Overall Safety Concerns
Kumaritashvili's death raised concerns about athlete safety at the Winter Olympics. As of 21 February 2010, there were 30 crashes in bobsleigh and luge at the Sliding Centre. Debate was raised on tightening qualification standards in weeding out unqualified athletes, in requiring a large number of training runs, in slowing down the sliding tracks, or in combining the three. The Russian National Sliding Centre planned for the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton events at the 2014 Winter Olympics has not been built though organizers already said that it is designed to be 6 to 9 km/h (3.7 to 5.6 mph) slower than The Whistler Sliding Centre. Sochi's Sliding Centre will be monitored via 3-D computer graphics and simulation. The IOC has improved safety standards over the years such as lowering obstacles for the equestrian three-day event, requiring protective head gear for boxing and ice hockey, and tightening qualification standards to preclude athletes not qualified for the event. FIBT President Storey wanted to wait to review safety of bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton until after the 2010 Games, stating that track designers needed to find a balance between challenges and dangers on the track. Track designer Gurgel told Sport Bild that perhaps track walls should be raised 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20 in) on future courses though a risk-proof course may not be possible. According to VANOC, over 30,000 runs were made prior to the games with neither the FIBT nor the FIL issuing public danger warnings about the track. IOC President Jacques Rogge stated that he "will do everything in my power that this should not happen again in the future".
The FIL published their reports in regards to Kumaritashvili's death following the FIL Commissions Meeting in St. Leonhard, for both sport and technical commissions on 9–11 April 2010. This report was prepared by Romstad and Claire DelNegro, FIL Vice-President Sport Artificial Track. The 20-page report was released by the FIL to the IOC on 12 April 2010 and was released on FIL's website to the public on 19 April 2010. Documents released in February 2011 showed that the speed of the course was a concern for several years before Kumaritashvili's death.
Read more about this topic: The Whistler Sliding Centre
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