I’m devastated by the loss of an athlete I’ve never met, and honestly never even heard of. Nodar Kumaritashvili of the Republic of Georgia. In one of his final training runs before the opening of the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games tonight, and the first heats of the men’s luge competition tomorrow, he lost control of his sled and slammed into a metal pole near the bottom of the course. Winter Olympic sports generally involve much more speed and adrenalin than their summer counterparts, but the loss of life is thankfully exceedingly rare. [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/sports/olympics/13luge.html]

I recall the final months leading up to the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympic Games when I tried doubles luge — at that time, the odds of making the US luge squad were better on a doubles sled than in singles — and so I teamed up with my buddy Rick Frye to see if we could be competitive. To this day I can remember in super slo-mo detail how we nearly flew out of the track at curve 11 on the Lake Placid track, probably going in excess of 55 miles an hour. I still bear the scars of my left shin violently dragging across the lip of the next curve, and can vividly remember thudding down on my right hip, thankful to still be in the chute and able to hobble away from it all. Needless to say, I never tried another trip on a doubles luge sled, instead focusing on becoming the fastest singles slider I could be.

My Olympic story could have ended with the US Olympic Trials series, finishing 7^th place in two of the qualifying races and I believe 10^th in the third (I had a minor crash on one of my runs in the last race): I ended up 9^th in the nation overall. I had only been in the sport for 3 seasons, but had somehow broken into the top ten, and had my personal best finishes in the trials. Only four singles athletes could represent our country, but I was ecstatic to have just made it that far. I briefly considered sticking around the sport for another Olympic cycle, but life, medical training and long term career were up and running.

Good fortune smiled upon me for Calgary, however: my good friend Ray Ocampo, who would represent his birth nation of the Philipines, asked me to serve as his coach, Chef de Mission, sled tech and other duties as assigned. More retrospective on this in the days ahead, as Ray will be a fellow Honorary Captain of the US Olympic Luge Team as well… I’m thrilled to return to the Olympics with Ray and others from the US Luge organization. In just moments from now, the Opening Ceremonies will begin, with US Olympic luge athlete Mark Grimmette having one of the greatest honors in sport bestowed upon him: his fellow athletes asked him to carry the American flag into the Olympic stadium tonight.

I’m sure he and every athlete will have Nodar Kumaritashvili, Olympian, foremost in their thoughts. Rest in peace…