Olympic tragedy struck today when Olympic Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, flew off the track at the Whistler Sliding Centre and slammed into a metal girder, dying of his injuries only hours before the opening ceremonies.

IOC President Jacques Rogge said of the tragedy occurring so close to the start of this years Winter Olympics, "it clearly casts a shadow over these games."

But it's not the first time it's happened. No athlete has ever died during competition, but three other times in Winter Olympics history has an athlete died during training.

The first two deaths by athletes occurred during the same Innsbruck, Austria games in 1964. Ross Milne, an Austrian Downhill Skier died when he hit a tree during a training run. Again, it was just before opening ceremonies. The other Olympian to die during the same Innsbruck Winter Games was Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki, an Austrian Luger.

During training before the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertsville, France, Nicholas Bochatay of Switzerland was killed preparing for the demonstration sport of speed skiing. He crashed into a snow-grooming machine on a public trail.

Our hearts go out to Kumaritashvili and his family as well as to the safety of the rest of the Olympians.