The tragic death of 21-year-old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili in Friday's official training sounded the alarm of the Whistler Sliding Center track. The challenge for record speed implies a risk of life.

The International Olympic Committee is investigating how the course, originally designed for speeds of 137km/h, allowed athletes to set world records of more than 153 km/h.

"The track is too fast," said Joseph Fendt, president of the World Luge Federation, told London's Daily Telegraph.

"We had planned it to be a maximum of 137 km/h but it is about 20km/h faster. We think this is a planning mistake."

In training this week, Manuel Pfister set a speed record when he hit 154km/h. That topped the 153.98km/h record set at the same course last year.

So far, there will be no shortage of complaints from coaches and athletes who will say that the problem is the track itself, which boasts the fastest in the world, and among its most difficult.

After nearly losing control on Thursday, Australia's Hannah Campbell-Pegg said the track was risking her life.

"I think they are pushing it a little too much. To what extent are we just little lemmings that they just throw down a track and we're crash-test dummies? I mean, this is our lives," said Campbell-Pegg.

There were plenty of complains at last February's bobsleigh and skeleton World Cup test events in Whistler.

Maya Pederson, the Swiss star who won skeleton gold in Turin, said the track was unbelievably quick.

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