luge

luge, form of small-sled racing. Luge sledding is distinctive from bobsledding and skeleton sledding in that the sled is ridden in a supine position (lying on the back) and steered by subtle leg and shoulder movements. The sport takes its name from the French word for “sled.”

History and organization

Dating to the 15th century, luge is a traditional winter sport in Austria and Germany. The first international sledding competition was held in Davos, Switzerland, in 1883. The International Sled Sport Federation was established in 1913 in Dresden, Germany, and it merged with the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT) in 1935. The first European luge championships, with single- and double-seater events, were held in 1914 at Reichenfels, Austria, and the first world titles were contested at Oslo in 1955. In 1957 the luge sport left the FIBT and established the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (FIL; shortened to Fédération Internationale de Luge in 2022).

Luge was included in the Olympic Winter Games for the first time in 1964 and featured men’s singles, women’s singles, and men’s doubles events. A team relay—consisting of doubles sled, women’s singles sled, and men’s singles sled competitions—were added to the schedule for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and women’s doubles will be included for the first time in the program at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

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Equipment and competition

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The sled, called a luge, is of wood, plastic, or fiberglass construction, with wide runners faced with steel. The maximum weight of the sled is 25 kg (55 pounds) for singles and 30 kg (66 pounds) for doubles. Luge competition is often held on a bobsled run. Runs vary in length but typically range between 1,000 meters and 1,300 meters (approximately three-fourths of a mile) for men and between 800 meters and 1,050 meters (approximately half a mile) for women.

Athletes wear an aerodynamic bodysuit and spiked gloves, which enable them to “paddle” the ice at the start of the race, propelling them down the course. Speeds can exceed 150 km (93 miles) per hour as competitors navigate the icy turns (the world record is 153.98 km [95.68 miles] per hour, set in 2009 by German luger Felix Loch). A helmet is mandatory. Nevertheless, lugers have had catastrophic injuries as a result of crashing at high speeds. Two of the highest profile such episodes occurred in the lead-up to Olympic competition. In 1964 Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki of Great Britain died after crashing during a training run prior to that year’s Winter Olympics, and Nodar Kumaritashvili, a luger from Georgia, was killed after crashing into a steel column during a practice run shortly before the opening ceremony of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

International luge competition has been dominated by European athletes, those from Germany and Austria in particular. At the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, U.S. doubles teams claimed the silver and bronze medals, the first luge Olympic medals won by non-Europeans.

Notable athletes

• Georg Hackl (Germany)
• Tatjana Hüfner (Germany)
• Thomas Köhler (Germany and East Germany)
• Linger brothers (Austria)
• Sylke Otto (Germany)
• Armin Zöggeler (Italy)