geez we'll be waiting till next winter for the Men's Downhill at this rate... women's combined pushed forward today too by the looks

austria ftw !!!

:lol: never knew it was called Galaxy. For a moment i thought you were talking about the Los Angeles Gaxy, i'm like wtf does a MLS team have to do with Foxtel :lol:

it was called Galaxy....no wonder it never really took off...

They gave it to me for my continued and valuable service. Mind you I have been with Foxtel for like 15 years. I was there when it was called Galaxy :lol:

Yeah now that that awful opening ceremony is done, we're down to the entertainment.

I love Sven Kramer.


Edited by socceroos_fan: 14/2/2010 11:30:03 AM

Opening ceremony would've been 1 billion times better if Avril Lavigne was singing. Other than her and Michael Buble and her...who else is there that matters?

do you guys always only see the negative things in life. i enjoyed the ceremony. it was good. not a fan of kd lang, but aparrt from that, i enjoyed the ceremony.

Im already sick of canadians.

That opening ceremony was a debacle.

Inexplicable "punk" fiddlers and Irish dancers?
Slam poetry?
Mechanical failure of their torch?
KD Lang murdering "Hallelujah"?

Good old Canada!

no ....:cry:

Obviously they had a reason for giving it to him for free :roll:

WTF???? i paid 65 bucks...i dont agree with this...anyway you can send me the letter on email or something so i have proof when i argue it.

Edited by zimbos_05: 14/2/2010 01:29:00 AM

Got a letter from Foxtel yesterday saying they are giving me the Winter Olympics package all 4 channels for free. So major win there.

The accident was made all that more striking by the dull 'ting' as he hits the pole. It will stay with people for a long time.

Thats horrible what happened to that Georgian guy. You really don't know how dangerous these actual sports like the Luge are untill somthing like this happens.

R.I.P
Hope Georgia don't pull out.

Luge-Georgian dies in horrific training crash

WHISTLER, Feb 12 (Reuters) - A huge black cloud descended over the Vancouver Olympics on Friday after 21-year-old Georgian luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a horrific training crash at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

Kumaritashvili was making his final practice slide before Saturday's competition when he lost control at 90mph on the exit of the 16th corner and was launched over the rim of the track before crumpling into an unpadded pillar.

His sledge and smashed visor continued down the ice towards the finish line which was just metres away.

Medics performed emergency resuscitation at the scene before he was flown down the mountain by helicopter where he died in hospital. Ashen-faced course officials walked around in stunned silence as they waited for news.

"Unfortunately, he died," Georgian Olympic delegation head Irakly Japaridze told Reuters by telephone.

"We are all in deep shock, we don't know what to do. We don't know whether to take part in (today's) opening ceremony or even the Olympic Games themselves."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Luge Federation (FIL) issued a joint statement confirming Kumaritashvili's death, the first during the Olympics since Swiss skier Nicholas Bochatay crashed into a snow-grooming machine at the Albertville Games in 1992.

"Our first thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of the athlete. The whole Olympic Family is struck by this tragedy which clearly casts a shadow over these Games," IOC president Jacques Rogge said in the statement.

"This is a terrible accident," added FIL president Josef Fendt. "This is the gravest thing that can happen in sport, and our thoughts and those of the luge family are naturally with those touched by the event."

'ALL HEARTBROKEN'

Vancouver organising committee (VANOC) head John Furlong said he was stunned by the fatality on what should have been a joyous day for his staff.

"Nodar came to Canada with hopes and dreams that it would be a great moment in his life," he told a news conference. "He came to feel what it is like to be an Olympian. We are all heartbroken."

Luge training was immediately suspended and there were doubts over whether the first two runs of the men's singles scheduled for Saturday would take place.

The IOC said investigations would be carried out into the circumstances of the crash while a teams' meeting was due to be held later on Friday.

Kumaritashvili, the son of Selix, the head of the Georgian Luge Federation, was competing at his first Olympics after racing in five World Cup events this year with little success.

LUGE FATALITY

His death was the first luge fatality in the Olympic Games since Briton Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski died during a training run in Innsbruck, Austria in 1964, the debut year for the sport in which athletes hurtle down the track feet first.

An FIL spokesman said that at a recent international training week at Whistler Sliding Centre, acknowledged as the fastest in the world, there had been 2,500 runs with only a three percent crash rate.

However, athletes have been remarking all week on the speed and technical difficulty of the 1,400 metre track which features corners nicknamed 50-50 and Shiver.

FIL spokesman Wolfgang Harder said on Thursday that future tracks would need to be slowed down to protect the safety of athletes.

"We are going to have to put speed limits in the next track which will be built for the Olympics," he said after Manuel Phister set the fastest recorded luge speed of 154kmh.

Friday's fatal accident occurred on the 16th corner, the final curve of a high-speed labyrinth that has proved treacherous even for the world's top lugers.

Earlier on Friday, double Olympic champion and gold medal favourite Armin Zoeggeler of Italy was caught out at the 11th corner and was flipped off his sled. A Romanian woman competitor was briefly knocked unconscious on Thursday.

Just a short while before Kumaritashvili's crash American Bengt Walden said even the FIL thought the track was too fast.

"I don't think they are going to build any more faster than this and I think the FIL were unhappy with how fast the track was allowed to be," he said.

http://au.sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news/article/-/6798445/lugegeorgian-dies-horrific-training-crash

[youtube]KW1HEZhdIPA[/youtube]

time to get in to it.

i wouldnt think they would show much apart from the australian athletes. i got the foxtel package and cant wait for it to start. would have been great if they were showing past olympics and stuff on the channel instead of playing some music.

Isn't it their showing all of Australias heats? or is that the same thing reworded?

Channel 9 reckon they're showing all Australia's medal chances...so we'll see about half an hour all up of the Olympics.

that was the early bird price. now its 65. you had to book by 31st jan for the $50 deal. im thinking of ordering it, going to get on the phone now.

i think channel 9 are only showing about 3-4 hours per day of coverage.

Edited by zimbos_05: 11/2/2010 08:00:15 PM

Ah yes...the winter olympics...that time every four years that the general public becomes experts on sports they've never heard of.

Snowboarding is the shiz.

I think Ice Hockeys alright over here. I used to know a guy who played for Canterbury. Played out at Canterbury Ice rink next to the swimming pool. I saw a game of his once, he wasn't bad.

:lol: If they do they can't be very good.

The ice hockey would be good to watch.

USA V Russia.

still a lot of tension there.
do Australia have an ice hockey team?

Love the Ice hockey. Canada to win IMO. I don't think USA will make the final. I think it will be Canada over Russiaski 5-3

usa vs canada ice hockey final, riots flares etc

+1. Love watching ice hockey.

:lol:

[shamelessnamedrop]A friend of mine is involved in the running of the opening and closing ceremonies. [/shamelessnamedrop]

Edited by imnofreak: 10/2/2010 08:06:26 PM