Canada’s skeleton team remained in the Altenberg world cup in the former East Germany, but the bobsledders withdrew from racing because of coach Tom De La Hunty’s safety worries.
“In my mind they should have cancelled the race,” De La Hunty said on a Jan. 6 media conference call, the day after Canada 2 pilot Chris Spring was seriously injured in a training crash at turn 16.
After Spring lost control of the sled, it broke through wooden barriers at the roof of the track. A steel girder ripped off the front axle, which was dragged through the sled to the rear axle, with the athletes in side. De La Hunty withdrew his bobsledders because International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation officials did not follow through on a pledge to repair the turn and improve safety at the track.
"There was no change at all except some new shiny bits of wood, therefore the track was equally as dangerous," De La Hunty said.
The 27-year-old from Australia, who is based in Calgary, was airlifted to hospital Jan. 5 in Dresden with a broken noise and serious cuts and bruises. Bill Thomas of Queensville, Ont. suffered bruised lungs and minor trauma while Graeme Rinholm of Saskatoon, Sask. sustained a broken fibula and cuts to upper legs, buttocks and underlying musculature. Tim Randall of Toronto suffered minor injuries. When the quartet will return to Canada and how long their rehabilitation will take is not yet known.
“It's just a miracle the guys got out of it without having their limbs ripped off,” De La Hunty said.
Spring learned bobsledding in 2008 and raced for Australia at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics before joining Canada last season. He successfully completed four two-man training runs in his first visit to Altenberg, but completed only one of three four-man training runs. Canada 1 pilot Lyndon Rush speculated that Spring may have been nervous from the first crash and could have been distracted by falling snow, but said “crashing in bobsledding happens, but you never go through the roof.”
“You always have concern when you go to Altenberg, but Chris Spring has driven Whistler and Lake Placid, and they’re two of the other toughest tracks in the world. He’s done well there,” De La Hunty said.
“This wasn't a mental problem, this was a physical problem with the bobsleigh track, and I would not be doing my job if I sent the team down on a track that I knew was dangerous, really dangerous.”
Spring finished 14th in four-man and 19th in two-man at the 2011 world championships in Konigssee, Germany.
The Altenberg track officially opened in 1986 and was renovated for the Feb. 10-12, 2012 FIL world championships. FIBT executive director Heike Groesswang said Friday that “an official statement would be published by tomorrow.”
The crash was arguably the biggest incident in sliding sports since Feb. 12, 2010 when Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died from a training crash on the Whistler Sliding Centre on the opening day of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The 2010 Games facility hosts the bobsled and skeleton world cup on Feb. 2-4.
Showing posts with label Germany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Germany. Show all posts
Friday, January 6, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Canada withdraws from dangerous German bobsled track
JAN. 6 UPDATE: Citing track safety, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton pulled all of its bobsledders out of this weekend's Altenberg world cup after the Jan. 5 crash that seriously injured pilot Chris Spring.
“This is a highly technical track that has a history of crashes,” said head coach Tom De La Hunty in a Jan. 6 Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton news release. “I reviewed the corner this morning, and the track crew simply replaced the piece of wooden board that was damaged. Repairs to the corner were not enhanced, or done to an acceptable safety standard so there are no guarantees the same thing cannot happen again.”
“My ultimate responsibility is the health and safety of the team of athletes I represent,” De La Hunty said. “I am simply not comfortable sending them down this track under these conditions, and I am confident this is the right decision for the best interest of our entire team and national program.”
Spring is a 27-year-old newcomer to the German track where he crashed, according to statistics on the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation website.
Spring and teammates Graeme Rinholm of Saskatoon and Bill Thomas of Queensville, Ont. suffered serious injuries at turn 16 of the Altenberg course on the last day of training before the world cup. Toronto’s Tim Randall had only minor injuries.
Spring, who was airlifted to Dresden University Hospital, suffered a broken nose and serious cuts and bruises. Thomas has bruised lungs and minor trauma. Rinholm has a broken fibula, cuts to his upper legs, buttocks and underlying musculature.
“All of the athletes are resting comfortably, there is no life threatening injuries,” said Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton chief executive Don Wilson from Calgary in a Jan. 5 media conference call.
“The major injuries were quite a severe laceration to the buttock and upper leg area; obviously in the position they’re sitting in debris in the sled ended up cutting them, and in the pilot’s case, ending up in him.”
Wilson said Spring lost a substantial amount of blood because he was the last person extracted from the heavily damaged sled. Fears that Spring suffered a punctured lung or broken ribs were unfounded.
“The German medical people have gone through CT scans and ruled those out,” Wilson said.
Darwin, Australia-native Spring earned bobsledding in 2008 in Calgary and slid for Australia at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics before joining Canada full-time last season. He was 14th in the four-man event and 19th in two-man at the 2011 world championships in Konigssee, Germany. Spring piloted Canada to 10th place despite a snowstorm in the Dec. 18 world cup race at Winterberg, Germany. He was preparing for his first world cup appearance at Altenberg when the crash happened. The 1986-opened track, renovated for the 2012 luge world championships, is considered one of the most difficult on the international circuit.
Canadian high performance director Nathan Cicoria said from Calgary on Jan. 5 that the sled exited the corner at the wrong angle and traveled in an upwards trajectory before hitting a wall. He said he had not seen video footage of the crash but denied limits on training runs contributed to the crash. Teams are supposed to get six runs over three days before the two competition runs.
“We’re not getting into conversations about whose fault it is or whether or not it is a function of the race organizers -- it’s a risky sport,” Cicoria said. “You always want to have more training runs and want to be more prepared, but we felt this crew was at world class-calibre and they were competing at that level. Chris’s results to date reflect that. We need to make sure that we’re focussed on their daily condition versus who's to blame here.”
BCS scheduled a midday teleconference on Jan. 6 to offer more details. Canada's skeleton team will remain in the Altenberg competition. Bobsledders will resume wold cup competition Jan. 13-15 in Konigssee.
Whistler Sliding Centre, the 2010 Olympic track, hosts the world cup tour Feb. 2-4. The tour moves to Calgary for the Feb. 9-11 races and ends with the world championship at Lake Placid, N.Y. Feb. 17-19 and 24-26.
After last month's luge world cup, the Whistler Sliding Centre launched bobsled rides for tourists. The track was the site of the fatal crash of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili on the opening day of the 2010 Winter Games. Actual speeds on the track were faster than design estimates, but VANOC made no major pre-Games safety changes. The British Columbia coroner ruled Kumaritashvili's death an accident but ordered a safety audit of the track.
2010goldrush@gmail.com
“This is a highly technical track that has a history of crashes,” said head coach Tom De La Hunty in a Jan. 6 Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton news release. “I reviewed the corner this morning, and the track crew simply replaced the piece of wooden board that was damaged. Repairs to the corner were not enhanced, or done to an acceptable safety standard so there are no guarantees the same thing cannot happen again.”
“My ultimate responsibility is the health and safety of the team of athletes I represent,” De La Hunty said. “I am simply not comfortable sending them down this track under these conditions, and I am confident this is the right decision for the best interest of our entire team and national program.”
Spring is a 27-year-old newcomer to the German track where he crashed, according to statistics on the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation website.
Spring and teammates Graeme Rinholm of Saskatoon and Bill Thomas of Queensville, Ont. suffered serious injuries at turn 16 of the Altenberg course on the last day of training before the world cup. Toronto’s Tim Randall had only minor injuries.
Spring, who was airlifted to Dresden University Hospital, suffered a broken nose and serious cuts and bruises. Thomas has bruised lungs and minor trauma. Rinholm has a broken fibula, cuts to his upper legs, buttocks and underlying musculature.
“All of the athletes are resting comfortably, there is no life threatening injuries,” said Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton chief executive Don Wilson from Calgary in a Jan. 5 media conference call.
“The major injuries were quite a severe laceration to the buttock and upper leg area; obviously in the position they’re sitting in debris in the sled ended up cutting them, and in the pilot’s case, ending up in him.”
Wilson said Spring lost a substantial amount of blood because he was the last person extracted from the heavily damaged sled. Fears that Spring suffered a punctured lung or broken ribs were unfounded.
“The German medical people have gone through CT scans and ruled those out,” Wilson said.
Darwin, Australia-native Spring earned bobsledding in 2008 in Calgary and slid for Australia at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics before joining Canada full-time last season. He was 14th in the four-man event and 19th in two-man at the 2011 world championships in Konigssee, Germany. Spring piloted Canada to 10th place despite a snowstorm in the Dec. 18 world cup race at Winterberg, Germany. He was preparing for his first world cup appearance at Altenberg when the crash happened. The 1986-opened track, renovated for the 2012 luge world championships, is considered one of the most difficult on the international circuit.
Canadian high performance director Nathan Cicoria said from Calgary on Jan. 5 that the sled exited the corner at the wrong angle and traveled in an upwards trajectory before hitting a wall. He said he had not seen video footage of the crash but denied limits on training runs contributed to the crash. Teams are supposed to get six runs over three days before the two competition runs.
“We’re not getting into conversations about whose fault it is or whether or not it is a function of the race organizers -- it’s a risky sport,” Cicoria said. “You always want to have more training runs and want to be more prepared, but we felt this crew was at world class-calibre and they were competing at that level. Chris’s results to date reflect that. We need to make sure that we’re focussed on their daily condition versus who's to blame here.”
BCS scheduled a midday teleconference on Jan. 6 to offer more details. Canada's skeleton team will remain in the Altenberg competition. Bobsledders will resume wold cup competition Jan. 13-15 in Konigssee.
Whistler Sliding Centre, the 2010 Olympic track, hosts the world cup tour Feb. 2-4. The tour moves to Calgary for the Feb. 9-11 races and ends with the world championship at Lake Placid, N.Y. Feb. 17-19 and 24-26.
After last month's luge world cup, the Whistler Sliding Centre launched bobsled rides for tourists. The track was the site of the fatal crash of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili on the opening day of the 2010 Winter Games. Actual speeds on the track were faster than design estimates, but VANOC made no major pre-Games safety changes. The British Columbia coroner ruled Kumaritashvili's death an accident but ordered a safety audit of the track.
2010goldrush@gmail.com
Friday, November 12, 2010
Inside Commerzbank Arena and B.C. Place Stadium
What's it like inside B.C. Place Stadium while it undergoes a $563 million renovation to become more like Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt, Germany?
Join me for a quick tour of the 2005-renovated home of the Bundesliga's Eintracht Frankfurt here and the past and future home of the B.C. Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps here.
Join me for a quick tour of the 2005-renovated home of the Bundesliga's Eintracht Frankfurt here and the past and future home of the B.C. Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps here.
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