Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili Dies During Luge Practice
Nodar Kumaritashvili, competing in the Vancouver Winter Olympics for Georgia, died on Friday during a practice luge run earlier this morning.
The 21-year old luger died after sliding off the track and hitting a medal pole at the Whistler Sliding Center.
Rescue workers were at Kumaritashvili’s side within seconds. Chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation started less than one minute after the crash, and he was quickly airlifted to a trauma center in Whistler.
Kumaritashvili is the first competitor to die at the Winter games since 1992. The luge competition is tentatively still scheduled to begin Saturday afternoon.
Video of the crash was temporarily available to view on You Tube and other sites but respectively has been taken down since then.
[image: NBC]
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Very tragic start to the Winter Olympics. Condolences to his family.
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