Late Athlete Honored at Olympics Opening Ceremony

Nodar Kumaritashvili, the 21-year-old athlete who died in a high-speed luge crash on Friday, was remembered last night during the 2010 Winter Games' opening ceremony in Vancouver, and ET has details on the ensuing death investigation.

The deadly crash occurred during a training session at the Whistler Sliding Centre yesterday morning. Kumaritashvili was taking a curve in the track and traveling close to 90 mph when he collided with an unpadded steel support pole, says the Associated Press. Luge officials have delayed the reopening of the track.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games tells ET the investigation on Kumaritashvili’s cause of death is being led by the Coroners Service of British Columbia and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. A second investigation is underway by the Federation International de Luge.