Luge panel to issue report into Georgian's death

Luge panel to issue report into Georgian's death

Published Mar. 25, 2010 9:13 p.m. ET

The International Luge Federation will publish a final report next month into the death of the Georgian luger killed in a training crash at the Vancouver Olympics.

Its sport and technical commissions will meet April 9-11 at St. Leonhard, Austria, the federation said Thursday. It reaffirms a schedule released by the FIL and the International Olympic Committee last month.

Nodar Kumaritashvili died when he lost control of his sled at nearly 90 mph and slammed into a steel pole just hours before the opening of the Vancouver Games on Feb. 12.

A preliminary investigation by the governing body said the crash was caused by Kumaritashvili's error, but his family blamed his death on the course design at Whistler Sliding Center.

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The report will be prepared by FIL secretary general Svein Romstad and vice president Claire DelNegro, and is expected to include findings by both the coroner and Canadian police.

A tribute was held Tuesday at his hometown of Bakuriani, Georgia, attended by Vancouver organizing committee chief John Furlong and Olympic gold medalist Felix Loch, among others.

A luge track will be built in Bakuriani in Kumaritashvili's memory with funding from the International Olympic Committee.

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