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Episode details

World Service,10 Feb 2018,9 mins

Olympic Luge Death

Sporting Witness

Available for over a year

Just hours before the Vancouver Olympics opened in 2010, a young luge athlete from Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili, was killed when he crashed in training. Many critics said the sliding track was too fast and too difficult. Modifications to the track were made to make it safer and the competition went ahead, but the episode cast a shadow over the games and shocked the luging community. Rebecca Kesby spoke to Nodar's father, Davit Kumaritashvili. Photo: Candles and flowers left as a tribute to Nodar Kumaritashvili, Vancouver 2010. (Getty Images)

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