Luge is billed as the fastest sport on ice. Competitors race down a specially designed track feet-first only inches from the ice. Luge was added to the Winter Olympics program for the first time in Innsbruck in 1964. Also read information about the skeleton event, a head-first version of the luge.

double luge at the Sochi Olympics open double luge at the Sochi 2014 Olympics
"Luge has been one of the most thrilling events at the Winter Olympics since its introduction in 1964, with the sport expanding from three events to five by 2026 to include both men's and women's doubles."
— Robert Wood, founder of Topend Sports

Pro Tip: Luge athletes steer using subtle calf pressure on the runners and slight shifts in body weight. Unlike bobsled, there are no brakes or steering mechanisms — the athlete's body is the only control system.

Milan & Cortina d'Ampezzo 2026 Luge Events

There are five events in Luge: Men's Singles, Women's Singles, Men's Doubles, Women's Doubles and Mixed-Team Relay event. The mixed team relay event was added to the program in 2014, and women's doubles added in 2026. At the same time, the open doubles event was changed to be men's doubles. The mixed team relay involves one sled from each of the other three events.

Luge Event Winners at the Milan & Cortina d'Ampezzo 2026

Here are some of the medalists who won gold, silver, and bronze in different Luge events:

Luge Men's Singles

Gold Silver Bronze
LANGENHAN Max MUELLER Jonas FISCHNALLER Dominik

Luge Women's Singles

Gold Silver Bronze
TAUBITZ Julia BOTA Elina FARQUHARSON Ashley

Luge Men's Doubles

Gold Silver Bronze
RIEDER Emanuel
KAINZWALDNER Simon		 STEU Thomas
KINDL Wolfgang		 WENDL Tobias
ARLT Tobias

Luge Women's Doubles

Gold Silver Bronze
VOETTER Andrea
OBERHOFER Marion		 EITBERGER Dajana
MATSCHINA Magdalena		 EGLE Selina
KIPP Lara Michaela

Luge Team Relay

Gold Silver Bronze
Team Germany Team Austria Team Italy

Record Breaker

German luge great Georg Hackl won the same individual event at three consecutive Winter Olympics (1992-1998), then added a silver in 2002 to become the first athlete ever to win five medals in one event.

Pro Tip: When watching luge competitions, pay attention to the start times. Athletes use spiked gloves to grip the ice and launch themselves from the start handles, and a difference of just hundredths of a second at the start can determine the final result.

"Luge athletes experience forces exceeding 5G in turns while traveling at speeds over 140 km/h, making it one of the most physically demanding and dangerous winter sports."
— Robert J. Wood, PhD in Exercise Physiology

Trivia

  • The first year that luge was on the Olympic program in 1964, sadly a British luger died in the course of a practice run a week before the competition started.
  • In Grenoble in 1968, East German luge competitors Ortrun Enderlein and Anna-Maria Muller — in contention for a clean-sweep — were disqualified when it was discovered their toboggan runners had been heated.
  • In Nagano in 1998, German luge great Georg Hackl became just the sixth Winter Olympian to win the same event in three consecutive Games. Then in 2002, he won a silver to become the first athlete ever to win five medals in one event.
  • The $105-million sliding center on Blackcomb Mountain’s southeast side used for the 2010 Olympics, has 16 turns and drops steeply for 152 meters (500 feet), which is the world’s longest drop for such a course.
  • A Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was tragically killed in a training run crash after flying off the Olympic track in Whistler, Canada in the day before the Games were to begin.
  • In 2018, US luger Chris Mazdzer became the first non-European to win a medal (silver) in the men's singles event.

New in 2026

Women's Doubles was added as a new luge event for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, with Italy's Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer winning the inaugural gold medal on home ice.

"European nations, particularly Germany, Austria, and Italy, have historically dominated Olympic luge, with Germany alone accounting for the majority of all gold medals in the sport's Olympic history."
— Robert J. Wood, sports performance researcher at Topend Sports