m. – Kumaritashvili begins his practice run, his second of the day and the sixth and last of the pre-race of the competition. The Star is interviewing U.S. slider Bengt Walden, who has just crashed and Walden is asked if this track is indeed the fastest in sliding and whether it’s at the limit. “Definbitely," Walden said. “They won’t build any faster tracks than this one."
10:46 – Someone in the press mixed zone says to watch out for this Georgian guy. He had a crash Wednesday.
10:46 – Coming off the final turn, the 21-year-old native oif Borjomi, Georgia, loses control and, in a heartbeat, is airborne. He appears to hit a side wooden railing that extends about two feet above the track, but keeps flying to his left, off the track, and hits one of the 10-foot-tall steel poles that support the sun roof. He appears to hit it almost cross-body, trravelling some 130 km/h. Television coverage is immediately shut down.
10:47 – Medical personel arrived within seconds – the crash is no more than five or six metres from the track first-aid station—but the impact has been serious. Initial reaction from those watching on TV is that he would need a miracle to survive.
10:52 – Media personnel climb down from the mixed zone near the finish line, to within about 40 feet of the downed racer. Two ambualances are standing by. Kumaritashvili is in a gurney, medical personnel applying CPR. A distraught violunteer is led away. A plastic tube is inserted into the victim’s mouth to facilitate mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
10:55 – He is in an ambulance. Media now out of sight. Ambulance pulls away.
11:02 – Back at the finish line, there’s a numbed silence. Cell phones ring incessantly; information exchanged and given and from the looks of the red-rimmed eyes, none of it is good. An "indefinite hold" is put on the practice run, which had another 20 racers to go, including all three Canadians.
11:11 – A helicopter govers further down the valley, possibly moving Kumaritashvili from a staging station to a hospital. Thye training session is announced as officially suspended and a coach’s meeting is called for 11:30 a.m.
