The Winnepeg Free Press reported on initial findings from the International Luge Federation (FIL) investigation of the tragic luge accident during the Vancouver Olympics.
The report said Kumaritashvili exited the 15th curve in the 16-turn course too late, causing him to take a less-than-favourable line into the final curve. FIL decided that Kumaritashvili tried to keep the sled low on the track, which raised the amount of G-force he would experience in the final seconds.
With that, he lost control.
Kumaritashvili’s right hand reached for the ice, which distributed more weight onto his right shoulder. Combined with the G-force, that meant the sled runners basically steered him straight to the right – in this case, into the inside corner of the wall.
“Both actions literally served to pivot it in a similar way a sharp turn is made when a handbrake is applied to a car at a high rate of speed,” the report said.
Typically, when a sled hits the wall like Kumaritashvili’s did, the runners will break or the slider will be thrown off the wall. Neither happened, and the energy threw Kumaritashvili over the opposite side of the track, milliseconds after he was clocked at 143.88 km/h.
Kumaritashvili’s hips cleared that wall by centimetres. Had that wall been a bit higher, he would have likely remained in the track. Instead, he sailed over the barrier, the back of his head striking a steel beam – the fatal blow.
FIL said that, in normal situations, that wall would have been high enough to keep a slider from exiting the track.
Another report from the British Columbia coroner’s office and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will include a more detailed accident reconstruction.
