Georgian Olympic Committee blames luge track for fatal accident

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The Georgian Olympic Committee on Thursday blamed the track, not the athlete for the accident that killed 21-year-old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili hours before the opening of the Winter Olympics.

‘I exclude the possibility that Nodar was not experienced enough,’ committee chief Giorgi Natsvlishlili said in televised comments. ‘From my point of view the track was at fault.’

Kumaritashvili died in a training accident when he lost control of his luge on the final turn of the track at the Whistler Sliding Center, the world’s fastest, and hit a steel support beam at 90 mph.

-- Houston Mitchell in Vancouver