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 Polish-born British

luge A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face up) and feet-first. A luger steers by using the calf muscles to flex the sled's runners or by exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh for s ...

racer. Skrzypecki was a former

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

."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 (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (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 ...

. 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 ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

er Ross Milne also died.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 of 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 {{Poland-luge-bio-stub