1. Wide of news conference ++MUTE++

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Svein Romstad, Secretary-General, International Luge Federation:

"The run of Nodar (Kumaritashvili) appeared to be routine until curve 15. At that time, he came out late of the exit of the curve. This resulted in a late entrance into curve 16, the finish curve. Although he attempted to correct the situation, he shot up into the roof of curve 16. The angle in which he did so resulted in him experiencing a G-force that literally collapsed his body, rendering it difficult to control the sled, which in this case he was not able to do. Once this happened he was literally at the mercy of the path of the sled. At the exit of curve 16 he hit the wall. This resulted in Nodar being catapulted onto the top of the wall resulting in the fatal crash."

3. Wide of news conference

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Svein Romstad, Secretary-General, International Luge Federation:

"None of our athletes have experienced what they have experienced. They have lost a, they lost a friend yesterday and it is emotional for everyone."

5. Wide of media conference with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mikhail Saakashvili, Georgian President:

"They (International Luge Federation) have spoken and they said that what happen yesterday was because of human error. Well with all due respect and I''m not a competent person to talk about these issues and I don''t claim to know the technical details, but one thing I know for sure that no sport mistake is supposed to lead to a death, no sport mistake is supposed to be fatal. Mistakes do happen in sports but we are talking about sports where there is competitiveness, there is danger, but we should avoid whatever consequence could be. The question were asked about this place we were told by other sportsmen there were some suggestion that this wall should have been higher there because there was eventuality of this happening. (The) good news is that they built it now but I think the best news would be in the future they listen more to the grievances of sportsmen. They listen more to the sensitivities and we don''t have to do things in the aftermath. If this death, which is very tragic by itself, can lead to improved security and improved response to people in expressing their concerns, that''s would be, maybe then it was not in vain, anyway any human death is not acceptable certainly."

7. Wide of media conference

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mark Adams, International Olympic Committee spokesman:

"We certainly didn''t hear of anything about excessive speed, no, and we are totally convinced that the sliding centre is very, very safe. There have been 5000 runs on that run, and as far I understand the safety issues, it is a good - for want of a better word, the technical term is crash ratio, is very good for that sliding centre."

9. Blackcomb Gondola cable car pod passing

10. Close up of Olympic Sliding Centre sign

11. Construction workers

12. Pan of floral tributes at base of Rings

13. Close up of picture of Kumaritashvili

14. SOUNDBITE: (Czech) Martin Novodny, Czech delegation member:

"We were really sad to hear the news, especially at the beginning of the whole competition. He was a really young guy. We hope that it won''t be that bad for the whole of the Games. We think that things will get better and better. We heard the sliding course will be shortened after the death and one has to be careful because you only get one life."

15. Tilt up Rings, half mast flags

The start of the men''s Olympic luge competition has been moved farther down the track, international luge officials said on Saturday, a decision made with the emotions of the athletes in mind following the death of a Georgian competitor.

They reiterated that the lightning-fast track was safe for competition, and Olympic officials said they were "completely satisfied" with the adjustments.

Nodar Kumaritashvili died on Friday when he skidded off his luge and slammed at 145 kilometres per hour (90 miles per hour) into an unpadded steel pole during a practice session at the Whistler Sliding Track.

"At the exit of curve 16 he hit the wall. This resulted in Nodar being catapulted onto the top of the wall resulting in the fatal crash," Svein Romstad, Secretary-General of the International Luge Federation told a news conference.

Kumaritashvili''s death was believed to be the first on a sanctioned luge track since December 1975, the federation said.

"None of our athletes have experienced what they have experienced. They have lost a, they lost a friend yesterday. It is emotional for everyone," Romstad said.

On Saturday evening, Georgia''s President Mikhail Saakashvili reacted strongly to an investigation by the International Luge Federation that said the crash that killed Kumaritashvili was the result of human error.

While acknowledging that he was not competent to talk about the technical details of the sport and the accident, Saakashvili said "no sports mistake is supposed to be fatal."

He also dismissed suggestions that the 21-year-old slider was inexperienced.

Officials said they would raise the wall where Kumaritashvili flew off the track and make an unspecified "change in the ice profile" - but only as a preventative measure "to avoid that such an extremely exceptional accident could occur again."

Saakashvili said it was "good news" that they were building the wall now but questioned why organisers did not take the advice of competitors who said the luge wall should have been higher before the accident occurred.

However Saakashvili emphasised he was not accusing the officials of negligence.

The Georgian president added that if organisers can learn from the mistakes that were made, then Kumaritashvili''s death might not be in vain.

Concerns about the lightning-fast course had been raised for months.

There were worries that the 100 (m) million-plus venue was too technically difficult, and a lack of significant practice time by everyone but the host nation''s sliders would result in a rash of accidents.

In a joint statement, the luge federation and Vancouver Olympic officials said Kumaritashvili was late coming out of the next-to-last turn and failed to compensate.

Mark Adams, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman, said that the IOC was convinced of the safety of the luge track at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

"There have been 5000 runs on that run and as far I understand the safety issues, it is a good - for want of a better word, the technical term is crash ratio, is very good for that sliding centre," he added.

Saakashvili said he had already proposed to the Georgian government that they build a luge track in Kumaritashvili''s home town to honour the athlete

The Georgian National Olympic Committee said an annual luge competition will be held in his honour.

A day after Kumaritashvili died in the crash, the luge track was kept closed longer than planned and reopened for training with the starting point moved farther down the track.

However Levan Gureshidze, the dead athlete''s teammate, skipped one of his practice runs.

Ruben Gonzalez of Argentina, the first person to compete in four Winter Olympics in four different decades, and Ma Chih-hung of Taiwan also declined runs.

On Saturday, none of the 36 sliders, all of whom wore black tape on the left sides of their helmets in tribute to Kumaritashvili, broke 90 miles per hour (144.84 kilometres per hour) after speeds routinely surpassed 95 miles per hour (152.88 kilometres per hour) earlier in the week.

Earlier in the day visitors paid their respects to 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili, by placing flowers around his photograph at the foot of the giant Olympic Rings at Whistler, British Colombia.

The man who designed the Olympic luge course, Udo Gurgel, said he was shocked by the death, and added that the track''s walls may have to be raised.