Winter Olympics: Luge
One of the fastest
Olympic sports
by Gerry Brown and Christine Frantz
Luge, which takes its name from the French word
for sled, is one of the fastest Olympic sports, with riders exceeding 90 mph.
Luge action in Torino will be at Cesana Pariol Graniere. The 1,435
m (4,708 ft) long bobsled, skeleton, and luge run has 19 curves (11 left-hand
and 8 right-hand) and a drop of 114 m (274 ft).
There are three divisions
in the luge competition: men's singles, women's singles, and doubles. Luge
doubles can be contested by either sex but the teams are almost always made
up of two men.
The singles format for Olympic luge is unique. Instead
of the usual format of two timed runs in one day, athletes make four runs
down the course over two days of competition. Men and women compete on the
same track, but the women start the race at a point farther down the track.
The doubles competition, in which one rider lies on top of the other,
uses the more traditional format. Each team makes two timed runs during the
one-day competition. The team with the fastest total time is the winner.
Luge made its Olympic debut at the 1964 Innsbruck
Games and has been dominated by a handful of countries—Germany,
Austria, Italy, and the former Soviet Union countries.
It wasn't
until the 1998 Nagano Games that the United
States broke the stranglehold, claiming the doubles' silver and bronze. They
repeated the silver-bronze feat in the doubles event 2002 at Salt Lake City.
The team of Brian Martin and Mark Grimmette took the bronze in 1998 and the
silver in 2002, and are hoping to finally get the top prize in Torino.
Top U.S. luger Tony Benshoof was an early qualifier for the 2006
Olympic team and has done well on the international luge circuit. The 2002
gold medalist, Italy's Armin Zoeggeler, is favored to win the gold again.
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