Luge is a winter sport that involves a one- or two-person sled, also known as a luge, on which athletes sled supine (face-up) and feet-first. Lugers control the movement of the sled by shifting their weight or applying pressure with their calf muscles and shoulders, and can reach speeds of more than 140 km/h (87 mph; 39 m/s). The sport is organised by the International Luge Federation and has been part of the Winter Olympic programme since 1964. This photograph shows the Ukrainian brothers Myroslav and Ivan Lenko training in 2022 in Mariazell, Austria, for the Luge World Cup.

Credit: Steffen Prößdorf

CC BY-SA 4.0

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[–] ninja@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Luge isn't like bobsled where they do a running push start and then jump in. Luge starts seated on the sled and they throw themselves onto the course with some handles on poles embedded in the ground at the start point (its sort of a rowing motion). The spikes are probably to use as breaking.