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Not a tragedy
The overdramatic reaction from news media is really making my eyes roll. This incident isn't a tragedy - it's a fatality and nothing more. Now somebody minding their own business by the side of the track, being struck and killed - now that might be closer to a tragedy.
The finding of rider error as the cause of the accident was spot on. This rider was ranked in the mid 40s, and couldn't rely solely on talent and training in order to win. Therefore, he had to take on more risk in his run in order to move up in the standings. Only the rider can make this decision - it has nothing to do with the track.
Why this decision? You have to understand the mentality of high performance athletes. Nobody goes to the Olympics to finish 40th. No matter how long the odds are, everybody competes thinking they have at least some chance at winning. 998 times, the athlete will lose, but they will still take the risks for that 1 time that they will win and achieve the glory that defines a career. The corollary to this is that 1 time in 1000 that the athlete not only loses, but loses in extremis - that's what happened in this case.
The reality is that this luger died a courageous death. He attempted to go beyond his limits and overcome fear, self-doubt and external skepticism in order to find out what he was capable of. Few of us will ever be so fortunate to meet their maker in this way.
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