Fast and frightening, yes. Responsible for the death of a luger, no.

Olympic officials decided late on Friday night against any major changes in the track or any delays in competition and even doubled up on the schedule in the wake of the horrifying accident that claimed the life of a 21-year-old luger from Georgia.

They said they would raise the wall where the slider flew off the track and make an unspecified "change in the ice profile" – but only as a preventative measure "to avoid that such an exceptional accident could occur again".

Within sight of the finish line, Nodar Kumaritashvili crashed coming out of the 16th turn and slammed into an unpadded steel pole while travelling at nearly 90mph. Despite frantic attempts by paramedics to save his life, he died at a trauma centre.

The International Luge Federation and Vancouver Olympic officials said their investigation showed that the crash was the result of human error and that "there was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track". In a joint statement they said Kumaritashvili was late coming out of the next-to-last turn and failed to compensate. "This resulted in a late entrance into curve 16 and although the athlete worked to correct the problem, he eventually lost control of the sled, resulting in the tragic accident."

Kumaritashvili's death cast a pall over the Winter Games before they even started.

"I have no words to say what we feel," said International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.

Concerns about the course had been raised for months. There were worries that the $100m-plus venue was too technically difficult, and a lack of significant practice time by everyone but the host nation's sliders would result in a rash of accidents.

"It is a nervous situation," Latvian luge federation president Atis Strenga said. "I hope it's the first accident and the last accident in this race."

The slider's father is president of the Georgian luge federation and his cousin is the team's coach. The remaining seven members of the Georgian Olympic delegation decided to stay and dedicated their performances to their fallen teammate.