| Men's singles at the XV Olympic Winter Games | |||||||||||||
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| Venue | Canada Olympic Park | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 14–15 February 1988 | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 38 from 18 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 3:05.548 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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| Luge at the 1988 Winter Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Singles | men | women |
| Doubles | doubles | |
The men's singles luge competition at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary was held on 14 and 15 February, at Canada Olympic Park. [1] [2]
| Rank [1] | Athlete | Country | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Run 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Jens Müller |  East Germany | 46.301 | 46.444 | 46.436 | 46.367 | 3:05.548 |
 | Georg Hackl |  West Germany | 46.355 | 46.553 | 46.599 | 46.409 | 3:05.916 |
 | Yury Kharchenko |  Soviet Union | 46.391 | 46.605 | 46.475 | 46.803 | 3:06.274 |
| 4 | Thomas Jacob | East Germany | 46.426 | 46.638 | 46.433 | 46.861 | 3:06.358 |
| 5 | Michael Walter | East Germany | 46.578 | 46.754 | 46.838 | 46.763 | 3:06.933 |
| 6 | Sergey Danilin | Soviet Union | 46.564 | 46.827 | 46.648 | 47.059 | 3:07.098 |
| 7 | Johannes Schettel | West Germany | 46.725 | 46.928 | 46.805 | 46.913 | 3:07.371 |
| 8 | Hansjörg Raffl |  Italy | 46.590 | 46.971 | 46.893 | 47.071 | 3:07.525 |
| 9 | Otto Mayregger |  Austria | 46.777 | 46.986 | 46.925 | 46.931 | 3:07.619 |
| 10 | Paul Hildgartner | Italy | 46.844 | 46.854 | 46.764 | 47.234 | 3:07.696 |
| 11 | Markus Prock | Austria | 46.637 | 46.632 | 47.637 | 46.829 | 3:07.735 |
| 12 | Frank Masley |  United States | 46.813 | 46.890 | 46.813 | 47.427 | 3:07.943 |
| 13 | Max Burghardtswieser | West Germany | 46.874 | 46.949 | 47.083 | 47.280 | 3:08.186 |
| 14 | Duncan Kennedy | United States | 47.032 | 47.065 | 47.093 | 47.282 | 3:08.472 |
| 15 | Kurt Brugger | Italy | 47.084 | 47.362 | 47.045 | 47.130 | 3:08.621 |
| 16 | Petr Urban |  Czechoslovakia | 46.917 | 47.215 | 47.133 | 47.359 | 3:08.624 |
| 17 | Valery Dudin | Soviet Union | 47.812 | 46.982 | 47.061 | 47.025 | 3:08.880 |
| 18 | Kazuhiko Takamatsu |  Japan | 47.278 | 47.235 | 47.326 | 47.176 | 3:09.015 |
| 19 | Harington Telford |  Canada | 47.152 | 47.564 | 47.119 | 47.463 | 3:09.298 |
| 20 | Mikael Holm |  Sweden | 47.409 | 47.165 | 47.423 | 47.661 | 3:09.658 |
| 21 | Luboš Jíra | Czechoslovakia | 47.647 | 47.569 | 47.819 | 47.822 | 3:10.857 |
| 22 | Macleod Nicol |  Great Britain | 47.701 | 47.679 | 47.569 | 48.000 | 3:10.949 |
| 23 | Jon Owen | United States | 47.670 | 47.632 | 47.834 | 48.328 | 3:11.464 |
| 24 | Chris Wightman | Canada | 47.855 | 47.856 | 47.773 | 48.182 | 3:11.666 |
| 25 | Anders Näsström | Sweden | 47.517 | 47.931 | 48.083 | 48.191 | 3:11.722 |
| 26 | Toru Ito | Japan | 47.753 | 47.880 | 48.601 | 48.439 | 3:12.673 |
| 27 | Nil Labrecque | Canada | 47.461 | 47.866 | 49.307 | 48.093 | 3:12.727 |
| 28 | Nick Ovett | Great Britain | 48.181 | 48.163 | 48.518 | 48.446 | 3:13.308 |
| 29 | Pablo García |  Spain | 48.702 | 47.953 | 48.708 | 48.115 | 3:13.478 |
| 30 | Stephen Brialey | Great Britain | 49.689 | 48.687 | 47.568 | 47.677 | 3:13.621 |
| 31 | Raúl Muñiz |  Puerto Rico | 50.184 | 49.849 | 50.480 | 50.449 | 3:20.962 |
| 32 | Sun Kuang-Ming |  Chinese Taipei | 49.601 | 51.584 | 48.986 | 51.429 | 3:21.600 |
| 33 | Rubén González |  Argentina | 49.567 | 49.628 | 53.685 | 48.947 | 3:21.827 |
| 34 | George Tucker | Puerto Rico | 50.748 | 50.249 | 51.688 | 54.440 | 3:27.125 |
| 35 | Raymond Ocampo |  Philippines | 54.703 | 51.617 | 51.926 | 49.415 | 3:27.661 |
| 36 | Bart Carpentier Alting |  Netherlands Antilles | 50.802 | 53.468 | 53.501 | 52.142 | 3:29.913 |
| - | Gerhard Sandbichler | Austria | 46.911 | 46.990 | DNF | - | - |
| - | Peter Beck |  Liechtenstein | 47.319 | DNF | - | - | - |
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.
Georg Hackl, often named Hackl Schorsch, is a German former luger who was three time Olympic and World Champion. He is known affectionately as Hackl-Schorsch or as the Speeding Weißwurst, a reference to what he looks like in his white bodysuit coming down the luge at fast speeds.
Luge at the 1988 Winter Olympics consisted of three events at Canada Olympic Park. The competition took place between 14 and 19 February 1988.
Gerda Weissensteiner OMRI is an Italian luger and bobsleigh pilot who competed from the late 1980s to 2006. Competing in six Winter Olympics, she won the gold medal in the women's singles luge event at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, and together with Jennifer Isacco she won the bronze in Turin in the two-woman bobsleigh at the 2006 Winter Olympics. She was the first Italian sportsperson to win Olympic medals in two disciplines.
Thomas Schwab is a West German luger who competed in the late 1980s. Together with Wolfgang Staudinger he won the bronze medal in the men's doubles event at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, representing West Germany.
Wolfgang Staudinger is a West German luger who competed from 1978 to 1989. Together with Thomas Schwab he won the bronze medal in the men's doubles event at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
Denmark sent a delegation to compete at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. This was Denmark's first appearance at the Winter Olympic Games since the 1968 Winter Olympics 20 years prior, and Calgary was their sixth overall appearance at the winter version of the Olympics. Denmark was represented in Calgary by a single figure skater, Lars Dresler. In the men's singles, he finished in 14th place.
Bermuda sent a delegation to compete at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan from 7–22 February 1998. This marked the territory's third appearance at a Winter Olympic Games with their first coming in the 1992 Albertville Games. Bermuda's delegation consisted of a single athlete, the luge competitor Patrick Singleton. In the men's singles, he came in 27th place.
Jens Müller is an East German-German luger who competed from 1985 to 2001. He won two medals at the Winter Olympics in men's singles with a gold at Calgary in 1988 and a bronze at Nagano in 1998.
Susi-Lisa Erdmann is an East German-German luger and bobsledder who competed from 1977 to 1998 in luge, then since 1999 in bobsleigh. She was born in Blankenburg, Bezirk Magdeburg. Competing in five Winter Olympics, she won two medals in the women's singles luge event with a silver in 1994 and a bronze in 1992, and a bronze at the inaugural two-women bobsleigh event in 2002. She is one of only two people to ever win a medal in both bobsleigh and luge at the Winter Olympics; Italy's Gerda Weissensteiner is the other.
Johannes Schettel is a West German luger who competed in the late 1980s. He won the bronze medal in the men's singles event at the 1989 FIL World Luge Championships in Winterberg, West Germany.
Nadejda Danilina is a Soviet luger. Competing in two Winter Olympics, she earned her best finish of eighth in the women's singles event at Calgary in 1988. Danilina was married to Sergey Danilin, who won the silver medal in the men's singles luge event at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and competed in four Winter Olympics overall.
The Canada Olympic Park bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track is a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in Calgary, Alberta. Part of Canada Olympic Park, it hosted the bobsleigh and luge competitions at the 1988 Winter Olympics. This track is one of only two of its type in the world to be featured in a non-documentary film when it was part of the 1993 American film Cool Runnings which loosely followed the Jamaican Bobsled Team during their competition in bobsleigh at the 1988 Games.
Jon Owen is an American luge official who competed in the sport in the late 1980s. He is best known for becoming the first person to slide down the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track used for the 2002 Winter Olympics in January 1997 at the Park City, Utah venue.
Christopher Mazdzer is a retired American luger. He competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, finishing 13th on both occasions. At the 2018 Winter Olympics Mazdzer won the silver medal in the Men's Single Luge, becoming the first U.S. men's singles luge medalist and the first and currently only non-European to win a medal in that event. Mazdzer announced his retirement from luge on December 4, 2023 on Instagram.
For the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, a total of nine sports venues were used. Calgary tried twice to host the Winter Olympics in the 1960s without success before finally winning the 1988 Winter Games in 1981. Stampede Corral was built in 1950 while McMahon Stadium was built in 1960. When the National Hockey League (NHL) Flames franchise was relocated from Atlanta, Georgia in the United States during the summer of 1980, a new arena was needed. The Saddledome construction was underway in late 1981 when Calgary was awarded the 1988 Games. Completed in 1983, the Olympic Saddledome has played host to the Flames ever since, including three Stanley Cup Finals and the NHL All-Star Game in 1985. An innovation for the games was the first indoor long-track speed skating venue which has served as a model for future Olympics. The bobsleigh and luge track was the first combination track in North America and was noted for the Jamaican bobsleigh team crash during the four-man event. Both the Oval and the bobsleigh/luge track continue to host the World Championships in their respective sports since the 1988 Winter Olympics.
Tonga sent a delegation to compete at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia from 7–23 February 2014. This was the Pacific island nation's debut at the Winter Olympic Games. The Tongan delegation consisted of one luge athlete, Bruno Banani, who had changed his name in a marketing gimmick to match that of German brand Bruno Banani. In his event, the men's singles, he came in 32nd place out of 39 competitors.
The Women's singles luge competition at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary was held on 16 and 18 February, at Canada Olympic Park.
The Doubles luge competition at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary was held on 19 February, at Canada Olympic Park.
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