Medals
| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | 5 | 6 |
What's this sport all about:
Luge started in Switzerland and it's one of the oldest winter sports.
A luge can slide down the icy track at speeds of about 140 kilometres/hour (and there are no brakes)!
In doubles luge, the second athlete — the larger of the two — lies on top of the other one for better aerodynamics (air moving over the body).
One way to cheat in luge is by heating the steel blades before the run — this reduces the amount of friction with the ice and makes the sled go faster. So, each sled's runners are inspected before each run to make sure their temperature is correct.
One of the fastest speeds for luge? Austrian luger Manuel Pfister went 154 kilometres/hour during a training run before the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
When to watch
of events:
of events:
Our Canadian Athletes
Things to watch for
Photo by 5518 Designs on Visualhunt.com / CC BY
Special gloves: Lugers accelerate after pushing off the start handles by paddling the ice with special spiked gloves.
Mmartling, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Boots: How do the lugers keep their toes pointed through the whole race? They wear special racing boots that help keep their feet and legs locked in the straight position.
Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 3.0
Steering: Those pieces of the luge sled that curl up at the front are called runners. Athletes can use their legs to push on them to help steer the sled.
