Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki (or Skrzypeski) (25 November 1905 – 22 January 1964John E. Findling, Kimberly D. Pelle, ''Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement'', Greenwood Press, 2004, , p. 346.) was a British

luge A luge () is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds Supine position, supine (face-up) and feet-first. A luger begins seated, propelling themselves initially from handles on either side of the start ramp, then steers by using the Ca ...

racer. Skrzypecki was a former

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

."Flashback to Luge's 1964 Debut"
''winterolympics.si.com'' (Retrieved 17 February 2010) He died from injuries sustained during one of the training runs for the first Olympic luge competition at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The city was a ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

. On 21 January 1964, he suffered a fractured skull, fractured pelvis, and other injuries in the accident. He died the next day when his heart stopped during an emergency operation. Days later, on 26 January 1964, Australian downhill skier Ross Milne also died, of a head injury during a training run.John E. Findling, Kimberly D. Pelle, ''Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement'', Greenwood Press, 2004, , p. 347. The Opening Ceremonies of the Games were held on 29 January 1964.

References

1905 births 1964 deaths 1964 Winter Olympics British aviators British male lugers Lugers at the 1964 Winter Olympics Olympic deaths Olympic lugers for Great Britain Place of birth missing Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom Polish male lugers Polish Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Sport deaths in Austria 20th-century Polish sportsmen {{Poland-luge-bio-stub