The 21-year-old hurtled off the high-speed track and slammed into a steel pole 90 miles per hour just hours before the start of the Games last Friday (February 12).

He was taken to hospital with blood pouring from a head wound after trackside emergency treatment, but doctors were unable to save his life.

His funeral was attended by thousands of people, including the country's President, Mikhail Saakashvili, and other politicians.

"This is a huge tragedy both for Nodar's family and the entire nation," Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalanadze said.

"This is very hard to bear for tiny Georgia," the country's first lady, Sandra Rulovz, commented.

It was earlier announced that a street and a luge track in Bakuriani, 120 miles from the capital Tbilisi, would be named in the athlete's honor.


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