Deep Politics Forum

Does anyone have any idea how to find the address for the family of the Georgian Olympian Nodar Kumaritashvili?

I want to send a letter at the very least, though I only know English. (I don't suppose anyone here knows Georgian...?) And this is not the time for babelfish. God knows what would come out. (Though babelfish couldn't possibly output anything worse than the IOC's ravings on the subject.)

I'd also like to send something more substantial than flowers, assuming I can even find the address. Does anyone have any ideas on what an appropriate offering would be?

Thanks.

He lives in Bakuriani if that's a help. About 150 - 200 kms from the capital. You could ask the Georgian Embassy if they would forward a letter to the family. You could check the Georgian or Bakuriani phone book if you can get hold of one (again if you are close to an embassy or consul) but they use a different script than Latin or Cyrillic which I can't read nor you either.

Magda Hassan Wrote:He lives in Bakuriani if that's a help. About 150 - 200 kms from the capital. You could ask the Georgian Embassy if they would forward a letter to the family. You could check the Georgian or Bakuriani phone book if you can get hold of one (again if you are close to an embassy or consul) but they use a different script than Latin or Cyrillic which I can't read nor you either.

That's a great idea Maggie! The embassy. Thank you.

I'm wondering if I can send something to his uncle Felix (the Georgian luge team coach) or teammates in Vancouver.

I also got a PM from a clever individual suggesting I email journalists who are writing on the subject. I'm doing that now. In fact, I sent an email to an individual he suggested and got a reply in three (3) minutes! She said she'd look into it. She also said that Felix is still in Vancouver.

I'll put out as many feelers as possible.

Thanks again.

Bakuriani has a population of about 3,200 people. It's a little sky resort and botanical garden. You could send it without a street address or write or call to the person who does the official webpage, below, and ask for the postal address for the man.

Contact information:
Phones: (+995 95) 309100, (+995 95) 309111
E-mail: info@bakuriani.ge
Website: http://www.bakuriani.ge

Likewise, if you put the name of the village and SKI RESORT into a search engine, you will find contact info for people who speak English there. The Georgian embassies will be flooded with condolences and I wouldn't expect mine to get through.

Helen Reyes Wrote:Bakuriani has a population of about 3,200 people. It's a little sky resort and botanical garden. You could send it without a street address or write or call to the person who does the official webpage, below, and ask for the postal address for the man.

Contact information:
Phones: (+995 95) 309100, (+995 95) 309111
E-mail: info@bakuriani.ge
Website: www.bakuriani.ge

Likewise, if you put the name of the village and SKI RESORT into a search engine, you will find contact info for people who speak English there. The Georgian embassies will be flooded with condolences and I wouldn't expect mine to get through.

Helen, Thank you!

I was just getting frustrated because I emailed 8 or 9 journalists (some with the Vancouver Sun) yesterday and only got a reply from... one. And I haven't received useful info from her yet.

Thank you for the suggestion. It is tempting to just address it to David and Dodo Kharazishvili, or The Family of Nodar Kumaritashvili, Bakuriani, Georgia etc. It seems like it'd get there. I would think they'd be receiving a lot of mail now.

I believe that Nodar had a sister too and I don't want to exclude her. I'm unable to find her name so far. Does anyone know the name of Nodar's sister?

I know his uncle Felix is the coach of the Georgian luge team... or what's left of it.

The other thing I'll work on is sending something to Felix care of the Olympic Villiage once I get an address for that. But I don't want to depend on that working so I would only do that in parallel with something to the family in Georgia.

Bold emphasis mine.

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/vancouv...1-qmi.html

By QMI Agency
Last Updated: 16th February 2010, 2:19pm

David Letterman is the latest to take a shot at the way Olympic officials handled the death of Georgian luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili.
After his monologue Monday night on the Late Show, the host criticized officials who blamed the death on Kumaritashvili's lack of experience and a "mistake" during his trial run.

"For them to say it is because he made a mistake, that just stinks. Because if the kid made a mistake and that was the end of it, they wouldn't have repaired the track and covered up the girders and started from the women's starting point," Letterman said of the changes made following the Georgian's death.

"You know what it is? It's hypocrisy, ladies and gentlemen." Letterman's remarks join a chorus of critics who are questioning the reaction of the Olympic committee to Kumaritashvili's death.

Many are also criticizing Canada's practice policies leading up to the Games, saying our drive to "own the podium" is partly to blame.
"Money has been poured into training, while a hard-edged approach has been adopted in dealing with other teams, most noticeably in granting them only limited access to facilities such as the sliding track," the UK Guardian observed Sunday. "In the run-up to these games, the hosts -- or at least the Canadian Olympic Committee -- seemed to have mislaid their manners."

The BBC did an interview with his father, so must know his contact information. The interview was very bitter-sweet. His father was a champion luge medal winner for the Soviet Union and had discussed with his son the dangers of this specific track. His father told him to put his feet down and slow the sled. His son said he wouldn't, as he wanted to be the fastest. Talk to the BBC reporter who did the interview.

Peter Lemkin Wrote:The BBC did an interview with his father, so must know his contact information. The interview was very bitter-sweet. His father was a champion luge medal winner for the Soviet Union and had discussed with his son the dangers of this specific track. His father told him to put his feet down and slow the sled. His son said he wouldn't, as he wanted to be the fastest. Talk to the BBC reporter who did the interview.

Thank you so much Peter. I will do that. I'm so disgusted with the reporters I've emailed to so far. Only one responded, saying she'd look into it for me. Then I heard nothing more from her. The others didn't even bother to do that much.

Well, I need to keep digging. I got a couple of good tips from this thread today.

It's almost unbearable watching the pain his father and mother are going through, and his uncle. Just horrendous. I hope they successfully sue the clearly negligent "hosts" of his death: IOC, luge track designer, everyone. Maybe the settlement money can go towards the luge track they're building in Nodar's memory. And maybe it won't be the fastest track in the world. Hey, Whistler has that claim to infamy. But it could be a place people from around the world are drawn to. Maybe.

Myra Bronstein Wrote:

Peter Lemkin Wrote:The BBC did an interview with his father, so must know his contact information. The interview was very bitter-sweet. His father was a champion luge medal winner for the Soviet Union and had discussed with his son the dangers of this specific track. His father told him to put his feet down and slow the sled. His son said he wouldn't, as he wanted to be the fastest. Talk to the BBC reporter who did the interview.

Thank you so much Peter. I will do that. I'm so disgusted with the reporters I've emailed to so far. Only one responded, saying she'd look into it for me. Then I heard nothing more from her. The others didn't even bother to do that much.

Well, I need to keep digging. I got a couple of good tips from this thread today.

It's almost unbearable watching the pain his father and mother are going through, and his uncle. Just horrendous. I hope they successfully sue the clearly negligent "hosts" of his death: IOC, luge track designer, everyone. Maybe the settlement money can go towards the luge track they're building in Nodar's memory. And maybe it won't be the fastest track in the world. Hey, Whistler has that claim to infamy. But it could be a place people from around the world are drawn to. Maybe.

Kumaritashvili told father he was afraid of luge track

David Kumaritashvili with a picture of his son Nodar


The Georgian luger killed in a training accident in Vancouver phoned his father before the Games to say the layout of the track frightened him.

Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, died last Friday when his sled flipped and he left the track, hitting a steel pole at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

His father David told the BBC's Tom Esslemont: "I spoke to Nodar when he was training before the Games began.

"He told me he was afraid about one of the curves of the track in Canada."

The father is an experienced luger himself and he told his son to use his legs to slow himself down at the part of the run that concerned him.


He continued: "His response was 'Dad, I want to be in the top 10. I want to do my best.' He was angry. He said: 'Why are you telling me to slow down? I have come such a long way and now you are telling me to put my legs on the track?'

"But I never ever thought that his taking part would lead to his death. But unfortunately it was the end. There were metal pillars after the bend and that was where he crashed.

"If those pillars had not been there this would not have happened. I might have seen him again alive."

He revealed that Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili phoned him in tears to say that the country had lost a hero. 606: DEBATE
Tragedy on the ice
Mat Power


"I am not blaming anyone. But the 15th and 16th curves were designed in such a way that was too tight. When Nodar rushed around the corner at 145kph (90mph) he lost his balance," added Mr Kumaritashvili.

"I am not going to sue anyone. My son proved that he is a strong sportsman. And he proved it to the whole world. God will decide who is to blame.

"I am surprised that they continued with the luge event, because of what happened and because sportsmen who are more experienced and stronger than Nodar pulled out."

After the accident, organisers allowed the event to proceed after making safety changes but Kumaritashvili's Georgian team-mate Levan Gureshidze withdrew from the Games.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympic_...517281.stm

[interview with father on this page]

Peter Lemkin Wrote:..."I am not going to sue anyone. My son proved that he is a strong sportsman. And he proved it to the whole world. God will decide who is to blame.

"I am surprised that they continued with the luge event, because of what happened and because sportsmen who are more experienced and stronger than Nodar pulled out."...

Well I think they should sue the hell out of them, then use the money for Nodar's luge track in Georgia. But I respect David's decision.

This is a classic example of profit over people, a frequent theme of this forum.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/17...65329.html


The body of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the Georgian luger who died at an Olympics training run in Vancouver last Friday, arrived in his home country Wednesday. (WARNING: Link contains extremely disturbing images.) The AP has more of the sad details:

'The luger's mother, Dodo Kharazishvili, became so upset she had to be held up by the arms of relatives. An ambulance team was called to help her. The casket was taken to the family home, located on a street that local authorities have renamed in the athlete's honor. Hundreds of mourners gathered there, and many struggled to contain their own tears.

Among the mourners was Levan Gureshidze, a fellow Olympic luger who grew up and trained with Kumaritashvili but withdrew from the Olympics after his friend's death. He said he could not bear to compete after the accident that took his teammate's life.'

As friends and family mourn Kumaritashvili's passing, additional revelations continue to emerge. The 21-year-old reportedly told his father that he was terrified of the Vancouver luge track just days before he died. He also predicted that he would "either win or die" at the Winter Olympics. While the Opening Ceremony last Friday night was dedicated to the Georgian and a memorial was held for him in Vancouver, the Wall Street Journal describes a "series of decisions designed to make the icy track a commercial success after the Games but that left it faster, and ultimately more dangerous, than any competitive track before."

[Wake photos attached.]