Events Included • Men's Singles • Women's Singles • Men's Doubles Venue Spiral, Asakawa
Event Basics Like the bobsled, lugers live for the thrills of zipping down an icy course at speeds up to 70 mph, racing against the clock. Unlike sledders, lugers do it on a tiny sled -- it can weigh only about 50 pounds for singles, 60 for doubles -- starting from a sitting position and lying down, backs on the sled, as they hurtle toward the finish line. In doubles, one athlete is literally on top of the other. The singles competition features four runs, with the winner the owner of the lowest aggregate time. Doubles teams run the course only twice. The sport has long been dominated by Germans and German-speaking countries. From its introduction as an Olympic sport in 1964 until 1980, every Olympic luge medal had been won by a German-speaking athlete. The Italians -- the German-speaking ones from northern Italy -- have made great strides and are expected to challenge the Germans at Nagano. To do it, they'll have to master the 14-curve spiral, which features two uphill portions.
Past Winners Men's Singles | Women's Singles | Men's Doubles
Who to watch George Hackl, Germany, 1st in '97 Worlds Markus Prock, Austria, 2nd in '97 Worlds Gerda Weissensteiner, Italy, gold at '94 Lillehammer Games Susi Erdmann, Germany, 1st in '97 Worlds, silver at Lillehammer Games	Schedule Feb. 8 Men's singles, runs 1 and 2 2:00 p.m. JT (12:00 a.m. ET) Feb. 9 Men's singles, runs 3 and 4 2:00 p.m. JT (12:00 a.m. ET) Feb. 10 Women's singles, runs 1 and 2 2:00 p.m. JT (12:00 a.m. ET) Feb. 11 Women's singles, runs 3 and 4 2:00 p.m. JT (12:00 a.m. ET) Feb. 13 Men's doubles 2:00 p.m. JT (12:00 a.m. ET)