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A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face-up) and feet-first. A luger begins seated, propelling themselves initially from handles on either side of the start ramp, then steers by using the calf muscles to flex the sled's runners or by exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the pod. Racing sleds weigh 21–25 kg (46–55 lb) for singles and 25–30 kg (55–66 lb) for doubles. Luge is also the name of an Olympic sport that employs that sled and technique.
Antony Lee "Tony" Benshoof is an American luger from White Bear Lake, Minnesota who has been competing since 1990. He won three medals in the mixed team event at the FIL World Luge Championships with two silvers and one bronze (2001).
Oswald Haselrieder OMRI is an Italian former luger who competed internationally from 1988 to 2010. He achieved success at junior level, taking two bronze medals in singles and a gold in doubles at the World Junior Championships, the latter achieved in partnership with Dietmar Pierhofer. Haselrider and Pierhofer continued to compete together until 1995, when they split up and Haselrieder joined forces with Gerhard Plankensteiner. Haselrieder went on to win the bronze medal in the men's doubles event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin after competing in three previous Winter Olympic Games: in 1992 in the singles event and in doubles in 1998 and 2002. He went on to compete in a fifth Olympics in 2010: he retired soon afterwards after sustaining an injury in training in March of that year.
Gerhard Gleirscher is an Austrian luger who competed from 1990 to 2000. He won a complete set of medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with a gold in mixed team (1997), a silver in mixed team (1991) and a bronze in men's singles (1997).
David Möller is a German former luger who competed from 2001 to 2014. He won six medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with four golds, one silver, and one bronze
Jaroslav Slávik is a Slovak luger who competed from 1990 to 2006. He won the bronze medal in the men's singles event at the 2004 FIL European Luge Championships in Oberhof, Germany.
Viktor Ivanovich Kneib is a Russian luger who has competed since the late 1990s. Competing in four Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of 9th in the men's doubles event at Nagano in 1998.
Stefan Höhener is a Swiss luger who has competed since 1999. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of 13th in the men's singles event at Salt Lake City in 2002.
Jozef Ninis is a Slovakian luger who has competed since 1996. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of 22nd in the men's singles event at Turin in 2006.
Domen Pociecha is a Slovenian luger who has competed since 1998. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of 26th in the men's singles event at Turin in 2006.
The Olympic Sliding Centre Innsbruck is a venue for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton located in Igls, Austria. The most recent version of the track was completed in 1975 and is the first permanent, combination artificially refrigerated bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track, serving as a model for other tracks of its kind worldwide. It hosted the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton competitions for the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics.
Manuel Pfister is an Austrian luger who has competed since 1999. His best finish at the FIL World Luge Championships was 17th in the men's singles event at Oberhof in 2008.
Johannes Ludwig is an Olympic gold medal-winning German luger who has competed since 1996. He won a bronze medal in the Team relay event at the FIL European Luge Championships 2010 in Sigulda. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Ludwig won the bronze medal in the men's singles luge and the gold in the team relay luge, along with his teammates Natalie Geisenberger, Tobias Wendl, and Tobias Arlt. Then at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, he won the gold medal in the Men's singles race.
Inārs Kivlenieks is a Latvian luger who has competed since 2005. His best Luge World Cup season finish was 20th in men's doubles in 2006–07.
The men's luge at the 2010 Winter Olympics took place on 13–14 February 2010 at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia. Germany's Felix Loch was the two-time defending world champion and won the gold medal with the fastest time in each of the four runs. The test event that took place at the venue was won by Germany's David Möller, who would win the silver medal in this event. Italy's Armin Zöggeler was the two-time defending Olympic champion and won a bronze medal in this event. The last World Cup event prior to the 2010 games took place in Cesana, Italy on 30 January 2010 and was won by Zöggeler, who also won the overall World Cup title.
The women's luge at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada took place on 15–16 February at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia. Germany's Sylke Otto was the two-time defending Olympic champion. Otto retired midway through the 2006-07 season in January 2007 to pregnancy and after suffering a crash at the track in Königssee, Germany. Erin Hamlin of the United States was the defending world champion. The test event that took place at the venue was won by Germany's Natalie Geisenberger. The last World Cup event prior to the 2010 games took place in Cesana, Italy on 31 January 2010 and was won by Geisenberger. Geisenberger's teammate Tatjana Hüfner, the defending Olympic bronze medalist, won the overall World Cup for 2009-10 season in women's singles.
Natalia Vladimirovna Khoreva is a Russian luger who has competed since 1999. She finished 16th in the 2008-09 Luge World Cup.
Ondřej Hyman is a Czech luger who has competed since 1995. His best finish at the FIL World Luge Championships was 29th in the men's singles at Oberhof in 2008.
Maciej Kurowski is a Polish luger who has competed since 2005. His best finish at the FIL World Luge Championships was 29th in the men's singles event at Lake Placid, New York in 2009.
David Mair is an Italian luger and former skeleton racer. He competed until 2002 as a natural track luger, then until 2007 as a skeleton racer and switched back to natural track luge in 2009.
References
- FIL-Luge profile (Note: all results until 2002 belongs to the natural track luger of the same name)
