Luge

Lesson 1. History of Luge

Although the sport of luge is sometimes thought of as being relatively new, sled racing is actually one of the oldest of all winter sports. The word "luge" comes from the French word for "sled." In Germany it is known as "rodel," and it is in the alpine countries of Europe that the sport began.

R eferences to sled racing first appeared in chronicles from Norway in 1480 and the Erz Mountain area in 1552. The first international luge race took place in 1883 with 21 competitors representing seven nations, including the United States. The race was organized by hotels in the Swiss resort of Davos and took place over the 2Ѕ-mile road from St. Wolfgang to Klosters.

A t the turn of the century, luge was actually governed by the International Bobsled Federation which administered all the ice-track racing sports. In 1953, the sport gained its own International Governing Body with the formation of the Federation Internationale de Luge de course (FIL), and in 1964 it was inaugurated as an Olympic sport at the Winter Games in Innsbruck. In 1964 the Olympic programme included a mixed event, a men’s event and a women’s event. The programme has not changed since then. Since 1976, this sport has taken place on the same track as bobsleigh.

The discipline was dominated by the East Germans, who won 15 of the 21 gold medals available between 1964 and 1988. One of the undisputed masters of luge is a German: Georg Hackl, who won gold three times consecutively, in 1994 in Lillehammer, 1998 in Nagano and 2002 in Salt Lake City.

There are actually two types of luge: natural track and artificial track. In natural-track luge (naturbahn), the track is made of packed snow and ice. Anyone can make a natural luge track if he has enough snow to work with. In artificial-track luge (kunstbahn), the track is steeper and has high-banked turns, with an average slope of 8 to 11 percent (about 5 to 6 degrees). Speeds on an artificial track can reach 90 mph (140 kph). A typical luge course is less than 1 mile (1.6 km) long and drops about 300 to 400 feet (90-120 m) in the course of a one-minute run. The configuration includes straightaways, left and right turns, downhills (and sometimes a short uphill) and at least one S-type curve combination like the "labyrinth," which consists of three or four consecutive turns with no straightaways between them.

Olympic luge is not for the meek. Two weeks before the start of the 1964 Innsbruck Games, a slider from the British luge team died on the luge track during a practice run. Polish luger Stanislaw Paczka was killed in the 1968 Games. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, 21-year-old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died as a result of injuries sustained in a crash during a practice run. The incident led to controversy over course safety and protective barriers. 

Vocabulary

luge – сани;

Federation Internationale de Luge de course (FIL) – International Luge Federation – Международная федерация санного спорта;

track (also “course”) – трасса ;

naturbahn – 1) естественная трасса для санного спорта;

2) соревнования по санному спорту на естественной трассе (натурбан);

kunstbahn – 1) искусственная трасса для санного спорта;

2) соревнования по санному спорту на искусственной трассе (кунстбан);

slope – наклон трассы;

run – заезд;

straightaway – прямой участок трассы;

left turn – левый вираж;

right turn – правый вираж;

downhill – спуск;

uphill – контруклон;

S-type curve – вираж в форме буквы “S”;

labyrinth – лабиринт (несколько последовательных виражей);

protective barriers (also “lips”) – защитные барьеры;