Luging – What is the Luge Sport?

The Luge is the most exciting downhill ride in sports. That being said, there are a variety of Luge types that while though they share the name and are categorized together due to sharing some characteristics, they are distinctly different. Let me explain some of the variety of downhill sledding activities that fall under the banner of being referred to as Luging.

Firstly I will detail the types of luge and similar sports, then I will describe each in more detail.

• Olympic Luge
• Single’s Luge
• Two Man Luge
• Women’s Luge
• Skeleton Luge
• Bobsled
• Downhill Carting Luge

Luge Olympics

The most associated and widely known Luge sporting event is Olympic Luge primarily because of the high profile nature of this exciting Winter Olympic event and the television coverage that it receives. In this event, the Luge Athletes race to slide down an ice track while laying flat on their backs and grasping tightly to a small sled beneath them, thus why the sport is sometimes referred to by onlookers as “Ice Luging“. It looks absolutely terrifying watching them sled past at such a high rate of speed. How fast is Luge? The Olympic luge approaches speeds of 100 MPH at the fastest ice luge courses. The average luge speed on competitive tracks is 90 MPH, and up to 100MPH on the fastest tracks.

Of all the International luge athletes at the Winter Olympics, Italian luger Armin Zöggeler is currently the total Olympic medal leader in the sport. He has collected a total of six medals, including two gold medals, one silver medal, and three bronze medals in the men’s singles luge event. This is through the six Olympic Winter Games in which he competed between 1994 and 2014. He is widely known in Italy and within downhill sledding community but largely unknown outside of this.

USA Luge

In USA luge circles, the most widely known athlete is Chris Mazdzer. Who is Chris Mazdzer? Chis Mazdzer has competed in 3 Winter Olympic Games in his career, finishing 13 place the first two games he attended, but eventually reaching the medal podium at his third Games in 2018 achieving a second place finish and winning the Silver Medal. This established him as the first and thus far the only non-European athlete to have ever medaled in the one man luge event. Incidentally, Chris Mazdzer has also competed in and won in World Cup luge. However, the reason for Chris’ fame is more to do with his appearance as a contestant on Dancing With The Stars DWTS, where he was eliminated with a 4th place finish and just missed the podium finishing positions there. As he retires from Luge, look for him to make more effort to transition into the entertainment industry.

The only other semi-famous American luge athlete is Ashley Farquharson is an American luger who represented the United States at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Ashley Farquharson won a silver medal at the most recent 2021 America-Pacific Luge Championship in the women’s singles luge event and a silver medal in the team relay at the 2021 World Cup Luge event. Ashley Farquharson represented the Team USA luge at the 2022 Winter Olympics in the same women’s luge event and this time finished in 12th place overall.

The other variety of Olympic Luge besides the Single’s Luge event is the “two man luge“, in this event 2 athletes ride the sled down the ice luge track in a similar manner, tightly straddled onto the bobsled while laying prone on their backs. The “2 man luge” receives less attention and so remains a much less popular and followed event.

Skeleton Luge

The Skeleton is a form of Luging in which a single rider sits atop a very small skeleton bobsled and races down the traditional ice luge track, but the riding position is the opposite of regular ice luge. In Skeleton Luging the rider lays face down and headfirst on the skeleton sleigh with their arms tucked against their sides. Imagine the image of ironman flying down a ski hill on a toboggan, that’s pretty much what it looks like. The Skeleton reaches speeds of more than 80 mph, slightly slower than top luge speeds of 100mph. Luge is faster than skeleton because sliding feet first offers less wind resistance, increased aerodynamics, and the luge sled is lighter weight than the skeleton sled.

The 4 Big Differences Between Skeleton and Luge?

How is luge different from skeleton?

• riding position – in luge the rider slides on their back, feet first down the course. In skeleton the rider slides on their stomach, head first down the course.
• speed – luge is faster than skeleton, with skeleton top speeds of 90mph and luge reaching 100mph
• sled weight – the luge sled is lighter than the heavier skeleton bobsled
• starting position – with luge the rider starts the ride on their sled in position, but in skeleton the rider starts standing, with a 40M running start, then mounts their sled headfirst

Bobsled

Bobsled (bobsleigh) is a winter downhill tobogganing sport where either 2 or 4 riders sit inside of an aerodynamic sled (a bobsleigh) and race down a curvy ice channel track attempting to obtain the fastest time. Both 2 man bobsled and 4 man bobsled are Olympic Bobsleigh events. The Olympic Bobsled is the fastest of the downhill ice tobogganing sports with speeds reaching 125mph. Like skeleton, the riders begin the course with a running start, pushing their sled before mounting inside it. The sleds are streamlined and fast, they look much like a NASCAR racing down the track which explains their commercial appeal to audiences.

The Difference Between Bobsled and Luge

• Bobsled is the fastest downhill tobogganing sport with speeds of 125mph
• Like Skeleton, Bobsled begins with a running start while Luge begins on the sled
• Bobsleigh riders sit inside their sled, not upon it

Downhill Luge

The only form of luge which doesn’t take place on an ice track, downhill luge is a warm weather activity instead. Downhill luge or downhill carting is an activity where the rider sits atop a small wheeled cart, replicating the skeleton or luge, and rides downhill on a concrete or paved track. Thus downhill carting has the same dynamics and appearance of luging, despite the differences in seasons and sled design. These small wheeled carts usually have a friction brake which is applied to either the surface of the ground or the wheels by pulling back on the steering wheel lever, allowing the rider to brake the high speed cart as they wind around sharp corners and through long straightaways.

Skyline Luge in Calgary

One of the more famous downhill luge tracks is the Skyline Luge track at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This location is notable as it is also home to one of the most famous and prolific Olympic Luge facilities in the world and was host to the 1988 Winter Olympics. Everyone might remember this was the facility which made the Jamaican Bobsled Team famous and inspired a Disney movie about them, not to mention other notable characters like nerdy Ski Jumping rookie Eddie the Eagle. The 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary were the most entertaining and engaging in the history of the event for so many reasons. The Skyline Luge being built on the same site aims to continue to utilize that recreational sporting facility to its greatest potential and to impact local tourism and add another unique recreation option for locals in Calgary. It makes for a real cool outdoor activity for a date night or to keep your kids amused.