PyeongChang 2018: Four sets of medals to be awarded in luge

PyeongChang (RWH) Lee Hee-beom, President of the Organizing Committee (POCOG), has promised that South Korea will deliver the biggest Winter Games of all time. The XXIII Winter Olympics in PyeongChang will feature the largest number of snow and ice events ever staged at the Winter Games. Medals will be awarded in a total of 102 events across 15 different disciplines of the seven winter sports associations. The Games, which run from February 9-25, 2018, will feature six new events – the Big Air competition for male and female snowboarders, a mass start in speed skating for men and women, mixed curling, and the team competition in alpine skiing.

Twelve luge medals will be awarded across four disciplines in the Alpensia Sliding Center. 110 lugers from 21 nations will compete for Olympic medals and diplomas in the run-up to the main discipline of the International Luge Federation (FIL), the team relay, on February 15. The men’s luge features 40 athletes from 21 nations, while the women’s field consists of 30 participants representing 16 different nationalities. The doubles and team relay feature 13 national associations apiece. Croatia will be competing in luge for the first time.

The PyeongChang Olympics will be the 15th time that luge has been included in the Olympic program of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Luge, the fastest sport on ice, made its Olympic debut at the Winter Games in Innsbruck back in 1964. Four years ago in the Russian city of Sochi a fourth discipline was added in the shape of the team relay. The International Luge Federation (FIL) has recently submitted an application for a total of six disciplines (women’s doubles, sprint for women, men and doubles, and natural track luge for men and women) to be included in the Olympic programme for Beijing 2022.