Saba Kumaritashvili of Georgia competes in men’s singles at Yanqing National Skating Center during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Yanqing on February 5, 2022.
Daniel Mihailescu / AFP via Getty Images
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Saba Kumaritashvili of Georgia competes in men’s singles at Yanqing National Skating Center during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Yanqing on February 5, 2022.
Daniel Mihailescu / AFP via Getty Images
BEIJING – When Saba Kumaritashvili hit the ice at the Yanqing snowmobile racing venue in the mountains near Beijing on Saturday, he was up against some of the best lugers in the world.
He also has to deal with a tragedy that has haunted his family for 12 years.
At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Kumaritashvili’s cousin Nodar ran training at a track built in Whistler, British Columbia.
On the final turn, going nearly 90 mph, he bounced off his sled, over a wall, and onto a steel pole outside the track.
NPR reported at the time that the death of the 21-year-old from the Republic of Georgia left Olympic officials “deeply saddened” and “heartbroken beyond words.”
Saba Kumaritashvili, 21, said that despite the loss, luge racing remains an important family tradition.
“I think about Nodar. I think about him all the time. Everyone in my family is in danger. After Nodar, I don’t want luge to die in Georgia. I want to move on.”
Saba Kumaritashvili of Team Georgia reacts after failing in the heated Men’s Singles Luge match on the first day of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
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Saba Kumaritashvili of Team Georgia reacts after failing in the men’s singles round of Luge on the first day of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
Adam Pretty / Getty Images
The Kumaritashvili family has been involved in luge racing since the early 1970s, when a family patriarch, Aleko Kumaritashvili, helped build Georgia’s first luge track and later became the national coach.
Saba Kumarisashvili said he was undeterred by the fatal crash in Vancouver and that his parents encouraged him to take up the sport.
“I’m not afraid. I want to be at the Olympics to race,” he said.
After hosting twice in Beijing, the Georgian is far enough back in the rankings to be sure he won’t win a medal at this Olympics. But he said the trip and the chance to compete were still valid.
“I am very happy,” he said. “I did what I needed to. I was very emotional, very nervous, but I felt very proud of myself.”
