The men's luge at the 2010 Winter Olympics took place on 13–14 February 2010 at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia. Germany's Felix Loch was the two-time defending world champion and won the gold medal with the fastest time in each of the four runs. The test event that took place at the venue was won by Germany's David Möller, who would win the silver medal in this event. Italy's Armin Zöggeler was the two-time defending Olympic champion and won a bronze medal in this event. The last World Cup event prior to the 2010 games took place in Cesana, Italy on 30 January 2010 and was won by Zöggeler, who also won the overall World Cup title.
As a consequence of the training accident that killed Nodar Kumaritashvili on 12 February 2010 officials moved the start of the men's singles competition to the women's/doubles start to reduce the speed of the racers. This change was met with mixed reviews, with some participants saying that the change made them feel safer, while others complained that it gave an advantage to stronger starters.
Logistics
Track
Men's singles luge at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada was held at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, British Columbia. The track was constructed between 2005 and 2008, and became the 15th competition-level track in the world. It was certified for competition in sliding sports by the International Luge Federation (FIL) and the International Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Federation (FIBT) in March 2008 in a process called homologation where hundreds of athletes ran the track. This was the first time many competitors at the 2010 Games were able to try the track and begin to develop strategies for it. Canadian athletes hoped that having it open two years before the Games, and having that amount of time to train on it, would give them an advantage in the Games. The Whistler Sliding Centre quickly gained a reputation as among the fastest tracks in the world.
Rules and description of competition
Rules for Olympic luge competitions are set by the International Luge Federation (FIL) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). They entrust 5 officials with making decisions about whether competition rules have been followed: a technical delegate, three jury members from different countries, and an international judge. These decisions are implemented and enforced by a race director, to whom the overall responsibility for running the competition is given, but who is assisted by a start leader who coordinates the starting area, a finish leader who coordinates the finish area, and a Chief of Track who is in charge of track maintenance. Under the rules, competitors were guaranteed a minimum of five official training runs in the days prior to the competition. The competition itself consists of four runs. Athletes begin their runs on their sleds at a starting block, use their hands to push themselves off in the starting area, and then on their backs on the sleds through the remainder of the course. Athletes are ranked by the speed of their times measured between their start and the finish line at the bottom of the track.
Preview
In a 2 February 2010 interview with the International Luge Federation, Italy's Zöggeler predicted that Russia's Albert Demtschenko, the defending Olympic silver medalist and the European champion, would win the event, with the other medalists being Germany's Loch and Möller. In the final results, Zöggeler edged out Demtschenko for third place.
Records
While the IOC does not consider luge times eligible for Olympic records, the International Luge Federation (FIL) does maintain records for both the start and a complete run at each track it competes.
These records were set during the test event from the men's start house for the 2010 Games on 21 February 2009.
Death of Nodar Kumaritashvili
During training on 12 February 2010, Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili was going at over when he crashed in the last turn and hit a steel pole. He was administered CPR at the track, then taken away to hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Training was immediately stopped. As a result, the start of the men's single competition was moved to the women's/doubles' start to reduce speed and the wall at corner where Kumaritashvili crashed was raised.