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Last night, the 2010 Olympic Winter Games kicked off with an astounding opening ceremony, but they ran into one major glitch. Due to a technical failure, only three out of four of the Olympic cauldron’s pillars rose out of the floor. They carefully improvised and the torch illuminated the stadium.

The organizing committee most likely rehearsed the lighting of the torch hundreds of times before the actual ceremony. Certainly, they raised those pillars from the ground over and over again without fault. Unfortunately, it didn’t work during the one time that it actually mattered.

We can plan and rehearse over and over again. We can contemplate and prepare for every imaginable problem. Even when everything goes right, things beyond our control can still go wrong.

Yesterday, the death of Georgian Luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili’s shattered the Olympic community, the people of Whistler, and the outside world alike. Kumaritashvili died during a training run. He lost control at one of the final turns, and catapulted off the track, smashing into an unpadded steel beam which took his life.

During last night’s opening ceremony, his teammates donned black arm bands to recognize their fallen comrade. The Canadian and Olympic flags waved at half mast. The stadium and watching world observed his death with a one minute silence.

This morning’s news program indicated that the accident was due to human fault. The reporter explained that Kumaritashvili made a mistake going into the turn, and this mistake caused the crash that resulted in his death.

Although a performance error may have caused his crash, I cannot agree with the idea that an athlete dies if he or she makes a mistake. If you make a mistake in war, it will cost your life. Arizona Cardinal Pat Tillman lost his life in war, but not because of a mistake he made, but because of friendly fire. Mistakes in sports should not take a life.

Unfortunately, competitive deaths and catastrophic injuries do happen in sport. Dating back to 1912, I researched at least six athletes, including Kumaritashvili, that died during Olympic practice or competition.

Headlines discuss many reasons that may have caused Kumaritashvili’s death. Most notably, people question the safety of the track. Athletes admit the speed and technical difficulty of the track. They claim that this track is one of the fastest, scariest, and most challenging tracks in the world. With this kind of reputation, it’s easy to blame the safety of the track for this incident.

Can we really blame the safety of the track though?

Experts built this track. They knew what they were doing when they constructed it. The International Olympic Committee stated that the track has had over 5,000 runs since its completion two years ago. During every single one of those runs, officials, coaches, and athletes all acknowledged the risk of the track. Despite knowing the fact that many athletes have crashed on this course, many of them getting knocked unconscious, athletes continue to courageously accept the challenge.

We can only blame the safety of the track as much as we can blame ourselves for going down it. That’s the nature of every action sport and the nature of humankind. We constantly strive to go bigger and faster as we conquer greater, more dangerous feats. Olympic athletes epitomize this trait as they fearlessly lay everything on the line. Sometimes, this fearlessness claims a life.

The sorrow felt by all of us cannot be described. Every athlete carries Kumaritashvili in their hearts. Let’s do the same. When we enjoy the competition and admire the medalists, let’s remember that he shared the same dream.

In my previous blog, I described our persevering adventure with Agaton. However, Kumaritashvili’s incident truly depicts the persevering nature and vigorous courage of people. This morning, the luge resumed with the men’s training runs. Kumaritashvili’s competitors carried his Olympic dreams down the track as they bravely resumed training. Imagine the courage it took for them to pass that same turn where Kumaritashvili lost his life. Now that’s perseverance. That’s bravery.

Let the games begin.