History of Luge

Olympic Luge History

Competitive luge racing began in Switzerland in the late 1800's but it would be another 60 years before Canadian competitors took up the sport. It wasn't until the late 1950's that bobsledder Vic Emery introduced the sport to Canadians at a ski area in Quebec. Emery, who would go on to win Canada's first Olympic bobsleigh medal at the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria, was also the first Canadian Luge Champion.

Despite a long history and well established competitions in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, luge did not appear at the Olympic Games until 1964. Until then, most luge competitions took place on iced alpine roads and sometimes on 'tracks' with banked side walls. The traditional form of the sport evolved into the two disciplines of Olympic luge and Natural luge.

Olympics

Entry into the Olympics marked the beginning of a new era in the development of the sport as racing switched to artificial ice tracks with steeply-banked curves.

From the outset, European countries have dominated the sport. All Olympic medals from 1964 until 2002 have been won by four countries: Germany, Austria, Italy and the former USSR In recent years, however, other nations have been making inroads, most noticeably the United States which holds Olympic medals in the doubles competition at the 2002 Winter Games.

Canadian Participation

Canada did not participate in the inaugural Olympic competition of 1964, but made its debut four years later at the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France, posting a team high 31st in men's competition and 12th in the women's event.

Since then, the Canadian competitors have gained a lot of ground in international competition.

Canada's best Olympic results are Marie Claude Doyon's 7th place finish in the women's event at the Calgary Games in 1988, Bruce Smith's and Kyle Connelly's11th place finishes in men's singles at Lake Placid in 1980 and Salt Lake City respectively and a fifth place in doubles posted by Chris Moffat and Eric Pothier at Salt Lake City in 2002.

Legacy of 1988

The legacy of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games held in Calgary is now being realized. The combination bobsleigh/luge track at Canada Olympic Park is home to Canada's Olympic Luge development program which has trained many high-potential athletes since the track opened. The longer-term success of this building program is now in sight with athletes such as Regan Lauscher, Jeff Christie and the doubles team of Chris Moffat and Mike Moffat, who lead a very young Senior National Team.

Critical to Canada's luge athletes reaching the podium at international competition, will be the much needed awareness and funding support to the program. The success of the Canadian program is also evident in the talent of the coaching team, led by High Performance Director Walter Corey, former Canadian athlete. Walter holds the distinction of being the first person to complete the NCCP level 4/5 certificate with honours. This coaching team is rounded out with Head Coach Wolfgang Staudinger, and Assistant Coaches Robert Fegg, and Steffan Skel. The Junior National Team is led by Kyle Connelly, with assistance from Matt McMurray and Mike Lane. The Domestic Coaching staff includes: Mike Lane, Monica Gorham, Nicole Simon, Tyler Seitz, Lindsay Forsberg, and Harington Telford.