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With the 2026 Winter Olympics officially starting Friday afternoon, Feb. 6, fans have about a month's worth of intense competition ahead, including skiing, ice skating, curling and sports that may be unfamiliar, like luge and skeleton.
Luge is the fastest sport overall set to be contested at the Winter Olympics. It requires athletes to either work solo or in unison with a teammate while sliding down an icy track at high speeds, often nearing 100 mph, on a sled without brakes. The other sled-racing sports, the bobsleigh and the skeleton, also require quick reflexes, precision and balance on ice to stay on the track.
Luge teams start this weekend with men's singles starting Saturday, Feb. 7. Bobsleigh and skeleton teams will start next week, according to the Olympics schedule.
Michiganders can see luge up close because the state maintains two tracks open to the public: a short, unrefrigerated track near Muskegon, and a half-mile natural track near Negaunee, in the Upper Peninsula near Marquette. There are only four tracks in the U.S., with others in Utah and New York.
Updates on the schedule and the results for luge, skeleton and other sports will be posted online via the Olympics official website. In addition the Olympics or NBC's Olympics account will post clips on social media.
Here's what to know about the Olympic sled-racing sports: luge, bobsleigh and skeleton.
Luge, French for a small sled, has been a sport since the late 1400s, according to USAluge.org, and was first played internationally as a competition in 1883. In 1964, the sport became part of the Olympics, in Innsbruck, Austria, that year.
There are five Olympic events: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and team relay.
The team relay includes four each of the other disciplines competing together. At the finish, an athlete from each sled must strike a touch-sensitive pad by hand, triggering the start gate for the next teammate without stopping the clock.
The objective is to steer down an ice-covered track in the fastest total time. Avoiding drag, skids or crashes is the challenge. Athletes lay flat on their backs, feet first, on a small sled with two razor-sharp runners with no mechanical brakes.
Lugers steer by pressing their leg against the front of the runner, which curves the runner in the direction they want to turn. The athletes try to keep their head as low as possible, and arms and legs tucked close to their bodies to reduce drag.
"The blades under the sled are also sharper than those in bobsleigh or skeleton and more difficult to control. Yet, these champions make it look easy. Despite enduring 6Gs of pressure on the curves, they must remain physically relaxed to maintain the maximum speed," the Olympics official website said.
Men start higher on the track compared to women, according to NBC, with course lengths of approximately 1,470 yards for men and 1,313 yards for women and doubles.
Luge gets underway Saturday, Feb. 7.
Bobsleigh, invented in Switzerland in the late 1860s, uses larger sleds with 2-4 seats, though the objective remains the same as luge: to get the fastest time on the track.
The two- to four-person teams run along side the sled to push and build speed to start and then jump in one at a time. One person drives or steers down the track while the teammates tuck their heads down. There are four events for bobsleigh: two-man bobsleigh, four-man bobsleigh, two-woman bobsleigh and the women's monobob.
The track has been extensively redeveloped ready for the 2026 Winter Games, according to the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation. Bobsleigh and skeleton athletes will race down the 1,908-yard-long track withs 16 curves.
Bobsleigh gets underway Sunday, Feb. 15.
Skeleton is another long-standing sledding sport.
Athletes start standing, similar to bobsleigh, then, after gaining as much speed during an approximate 98-foot sprint, they leap onto the sled head first and begin slide laying face down and head first.
They can gain speeds up to about 87 mph, and steer steer with subtle shoulder, knee and toe movements. The skeleton sled also does not have brakes.
The objective is to get the fastest total time. Three events will be contested for skeleton: men's, women's and mixed team.
Skeleton gets underway Thursday, Feb. 12.
Contact Sarah Moore @ [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: What is skeleton? How to watch head-first sled races
Continue reading...
Luge is the fastest sport overall set to be contested at the Winter Olympics. It requires athletes to either work solo or in unison with a teammate while sliding down an icy track at high speeds, often nearing 100 mph, on a sled without brakes. The other sled-racing sports, the bobsleigh and the skeleton, also require quick reflexes, precision and balance on ice to stay on the track.
Luge teams start this weekend with men's singles starting Saturday, Feb. 7. Bobsleigh and skeleton teams will start next week, according to the Olympics schedule.
Michiganders can see luge up close because the state maintains two tracks open to the public: a short, unrefrigerated track near Muskegon, and a half-mile natural track near Negaunee, in the Upper Peninsula near Marquette. There are only four tracks in the U.S., with others in Utah and New York.
Updates on the schedule and the results for luge, skeleton and other sports will be posted online via the Olympics official website. In addition the Olympics or NBC's Olympics account will post clips on social media.
Here's what to know about the Olympic sled-racing sports: luge, bobsleigh and skeleton.
What is luge?
Luge, French for a small sled, has been a sport since the late 1400s, according to USAluge.org, and was first played internationally as a competition in 1883. In 1964, the sport became part of the Olympics, in Innsbruck, Austria, that year.
There are five Olympic events: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and team relay.
The team relay includes four each of the other disciplines competing together. At the finish, an athlete from each sled must strike a touch-sensitive pad by hand, triggering the start gate for the next teammate without stopping the clock.
The objective is to steer down an ice-covered track in the fastest total time. Avoiding drag, skids or crashes is the challenge. Athletes lay flat on their backs, feet first, on a small sled with two razor-sharp runners with no mechanical brakes.
Lugers steer by pressing their leg against the front of the runner, which curves the runner in the direction they want to turn. The athletes try to keep their head as low as possible, and arms and legs tucked close to their bodies to reduce drag.
"The blades under the sled are also sharper than those in bobsleigh or skeleton and more difficult to control. Yet, these champions make it look easy. Despite enduring 6Gs of pressure on the curves, they must remain physically relaxed to maintain the maximum speed," the Olympics official website said.
Men start higher on the track compared to women, according to NBC, with course lengths of approximately 1,470 yards for men and 1,313 yards for women and doubles.
Luge gets underway Saturday, Feb. 7.
What is bobsleigh?
Bobsleigh, invented in Switzerland in the late 1860s, uses larger sleds with 2-4 seats, though the objective remains the same as luge: to get the fastest time on the track.
The two- to four-person teams run along side the sled to push and build speed to start and then jump in one at a time. One person drives or steers down the track while the teammates tuck their heads down. There are four events for bobsleigh: two-man bobsleigh, four-man bobsleigh, two-woman bobsleigh and the women's monobob.
The track has been extensively redeveloped ready for the 2026 Winter Games, according to the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation. Bobsleigh and skeleton athletes will race down the 1,908-yard-long track withs 16 curves.
Bobsleigh gets underway Sunday, Feb. 15.
What is skeleton?
Skeleton is another long-standing sledding sport.
Athletes start standing, similar to bobsleigh, then, after gaining as much speed during an approximate 98-foot sprint, they leap onto the sled head first and begin slide laying face down and head first.
They can gain speeds up to about 87 mph, and steer steer with subtle shoulder, knee and toe movements. The skeleton sled also does not have brakes.
The objective is to get the fastest total time. Three events will be contested for skeleton: men's, women's and mixed team.
Skeleton gets underway Thursday, Feb. 12.
Contact Sarah Moore @ [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: What is skeleton? How to watch head-first sled races
Continue reading...
