The 2010 Winter Olympics wasted little time in gaining notoriety. The scene was the luge course designed for record speeds. A Ukrainian athlete hit 90 mph before losing control in a turn. G-forces catapulted his body into a stationary stanchion. The collision killed the sledder. Reactions ranged from sorrow to the Olympic Luge Committee blaming the fatal accident on the sledder.
NBC broadcasting the Olympics to the USA decided to white-out the incident. No more mention of the sledder and onto the scandal about the USA’s premier men’s skater wearing fur on his costume.
Death has stalked the Olympics on various occasions. 1964 was the inaugural entry of the luge. A Polish sledder exited the course during a practice run in Innsbruck. A skier also died on the downhill that year and in 1992 another skier never made it to the end of the piste in Albertsville. None of these fatalities were shown on Tv, however ABC’s Wide World of Sports opening montage featured a tumbling ski jumper to the words ‘the agony of defeat’.
That Yugoslavian skier was Vinko Bogataj. He survived that crash and once said after a car accident on the way to be interview for TV. “Every time I’m on ABC, I crash.”
Two nights ago my landlord AP, his two kids, and I walked over to Ft. Greene Park with a sled. AP was a true alpinist, testing the slope with his two little ones and himself sliding down the hill. He asked if I wanted to give it a try. The last time I was on a sled was 1994. Steamboat Springs.
I’m not covered by medical insurance, but said, “What the hell.”
Sitting down with my feet on the steering I aimed the sled on the longest possible trajectory. City workers had shoveled a pile of snow to the right and two benches were obstacle to the left. AP gave me a push. Slow instantly switched to fast and the sled revealed a mind of its own. We hit the mound of snow at full speed. I was covered in white. AP and his two kids were laughing with the joy that the crash hadn’t happened to them.
Slapstick.
I was happy to be funny.
I only wish that Nodar Kumaritashvili could say the same thing.
He was only 21.
The Thrill of Victory will always be in his heart.
For a related article click on this URL
https://www.mangozeen.com/2010/01/30/new-england/big-foot-by-peter-nolan-smith.htm