While the IOC does not consider luge times eligible for Olympic records, the International Luge Federation (FIL) does maintain records for both the start and a complete run at each track it competes.
These records were set during the test event at the women's singles/ men's doubles start house for the 2010 Games on 20 February 2009.
During training on February 12, 2010, Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili was going at over 143 kilometres per hour (89 mph) when he crashed in the last turn and hit a steel pole. He was administered CPR at the track, then taken away to hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Training was immediately stopped.[8] As a result, the start of the men's single competition was moved to the women's/doubles' start to reduce speed and the wall at corner where Kumaritashvili crashed was raised.[9]
Investigations were conducted the same day, concluding that the accident was not caused by deficiencies in the track. A joint statement was issued by the FIL, the International Olympic Committee, and the Vancouver Organizing Committee over Kurmaitasvili's death with training suspended for the rest of that day.[10] According to the Coroners Service of British Columbia and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the cause was to Kumaritashvili coming out of turn 15 late and not compensating for turn 16.[11] Because of this fatality, an extra 40 yd (37 m) of wall was added after the end of turn 16 and the ice profile was changed.[11] It also moved the men's singles luge event from its starthouse to the one for both the women's singles and men's doubles event.[12] Kumaritashvili is the first Olympic athlete to die at the Winter Olympics in training since 1992[12] and the first luger to die in a practice event at the Winter Olympics since Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski of Great Britain was killed at the luge track used for the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.[13] It was also luge's first fatality (on an artificial track[14]) since 10 December 1975, when an Italian luger was killed.[15] Kumaritavili's teammate Levan Gureshidze withdrew prior to the first run of the event.[14]
Women's singles and men's doubles start was moved to the Junior start house of the track, located after turn 6.[16] Germany's Geisenberger complained that it was not a women's start but more of a kinder ("child" in German) start. Her teammate Hüfner who had the fastest speed on two runs of 82.3 mph (132.4 km/h) stated that the new start position "..does not help good starters like myself".[16] American Erin Hamlin stated the track was still demanding even after the distance was lessened from 1,193 to 953 m (3,914 to 3,127 ft) and that you were still hitting 80 mph (130 km/h).[16]
On 23 March 2010, FIL President Fendt, VANOC President John Furlong, 2010 men's singles gold medalist Felix Loch of Germany visited Kumaritashvili's grave in his hometown of Bakuriani to pay respects as part of tradition in the Georgian Orthodox Church.[17]
The FIL published their report in regards to Kumaritashvili's death after the FIL Commissions Meeting in St. Leonhard, Austria (near Salzburg) for both sport and technical commissions on 9–11 April 2010.[18] This report was prepared by FIL Secretary General Svein Romstad and Vice President Claire DelNegro, who are from the United States.[18]
Qualifying athletes
These are the athletes who qualified for the women's singles event as of 4 February 2010.[19]
The first two runs took place on 15 February at 17:00 PST and 18:30 PST.[1] On 16 February, the final two runs took place at 13:00 PST and 14:30 PST.[1]
Julia Clukey during one of runs on the first day of the competition
First run start order was released on the morning of 15 February 2010.[20]
Romania's Violeta Stramturaru was knocked unconscious on 11 February 2010 after slamming into several walls during a training run.[21] She was strapped to a backboard and placed on a stretcher though her arms were moving.[21] Stramuraru's sister Raluca, who had completed her run before her sister and made it through without issue, rushed to the end of the observation deck to see if she was okay as the public address announcer directed medical personnel to the scene.[21] American Sweeney, sliding after Violeta, went airborne prior to the final curve and crashed though she walked away shaken up.[21] Violeta later withdrew prior to the event while Raluca would finish 21st.
Yasuda was disqualified after the first run after her post-competition weigh in for having too heavy a sled. Her sled weighed 13.3 kg (29.3 lb) when the maximum allowed by the FIL is 13.1 kg (28.9 lb)[22] Romania's Chiras crashed out during the second run, the only crash during the actual competition. Šišajová caused a sensation when she went airborne during the fourth run on Turn 13 though she managed to stay on her sled.[23] Prior to her fourth run, Hüfner took a nap to ease her nervousness.[23] Geisenberger's final run was delayed when a track-side photographer accidentally set off a water hose.[23]
Defending World Champion Hamlin finished a disappointing 16th. Hüfner followed up her bronze at the 2006 Winter Olympics with gold in this Olympics. Reithmeyer, who finished eighth at Turin, earned her best career finish and became the first non-German to medal in this event at the Winter Olympics since fellow AustrianAngelika Neuner won bronze at Nagano in 1998.[23][24]Defending European champion Ivanova finished fourth on her 19th birthday. The margin of victory was the largest since 1994.[24]
Two-time Olympic champion Otto commented to Reuters that "Tatti (Hüfner's nickname) is a very strong slider and still relatively young so she could achieve what I did and win this again."[23]
Canada's Gough commented on the 14th in the wake of Kumaritashvili's death two days earlier that "We’ve got the world championships here in a few years (2013) so hopefully we can actually have a race." instead of the start at the Junior start house.[23]
Time listed at top in italics is start time while time below is the track time. SR - Start Record. TR - Track Record. Top finishes in both times are in boldface.
^"Luge (Toboggan): Men". In The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: 2010 Edition. (2009). David Wallechinsky and Jaime Loucky, Editor. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 158.
^ abWallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2009). "Luge (Toboggan): Women". In The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: 2010 Edition. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 172.
