The US has struggled to medal in the luge competitions at the Olympics. Their only medals came in 1998 and 2002 in the doubles event. Thy nearly won their first singles medals though in 2006 when they had fourth place finishers in both the men’s and women’s events. Things regressed some in Vancouver though when the top singles finishers were in eighth and 16th. The US has some definite hope coming to Sochi though. At the World Championships last year members of the US team finished in sixth in both men’s and women’s singles. Perhaps this will be the year the US breaks through.
Luge’s Olympic History
Luge first became an Olympic sport in 1964, starting with a men’s singles, women’s singles, and doubles event. These three events have remained the Olympic program until this year when a fourth event will be held for the first time. This event will be a team relay involving a single member from the first three events.
Germany has absolutely totally dominated the luge event. Combining Germany, East Germany, West Germany, and the Unified Team of Germany they have won 70 of the 117 and 27 of the 40 gold medals awarded. Only five other countries (Italy, Austria, the US, Latvia, and the Soviet Union/Russia) have won medals. The US has won four medals (two gold and two silver) in the luge.
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How the Luge Competitions Work
First of all, what differentiates luge from bobsleigh and skeleton? Luge is on a sled (unlike bobsleigh) and luge is done lying on the back (unlike skeleton). Luge basically looks like the most dangerous sport in the Olympics and it probably is. This is the sport where an athlete died in Vancouver (a Georgian luger named Nodar Kumaritashivili). It goes faster than the skeleton and the view of where you are going is not quite as good since you aren’t facing forward. Lugers start their races sitting on the sled and push-off before lying down for the race.
In the Olympics the men’s singles and women’s singles events are conducted over two days with two runs in each day. The four runs are then totaled with the fastest total time winning. The doubles competition is conducted on one day with only two runs combined for the total time.
The mixed relay making the debut this year is pretty cool. This isn’t just three separate times being combined to get a total time for the team, this is a race where when the first athlete gets to the bottom they will hit a pad that triggers the start of the 2nd athlete. The order of the lugers will be women-men-doubles.
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US Team
The team is made up of seven men and three women. Three of the athletes are returning from the team in Vancouver, two of whom were also on the team in Turin. Another athlete wasn’t part of the team in Vancouver but was part of the team in Turin.
Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.
US Luge
Men:
Preston Griffall& – Doubles
Aidan Kelly – Singles
Chris Mazdzer* – Singles
Matt Mortensen – Doubles
Christian Niccum** – Doubles
Jayson Terdiman – Doubles
Tucker West – Singles
Women:
Summer Britcher – Singles
Erin Hamlin** – Singles
Kate Hansen – Singles
* – Was on team in Vancouver
** – Was on team in Vancouver & Turin
& – Was on team in Turin
A Sochi 2014 Luge list on twitter including all of these athletes
US Team’s Olympic History
While Preston Griffall didn’t make the Olympic team in Vancouver he was part of the team in Turin. Griffall teamed up with Dan Joye. The team finished eighth in the doubles competition.
Chris Mazdzer made his Olympic debut in Vancouver and competed in the men’s singles event. Mazdzer finished run one in 12th, run two in 16th, run three in 13th, and run four in 17th. His total time ended up placing him 13th.
Christian Niccum teamed up with Dan Joye for the doubles event in Vancouver. Niccum’s team was sixth in both the first run and the second and finished sixth overall. In Turin, Niccum competed in the singles event where he finished 23rd.
Erin Hamlin started off her Vancouver Olympics in great fashion with an eight place finish in women’s singles. She wasn’t able to keep it up though as she finished run two in 20th, run three in 24th, and run four in 16th. She wound up 16th overall. Turin was even more successful in Turin where she finished 12th in the women’s singles event.
Schedule
All Times ET, * indicates medals awarded
Saturday, February 8th
9:30 AM – Men’s Singles Run 1
11:40 AM – Men’s Singles Run 2
Sunday, February 9th
9:30 AM – Men’s Singles Run 3
*11:40 AM – Men’s Singles Run 4
Monday, February 10th
9:45 AM – Women’s Singles Run 1
11:35 AM – Women’s Singles Run 2
Tuesday, February 11th
9:30 AM – Women’s Singles Run 3
*11:20 AM – Women’s Singles Run 4
Wednesday, February 12th
9:15 AM – Doubles Run 1
*10:45 AM – Doubles Run 2
Thursday, February 13th
*11:15 AM – Team Relay Competition
US Team’s Recent World Championship History
The 2013 FIL World Luge Championships were held in Whistler, British Columbia.
In the men’s singles competition Chris Mazdzer was the only Olympian to compete for the US. The event was only held over two runs and Mazdzer was in the top eight in both runs and finished in sixth within 0.35 seconds of a bronze medal. Things didn’t go as well in the men’s doubles competition where Matt Mortensen and Preston Griffall teamed up and finished 14th.
Two of the three female Olympians for the US competed in the women’s singles event. Kate Hansen finished in 14th while Erin Hamlin was the top American with a sixth place finish just 0.31 seconds behind the bronze.
The team relay event was a combination effort between Mazdzer, Mortensen/Griffall and Hamlin. The team was third fastest in the women’s portion, fourth in men’s singles, but only seventh in the doubles portion. Still they wound up fifth and just 0.012 seconds out of the bronze.
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US Olympic History
Men’s singles is an event the US has never medaled in. In 2010 their top athlete was Tony Benshoof who came in eighth while in 2006 they nearly medaled when Benshoof came in fourth and missed out on the bronze by 0.153 seconds.
The US has also never medaled in women’s singles. In 2010 the US didn’t come close with their best finish by Erin Hamlin in 16th. 2006 was a different story when Courtney Zablocki came in fourth and missed out on the bronze by 0.392 seconds.
All of the US medals have come in the doubles event. The US grabbed both the silver and bronze medals in 1998 and 2002. Since then the US has achieved an eighth place finish in 2006 and a sixth place finish in 2010.
