Nodar Kumaritashvili

Nodar Kumaritashvili was a Georgian luger who suffered a fatal crash during a training run for the 2010 Winter Olympics competition in Whistler, Canada, on the day of the opening ceremony. He became the fourth athlete to have died during Winter Olympics preparations, after British luger Kazimierz KaySkrzypeski, Australian skier Ross Milne , and Swiss speed skier Nicolas Bochatay , and the seventh athlete to die in either a Summer or Winter Olympic Games.

Nodar Kumaritashvili was born on November 25, 1988, in Borjomi, Georgian SSR, present day Georgia, to David and Dodo Kumaritashvili. He had one sister, Mariam, who is four years younger. The region Kumaritashvili grew up has many ski hills, and he enjoyed several different winter sports. Kumaritashvili started luge when he wasyears old. While he maintained a rigorous training and competition schedule, Kumaritashvili graduated from the Georgian Technical University, where he received a bachelors degree in economics in 2009. A devout member of the Georgian Orthodox Church, he prayed at a local church before leaving for the Olympics. Though his family endured economic hardship, Kumaritashvili attended as many luge events as he could, often driving for days to reach World Cup events.

Source: Wikipedia