Origin of the sport’s name: Luge is a French word for sled

First official world championship race: 1955 in Oslo

First appearance in the Olympic Games: 1964Innsbruck

Number of countries to win Olympic medals from 1964-1994: 4: Germany, Austria, Italy, Soviet Union

First country outside the “Big Four” to win an Olympic medal: The United States, which captured a silver and a bronze at Nagano in 1998

Most individual Olympic medals: 5, German Georg Hackl (three gold, two silver)

Olympic medals won by Germans: 61

Olympic medals won by all other nationalities combined: 38

Number of countries with luge tracks: 10

Number of tracks in Germany: 4 (no other country has more than two)

Number of women to compete in an Olympic doubles race: 0, even though the event switched from men-only to co-ed after the 1992 Albertville Games

Other than luge, number of Winter Olympic sports timed to the thousandth of a second: 0

Maximum allowed weight of sleds: 23kg for singles, 27kg for doubles

Speeds reached by sleds: Up to 150 km/h, making luge the fastest non-motorized competitive sport

Number of brakes on a sled: 0; athletes stop by holding the front of their sled up, which pushes the back of its steel runners into the ice

How sleds are steered: With subtle movements of the shoulders, legs and hands

How a doubles team races: The larger athlete lays on top and handles the steering

Correct name for luge athletes: Sliders

What you might see on a slider’s rear end: Duct tape, often used to patch holes in an expensive race suit after a crash

Why sliders don’t pat each other on the back: They wear spiked gloves with which to paddle the ice for a faster start

Why sliders can really appreciate Top Gun: On some runs they can experience up to five G-forces, close to what jet fighter pilots encounter