WHISTLER, B.C. - A young athlete is recovering from a concussion in a Vancouver hospital after an accident at the Whistler Sliding Centre.
Centre spokeswoman Patricia Leslie says the girl, a member of the B.C. Luge Association, was taking part in a regular training session Wednesday night and, as a novice athlete under the age of 13, was only practising on the lowest four corners of the track, about 120 kilometres north of Vancouver.
Lugers lie on their back and slide, feet first, on an open sled and Leslie says the girl lost control on corner 14 of the 16 corner track and came off her sled at what is described as low speeds, suffering a concussion but remaining responsive while being prepared for the air ambulance flight to Vancouver Children's Hospital.
Leslie says the athlete is now listed in stable condition and the sliding centre and luge association will begin a full review of the incident.
She referred all other questions about the athlete's training and the frequency of such mishaps to the luge association, but noted these young athletes are learning to luge and the process is much like mastering a bicycle or learning to ski.
The accident occurred on the same track where 21-year-old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died just hours before the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics, prompting criticism that the course was too fast.