Luge at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games will be contested from Feb. 10-15, with medals awarded in four different events.
Sochi in review
Germany swept all four luge gold medals: men’s, women’s, doubles and team relay. Going back to the days of when the nation was split into east and west, Germany owns 31 luge gold medals, while all other nations combined have 13.
Felix Loch successfully defended his Olympic gold medal. Italy’s Armin Zoeggeler won the bronze medal, his sixth medal in six Games.
In the women’s competition, Natalie Geisenberger won the gold medal after claiming the bronze in Vancouver. Erin Hamlin finished third, earning the first medal for any U.S. singles luge athlete at the Olympics.
Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt bested Austria’s Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger, the 2006 and 2010 Olympic champions, for the doubles gold medal.
Not surprisingly, Germany claimed gold in the team relay, an event that was making its Olympic debut in Sochi.
Competition format
Lugers will compete across the following four events, with gold, silver and bronze medals awarded to the top three finishers, respectively, in each event:
- Men’s singles
- Doubles
- Women’s singles
- Team relay
Venue
Luge events will be held at the Alpensia Sliding Centre in the PyeongChang Mountain Cluster.
Athletes to watch
Men’s luge
Felix Loch, Germany
Wolfgang Kindl, Austria
Chris Mazdzer, United States
Women’s luge Natalie Geisenberger, Germany Tatjana Huefner, Germany Erin Hamlin, United States
Doubles luge Wendl Tobias and Arlt Tobias, Germany
Andris Sics and Juris Sics, Latvia Matt Mortensen and Jayson Terdiman, United States