A small funeral service was held in Vancouver for the olypmic luger who died on the luge at the Winter Olympics. After the Funeral the body of   Nodar Kumaritashvili was returned to the country of Georgia.

“A brief, private memorial service was held at a Vancouver funeral home for the Georgian luger killed in a crash during training, then his casket was flown home for burial.

Three Georgian athletes, including figure skater Otar Japaridze, wearing a black armband on his red team jacket, filed past the open casket to touch the body of their fallen teammate, Nodar Kumaritashvili. His uncle and coach, Felix Kumaritashvili, broke into tears outside the funeral home.

The president of Georgia’s Olympic Committee was accompanying the body back to Georgia, where the casket would be received by a spiritual leader.

Kumaritashvili’s father told The Associated Press in Georgia that shortly before the fatal run he spoke to his 21-year-old son, who said he was worried about the track’s speed.

“He told me, ‘I will either win or die,’” David Kumaritashvili said. “But that was youthful bravado, he couldn’t be seriously talking about death.”

Funeral Industry|Funeral News blog by Your Funeral Guy