The race

The Olympic luge competition has three divisions Mens singles, womens singles and gender neutral doubles. Since a higher weight is advantageous in luge see the next section, doubles teams are typically all male. Most international races besides the Olympics have single sliders doing two runs each. Both times are added, and the winner has the lowest combined time. In the Olympics, singles luge competition consists of four runs instead of two doubles still perform only two runs, all of which count toward the final time. In this way, the Olympics tries to weight consistency as a major factor in a win.

Since every luge track is different from every other luge track, there are no blanket World or Olympic records in luge. There are only track records. Italian slider Armin Zoggeler holds the World track record for the 2006 Torino Games course 144.586 for two runs, or an average time of 52.293 seconds per run.

At the start of the luge course, there are two handles, one on each side of the track. The slider grabs these handles and rocks back and forth to build momentum for the start. To begin the race, the slider propels himself onto the course and immediately uses his hands in the spiked gloves to paddle through the first 10 feet or so of the track. This helps him gain some speed before lying down on the sled.