Memorials for fallen luger

With the five official Olympic flags flying at half-mast around Turn 16, where Georgia's Nodar Kumashtivili died in a training accident on Thursday, and flowers piling up in the athletes' village in his memory, the luge competition is underway in Whistler. The story that has dominated these Games, though, refuses to quit down after officials blamed the accident on human error.

At WSJ Online, Samantha Shields reports that Kumarashtivili told a friend he was terrified of the Whistler course a full three days before the accident:

"He called me before the Olympics, three days ago, and he said, 'Dad, I'm scared of one of the turns,' " David Kumaritashvili said in an interview at his house in the small mountain town of Bakuriani on Sunday.

 Back in Vancouver, this morning's daily briefing included this update:

We've taken measures in the last 24 (hours) to expedite the legal process for the return of his remains from Canada," said VANOC spokesman Renee Smith-Valade. "We are also talking with the authorities at Vancouver airport about the opportunity for further memorial when that happens."

Meantime, Yahoo!'s 4-Ring Circus blog has an update with pictures on the changes to the course in the wake of Kurashtivili's death.