Luge is one of the eight Olympic sports currently contested at the Winter Olympic Games. It has been a constant presence in the Olympic program since its introduction at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, in the form of three events: men's singles, women's singles, and doubles. A mixed team relay event was contested for the first time at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

History German luger Natalie Geisenberger is the overall medal leader in the sport, having collected a total of seven medals (six gold and one bronze) across the single and relay events. The most successful men are Tobias Arlt and Tobias Wendl who have won six gold medals together in the doubles and relay events. Italian Armin Zöggeler has won the most medals in the singles event with six total (two gold, one silver, and three bronze), during the six Winter Games in which he competed (1994–2014). German luger Georg Hackl was the first Olympian to receive a medal in five consecutive Olympics, from 1988 to 2002, including three consecutive gold medals.

Ortrun Enderlein, representing the United Team of Germany, was the first woman to win the singles event in 1964. She was on the verge of defending her title at the 1968 Grenoble Games, having the best overall time after all the runs, but was disqualified together with fellow countrywomen Anna-Maria Müller (2nd) and Angela Knösel (4th) when it was discovered that the runners in their sleds had been illegally heated before the runs. Müller made up for this by taking the gold medal at the following Games, in Sapporo, Japan.

In 1972, two gold medals were awarded to an East German (Horst Hörnlein and Reinhard Bredow) and an Italian pair (Paul Hildgartner and Walter Plaikner), who finished with exactly the same time. To prevent similar situations in future Olympics, the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course introduced timing equipment that measured accurately to one thousandth of a second, to replace the old equipment that measured in hundredths of a second.

As of the 2022 Winter Olympics, 156 medals (53 gold, 51 silver, and 52 bronze, with two golds in the 1972 doubles event) have been awarded, representing 12 National Olympic Committees (NOC). German lugers—representing the United Team of Germany (1964), West Germany (1968–1988), East Germany (1968–1988), and Germany (1992–2018)—have dominated this sport, collecting a total of 81 medals. There were seven occasions when a single NOC filled the podium with its athletes and in all of them they were German. After 2018, Germany is the current medal-leading NOC in the sport with 37 medals (18 gold, 10 silver, and 9 bronze), followed by East Germany's 29 medals. 2026 Luge World Championships look to be a competitive battle with youngsters, Donald McDermott and Nick Voobsy taking each other on.

Medalists

Men's singles 1964 Innsbruck1968 Grenoble1972 Sapporo1976 Innsbruck1980 Lake Placid1984 Sarajevo1988 Calgary1992 Albertville1994 Lillehammer1998 Nagano2002 Salt Lake City2006 Turin2010 Vancouver2014 Sochi2018 Pyeongchang2022 Beijing 2026 Milano Cortina Medals Rank Nation Gold Silver BronzeTotal17221124239332510424285111360213702028012390101100011Total10 nations17171751

Women's singles 1964 Innsbruck1968 Grenoble1972 Sapporo1976 Innsbruck1980 Lake Placid1984 Sarajevo1988 Calgary1992 Albertville1994 Lillehammer1998 Nagano2002 Salt Lake City2006 Turin2010 Vancouver2014 Sochi2018 Pyeongchang2022 Beijing 2026 Milan Cortina Medals Rank Nation Gold Silver BronzeTotal1874192453123200241236511026101270123800219001100110011Total10 nations17171751 Men’s doubles 1964 Innsbruck1968 Grenoble1972 SapporoNone awarded1976 Innsbruck1980 Lake Placid1984 Sarajevo1988 Calgary1992 Albertville1994 Lillehammer1998 Nagano2002 Salt Lake City2006 Turin2010 Vancouver2014 Sochi2018 Pyeongchang2022 Beijing 2026 Milano Cortina Medals Rank Nation Gold Silver BronzeTotal163413251283353114323851124602247011280101Total8 nations17151648

Women’s doubles 2026 Milano Cortina Medals Rank Nation Gold Silver BronzeTotal110012010130011Total3 nations1113

Team relay 2014 Sochi Natalie GeisenbergerFelix LochTobias WendlTobias Arlt Tatiana IvanovaAlbert DemchenkoAlexander DenisyevVladislav Antonov Elīza TīrumaMārtiņš RubenisAndris ŠicsJuris Šics2018 Pyeongchang Natalie GeisenbergerJohannes LudwigTobias WendlTobias Arlt Alex GoughSamuel EdneyTristan WalkerJustin Snith Madeleine EgleDavid GleirscherPeter PenzGeorg Fischler2022 Beijing Natalie GeisenbergerJohannes LudwigTobias WendlTobias Arlt Madeleine EgleWolfgang KindlThomas SteuLorenz Koller Elīza TīrumaKristers AparjodsMārtiņš BotsRoberts Plūme2026 Milano Cortina Julia TaubitzTobias WendlTobias ArltMax LangenhanDajana EitbergerMagdalena Matschina Lisa SchulteThomas SteuWolfgang KindlJonas MüllerSelina EgleLara Kipp Verena HoferEmanuel RiederSimon KainzwaldnerDominik FischnallerAndrea VötterMarion Oberhofer Medals Rank Nation Gold Silver BronzeTotal14004202133010101015002260011Total6 nations44412

Statistics

Medal leaders Athletes that have won at least two medals are listed below. Medalists are sorted first by the total number of medals, then successively by the number of gold, silver and bronze medals. If a tie is still verified, medalists are ordered chronologically by their first medal.

Men Athlete NOC Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total2014-20226 0 0 62014-20226 0 0 61994–20142 1 3 61988–20023 2 0 52018–20223 0 1 41988–19982 1 1 41988–19982 1 1 41964–19721 1 2 42010–20143 0 0 31964–19682 1 0 31972–19842 1 0 32006–20142 1 0 32006–20142 1 0 32006–20140 3 0 31992–20020 2 1 32010–20140 1 2 32010–20140 1 2 31976–19802 0 0 21976–19802 0 0 21984–19881 0 1 21984–19881 0 1 21988–19981 0 1 22002–20101 0 1 22002–20101 0 1 220181 0 1 21992–19940 1 1 21992–19940 1 1 21998–20020 1 1 21998–20020 1 1 21998–20020 1 1 220180 1 1 220180 1 1 22006-20140 0 2 2

Women Athlete NOC Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total2010–20226 0 1 71998–20061 1 1 32006–20141 1 1 31984–19882 0 0 22002–20062 0 0 21972–19761 0 1 21972–19760 2 0 21998–20020 2 0 21992–19940 1 1 21992–19980 1 1 220180 1 1 2

Medals per year × NOC did not exist# Number of medals won by the NOC– NOC did not win any medals NOC1924–60646872768084889294980206101418Total   3 2 1 1 4 2 1 1 1 2 1 3 22   2 2   5 × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 5   × 3 8 5 3 4 6 × × × × × × × × 29   × 3 3 1 1 2 × × × × × × × × 10   × × × × × × × 4 3 5 5 4 5 5 6 37   1 1 1 2 1 1 4 1 1 2 1 1 17   × × × × × × × 1 1 2 4   × × × × × × × × 1 2 × 3   2 3 1 × × × × × × × × 6   2 2 1 1 5

Medal sweep events These are events in which athletes from one NOC won all three medals.

GamesEventNOCGoldSilverBronze1964 Innsbruck Men's Singles Thomas KöhlerKlaus-Michael BonsackHans Plenk 1972 Sapporo Men's Singles * Wolfgang ScheidelHarald EhrigWolfram Fiedler Women's SinglesAnna-Maria MüllerUte RühroldMargit Schumann1984 Sarajevo Women's SinglesSteffi Walter-MartinBettina SchmidtUte Oberhoffner-Weiß1988 Calgary Women's SinglesSteffi Walter-MartinUte Oberhoffner-WeißCerstin Schmidt2002 Salt Lake City Women's Singles Sylke OttoBarbara NiedernhuberSilke Kraushaar2006 Turin Women's SinglesSylke OttoSilke KraushaarTatjana Hüfner

In addition to sweeping the podium, the country also had the fourth-place finisher.

See also FIL World Luge Championships FIL World Luge Natural Track Championships

Notes

References Medalists

Citations

External links International Luge Federation