Luge for Dummies: Everything for You to Know

Luge is a winter Olympic kind of sport, in which athletes go down special tracks in one- or two-person sleds. The athletes lie on their backs, with their feet first. They manage to control their sleds by changing their body positions. The main task of the given sport is to overcome the track as soon as it is possible, with a victory being awarded to the fastest luger. Of course, it is only the top of the iceberg, and the given article is going to present the most important details that govern the sport of luge.

General Rules

As it has already been stated, a luger should overcome a track with the best (the shortest) time. Athletes should start one by one but a certain period of time should pass between two down-runs to make this sporting event safer. Lugers must finish together with their sleds; otherwise, their results will be canceled. At the same time, it is allowed to leave the sled and take them once again on the track if it is necessary for an athlete.

Sleds weight and construction are strictly regulated. The temperature of its runners should be also within a particular range depending on the air actual temperature. There are also corresponding limitations imposed on the weight of lugers and their equipment.

As in any other kind of sport, in which attention is paid to the time of overcoming a certain distance, it is preliminary competitions that help the athletes to determine the start order that can be quite important taking into account the fact that the track state can worsen significantly over a certain period of time. A general time of a luges consists of results of two or even more down-runs.

There can be men’s single, women’s single, and double luge competitions. In general, women are also allowed to participate in double competitions, but almost all of them are held among men. When it comes to great tournaments, relay events can take place. In this case, a single team is represented by a man, a woman, and a double.

At the 2016 World Championships, luge sprint was included in the schedule of the tournament. For this, they used shorter tracks, and the countdown began not from start but after a luger overcame a 100-150-meter opening part of the track. Each athlete had only one attempt to show all his best.

Track

The luge track consists of an ice-covered run and a few bends, and it is built according to a special project. These tracks can either have or not have refrigerating units. The shortest distance for men’s singles should be 1000 meters, for women’s singles – 750 meters. With this, the longest length of tracks for men’s singles is 1300 meters, for women’s singles – 1050 meters. Nevertheless, when it comes to international competitions, the referee can decide to shorten a track up to 400 meters. An average slope should be 8%-11%. The bends should be built so that lugers face the power of no more than 4.5g while overcoming them.

In addition, there can be artificial and natural luge tracks. As for artificial ones, they consist of specifically created curves and bends with the refrigerating units mentioned above. Thus, it is the presence of the refrigerating units that is the main difference between these two kinds of the luge tracks. It should be clear that a greater part of all the luge tracks is located in Alpine countries.

Luge Variations

The given kind of sport is not homogenous because it has a few variations that are going to be explained below:

1. Tobogganing. Originally, such a sled was used by the Indians to carry certain things but the given item was then used for particular competitions. It was in 1923 when the first official tobogganing event took place.
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2. Bobsleighing. It is the most fascinating kind of sport because the speedy down-run goes through a special track in a bobsled. The given luge variation became an Olympic kind of sport in 1924. There can be two-man and four-man competitions. In the first case, a bobsleigh team consists of a pilot and a brakeman. As for the four-man bobsleds, the crew is represented by a pilot, a brakeman, and two pushers who are responsible for taking a run.
3. Skeleton. In this kind of sport, the sleds are made of metal and their construction resembles a human skeleton; this must be the origin of the name of this luge variation. The competitions take place in ice-covered runs. Their head first, skeleton athletes lie on their stomach and perform a down-run. They are able to manage their skeletons with the help of special pins that are placed on skeleton boots. There take place two or four runs, and a winner is determined when all the results are summarized. It was in 1928 when skeleton appeared at the Olympic Games for the first time.
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4. Naturbahn. The term has come from the German language and it naturally means “a natural road”. That is why it should be clear that athletes go down natural slopes, rather than prepared tubes and ice-covered runs. However, these competitions can take place on bobsleighing tracks. There can be men’s singles, men’s doubles, and women’s singles naturbahn competitions. The first big naturbahn event took place at the 1970 European Championships. This luge variation is not an Olympic kind of sport, which is explained by the fact that this sport is not very popular, and it is necessary to have a natural track that is quite difficult in maintaining.

Equipment

It is clear that the sleds are the most important piece of equipment in the given kind of sport. Thus, they consist of an aerodynamic shield (a special surface an athlete lies on) and two runners that are attached to the shield with the help of two bridges. Both the bridges and the runners are made of steel. In addition, there are certain handles for the athletes to come into contact with the sled and not fall from it.

Although it can appear that it is impossible to operate the sled, it is still possible to cope with this task thanks to wooden or fiberglass items that are attached to the runners. To drive into the curve, an athlete should slightly touch a corresponding item with his straight soles of the feet. As for the soles of the feet, it is no coincidence that they are straight. The fact is they occupy the given position to contribute to better aerodynamic characteristics. The luge boots have even special fasteners that prevent the lugers from protruding the soles of their feet. In addition, the athletes wear gloves with special pins that make it possible to drive off the ice at the start. Finally, it is not necessary to forget about aerodynamic suits and helmets that also play a significant role in showing good results.

To conclude, it is clear that equipment and its state is extremely important. Nevertheless, it by no way understates the role of athletes themselves. With this, some of them even used to cheat to get an advantage over their opponents. For example, they used to heat the runners to contribute to better sliding. Nowadays, however, it is impossible because the temperature of the sleds is checked prior to the beginning of every event.

Referees

Every official luge competition should be served by a team of qualified and certified officials consisting of the following:

• referee;
• assistant starting referee;
• assistant finishing referee;
• assistant track referee;
• chief scorer;
• technical delegate.

Popular Competitions

In fact, there are a few international events that witness luge competitions. Thus, they are as follows:

1. Olympic Games – the most prestigious luge competitions held every four years.
2. Luge World Championships – an international competition between the best national teams from the whole world held by the International Luge Federation (FIL).
3. Luge European Championships – an international competition between the best national European teams.
4. Luge World Cup – an international luge tournament that consists of separate stages.

History

The sport of luge appeared in Switzerland in the middle 19th century. Originally, numerous tourists performed runs down snowy slopes at special sleds. Thus, it was in Davos in 1897 when the first luge track was built; it was 4 kilometers long. In four years, the first official international luge competitions took place in Davos.

The International Luge Federations was created in Germany in 1957. With this, the first Luge World Championships took place in 1955. Finally, it happened in 1964 when the sport of luge made its first appearance at the Olympic Games.