Organisers shortened the world's fastest luge track for safety today after a crash killed a Georgian Olympian as Swiss ski jumper Simon Ammann won the first gold medal at a Games plagued by warm, wet weather.
The Olympic men's luge competition at the Whistler Sliding Centre was running from the lower women's start as an added precaution after the death of 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili in a harrowing crash yesterday.
Luge organisers raised the walls at the exit of curve 16 where the first-time Olympian died and changed the ice profile as preventative measures, despite concluding there was no indication the accident was caused by a deficiency in the track.
Away from the luge, warm weather and a wet snow forced the delay of Alpine skiing men's downhill at the Winter Olympics.
Scheduled for today, the event was put off until Monday due to bad course conditions and poor weather, an International Ski Federation spokeswoman said.
Switzerland's Ammann won the first gold medal of the Vancouver Olympics in the normal hill ski jumping.
Luge training resumed, with Tony Benshoof of the United States completing the first run safely from the lower start. The medals will be decided on Sunday. There were no major spills in morning training.
Kumaritashvili died when his luge flipped and smashed into a steel pole during a final training run.
Two investigations have been launched into the death.
Georgia will compete in the Games as a tribute to the 21-year-old.
At a news conference before the ceremony, President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge said Mr Kumaritashvili's death was a tragedy and cast a shadow over the games.
