Luge, << loozh, >> is a winter sport in which one or two people lie on their back on a sled and race feet first down an ice-covered course. The sled with the fastest combined time over a number of runs wins the competition. Luge is the French word for a small sled.
A luge sled has two wooden or fiberglass runners with steel blades. The sled is about 4 feet (1.2 meters) long, 20 inches (51 centimeters) wide, and 8 inches (20 centimeters) high. One-person sleds can weigh up to 22 kilograms (49 pounds). Two-person sleds can weigh up to 25 kilograms (55 pounds). The driver lies on an aerodynamically shaped fiberglass seat. He or she steers by pressing in on the runners with the legs and pressing down on the sled with the shoulders. Luge sleds have been clocked at over 90 miles (145 kilometers) per hour.
