The Winter Olympics got off to a tragic start with the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili during a training run Friday at the Whistler track. Despite the shock and disbelief, the Olympics started on schedule, with the Georgia contingent wearing black armbands and draping their flag with a black ribbon in the opening ceremonies.

Now comes the disturbing story that Kumaritashvili feared that particular track, and confided so in his father:

“‘He told me: I will either win or die,’ David Kumaritashvili told The Associated Press. ‘But that was youthful bravado, he couldn’t be seriously talking about death.’

The father, in an interview at his home in the snow-covered slopes of Georgia’s top ski resort, said he had spoken to his son, Nodar, shortly before the fatal training run Friday.

‘He told me: Dad, I really fear that curve,’ the elder Kumaritashvili said. ‘I’m a former athlete myself, and I told him: “You just take a slower start.” But he responded: “Dad, what kind of thing you are teaching me? I have come to the Olympics to try to win.’”

Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, died when he lost control of his sled, flew off the course and slammed into a steel pole at nearly 90 mph. After the crash, the poles were wrapped in padding and the course was altered to make it slower.”

The International Olympic Committee attributed the crash to Kumaritashvili’s failure to correct himself during the run. This certainly raised the ire of many, including over the inequitable practice time that non-Canadians had on the track. From The Independent’s James Lawton:

“There is also the problem that while the investigating British Columbia Coroners Service, the Royal Mounted Police and officials of the International Luge Federation agreed that the cause of the tragedy was not the dangers of the track but the errors and inexperience of its victim, it was still swiftly decided to change utterly the conditions of the competition. This included the building up of the wall, and the changing of the ‘ice profile’ at the fatal curve and moving the start line to the women’s mark, nearly 200 yards down the track.

The inconsistency of the ruling screamed at the mourners of the luger who had just 26 practice runs down the course – as opposed to the 200 enjoyed by the Canadians.”

The BBC reports that the International Luge Federation intends to make the tracks slower after the accident on the Whistler track, where the sledders can hit speeds up to 95 mph.

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)