Funeral services were held Monday morning for the Georgian luger who died while training at Whistler for the Olympic Games.
The Georgian Olympic Committee, athletes, local Georgians and VANOC officials honoured Nodar Kumaritashvili during an open-casket service at First Memorial funeral home.
The 21-year-old died hours before the Opening Ceremony when he careened off the track at about 140 km/h and collided back first into a steel beam.
"People [were] in shock and sorrow," said European Olympic Committee president Patrick Hickey of the mood inside the funeral home. "There were no speeches. Nobody wanted a speech."
Georgian athletes reflected privately before others were allowed into the ceremony, Hickey added.
Mourners lit candles then filed past Kumaritashvili and touched his body, according to Georgian traditions.
Felix Kumaritashvili, the fallen athlete's uncle and coach, sobbed profusely after pallbearers loaded the casket into a hearse bound for Vancouver International Airport.
VANOC officials, clad in sky blue jackets and black armbands, flanked the grieving coach and pulled in other mourners to offer moral support.
Georgian athletes wearing either black or the country's national uniform gathered in small groups emotionally supporting each other.
The Georgian Olympic Committee president is travelling with the casket via Germany and will arrive home Wednesday.
The Georgian Catholic Patriarch will receive the returning delegation.
The Georgian Olympic Committee's vice-president will stay in Vancouver to oversee the European country's remaining seven athletes.
VANOC CEO John Furlong, who was a pallbearer along with Hickey, said there could be more services during the Games.
"The service today was really organized quite quickly. We had anticipated it might take a little bit longer ... because of the laws we have in Canada, the investigation has to take place," he said.
"Given that there was a significant desire in this young man's hometown to get him home to Georgia, we asked for all this work to be expedited on Sunday."
He added about 50 people were at the open-casket memorial
"The uncle of the young man is heartbroken," Furlong said. "There are three athletes from this team from the same class and the same school in Georgia. It was extremely difficult and moving."