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.
Armin Zöggeler OMRI is a retired Italian luger and double Olympic champion. He is one of the most successful men in the sport, nicknamed Il Cannibale, for his notable series of victories, or The Iceblood Champion, for his always cold, rational approach to the races. Fellow luger Tucker West described Zöggeler as the sport's equivalent of Michael Jordan.
Kurt Brugger is an Italian luger and coach who competed from 1987 to 2003. Together with Wilfried Huber, he won the men's doubles event at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. He competed in four Winter Olympics: 1988, 1992, 1994 and 1998.
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.
Alex Gough is a retired Canadian luger who competed between 2002 and 2018. Gough is a two-time Olympic luge medalist winning bronze in women's and silver in the team relay at the 2018 Winter Olympics. She was the first Canadian to win a luge medal at the Olympics. Gough won a bronze medal in the women's singles event at the FIL World Luge Championships 2011 in Cesana, the first ever for a Canadian woman and only the second overall. Gough has won a total of six World Championship medals, two bronze in women's singles and a silver and three bronze in the mixed team relay events.
Paul Hildgartner is an Italian former luger who competed from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. Competing in five Winter Olympics, he earned two gold medals and one silver medal for his efforts. At the 1984 Winter Olympics, Hildgartner carried the Italian flag during the opening ceremonies.
Anton Winkler was a West German luger who competed during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He won the bronze medal in the men's singles event at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.
Andrea Tagwerker is an Austrian luger who competed from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Competing in four Winter Olympics, she won the bronze medal in the women's singles luge event at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Tagwerker was the last non-German to win a women's single event in luge in 1997 at the Luge World Cup, Winter Olympic, World Championship, or European Championship level.
Aleksandr Belyakov was a Soviet luger who competed in the mid-1980s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won the silver medal in the men's doubles event at Sarajevo in 1984.
Christopher Thorpe is an American luger who competed from 1989 to 2002. Competing in four Winter Olympics, he won two medals in the men's doubles event with a silver in 1998 and a bronze in 2002.
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
Christian Oberstolz is an Italian luger who has competed since 1997. He won seven medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with two silvers and five bronzes.
Patrick Gruber is an Italian luger who has competed since 1997. He won seven medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with two silvers and five bronzes.
The Königssee bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track is a venue in Germany for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton, located in Schönau am Königssee, Bavaria, near Königssee and the border with Austria. Completed 55 years ago in 1968, it is the first permanent, artificially refrigerated bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in the world. In July 2021, the track was severely damaged by the floods that affected the European continent.
Felix Loch is a German luger and Olympic champion. He has been competing since 1995 and on the German national team since 2006. He has won fourteen medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with twelve golds and two silvers. Loch's men's singles win in 2008 made him the youngest world champion ever at 18 years old. He is the youngest Olympic Gold Medalist in men's luge history. As of 2022, Loch is a triple Olympic gold medalist.
The luge competition events of the 2010 Winter Olympics were held between 13 and 17 February 2010 at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.
The doubles luge event at the 2010 Winter Olympics was held on 17 February at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia. Twenty teams participated. Austrian brothers Andreas and Wolfgang Linger, the defending Olympic and European champions, won the gold medal. The silver medal was also won by a pair of brothers, Andris and Juris Šics of Latvia. Germans Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch clinched the bronze medal after edging out Italians Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber, who were in third place after the first run.
Tucker West is an American luger who, at the age of 18, was the youngest male ever to qualify to represent the United States in the men's luge at the Olympics. West placed 22nd in the men's single competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
David Gleirscher is an Austrian luger. He competed for Austria in the 2015–16 Luge World Cup in the men's singles and finished tenth in the points standings. In men's luge at the 2018 Winter Olympics he became a surprise champion after the favorite, Felix Loch, made a mistake in the last run and dropped out of the medals. Before the Olympic win, Gleirscher did not have a single World Cup podium appearance.
The following is about the qualification rules and the quota allocation for the luge at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
