Luge is one of the fastest and most precisely timed sports at the Games. It involves athletes lying on their backs on open sleds and sliding down an iced track.
source: pyeongchang2018.com
The sled travels at staggering speeds, sometimes reaching upto 140km/h, and the Lugers must steer only through shifting their bodyweight slightly on the sled. There are 4 events in Luge. In the Men’s and Women’s Singles, each athlete takes 4 runs, which take place over two consecutive days. The times of all four runs are added up to decide the rankings. Both men and women can take part in the Doubles event, wherein two athletes use a single luge sled to race together. Here, they take a total of two runs and the cumulative time determines the winner. The Team Relay consists of three runs: women’s singles, followed by men’s singles, and concluding with doubles. The first runner must reach up and hit a touch pad as she crosses the finish line. As the touch pad is hit, the next runner starts the next leg. The process is repeated for the third leg as well. The time between the beginning of the first run and the finishing touch of the third run determines the rankings.