Death of a hero
By Mike Ashworth | February 16, 2010
Last Friday a father lost a son, a country lost a hero and the Olympic torch seemed to shine a little less brightly after the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the sportsman competing in the luge event in Vancouver.
Many news stories, were as you’d imagine, full of the typical finger-pointing and where can we apportion blame.
The reality is that no sport is 100% safe.
Amongst the many news stories, I discovered one which painted a different picture.
Nodar voiced his concerns about the speed of the track through one particular corner to his father, David, also an experienced luger.
His father, as you might imagine, told him that if it worried him then he should use his feet to slow down.
Nodar’s response was “Dad, I want to be in the top 10. I want to do my best.” He was angry.
He said: “Why are you telling me to slow down? I have come such a long way and now you are telling me to put my legs on the track?”
He was, as any athlete will do, pushing himself to the limits of what is possible to see if it can be achieved.
He paid with his life. Yet he died doing something he loved, a passion that consumed him. We must not forget that.
He was only 21, yet he had probably done far more in those small number of years as a man than many do in an entire lifetime.
His dad’s response to his death is something we can all learn from. He said “I am not going to blame or sue anyone. My son proved that he is a strong sportsman. And he proved it to the whole world. God will decide who is to blame.”
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