The International Olympic Committee has a “moral responsibility” for the death of a 21-year-old Georgian luge athlete on the Vancouver Olympics sliding track, IOC President Jacques Rogge said Thursday. Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died after crashing into a steel pillar in his last training run hours before the Games opening ceremony on Feb. 12. Rogge said that the tragedy would cast a lasting cloud over the entire Games. An initial report from the federation responsible for the sport pointed the finger at the athlete, saying it was human error that caused the accident. “If you look at it legally, the IOC is not legally bound to the track,” Rogge told reporters. “It is the international federation but we are morally responsible.” Athletes and some officials had said before and after the accident that the Whistler sliding track was too fast. Rogge said he was awaiting a coroner's and a police report and had also demanded the luge and bobsleigh federations review the infrastructure regulations and the qualification process for athletes. He said the IOC had written to the 2014 Games organizers in Sochi to make sure that safety came first in the sliding track construction. Following the crash, race officials erected a wall at the place of the incident to cover the pillars and moved the starting spot for the competitions to slow down the athletes who at times reached speeds of over 150kph. When asked specifically who was responsible for the athlete's death, Rogge responded: “Everyone.”
