What is luge?

Luge is the French word for sled.

Luge first developed as a sport in Switzerland, with the first course built at Davos in 1879.

Four years later, the town played host to the first international competition, with competitors racing along a 4km track from Davos to the village of Klosters.

It is considered to be one of the most dangerous Winter Olympics sports as luge involves sliding at high speeds on a single or two-person sleds on a special track of artificially frozen ice. In Sochi, there will be four luge events - men's singles, men's doubles, women's singles and a mixed relay.