Sienna skies

Reflections on Nodar Kumaritashvili

On Feb 12, just hours before the opening ceremonies was upon us, news of a terrible accident came through the wire. Moments later, the footage of Nodar Kumaritashvili, Georgian luger’s fatal crash would be seen around the world. Difficult to watch is putting it lightly.

It is not like watching a car crash, or a man perhaps falling from a bridge into the dark abyss. What haunted me about seeing Nodar’s accident, was witnessing the violent moment where life and death meets. Where the physical and the spiritual seemingly collide, and the propulsion of fate runs you over. Watching the footage with the knowledge that tragedy would ultimately befall him, is a premonition nobody should be allowed to have, nor should watch over and over and over again, as the newscasts kept replaying.

When I finally learned that the young man had died, the confirmation broke my hope for a second. Of course, nobody could have survived that crash. Nobody human anyways. It was a somber realization that the game of sport is in fact a test of the resiliance of life against death.

Like everybody else, we asked the question, “was it worth it?”. A 21 year old young man lost his life in a sport that demands that you walk the line between life and death. Was it worth it?

Although shaken by Nodar’s death and the very real possibility of danger, no athlete turned away from the opening ceremonies. No Olympian stopped and hesitated over their mission and purpose at these games. And the Georgian team came and marched in their comrades place, solemn yet brave.

At every turn, the Olympics shows us how an athlete pushes the limit of life just a little further. With every hundredth of a second or a millimeter of distance, we see life stepping just a little further into the territory of death. But they come back, and their success is what makes them Olympians. This is not to say that Nodar is not one of them because he never returned. It merely demonstrates that no success can come without fearless abandonment. That the creativity, strength, and energy of humanity is bore in this very balance.

And perhaps that is why the Olympics gives us hope. Because at every turn, athlete’s show us that we can push life further in order to achieve more, and return without fear or hesitation. It is this fundamental fact of life that has carried us through the civilization of humanity we know today, and that has kept us as a people to live, love, and pursue.

With respect and admiration – Nodar Kumaritashvili 1988 – 2010.