Nodar Kumaritashvili

Nodar Kumaritashvili

Nodar Kumaritashvili, official IOC picture
Personal information
Full name	Nodar Kumaritashvili (ნოდარ ქუმარიტაშვილი)
Nationality	Georgian
Born	(1988-11-25)25 November 1988 Borjomi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Died	12 February 2010(2010-02-12) (aged 21) Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
Residence	Bakuriani, Georgia
Education	Georgian Technical University
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Weight	80 kg (180 lb)
Sport
Country	Georgia
Sport	Luge
Turned pro	2008
Retired	2010 (due to death)

Nodar Kumaritashvili (Georgian: ნოდარ ქუმარიტაშვილი; pronounced [nɔdar kʰumaritʼaʃvili]; 25 November 1988 – 12 February 2010) was a Georgian luger who suffered a fatal crash during a training run for the 2010 Winter Olympics competition in Whistler, Canada, on the day of the opening ceremony. He became the fourth athlete to have died during Winter Olympics preparations, after British luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski, Australian skier Ross Milne (both 1964 Innsbruck), and Swiss speed skier Nicolas Bochatay (1992 Albertville), and the seventh athlete to die in either a Summer or Winter Olympic Games.

Kumaritashvili, who first began to luge when he was 13, came from a family of seasoned lugers; his grandfather, introduced luge to Georgia, and both his father and uncle competed when they were younger, his uncle later serving as the head of the Georgian Luge Federation. Kumaritashvili himself began competing in the 2008–09 Luge World Cup, where he finished 55th out of 62 racers. Outside of luge, Kumaritashvili had been a student at the Georgian Technical University, where he earned an economics degree in 2009.

Kumaritashvili was born on November 25, 1988, in Borjomi, Georgian SSR, present day Georgia, to David and Dodo Kumaritashvili. He had one sister, Mariam, who is four years younger. The region Kumaritashvili grew up in has many ski hills, and he enjoyed several different winter sports. Kumaritashvili started luge when he was 13 years old. While he maintained a rigorous training and competition schedule, Kumaritashvili graduated from the Georgian Technical University, where he received a bachelor's degree in economics in 2009. A devout member of the Georgian Orthodox Church, he prayed at church before every competition. Though his family endured economic hardship, Kumaritashvili attended as many luge events as he could, often driving for days to reach World Cup events.