Welcome!
To the home of Irish Luge
News
Making Headlines
We are Recruiting
Want to try your hand at Luge, The fastest sport on ice? Visit our "Get Involved" page now to learn more
Nordic Cup
Development athlete Sean Donoghue made his way to Lillehammer to compete in the Nordic cup. He raced
in open class where he finished in a fantastic 7th place, showing huge improvements from his 12th place finish last year.
Pre-Olympic season comes to an end
The 2024/25 season has come to an end and what a fantastic season it was. Senior athlete Elsa Desmond finished the winter ranked 14th the overall nations cup standing and 28th in the world cup standings. In the Youth A Finnian finished the season ranked 13th in the overall and Lily finishes ranked 27th. What a fantastic season for all of our racing athletes.
About
Luge riders hurtle down a slippery ice track at great speed, relying on reflexes for steering. Unlike bobsleigh, however, they have no protection should they make an error.
Swiss origins
Luge is the French word for “sledge” and, like bobsleigh, it was developed as a sport in Switzerland. Its roots go back to the 16th century, but it was not until 300 years later that the first luge tracks were built by Swiss hotel owners to cater for thrill-seeking tourists.
DAVOS
The first international race course was held in Davos in 1883, with competitors racing along an icy 4km road between Davos and the village of Klosters.
NO BRAKES
Luge is one of the oldest winter sports. It involves competitors lying on their backs on a tiny sled with their feet stretched out in front of them, and racing down an icy track at speeds in the range of 140 km/h, without brakes. As well as the singles, there is a pairs event, with the larger of the two team members lying on top for better aerodynamics.
OLYMPIC HISTORY
It was not until 1955 that the first World Championship was organised, i.e. 41 years after the first European Championships. Nine years later, in 1964, luge made its Olympic debut, at the Innsbruck Games, with 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.
Based in Oldcastle Co. Meath, the Irish Luge federation was founded in 2020 to support Irish luge athletes on the world stage.
https://www.olympic.org/luge-equipment-and-history
Contact Us
