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Olympic Luge
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The luge or
sled dates back to ancient Scandinavia where hollowed-out tree
trucks may have been used as prehistoric transport.
The first
historical evidence for the luge (French, for sled) dates to the
Dark Ages in Norway, where sleds were used for fun, or as an easy
way to transport people and materials.
As a sport,
luge events were first held in St. Petersburg, Russia in the 16th
century, and its popularity soon spread throughout Europe. However,
it wasn't until 1833 that the first official games involving 21
competitors were held in Davos, Switzerland. A century later,
the first world championship attracted over 50 athletes from around
Europe, bringing the sport official recognition in 1957 with the
founding of the International Luge Federation. Inclusion as an
official Olympic sport only came in 1964 at the Innsbruck Games.
Today, the
Olympic event is held over two rounds - with fastest times determined
in thousandths of seconds - in the men's and women's single and
men's double competitions.
Achieving
speeds of up to 153 km/h means an occasional spill with an inevitable
separation of athlete and sled. However, unlike Olympic
bobsled, lugers arriving at the finish without the sled means
automatic disqualification.
US
luge athletes we watched in 2006:
Mark
Grimmette and Brian
Martin - Ranked among the top luge teams in the world,
Grimmette and Martin began riding together in 1996. Since then,
they have taken a bronze in 1998 and silver in the 2002 Winter
Olympic Games. In 2006, Grimmette and Martin will attempt something
that no other U.S. Winter Olympic male athlete has done before
medal at three consecutive Olympic Winter Games.
More about Olympic luge around the Web:
International
Olympic Committee - Luge - Overview
of the luge competitions, list of events, Olympic records, Flash
presentation, athlete profiles, picture gallery, related links.
Canadian
Luge Association - Team and athlete profiles, news, results
and standings, schedule of events.
USALuge.org
- The official site featuring news, athlete profiles, information
on sponsored programs, membership info, American luge club contact
details, related links.
also
see in Sports -> Luge
& Street Luge
also
in Winter Olympics ->
Alpine Skiing | Biathlon
| Bobsled
Cross-country
Skiing | Curling
| Figure
Skating | Freestyle
Skiing
Ice
Hockey | Luge
| Nordic
Combined | Short-Track
Skating
Skeleton | Ski
Jumping | Speed
Skating | Snowboard
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