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Father of luger who died at Olympics rejects report

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Canada AM: More insight into coroner's report
B.C. chief coroner Diane Rothon discusses Nodar Kumaritashvili's death. She says the body governing the sport should examine track-building practices. Kaillie Humphries, an Olympic gold medalist in bobsleighing, says there should be more safety precautions, but accidents happen all the time.
Canada AM: Jeff Christie, Canadian luger
A Canadian luge athlete reacts to the news that the B.C. coroner is calling for an independent safety audit of the luge track at the Whistler Sliding Centre after a Georgian athlete died during a training run hours before the opening of the Vancouver Games.
CTV National News: Rob Brown on the report
A coroner's report on the death of a Georgian luger in Whistler during the 2010 Olympics was not meant to find fault or point fingers but it did conclude that there were many factors involved in the crash, and has called for a detailed safety audit of the sliding course where the young athlete crashed.

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The Associated Press

Date: Tue. Oct. 5 2010 11:30 AM ET

TBILISI, Ga. — The father of the Georgian luger killed during practice before the Vancouver Olympics has angrily dismissed a coroner's report saying lack of experience played a role in his son's death.

Nodar Kumaritashvili died when he lost control of his sled at nearly 145 km/h, flew off the course and slammed into a steel pole.

Coroner Tom Pawlowski said in a report released on Monday that Kumaritashvili's "relative lack of experience" set a backdrop for the incident.

The luger's father, David Kumaritashvili, reacted with dismay on Tuesday.

"I don't accept the statement about Nodar's lack of experience," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "He wouldn't have won the right to take part in the Olympics if he lacked experience."

He added that no athlete's mistake should lead to death.

Georgia Sports Minister Georgy Natsvlishvili also rejected the coroner's verdict and blamed the organizers, saying the track was unsafe.

Further investigations into the fatal crash are not scheduled, though the B.C. Coroners Service recommended "a comprehensive safety audit of the Whistler track" and urged the worldwide governing bodies for luge, bobsled and skeleton to take a hard look at what goes into designing, building and certifying tracks.

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