On 12 February 2010 , hours before the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics , Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili suffered a crash during a training run exiting out of turn 16 . Kumaritashvili was injured when he flew off the track and collided with a steel pole . He was going at the time of the crash . He died later that day from the injuries sustained in that crash . His accident came after other crashes during that week . This reignited concerns about the track 's safety . Kumaritashvili was the first Olympic athlete to die at the Winter Olympics in training since 1992 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 . It was also luge 's first fatality since 10 December 1975 when an Italian luger was killed . A joint statement was issued by the FIL , the IOC , and VANOC over Kumaritashvili 's death . Training was suspended for the rest of that day . According to the Coroners Service of British Columbia and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police , Kumaritashvili 's death was an accident caused by a " convergence of several factors " , including the high speed of the track , its technical difficulty , and the athlete 's relative unfamiliarity with the track
opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
Whistler Sliding Centre