Two athletes were qualified for the luge, with both Levan Gureshidze and Nodar Kumaritashvili set to make their Olympics' debut. However, on February 12, the day of the Opening Ceremony, Kumaritashvili crashed during a training run and was killed. The Whistler Sliding Centre, which recorded some of the fastest speeds in luge, experienced several accidents occurred during training runs leading up to the start of the games. Going into the final turn of the course at speeds of , he crashed into the side of the turn, sending him into a steel support pillar, and died shortly after. The International Luge Federation immediately called an emergency meeting after the incident, and all other training runs were called off for the day. Saying he "couldn't go on," Gureshidze withdrew from the competition out of respect for his teammate.