The Winter Olympics Thought One: There Should Be a Medal for Anyone Who Dies During the Games

The Winter Olympics Thought One: There should be a medal for anyone who dies during the games.

By now, most people know of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the Georgian luge athlete competing at the Vancouver Olympics who died after crashing during a training run and hitting a metal pole. (He was 21.)

Did he have a chance at getting a medal? No. Actually, Georgia did not win a medal of any kind in these Olympics, nor in any of the Winter Olympics they have participated in since 1994.

Georgia first participated at the Olympic Games as an independent nation in 1994, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games since then. Georgian athletes have won a total of eighteen medals, mostly in judo and wrestling.

Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Eastern Europe and Western Asia it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the east by Azerbaijan. Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 km; the closest US State in size is Maine at 86,542 km. Georgia's population is 4.26 million.

Since the Olympics have started, here is how many people have passed away during the Winter Olympics:
1. Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, Georgia - Luge - 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Vancouver
2. Nicholas Bochatay, 27, Switzerland - Speed Skiing - 1992 Winter Olympic Games, Albertville
3. Jorg Oberhammer, 47, Austrian Team Doctor - Ski Collision - 1988 Winter Olympic Games, Calgary
4. Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki, Britian - Luge - 1964 Winter Olympic Games, Innsbruck
5. Ross Milne, 19, Australia - Downhill Skiing - 1964 Winter Olympic Games, Innsbruck

(FYI: Summer Games Fatalities are Knut Jensen, Denmark - Cyclist - 1960 Summer Olympic Games, Rome and Francisco Lazaro, 21, Portugal - Runner - 1912 Summer Olympic Games, Stockholm.)

Fatalities with the Olympics will forever be aligned with the terrorist incident during the 1972 Munich Olympics where 11 Israeli members were killed. The total number of fatalities for the history of the winter games is 5.
Would an honorary Gold Medal for the departed tarnish the award? Of course it wouldn't. Go up to Felix Loch, the German winner of the Gold medal for the Luge, and ask him if he would mind a fellow Luge athlete who died participating in their mutual sport being given a honorary Gold Medal. Does anyone even have the slightest doubt of what the answer would be?

The international compassion for the country of Georgia would be symbolized in one magnificent gesture. Even as a powerhouse in the Olympics, I would appreciate such an action if ever an American athlete were to pass away under such circumstances.

I hope the IOC recognizes this need, makes the necessary changes, and does the right thing.