Nodar Kumaritashvili

Nodar Kumaritashvili

Nodar Kumaritashvili was a Georgian luge athlete. He died during a training run for the 2010 Winter Olympics competition in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, on the day of the opening ceremony. He became the fourth athlete to die during preparations for a Winter Olympics, and the seventh athlete to death in either a Summer or Winter Olympic Games. He was ranked 44th out of 65 competitors in the 2009–10 World Cup season.

About Nodar Kumaritashvili in brief

Summary Nodar KumaritashviliNodar Kumaritashvili was a Georgian luge athlete. He died during a training run for the 2010 Winter Olympics competition in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, on the day of the opening ceremony. He became the fourth athlete to die during preparations for a Winter Olympics, and the seventh athlete to death in either a Summer or Winter Olympic Games. His grandfather had introduced luge to Georgia, and both his father and uncle had competed when they were younger. He was ranked 44th out of 65 competitors in the 2009–10 World Cup season and was regarded as one of the best lugers to come from Georgia. His father, David, won a USSR Youth Championship when Georgia was part of the Soviet Union, and was a three-time champion at the Spartakiad, once in two-man bobsled and twice in luge. The venue for the Olympic luge competition was designed by Udo Gurgel and his firm of Leipzig, with the final version produced on 23 October 2004. The maximum calculated speed for men’s luge was 136. 3 kmh. In February 2005, concerns arose regarding the difficulties posed by Cesana Pariol, the track built for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, prompting calls for physical modifications to that track. The International Luge Federation was concerned that similar modifications might be required at the Whistlers track. Uncertainty about the track’s design persisted into the start of construction in 2006 until it was determined that construction would be based on the design of the original track.

After construction, during the homologation process, track produced speeds exceeding the original design calculations by at least 10 h. Following the Olympic test event in February 2009, the original designer’s calculations were concluded that the original calculations were incorrect and that the track had reached a speed of 937 37kmh. The track was later homologated and the track was used for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. He won a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Georgian Technical University, where he also earned an economics degree in 2009. He had one sister, Mariam, who was four years younger. His uncle later served as the head of the Georgian Luge federation, and his father was a two-time winner at the Spartakiad. He qualified for the luge men’s singles event at the 2010 Olympic Games by racing in five World Cup races over two years. He finished 28th in his fifth and last World Cup event at Cesana pariol in January, which was his last and final World Cup race. He also competed in four races at the 2008–09 Luge World Cup, and finished 55th in the 2008-09 season. His family had a long association with luge, with his grandfather helping build a primitive luge run in Bakuriani in 1970; a more finished track, funded by the Soviet authorities, was built in 1973. He enjoyed several winter sports and started luge when he was 13 years old.