Q&A on the News

Q: It was a tragic accident when Olympic luge participant Nodar Kumaritashvili died during a practice run. How many other athletes in Winter Olympics history have been killed either practicing or participating at the Games?

-- Jerry Schwartz, Alpharetta

A: Kumaritashvili, who was from the country of Georgia, was the fourth athlete to die during the Winter Olympics, and the first since 1992, according to The Associated Press. Polish-born luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki, who had become a British citizen, and Ross Milne, an Australian skier, were both killed in training runs at the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. Kay-Skrzypecki, much like Kumaritashvili, was killed when his luge flew off the course, and Milne crashed into a tree. During the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France, Switzerland’s Nicholas Bochatay, a speed skier training for the demonstration sport, ran into a snow-grooming machine. Speed skiing has never returned to the Games.

Q: Have any pandas born in the U.S. successfully bred in China?

-- Robin Titterington, Decatur

A: Yes. According to the San Diego Zoo, the first baby panda born at the California zoo, Hua Mei, has produced several offspring in China. Two American-born pandas -- 3-year-old Mei Lan from Zoo Atlanta and Tai Shan, a 4 ½-year-old at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. -- arrived in China earlier this month to participate in a breeding program to ensure the survival of the endangered species, according to The Associated Press.