Snowboarder Kevin Pearce, a would-be contender for gold medal in the Winter Olympics, is still recovering from the brain injury he sustained while practicing a halfpipe Dec. 31, The Washington Post reports. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/08/AR2010020803197.html
Despite Pearce’s brain injury, a competitor who will benefit from Pearce’s absence, Shaun White, an Olympic gold winner, seems to be making his routines even more dangerous. White has added even more dangerous maneuvers to his performance, including one that caused him to hit his head in a scary crash during practice at the Winter X games. White undeterred, repeated the same stunt in the competition and won it.
According to the Washington Post:
“Pearce, who was considered one of White’s biggest rivals and was expected to contend for a gold medal, suffered a brain injury Dec. 31 while doing halfpipe training. His injury has brought a round of second-guessing the dangers of a sport whose star practitioners, with White at the forefront, are continually pushing boundaries.”
Pushing the envelope for thrills, ratings. Where have we heard this theme before? Was it NASCAR, now officially a contact sport? http://www.tbilaw.com/blog/2010/01/nascar-vows-to-return-to-roots-as.html At least the NFL isn’t giving up the “roughing the passer” penalty.
The first major tragedy was in the Luge. See our blog on the death of Georgian Luger,Nodar Kumaritashvili at http://www.waiting.com/blog/2010/02/olympics-marred-by-luger-death-before.html Sport, thrills and prevention in the industrial age will be a subject of today’s blog at http://tbilaw.com/blog