Sawt Falasteen - Georgian luger races in Beijing for cousin killed at 2010 Games

Kumaritashvili bowed out of the singles heats, having been ranked 31st -- but he had come to China for more than medals.

His cousin Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed 12 years ago when his luge sledge flew off the track in training at the Vancouver Olympics.

"He would be proud of me," said Saba, who is 21, the same age Nodar was when he died.

"I think about him every time I am doing luge. After Nodar, I didn't want luge to die in Georgia, I wanted to keep it going," said Kumaritashvili.

"I wasn’t afraid. I wanted to be in the Olympics to race."

The Georgian failed to advance to the final run which decides the medals as only the top 20 racers went through.

"I'm very happy, I did what I needed to do," he said.

Luge has run in the family for generations, going back to the early 1970s.

Saba's great-grandfather Aleko led the project to build the first track in Georgia, then coached the national team and ran the luge federation.

"My parents didn’t object to me going into luge, I think they wanted it more than me," joked Kumaritashvili.

Saba was only nine when Nodar died and concedes he can remember "only moments" about him.

Still, he "is one of the reasons I'm in luge".

L.AbuTayeh--SF-PST