Nodar Kumaritashvili

Aleko helped build a primitive luge run in Bakuriani in 1970; a more finished track, funded by the Soviet authorities, was built in 1973.

Kumaritashvili's uncle and coach, Felix Kumaritashvili, served as the head of the Georgian Luge Federation.

His father David won a USSR Youth Championship when Georgia was part of the Soviet Union, and he was a three-time champion at the Spartakiad: once in two-man bobsleigh and twice in luge.

Kumaritashvili's cousin, Saba Kumaritashvili, later competed in luge at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Kumaritashvili grew up in nearby Bakuriani, which is known for its many ski slopes.

He enjoyed several winter sports and started luge when he was 13 years old.

Nodar Kumaritashvili (ნოდარ ქუმარიტაშვილი; ; 25 November 1988 – 12 February 2010) was a Georgian luge athlete who suffered a fatal crash during a training run for the 2010 Winter Olympics competition in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, on the day of the opening ceremony.

He became the fourth athlete to die during preparations for a Winter Olympics, and the eighth athlete to die as a result of Olympic competition or during practice at their sport’s venue at an Olympic Games.

Kumaritashvili, who first began to participate in luge when he was 13, came from a family of seasoned lugers: his grandfather had introduced the sport to Soviet Georgia, and both his father and uncle had competed when they were younger, with his uncle later serving as the head of the Georgian Luge Federation.

Kumaritashvili was born on 25 November 1988, in Borjomi, Georgian SSR, present-day Georgia, to David and Dodo Kumaritashvili.

He had one sister, Mariam, who was four years younger.

Kumaritashvili's family had a long association with luge.

His grandfather Aleko Kumaritashvili introduced luge to Georgia after first training for it in East Germany.

The venue for the Olympic luge competition, the Whistler Sliding Centre, was designed by Udo Gurgel and his firm, Ingenieurburo Gurgel (IBG) of Leipzig, with the final design produced on 23 October 2004.

Using the specified track dimensions for a variety of sled entrance and exit trajectories, IBG calculated the speeds and G forces along each curve of the track.

The new curve configurations, rather than the speed, were expected to provide the main challenge.

The maximum calculated speed for men's luge was 136.3 km/h.

In February 2005, concerns arose regarding the difficulties posed by Cesana Pariol, the track built for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Several serious crashes occurred, prompting calls for physical modifications to that track.

The International Luge Federation (FIL) was concerned that similar modifications might be required at the Whistler track and communicated these concerns to the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) in March 2005.

Uncertainty about the track design persisted into 2006 until the scheduled start of track construction, when it was determined that construction would be based on the original design.

After construction, during the track homologation (certification) process, the track produced speeds exceeding the design calculations by at least 10 km/h.

Kumaritashvili himself began competing in the 2008–09 Luge World Cup.

During his first season of competition, Kumaritashvili finished 55th out of 62 competitors at the 2008–09 Luge World Cup, where he was entered in four races.

He had also been a student at the Georgian Technical University, where he earned an economics degree in 2009.

While attending the Georgian Technical University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics in 2009, Kumaritashvili maintained a rigorous training and competition schedule.

Though his family endured economic hardship, Kumaritashvili attended as many luge events as he could, often driving for days to reach World Cup events.

As a devout member of the Georgian Orthodox Church, he prayed at church before every competition.

He finished 28th out of 32 competitors at the 2009–10 Luge World Cup event at Cesana Pariol in January, which was his fifth and last World Cup event.

At the time of his death, he was ranked 44th out of 65 competitors in the 2009–10 World Cup season and was regarded as one of the best lugers to come from Georgia.

By 31 December 2009, the cut-off date for luge qualifications for the Olympics, Kumaritashvili was ranked 38th overall.

Following the Olympic test event in February 2009, Josef Fendt, president of FIL, sent a letter to IBG expressing surprise that a record speed of 153.937 km/h had been reached, concluding that the designer's calculations were incorrect, and stating that the high speed "makes me worry."

The letter also said that "overstepping this limit would be an absolute unreasonable demand for the athletes."

He asked IBG to respond, in particular with regard to the future Sochi Olympic track.

Fendt also informed VANOC that the Whistler track was not supplied as ordered.

VANOC, however, concluded that no action was required regarding the Whistler track, since the focus of Fendt's letter to IBG was the new Sochi track.

In April 2009, IBG explained that the differences between the calculated and actual observed speeds were caused by new sled technology that reduced drag coefficients and ice friction coefficients.

Because of the secrecy inherent in sled development, the IBG engineers had difficulty obtaining the latest sled specifications required for their engineering calculations.

In the view of the Games organizers, the high speeds and technical challenges could be safely mitigated by imposing additional practice and graduated training requirements on the athletes.

He qualified for the luge men's singles event at the 2010 Winter Olympics, his Olympic debut, by racing in five World Cup races over two years.