The luge competition events of the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

were held between 13 and 17 February 2010 at the

Whistler Sliding Centre The Whistler Sliding Centre (french: link=no, Centre des sports de glisse de Whistler) is a Canadian bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in Whistler, British Columbia, that is north of Vancouver. The centre is part of the Whistler Bl ...

in Whistler,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada.

Medal summary

Medal table

Events

Three luge events were held at the games:

Competition schedule

All times are

Pacific Standard Time The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00 ...

( UTC-8).

Qualifying

Athlete/NOC quota

In accordance with the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

and the

International Luge Federation The International Luge Federation ( French: Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (FIL); German: Internationaler Rennrodelverband) is the main international federation for all luge sports. Founded by 13 nations at Davos, Switzerland in ...

(FIL), 110 athletes were to be allowed to take part. This was to include 40 athletes for men's singles, 30 athletes for women's singles, and 20 doubles teams (40 athletes total). The 110-athlete maximum was set for the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, United States, and repeated for the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, Italy. Each NOC could enter up to 10 athletes (3 men's single, 3 women's single and 2 doubles).

Staff writer In journalism, a staff writer byline indicates that the author of the article is an employee of the periodical, as opposed to being an independent freelance writer. In Britain, staff writers may work in the office instead of traveling to cover a b ...

(19 December 2008).
"Again 110 Luge Athletes To Participate at Olympic Games — 40 Men’s Singles, 30 Women’s Singles and 20 Double-Seater"

. Retrieved 20 February 2010.

Qualification system

Athletes were to be ranked by the number of world cup points they earned in the 2008–09 season and through the first half (before 31 December) of the 2009–10 season. To be eligible, athletes must either have earned medals and the world cup points in five World Cups, Nations Cup or Junior World Cup, or have a top-30 (men's single), top-20 (women's single) or top-16 (doubles) finish at the world cup during the qualification period. The top-40 men's single, top-30 women's single and top-20 doubles sleds were to be qualified for the Olympics, with unused quotas to be redistributed with priority given to unrepresented nations. The host nation (Canada) was to be guaranteed a sled in every event provided that they reached the minimum requirements.

Final quotas

*Georgian luger

Nodar Kumaritashvili , nationality = Georgian , hometown = Bakuriani, Georgia , birth_date = , birth_place = Borjomi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union , death_date = , death_place = Whistler, British Columbia, Canada , he ...

died during training, and teammate Levan Gureshidze withdrew.
+Romanian luger Violeta Strămăturaru withdrew following a concussion sustained during training.

Jury selection

On 15 June 2009, the FIL announced their jury members for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The jury was to be headed by

Josef Benz Joseph "Josef" or "Sepp" Benz (20 May 1944 – 5 February 2021) was a Swiss bobsledder who competed from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won four medals with one gold (Two-man: 1980), two silvers (Four-man: ...

(Switzerland, chair of the FIL Sport Commission. Other jury members included Zianbeth Shattuck-Owen (United States), luge manager for the 2002 Games, and Markus Schmidt (Austria), men's singles bronze medalist at the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

Albertville Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...

, France. Technical Delegate Executive Board consists of Björn Drydahl (Norway),

Marie-Luise Rainer Maria-Luise Rainer (born 23 April 1959 in South Tyrol) is an Italian luger who competed between the late 1970s and the late 1980s. Competitive career Rainer won the bronze medal in the women's singles event at the 1979 FIL World Luge Champion ...

(Italy) and Walter Corey (Canada).

Doping control

On 21 July 2009, the FIL announced that blood doping controls would take place at the Olympics for the first time. FIL President

Josef Fendt Josef Fendt (born 6 October 1947 in Berchtesgaden) is the immediate past president of the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (FIL), having served from 1994 to 2020. He was a West German-German luger who competed from the mi ...

stated during the 57th Congress in Liberec, Czech Republic, that no positive test had occurred during the

Viessmann The Viessmann Group is a German manufacturer of heating and refrigeration systems headquartered in Allendorf (Eder), Germany. With 22 production companies in 12 countries, distribution companies and representative offices in 74 countries and 120 ...

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

or FIL ...

European_ European,_or_Europeans,_or_Europeneans,_may_refer_to: _In_general *_''European'',_an_adjective_referring_to_something_of,_from,_or_related_to_Europe **_Ethnic_groups_in_Europe **__Demographics_of_Europe **__European_cuisine,_the_cuisines_of_Europe_...

_and_FIL_World_Luge_Championships.html" "title="FIL_European_Luge_Championships.html" "title="FIL European Luge Championships">European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

Fatality

During a training session on 12 February, the Georgian luger

died of injuries caused by a crash in the final turn of the course at speeds of , crashing into the side of the turn, sending him crashing into a steel support pillar. The FIL immediately called an emergency meeting after the incident, and all other training runs were called off for the day. Investigations were conducted the same day, concluding that the accident was not caused by deficiencies in the track. As a preventative measure, the walls at the exit of curve 16 will be raised and a change in the ice profile will be made. A joint statement was issued by the FIL, the

(IOC), and the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) over Kumaritashvili's death with training suspended for the rest of that day. According to the Coroners Service of British Columbia and the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

(RCMP), the cause was to Kumaritashvili coming out of turn 15 late and not compensating for turn 16.

(13 February 2010).
"Joint VANOC-FIL Statement on Men's Luge Competition"

. Accessed 20 February 2010. Because of this fatality, an extra of wall was added after the end of Turn 16 and the ice profile was changed. It also moved the men's singles luge event from its starthouse to the one for both the women's singles and men's doubles event.

(13 February 2010).
"Olympians Slide with Heavy Hearts — Georgia's Levan Gureshidze in 'Complete Shock,' Will Not Compete in the 2010 Winter Games"
''

The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newsp ...

'' (''via'' '' NBC Sports''). Accessed 20 February 2010. Kumaritashvili is the first Olympic athlete to die at the Winter Olympics in training since 1992 and the first luger to die in a practice event at the Winter Olympics since

Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki (or Skrzypeski) (25 November 1905 – 22 January 1964John E. Findling, Kimberly D. Pelle, ''Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement'', Greenwood Press, 2004, , p. 346.) was a Polish-born British luge racer. Skr ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

was killed at the luge track used for the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...

in Innsbruck. It was also luge's first fatality since 10 December 1975 when an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

luger was killed. The women's singles and men's doubles start was moved to the Junior start house of the track, located after turn 5."Luge-Women Sliders Now Have Kids Race — German".
Martyn Herman (Reuters via Yahoo! Sports). (14 February 2010 article accessed 14 February 2010. Germany's

Natalie Geisenberger Natalie Geisenberger (; born 5 February 1988) is a German luger. Widely regarded as one of the greatest lugers of all time, she is a nine-time World champion and six-time Olympic champion. Career She became Olympic Champion in the women's sing ...

complained that it was not a women's start but more of a ''kinder'' ("child" in German) start. Her teammate Tatjana Hüfner who had the fastest speed on two runs of stated that the new start position "..does not help good starters like myself". American

Erin Hamlin Erin Mullady Hamlin (born 19 November 1986) is a four-time Olympian and the first female American luger to medal at any Winter Olympics, as well as the first American of either gender to medal in luge singles competition and the first non-Eur ...

stated the track was still demanding even after the distance was lessened from and that athletes were still hitting . During a 14 February 2010 interview with Yahoo! Sports, FIL Secretary-General Svein Romstad stated that the federation considered cancelling the luge competition in the wake of Kumaritashvili's death two days earlier."Luge-FIL Considered Cancelling Competition"
- 15 February 2010 Yahoo! Sports article written by Sharon Reich accessed 16 February 2010. Romstad stated that " umaritashvili... made a mistake" on the crash, but also stated that "...any fatality is unnacceptable". Additionally, Romstad stated that the start houses were moved to their current locations "... mostly for an emotional reason". Because of Kumaritashvili's death, the FIL worked with the organizing committee for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi over making the

Sliding Center Sanki The Sliding Center Sanki (Санки) (a.k.a. the Sanki Sliding Center) is a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in Rzhanaya Polyana, Russia, 60 km (37 mi) northeast of Sochi. Located in the Western Caucasus. The venue hosted the ...

Rzhanaya Polyana Rzhanaya Polyana (russian: Ржаная Поляна) is a natural area in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located not far from Krasnaya Polyana. Home of the Sliding Center Sanki, it hosted bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton events for the 2014 Winter Ol ...

slower. Despite the changes, and celebrations by the victorious athletes, Kumaritashvili's death overshadowed the race. Some athletes who participated in the competition said they were scared during their runs, and welcomed the track changes. Others criticized the changes as having given an advantage to stronger starters like the German participants, as opposed to weaker starters who would have benefited from having a longer course. Argentina's Ruben Gonzalez said, "God blessed the Germans today." However, media reports mentioned the changes positively after a doubles team, Austria's

Tobias Tobias is the transliteration of the Greek which is a translation of the Hebrew biblical name he, טוֹבִיה, Toviyah, JahGod is good, label=none. With the biblical Book of Tobias being present in the Deuterocanon/Apocrypha of the Bible ...

and

Markus Schiegl Markus Schiegl (born 6 July 1975 in Kufstein) is an Austrian former luger who has competed from 1987 to 2010. He won fourteen medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with five golds (Men's doubles: 1996, 1997; Mixed team: 1996,1997, 1999), f ...

, crashed in the same turn where Kumaritashvili was killed. Both of them emerged unhurt. On 18 February 2010, FIL President

issued the following statement: "At the conclusion of the luge competition at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, our thoughts are with the family of Nodar Kumaritashvili. We again offer our heartfelt condolences to them, to his friends and to the entire Georgian Luge Federation. Nodar Kumaritashvili will forever stay in the hearts of all the members of the Luge family.
This has also been a difficult time for the Olympic athletes who competed in these Games. Their solidarity and sportsmanship was a tribute to the friend we lost. The International Luge Federation is touched by the outpouring of compassion and sympathy from people around the world. We will leave Whistler determined to do all we can to prevent a recurrence of this tragic event." During the ten actual competitive runs (four men single, four women single, and two doubles), there was only one crash which was Romania's

Mihaela Chiras Mihaela is a female given name of Hebrew origin, very common in Romania. Notable people with the name include: * Mihaela Bene (born 1973), Romanian sprint canoer *Mihaela Botezan (born 1976), Romanian long-distance runner *Mihaela Buzărnescu M ...

during the second run of the women's singles event. (19 February 2010 article accessed 20 February 2010.) 12,000 spectators attended each of the five days of luge competition. On 23 March 2010, FIL President Fendt, VANOC President John Furlong, 2010 men's singles gold medalist

Felix Loch Felix Loch (; born 24 July 1989) is a German luger and Olympic champion. He has been competing since 1995 and on the German national team since 2006. He has won fourteen medals at the FIL World Luge Championships with twelve golds (Men's singles ...

of Germany visited Kumaritashvili's grave in his hometown of

Bakuriani Bakuriani ( ka, ბაკურიანი) is a daba and a ski resort in the Borjomi district of Georgia. It is located on the northern slope of the Trialeti Range, at an elevation of 1,700 meters (5,576 feet) above sea level. Geography The ...

to pay respects as part of tradition in the Georgian Orthodox Church. The FIL published their reports in regards to Kumaritashvili's death following the FIL Commissions Meeting in

St. Leonhard Leonard of Noblac (also Leonard of Limoges or Leonard of Noblet; also known as Lienard, Linhart, Leonhard, Léonard, Leonardo, Annard; died 559), is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in Hau ...

, Austria (near

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

) for both sport and technical commissions on 9–11 April 2010. (25 March 2010 article accessed 27 March 2010.) This report was prepared by Romstad and Claire DelNegro, Vice-President Sport Artificial Track, who is from the United States.

Television ratings

Ratings in Germany for the luge events had six million viewers for the women's singles luge events, generating a 25.6 percent share and a 34 ranking according to ARD and

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

. The last run of the men's singles event had a share of 30.3 percent (1.82 million viewers) while the third run of the event had been watched by 5.32 million viewers (17.1 percent market share). Despite being broadcast in the middle of the night in Germany, the doubles event had a 22.6 percent market share. (4 March 2010 article accessed 8 March 2010.)

References

External links

Qualification system

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Competition Schedule v12

Official Report to the International Olympic Committee on the accident of Georgian athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili
{{Luge at the Winter Olympics 2010 Winter Olympics events 2010 2010 in luge International luge competitions hosted by Canada