February 15 2010 : Winter Olympics 2010: Nodar Kumaritashvili's death a turning point in luge, says Adam Rosen.
Britain's Adam Rosen predicted the death of Georgia’s Nodar Kumaritashvili would be a turning point in ice track design after recovering from his own crash on the treacherous Whistler course to equal his best ever finish in an Olympic competition.
Rosen, who dislocated his hip and tore four muscles during a training run in October, finished 16th overall yesterday – the same result as he achieved at the Turin Olympics four years ago.
It was just one place outside the best ever Winter Olympics result by a British luger. Jeremy Palmer-Tomkinson, uncle of socialite Tara, finished 15th in Lake Placid in 1980.
But Rosen, who supported the decision of race organisers to switch to the women’s start to reduce speeds in the lower parts of the track, said he believed Whistler would be the last of the super-fast courses.
"From what I've heard, they won't build any tracks as fast as this in the future," he said. "It was a really fast track and I don't think we will ever encounter a course like this again."
Germany celebrated a one-two with Felix Loch taking gold by a huge 0.679sec margin from compatriot David Moeller. Italy's Armin Zoeggeler, the 2002 and 2006 champion, took the bronze.
Moeller admitted the competition had been overshadowed by the death of Kumaritashvili, who slammed into a metal pillar after losing control of sled in a practice run on Friday.
“It was a dark day for the sport,” he said. “We were all sitting in the village restaurant in silence that night. It still runs through your mind during the quiet moments.”
Rosen said he was disappointed not to have achieved the best luge result by a Briton but remains hopeful for Sochi in four years’ time.
"A lot of the top lugers are in their thirties and I'm only 25 so there's still a long time for me to go," he said.
1 comments:
Nodar Kumaritashvili’s death is a tragedy, and the video of his death is horrifying! Luge looks like such a neat sport, but also very dangerous at the same time. His death will cast a pall over these Olympic Games. The safety of the sport definitely needs to be addressed appropriately and immediately.
Post a Comment
We encourage people to contact us with any comments regarding news or any other queries about this site. We will respond you respectively and promptly.
We are going to moderate comments only to avoid unwanted and spam messages.
Thanks for your interest ! ! ! ! ! ! !