As exciting as the competition might be, Friday, as the games were about to open, we were struck with tragedy. Some say it should have never happened. Some say it was just another danger of a sport.
Georgian luger, 21 year old, Nodar Kumaritashili lost control of his luge and was thrown off hitting an unpadded metal pole at nearly 90 miles per hour. They say it isn't the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop. As hard as it might be to imagine what that would be like, it's hard to watch. I learned of the crash via Twitter while having lunch with the Wife and Laura from Vodka Logic. I wanted to know more, and I was sure that I would get the news I wanted from the news once I was able to watch.
As the Wife and Audrey got ready for their play, I watched The NBC Nightly News as they showed the footage of the crash. My mouth dropped to the floor. Tears came to my eyes. This athlete's death was shown on nationwide television. Again they showed the crash in slow motion. Slow enough to see the fear in the athlete's eyes. In less than 0.01 seconds, he was dead.
Now technically he did not die on impact, but to show this video not only during the 6:30 Nightly News, but also at the top of the Opening Ceremonies. Over. And over. And over. It was classless, inappropriate, and showed a disrespect to this athlete that is completely unimaginable. Would they have shown the video over and over if it were an American?
The analysts say it was his lack of experience on the track and this particular track is said to be the fastest and most challenging track in the world.
I am disgusted with NBC for even showing this video. As exclusive as it might have been, it was inappropriate to show this horrific death.
It was probably the scariest thing I have ever seen.
So as I sit here, excited to watch the competition unfold, I am reminded of how precious life can be.
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