The Vancouver Winter Olympics were plunged into darkness last night following the death of a Georgian luge competitor only hours before the opening ceremony.
Olympic officials worked frantically to save the life of 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili, who crashed at more than 145km/h.
IOC president Jacques Rogge, wearing a black tie, wiped away tears when he haltingly announced the death of the luge racer, who crashed on one of the most dangerous sections of a run previously criticized for its extreme design.
"I am sorry, it is difficult to remain composed, it is a very sad day, the Olympics is in mourning for a young athlete who has lost his life pursuing his passion, I have no words to say what we feel," Rogge said. "Our first thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of the athlete."
The Georgian delegation decided to remain in Vancouver and dedicate their Games to their colleague.
''Our sportsmen and athletes decided to be loyal to the spirit of the Olympic Games and dedicate their performances to their fallen comrade,'' said Nikoloz Rurua, Georgia's minister of culture and sport.
Members of the Georgian team wore black armbands as they marched in the opening ceremony.
The World Luge Federation was conducting an immediate investigation centring on the safety of the course, and Canadian authorities were also expected to step in with their own inquiry.
Countries have previously complained about the lack of training on the course as Canada limited access to it so that their competitors would have a home-town advantage.
Vancouver organising committee chief executive John Furlong was also emotional as he explained how he was heartbroken: "Nodar Kumaritashvili came to Canada with the hopes and dreams that this would be a magnificent occasion in his life. I have been told he was an incredibly spirited young person and he came here to feel what it was like to call himself an Olympian."
The crash happened on curve 16, known as Thunderbird, where sliders experience a G-force of 5½ - more than a formula one driver. Kumaritashvili came up too high, banged into the inside wall and was then flicked into a metal beam holding up the roof. He had also crashed in a similar spot during the first training run on Thursday, along with a handful of other athletes.
Josef Fendt, the president of the World Luge Federation, said: "The track is too fast. We had planned it to be a maximum of 137km/h but it is about 20km/h faster. We think this is a planning mistake."
Training was immediately cancelled and the opening luge event was in doubt.
Kumaritashvili's death came shortly after two-time Olympic gold medallist Armin Zoegeller, of Italy, crashed higher up on the course. He slid for 200 metres but was unhurt.
Australian women's luge competitor Hannah Campbell-Pegg said two days ago that the lugers were being treated as crash test dummies down a dangerous course. American slider Tony Benshoof said the physics of the curves meant there was virtually no margin for error.
"On the first run, I had some problems in the lower portion of the track,'' he said. ''Because of the physics of the curves, and going at 95 miles per hour [153km/h], there's a really small margin for error. You really need to get it right from curve nine to get as far as curve 13, because once you get to curve 11 and 12, you're going too fast to correct yourself."
The IOC moved quickly to remove footage of the training incident, preventing access to it on the official broadcast channel and YouTube.
The death is the fifth at a Winter Olympic Games - all of them taking place during training - and the first since 1992 in Albertville, France, when an athlete died during a demonstration sport of speed skiing.
Just watch the video after the jump; that shows how fast was the track ..... actually uncontrollable.
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