Possible improper design causes the death of a young luger.
The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics is overshadowed by tragedy and injuries ensued from the dangerous nature of the games. How should they shape the Games’s public image for sports mixed with intense competition and danger? The inspiring stories from the basic of the game may help the Games bounce back.
A young luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, from Georgia was killed during his last training run. Nodar Kumaritashvili,21, was reported that he miscalculated while speeding at 89.4 miles per hour through the last curve and died within an hour during the emergency care at a nearby medical facility. The Whistler Luge Track, the designated track for the luge event was then criticized for designing a track in the mere pursuit of max speed. What’s worse, the rumor of the training restriction that only Team Canada was allowed to practice in the Whistler until Dec. 20, 2009 was heated after the tragedy. The “home court” advantage worsen the image of the host city.
Actually, injuries in sports are inevitable. However, injuries that cause death are rarely seen. The death of Nodar Kumaritashvili was the first ever since 1992. Therefore, the officials for the 2010 Winter Olympics are under great pressure for people are watching more closely into injuries following Kumaritashvili’s tragedy. This has become a serious PR issue for Vancouver, the host city of the Winter Olympics. Viewers are overshadowed by the potential of watching athletes perform under life-threatening conditions. The spread of the video of Kumaritashvili’s death further damaged the public image of the Games. Though IOC has pulled out virtually every related video on YouTube, users can still watch it which the video has virally spread.
IOC should not look back anymore. It is impossible to stop news from spreading. IOC has to focus on the safety and inspection of all the facilities with the highest standard and reveal all the efforts to the common.
They have to make the information available to people about the cause of this incident. Honesty is the best policy especially when people do not just let it go. They need to actively solve any possible problem related to the tragedy and prepare for questions from everywhere.
There is one other thing the Winter Olympics can do to fix its public image. They should forgo the emphasis on records. Instead, the focus on the spirit of athletes is pivotal to the Games. After all, the game is made by human not number. The great performance by Lindsay Vonn, a US ski racer, was a great start. Lindsay Vonn was injury-prone with a previous injury jeopardizing her game right before the Winter Olympics. She overcame her injury and ended up winning the gold medal for American in the Women’s Downhill. It was a great PR story for the Winter Olympics that they are able to provide high-quality facility for players to compete with all their hearts. They can shift their concentration on competition to the spirit of game where players challenge themselves to be the best they can. After the tragedy, too much emphasis on players’ push to the limit is likely to backfire following the tragedy. However, it is an opportunity for the IOC to reshape the game to its basics and address the love of the game.
