Luge is an event you might not have heard of if you are unfamiliar with the Winter Olympics, but it is one of three sliding sports on the programme at the Beijing 2022 event.

Skeleton and Bobsleigh are the other sports in that category, and athletes travel at high speeds for it, going around an average of 120-145 km/h.

There will be four separate categories to win medals in, including Men's Singles, Women's Singles, Doubles and Team Relay.

According to the Winter Olympics website the track that will be used for the sliding events is the first of its kind in the world to include a 360-degree turn.

All sliding events will take place at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre in the Xiaohaituo mountain area in Yanqing, located 74km north-west of the Chinese capital.

The Herald: Team GB will have one competitor in Luge (OIS/IOC/PA)Team GB will have one competitor in Luge (OIS/IOC/PA)

How does Luge work?

In the singles competition, athletes compete on the same track, with each rider getting four runs over the course of two days.

Those four rides are timed down to the thousandth of a second and the times added together. The athlete with the fastest total time is then the winner.

The doubles competition takes place in a single day, with each pair getting two runs. Again, the pair with the fastest cumulative time wins the gold.

Finally, the team relay involves three sledges from a single National Olympic Committee (NOC): women’s singles, men’s singles and doubles. 


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The women's sledge is the first to race, with the athlete striking an overhead touchpad at the bottom of the track which opens the gate and allows the next sledge (men's single) to begin.

The men's double is the last sledge to race in the event. The winner is the team with the lowest time after all three sledges cross the finish line.

Which Team GB members will be competing in Luge?

Robert Staudinger will be the sole member of Team GB to compete in the Luge event.

He was born in Berchtesgaden in Bavaria to a German father and a British mother, and was part of a two-athlete team that represented Team GB at PyeongChang 2018.

On the Team GB website it says Staudinger's teammate in PyeongChang, A.J Rosen, died from cancer in December 2021 at the age of 37.

As a result Staudinger will wear a tribute to Rosen on his helmet at the games.