What is a luge?

A luge is a small one or two person sled on which the athletes lie down facing up. The sled, or luge, is made of wood, plastic, or fibreglass. It has two wide steel runners. A luge course is made of concrete covered with ice, and has many steeply banked curves. The luge can reach speeds of up to 130 kilometres per hour during a race.

Driving a luge

After starting from a sitting position, the competitors lean back almost flat on the luge and steer by pulling on a rope and by changing body position. A luge travels faster with a heavy load so in a doubles competition the heavier of the two 'lugers' or 'sliders' lies in the front position.

Athletes use a steering rein and drag their hands and use their legs in order to drive around the tight flat corners. Braking is accomplished by the use of spikes built on the bottom of the shoes worn by the athletes.

Competitors wear tight clothing, a helmet with a visor, and gloves that have small spikes in the palms.

Luge at the Winter Olympics

In Olympic competitions men and women compete individually or in teams of two. In individual competitions each competitor, or slider, completes four runs of the course. The times of each run are added together and the slider with the fastest time wins. In the team event, each team completes two runs of the course and the times of each run are added together.

History of luge

Lugeing dates back to the 15th century when it was a traditional winter sport in Germany.

The first luge competitions were held in Switzerland in 1883.

Luge became an official Olympic sport in 1964.

It’s a good idea to get information from more than one source!

Read about luge competition

https://www.cbc.ca/kids/olympics/beijing2022/sports/luge

Watch a video that shows what the athletes see as they go down the track

https://www.sikids.com/olympics/view-sled-during-olympic-luge-run

Read about the luge competition at Beijing Winter Olympics 2020

https://olympics.com/en/news/olympic-luge-at-beijing-2022-top-five-things-to-know