>>>>>Now here is a weird one. The Dutch four man bobsled team has withdrawn from the Olympics, before the event. Reason: the driver is too scared to take the sled down the course. This sounds like The Onion, doesn't it? Evidently it's for real, though ---
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>>>>>http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/02/25/olympics.bobsled.driver.quits/index.html?hpt=C1
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>>>>That took a lot of guts. Good for him. Sometimes it takes more courage to be right than to be "brave".
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>>>I agree with that, but not in this situation. If the course was too scary for him, what was he doing there in the first place? No one had the proverbial gun to his head. The venue was known. A day or two before the race is no time to have this little epiphany.
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>>>The part that nettles me is his three teammates are out of the competition along with him. They knew the risks and accepted them. Surely there is a bobsled driver in the Netherlands who shared their view.
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>>I read that foreign teams where allowed little practice time on the olympic course. One person has already died on that course. He must have felt that it was dangerous for him on the runs he'd had. Like Charles I admire him for standing up and saying no. Its sport no-ones supposed to die or risk their lives. Save that for the people in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
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>Yes, the Canadians did limit practice time to other countries, and they should be ashamed of themselves for that. But bobsledding on any Olympic caliber course is dangerous by its nature. As one of the contestants said after the Georgian luger died, if you can't handle the danger then take up chess.
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>Again, I am not criticizing the guy for having the courage to say no. I just think he should have figured it out before the last minute. By then there was no choice but to leave his teammates in the lurch. They may not do the steering but they spent just as much training time as he did.

Thats why dangerous sport is for young idiots.they have no concept of the value of their lives. If I was to risk dying for my country I don't think it would be to try and win a bit of metal on a ribbon.