Going downhill fast: sport abandons taste and sense

Paul says:

05:44am | 16/02/10

Right on.  I haven’t watched an Olympics since probably Barcelona (with some predictably parochial exceptions in 2000) for pretty much those reasons - it’s a monstrous farrago.  And it’s only my elemental love of soccer that keeps me watching World Cups when I know FIFA are as bad as the IOC…

watchdog says:

05:47am | 16/02/10

hoorah penbo, well said.

Chris B says:

06:38am | 16/02/10

I would have thought it to be quite unrealistic and unnecessary to cancel the Opening Ceremony. Delivering the appropriate response and commemorating the man to a worldwide audience was the right thing to have done.

Adam Diver says:

07:20am | 16/02/10

So one competitor dies in a dangerous sport which funds his livelyhood and which he competes by choice and you think people are callous for continuing the event? Are you insane I think the remorse everyone has shown for an unknown competitor has been sufficient.

And I hate the winter olympics as well.

Puncher says:

07:54am | 16/02/10

Because it’s really a business and a so-called showcase in the end. We can’t let those $$$ go and Juan Antonio must get his bit of the pie even if he is long “retired”.

Honestly, do you expect the death of one athlete to stop the whole games? I couldn’t see it stopping an AFL grand final let alone an Olympics as crass it is to think about it and say.

iansand says:

07:55am | 16/02/10

Get a grip.  At the risk of descending into cliche, do they cancel peak hour every time someone dies in a car accident?

I have skied for about 35 years.  I am a little more conservative now, but in my foolish youth flirting with disaster was part of the thrill.  As it is with any sport.  If there is not a chance of death or injury whatever you are doing is not a sport.  It is a pastime.

Perhaps, Mr Penberthy, you should stop watching and start doing.

Rocket Surgeon says:

07:57am | 16/02/10

And I want a TV embrace…..

Sorry David, not everyone shares your sense of how we should react to tragedy. Some believe mass grief and media carry-on is more ghoulish and that a dignified stoicism and getting on with things is a far more appropriate response.

BULMKT says:

07:59am | 16/02/10

Shit happens, Penbo.

thatmosis says:

08:15am | 16/02/10

The olympics should be cancelled as they now operate on the principle of making money at any cost and which country has the best drugs. We have a very simple way of missing the whole thing we just tune out the station that telecasts it and only reinstate it after the crap is over, works for us.

Drewboy says:

08:21am | 16/02/10

You’re kidding Penbo aren’t you?

This was a tragic accident and everybody is extremely sad at the loss of this athlete. But calling for the ceremony to be called off is a huge over reaction.

I think the Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili who was killed would even want the ceremony to go ahead.

Van says:

08:35am | 16/02/10

You are all missing the point, David Penberthy and all others like him need to sell their respective publications and have to disagree to decisions made by any “organisation”. Imagine how many readers would have read his article if titled “Olympic organisation displays sensitivity but let’s the show go on”. DP probably doesn’t give a hoot what their decision was at the end of the day, he would have disagreed with it anyway and made a meal out of it. That sells!!

Tony says:

08:40am | 16/02/10

Life goes on, Penbo. Of greater concern to me is the way the Today show played footage of the entire accident, in repeat slo-mo no less. Very disturbing! Why isn’t anyone talking about that?

Changa says:

08:49am | 16/02/10

Dear David,
I reckon it’s a bit much for you, as a Murdoch journalist and former tabloid editor, to be demanding restraint, respect and good taste when it comes to death and human tragedy.

David says:

08:53am | 16/02/10

As much as this death is a tragedy, at any time an athlete could pull out for any number of reasons. No one is forcing you to go and hey, no one ever forced you to decide to sit on a plank of plastic (or whatever it may be) and hurl yourself down a track at almost 150km/hr. Yes it is terrible that someone dies, and perhaps there will be improvements to track safety in all tracks around the world now, but the show must go on. We don’t stop flying planes because they crash. We don’t stop driving cars because thousands die each year and we don’t stop eating food because some may contain high levels of bacteria. A tragedy, but this can’t stop one of the biggest sporting events in the world.

Tracey says:

09:35am | 16/02/10

As a citizen of Vancouver, our city, province and country has spent hundreds of millions of dollars preparing for this event, and the opening ceremonies.  To suggest that the opening ceremonies, which thousands had travelled millions of miles to attend would be cancelled is ridiculous.  This is not to understate the tragedy of the lugers death, which touched everyones hearts.  Every life has value.  As a comparison, on the weekend near the Olympic city a car accident occurred which killed two people.  Should we cancel driving now in the city or on that highway?  Are the people who needed to drive past the accident acting in poor taste?  I think that your commentry is short sighted at best, and ignorant at worst.  Vancouver has thoughtfully extended itself to host the world for this event, and is the most gracious city I’ve ever known.

Tony Wills says:

09:41am | 16/02/10

Sport has always been tasteless - Nazi Olympics, Communist Olympics.  The old competing for the glory rubbish is just that, utter rubbish.  Grow up.

Budz says:

09:41am | 16/02/10

Surely you can’t be serious? Of course the opening ceremony must go on! In the 1994 San Marino GP Roland Ratzenberger died in qualifying and the race went on. True Ayrton Senna died in the race, but that’s all part of the risk of the sport.

CB says:

09:43am | 16/02/10

What a bizarre opinion. What would cancelling it achieve? Do you doubt the sorrow and grief felt by the organisers and competitors affected by this terrible, tragic accident? What can we get them to do for you so that you can be thoroughly convinced that they mourn the loss of their brother competitor? The smug, indignant outrage of our country’s commercial media is getting really, really old.

paulm says:

10:11am | 16/02/10

Do you think he’d want the games canceled in his honour?  Something that he loves and has given his life to?  I seriously doubt that he or any other competing athlete would want that to happen if they were to be killed competing.  They all know and accept and indeed, revel, in the risks.

Grant says:

10:18am | 16/02/10

Penbo,

Your piece doesn’t even make sense.  What exactly do you want to do?  Cancel the Olympics, really, I mean really…  Sense of grandeur much, my suggestion is for you to go to the ice chipping event so they can remove the chip from your shoulders.

People die sometimes.  Do you really care, are you going to visit the family and start a campaign to reduce Olympic accidents?

A kid was stabbed in a high school in Australia, that’s tragic.

Simon says:

10:18am | 16/02/10

Talk about over-reaction…..if Mr. Penberthy doesn’t like watching the Olympics, that’s his problem.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching the opening ceremonies.  Cancelling the opening ceremonies because of the accidental death of one athlete is like prohibiting alcohol consumption in Australia because of one drunk driver killing someone….wow - now there’s an idea that really makes sense!!!

Blossom says:

10:52am | 16/02/10

I too enjoy watching the opening and closing ceremony, the loss of Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili life is tradgic.
But what about the other Athletes who have trained and worked hard for the Olympics? Don’t they deserve their day in sun, they have trained very hard for many years. I have noticed even on tv your views seem to be very biased, perhaps you might want to work on that. These young Athlete’s are very aware of the risks they untertake, and are prepared to take those risks for love of their sport

KA says:

11:19am | 16/02/10

OMG, The Punch has been hacked! Clearly some oddball is writing bizarre op-ed pieces and posting them under Penberthy’s name.

Ash says:

11:31am | 16/02/10

In my experience, people who think that sport is meaningless are usually pretty crap at it. The reality is, Kumaritashvili knew the risks he was taking and I would doubt if he’d want the opening ceremony cancelled because he died doing something he loved.

Russell says:

11:39am | 16/02/10

One person meets a tragic accident and you want to cancel the opening ceremony as a result? lol. Wake up to reality much?

Is he serious? says:

11:40am | 16/02/10

Penbo, I’m sorry, but there is absolutely no way a true lover of sport would write the column that you just have.
I could not disagree more. It is an AWFUL tragedy that this young man died, and every tribute should be paid to him. But I’m willing to bet my life that he himself would not have wanted it cancelled!!!

James says:

11:42am | 16/02/10

Wow, why do people have it in for probably the most entertaining sporting competition on the planet?  I’ve followed the Winter Olympics since 1984 (when I was old enough to understand what they were) and look forward to them more than the Summer games.  I was even set to go to Vancouver until the GFC cost me a job and wiped out my savings.  We get to see sports that Aussies rarely play and that we don’t often see in a unique environment.  Plus, the snow and ice makes ceremonies a lot more creative.  I hope the Kiwis succeed in their bid to host the games in Queenstown so I can go and watch on the cheap.  The competitors in these sports know what they are getting into, and it isn’t the first time a competitor has died either during or in the lead up to the games.  A speed skier died during events in Albertville in 1992, which led to that seriously dangerous sport being removed from the programme for future years.  These guys and girls take the risk and death is one of the chances you take.  We’re all destined to do it someday, so wouldn’t it be better to go out taking a chance on glory than meekly in a hospital bed with a bad ticker?

Wendy says:

12:26pm | 16/02/10

Short-sighted commentary.
What does surprise me, however, is the lack of commentary about the responsibilty for design, approval and testing of the track.  From a lay wo/man’s perspective, I would have thought that raised, padded sides would be necessary in places, or soft landing areas outside the track on curves where competitors might go overboard. Those wide metal posts are the scariest things I have ever seen and were an accident waiting to happen: if there had been no bars, he might have been flung clear and ‘just’ injured, without first of all being flung half-way through the bars and then smashed against them which is what appears to have done the fatal damage.

Rob says:

12:40pm | 16/02/10

I’m not really into the Olympics myself, but I find it an absurd notion that the entire Games should stop dead, if you’ll pardon the pun, following the accident. The Games are way bigger than one guy—and I’m not talking about TV or sponsorship or anything like that, but the simple fact there are 1000s of athletes there, all on schedules, all ready to do their thing. To arbitrarily throw a day out of the schedule would be highly disruptive to a LOT of people competing. I mean, just THINK about it for a second before writing stuff like this.

Bob says:

01:51pm | 16/02/10

I’m sure the luge will now attract many more viewers in the hope of a repeat incident. Advertising revenue will be up for an event that typically attracts little interest. No way will anything be cancelled.

David says:

02:27pm | 16/02/10

People choose the luge as a sport knowing that every time they get in that luge they take their lives in their own hands. It’s a reality they deal with and no high end sport person would expect a competition to be called off due to their death. They know the amount of work that others put into the sport just as they put in that time and wouldn’t want their (in most cases) good friends and competitors to miss out.
Another opinion from a person who has no idea what they are talking about.
I’ll let the comments about the jump through the hoops go because that really was horrific.

davo says:

02:35pm | 16/02/10

An an athlete, there’s NO WAY I would want the games to be cancelled if I died in this situation. He’s an Olympian, and has been remembered as such. The Games must go on.

Alison says:

03:17pm | 16/02/10

I disagree entirely with this article and am pleased to see most others do too.  Most winter sports carry with them some risk - luge more than others.  All participants acknowledge that winter sports (recreational skiing included, which many Australians love) have some element of danger and elite athletes who train in the cold and throw themselves down a sliding course would be the first to say the show must go on.  They do it because they love it.

kel says:

03:31pm | 16/02/10

There was a young girl who very tragically died skiing in thredbo last year. Would you cancel this year’s ski season?

Tracey says:

03:49pm | 16/02/10

Give me a break!?!?
Does the race ever stop when there’s a fatal accident on any of the major motor sporting events??  I think not. 

There have been fatalities at the Tour de France - and while the cyclists usually take a slow pace the following day as a show of respect - the race continues.

I’m hoping you write these articles in the role of the devil’s advocate - because your narrow-mindedness is astonishing.  I’ll know not to read anything with your name on it in future.

Pat says:

04:11pm | 16/02/10

Why would they care about one, solitary athlete when they didn’
t give a darn that more than 50% of THE PEOPLE LIVING here didn’t want the Olympics—period.
My Province has hosted these games for the MONEY AND GLORY.
The people who pay for it or participate in it are nothing to them.
Well, ok.  They are money to them—but that’s it.

this guy says:

04:49pm | 16/02/10

Quote: ” ...forced at least one sports fan to reach for the remote.” - the only reason sports fans are reaching for the remote (those without foxtel at least) is that Ch9 isn’t showing anything that doesn’t include Eddie Mac. Seriously…the only ceverage tonight (16/02) on free-to-air tv is the pathetic excuse for a sports show hosted by the king of morons himself. They didn’t even show the only event in which we have one a medal at these games…they chose to show the Today show instead! The only person displaying more stupidity than Ch9 is Michael Atkinson.

Tee says:

06:38pm | 16/02/10

I think a clown wrote this article. Most of the sports in the Winter Olympics aren’t real sports at all but the Olympic spirit, a very powerful spirit, is indeed present here in Vancouver.

There would not be a single athlete, of the 5000 or so competing, who would expect the opening ceremony to be canceled if they had lost their life. I’m certain if I got to choose the way I was to die, dying in a luge accident would be far from the bottom of my list.

Hugo says:

07:12pm | 16/02/10

I agree with you David, in fact, they should cancel the Olympics FOREVER as a fitting tribute.  One moronic statement deserves another.  Get a real job cause your opinion isn’t worth the paper it was written on.  There’s no journalistic ability in this article at all.  You must think you are on such a high ivory pillar that you wouldn’t know reality if it knocked you on the nose.

Andrew says:

07:13pm | 16/02/10

Preposterous to call for the Opening Ceremony to be cancelled. It’s not going to bring him back. It also distracts from the more sensible questions being asked: Like why schedule the Winter Olympics somewhere that is
a) at sea level and
b) almost hot enough to hold the Summer Olympics in (averaging about +7 degrees in Vancouver this time of year)?

And why were there unpadded steel poles next to the world’s fastest luge track such that if someone was thrown clear death would be certain? You wouldn’t do it on a motorcycle track.

And if it was so easy to add 50cm to the walls why didn’t they make walls 50cm higher to start with?

And WTF is with curling being a sport anyhow???

Trev says:

08:14pm | 16/02/10

What a ridiculous premise to write an article about.  At least you get top search ranking as so many have pointed out your foolishness.

Joe says:

11:12pm | 16/02/10

Absolutely ridiculous commentary!  I think the organizers acted appropriately in the way the treated the tragic death of the Georgian luger.  Do you think he would have wanted the opening ceremonies to be cancelled?  I am hearing a lot of negative remarks from Aussies regarding these Olympics. Let me make one thing clear: the organizers are doing a fantastic job of handling all the uncontrollable elements surrounding these games (weather etc).  I don’t know which commentators you listened to regarding the modifications to the luge track (maybe you listen to too much NBC), but there is no way that the changes were made because of possible legal intervention.  The possibility of legal action still exists. You can bet that the organizers willingly decided to make appropriate changes to give the athletes some peace of mind on that fast track.  There is no way they can assure that a freak accident will not happen again though.  And it can happen anywhere; on the downhill runs around the world, on the moguls, even on skating events.  So get your facts straight and just don’t watch the games if you don’t like them.

PK says:

11:47pm | 16/02/10

What I found terrible was the constant replay of the footage of the accident.

News stations felt the need to show the entire accident to the world until they were forced to stop at the point where he had the accident.

Alot of the spectators also felt the need to film the accident with their video phones.

Are people not even allowed any respect or privacy whatsoever when they die? Does it all have to be filmed and broadcasted to the world?

I mean sure, it’s natural that he was captured on film because obviously the winter Olympics are a highly publisized event but did people really need to sell this footage to different television channels?

Imagine how his family and friends feel, watching that footage over and over again.

PK says:

11:49pm | 16/02/10

David, I felt like you.

My initial (obviously emotional) reaction was also that they should cancel the event.

Then I thought about the other people who were waiting to compete and the fact that they actually make their living from doing this sport and thought this wouldn’t be fair to them.

Madison says:

12:06am | 17/02/10

You know whats even worse than someone dying in the Olympics? Channel 9s coverage. Eddie McGuire is effing stupid, in every single event he has to mention something about Australia - even if we arent competing.

“of course we can hear some ac/dc in the background, good australian music there” trying too hard dude.

I’m totes investing in Foxtel soon. Fed up with this free to air shit coverage. My family in the Middle East are getting full coverage for free!!!!!

R Louise says:

06:10am | 17/02/10

As a journalist whose job it is to see the bigger picture and weigh all parts of a story, this knee-jerk ‘cancel the Opening Ceremony’ reaction is lazy.

I am an Aussie journalist who gave up a highly paid job to work on the Vancouver Olympics in administration. The Opening Ceremony was the tireless work of thousands of people, many of them Aussies, and many who worked 20 hour days, through the night, seven days a week in the lead up to the Opening to get it perfect.

To cancel the Opening Ceremony would have been a slap in the face for all who have given up their regular jobs, their families and their countries to work on this event.

It would have been a punch in the face to Canada. I was in Vancouver in 2004 when the city was festively decorated with thousands of flags declaring it a candidate city. Canadians have been counting down the Opening Ceremony since then.

Why disappoint an entire nation because someone tragically dies doing something really dangerous? This man’s death was a tragedy, but he died knowing the risks.

And to suggest the Opening Ceremony was not a fitting tribute to him - disgusting. I was there when 60,000 people in BC Place held a minute’s silence for this competitor. It was incredibly moving. My friends were in a loud, boozy bar downtown and the entire bar went quiet in his honour.

Stop trying to be controversial. You accuse VANOC of tastelessness in a tasteless one-eyed blog post in which you demonstrate a failure to perform your journalistic duty and see both sides of a story. Boo!

Timmo says:

07:14am | 17/02/10

I think all sports have certain amounts of danger in them. People who enter the events know the dangers are there, but they are competing for their countries and that’s important to them. I am not a sports fanatic but I do like to see the skiers and other events. Very skilled people they are,but it only takes something small to happen particularly in the toboggans and the luge and fatalities can happen. Most accidents that happen anywhere in anything undertaken in life usually happen when we are not aware for one moment of what’s going on. I should imagine that the luge would be a very precise sport and maybe the person lost their life just with something that happened in that moment in time. Sad for family and friends but it is just life. And shows us all that life can be cancelled quite easily. I hope that the departed spirit of the person has a better luck next time around. Bon Voyage and good vibrations from me to you.

Glenn says:

08:17am | 17/02/10

Should be ban driving in cars becuase people die on our road?

Naren says:

08:59am | 17/02/10

The winter Olympics is for rich countries, mostly European, where snow is almost year round, equpiment is expensive for poorer countries to buy and then training is even harder conidering, so I dont think it should even be called the Olympics. Just Winter Games. as for the guy who died. RIP.
I’m sure he knew the risks and took it on.

K says:

09:03am | 17/02/10

I think the IOC showed more heart than your newspaper. One story, a cyclist hit by a truck and killed.. the next, we have some self absorbed opinion writer villifying the road-bullying and dangerous road tactics against people in lycra.

Take a good hard look in the mirror CM. And try opening your eyes up this time.

TB says:

03:08pm | 17/02/10

The so-called ideals of the Olympic movement have been more or less dead for at least 70 years, and those ideals were of questionable merit to begin with. What is put on display these days would be almost unrecognisable to Pierre de Coubertin.

Timmo says:

07:57am | 19/02/10

I don’t feel that the human body was made to do the many things that people get up too. The Body was made to walk, run and climb as the origins of the peoples were native all over the world. So when we take the body and go beyond its primitive function then we put it into a different sometimes dangerous situation. I see on TV sportsmen and women doing sommersaults etc and think, god, that’s dangerous and like many other viewers wait and grimace with expectation of them crashing. But am delighted at their skills if they get through. It amazes me how they do it, but i suppose many hours of practice and dedication are required, like anything. But if they do have an accident well it can be disasterous for them physically. But to win drives them on beyond common sense sometimes.
  A typical example that we know is probably football. Big tough men on the field running, tackling, kicking etc and then all of a sudden a tackle, sometimes not even hard, and snap goes the Anterior Cruciate Ligament and then surgery, and because of contractual agreement, back on the field asap with not really enough time to repair the damage properly. Plenty of Money and Fame but not much good if our knees are arthritic for life. I’m sure people will agree with that. It’s good when young as the body will heal more quickly but later with more age and less mobility then the problems of those injuries and muscle tears can become much worse. Anyway, good luck to them all because some of them may need it.