This time it’s the men. I know this track is particularly tricky, even after it was reconfigured when the luge association said it was just plain dangerous, but doesn’t it seem like there have been a particularly high number of crashes that involve injuries? Or is it just me?
There were two crashes today. The first one disqualified American hopefuls Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin, who won the bronze in Nagano and the silver in Salt Lake City. This is most likely their last Olympic bid. Both walked away from the accident and appeared unhurt.
The second one was another of those really scary crashes and involved the Ukranian team of Oleg Zherebetskyy and Roman Yazvinskyy. A drape was pulled over the ice as medical personnel tended to Yazvinskyy, who was loaded into an ambulance. Generally, the drape means the sledder is unconscious. Zherebetskyy appeared unhurt. There was no immediate word on Yazvinskyy’s condition.
After watching the special on the making of the Olympics, I sure had doubts as to whether the luge/skeleton track was safe. It sure seems iffy.
I wonder what would happen if they had declared it to be unsafe? Would they have canceled the luge and skelton events?
I wonder if that is why they approved the tracks and none of the coaches are saying it’s unsafe, because otherwise they wouldn’t be able to compete?