# Luge at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Men's singles

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.
| Type | Date | Athlete | Time |
| Start | 21 February 2009 | Andi Langenhan (GER) | 3.541 |
| Track | 21 February 2009 | Felix Loch (GER) | 46.808 |

## Death of Nodar Kumaritashvili

During training on 12 February 2010, Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili was going at over 143 km/h (89 mph) 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.
Investigations conducted the same day concluded that the accident was not caused by deficiencies in the track. As a preventative measure, the walls at the exit of curve 16 were to be raised and a change in the ice profile would be made. A joint statement was issued by the FIL, the International Olympic Committee, and the Vancouver Organizing Committee over Kurmaitasvili's death with training suspended for the rest of that day. According to the Coroners Service of British Columbia and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the cause was to Kumaritashvili coming out of turn 15 late and not compensating for turn 16. Because of this fatality, an extra 40 yd (37 m) of wall was added after the end of Turn 16 and the ice profile was changed. It also moved the men's singles luge event from its starthouse to the one for both the women's singles and men's doubles event. Kumaritashvili is the first Olympic athlete to die at the Winter Olympics in training since the death of Nicolas Bochatay during a speed skiing practice at the 1992 Winter Olympics and the first luger to die in a practice event at the Winter Olympics since Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski of Great Britain was killed at the luge track used for the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. It was also luge's first fatality (on an artificial track) since 10 December 1975, when an Italian luger was killed. Kumaritavili's teammate Levan Gureshidze withdrew prior to the first run of the event.
The women's singles and men's doubles start was moved to the Junior start house of the track, located after turn 5. Germany's Natalie Geisenberger complained that it was not a women's start but more of a kinder ("child" in German) start. Her teammate Tatjana Hüfner who had the fastest speed on two runs of 82.3 mph (132.4 km/h) stated that the new start position "..does not help good starters like myself". American Erin Hamlin stated the track was still demanding even after the distance was lessened from 1,193 to 953 m (3,914 to 3,127 ft) and that athletes were still hitting 80 mph (130 km/h).
Despite the changes, and celebrations by the victorious athletes, Kumaritashvili's death overshadowed the race. Some athletes who participated in the competition said they were scared during their runs, and welcomed the track changes. Others criticized the changes as having given an advantage to stronger starters like the German participants, as opposed to weaker starters who would have benefited from having a longer course. Argentina's Ruben Gonzalez said, "God blessed the Germans today."
On 23 March 2010, FIL President Fendt, VANOC President John Furlong, 2010 men's singles gold medalist Felix Loch of Germany visited Kumaritashvili's grave in his hometown of Bakuriani to pay respects as part of tradition in the Georgian Orthodox Church.
The FIL published their reports in regards to Kumaritashvili's death on 12 April 2010 following the FIL Commissions Meeting in St. Leonhard, Austria (near Salzburg) for both sport and technical commissions on 9–11 April 2010. This report was prepared by Romstad and Claire DelNegro, Vice-President Sport Artificial Track, who is from the United States.

## Qualifying athletes

Forty athletes qualified for the men's singles event as of 4 February 2010.
* Tony Benshoof (USA)
* Jeff Christie (CAN)
* Ian Cockerline (CAN)
* Valentin Cretu (ROU)
* Albert Demtschenko (RUS)
* Samuel Edney (CAN)
* Stepan Fedorov (RUS)
* Thomas Girod (FRA)
* Rubén González (ARG)
* Levan Gureshidze (GEO) (withdrew)
* Stefan Höhener (SUI)
* Jakub Hyman (CZE)
* Ondřej Hyman (CZE)
* Peter Iliev (BUL)
* Shiva Keshavan (IND)
* Wolfgang Kindl (AUT)
* Inars Kivlenieks (LAT)
* Viktor Kneib (RUS)
* Nodar Kumaritashvili (GEO) (died during training)
* Maciej Kurowski (POL)
* Andi Langenhan (GER)
* Lee Yong (KOR)
* Felix Loch (GER)
* Ma Chih-hung (TPE)
* Bogdan Macovei (MDA)
* David Mair (ITA)
* Chris Mazdzer (USA)
* David Möller (GER)
* Jozef Ninis (SVK)
* Takahisa Oguchi (JPN)
* Ivan Papukchiev (BUL)
* Daniel Pfister (AUT)
* Manuel Pfister (AUT)
* Domen Pociecha (SLO)
* Reinhold Rainer (ITA)
* Guntis Rekis (LAT)
* Adam Rosen (GBR)
* Mārtiņš Rubenis (LAT)
* Bengt Walden (USA)
* Armin Zöggeler (ITA)

## Results

The first two runs took place on 13 February 2010 at 17:00 PST and 19:00 PST. On 14 February 2010, the final two runs took place at 13:00 PST and 15:00 PST.
Time listed at top in italics is start time while time below is the track time. SR - Start Record. TR - Track Record. Top finishes in both times are in boldface.
Loch ended Zöggeler's two straight championships with the fastest times in each of the four runs to become the youngest Olympic champion ever in luge. Zöggeler's fifth medal in this event matched that of Georg Hackl, now a coach on the German team, who won three golds and two silvers between 1988 and 2002. The winning margin of victory was the second largest in this event in Winter Olympics history with Paul Hildgartner of Italy's win over Sergey Danilin of the then-Soviet Union at the 1984 Games being larger (0.704 seconds)
| Rank | Bib | Athlete | Country | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Run 4 | Total | Behind |
| | 3 | Felix Loch | Germany | 7.016 48.168 | 7.060 48.402 | 6.983 48.344 | 7.000 48.171 | 3:13.085 | 0.000 |
| | 6 | David Möller | Germany | 7.043 48.341 | 7.055 48.511 | 7.016 48.582 | 6.999 48.330 | 3:13.764 | +0.679 |
| | 8 | Armin Zöggeler | Italy | 7.099 48.473 | 7.092 48.529 | 7.078 48.914 | 7.079 48.459 | 3:14.375 | +1.290 |
| 4 | 10 | Albert Demtschenko | Russia | 7.178 48.590 | 7.144 48.579 | 7.098 48.769 | 7.085 48.467 | 3:14.405 | +1.320 |
| 5 | 12 | Andi Langenhan | Germany | 7.062 48.629 | 7.027 48.658 | 6.995 48.869 | 6.985 48.473 | 3:14.629 | +1.544 |
| 6 | 7 | Daniel Pfister | Austria | 7.111 48.583 | 7.118 48.707 | 7.087 48.883 | 7.076 48.553 | 3:14.726 | +1.641 |
| 7 | 17 | Samuel Edney | Canada | 7.171 48.754 | 7.088 48.793 | 7.047 48.920 | 7.031 48.373 | 3:14.840 | +1.755 |
| 8 | 5 | Tony Benshoof | United States | 7.143 48.657 | 7.146 48.747 | 7.107 49.010 | 7.031 48.714 | 3:15.128 | +2.043 |
| 9 | 9 | Wolfgang Kindl | Austria | 7.150 48.707 | 7.151 48.755 | 7.124 49.080 | 7.099 48.553 | 3:15.525 | +2.130 |
| 10 | 21 | Manuel Pfister | Austria | 7.184 48.677 | 7.194 48.835 | 7.159 49.064 | 7.122 48.693 | 3:15.269 | +2.184 |
| 11 | 20 | Mārtiņš Rubenis | Latvia | 7.194 48.818 | 7.172 48.831 | 7.145 49.210 | 7.133 48.809 | 3:15.668 | +2.583 |
| 12 | 15 | Viktor Kneib | Russia | 7.170 48.899 | 7.139 48.862 | 7.097 49.224 | 7.085 48.747 | 3:15.272 | +2.647 |
| 13 | 1 | Chris Mazdzer | United States | 7.128 48.811 | 7.161 48.963 | 7.112 49.223 | 7.078 48.816 | 3:15.813 | +2.726 |
| 14 | 19 | Jeff Christie | Canada | 7.128 48.881 | 7.155 48.904 | 7.109 49.308 | 7.088 48.730 | 3:15.623 | +2.738 |
| 15 | 13 | Bengt Walden | United States | 7.164 49.002 | 7.137 48.865 | 7.118 49.323 | 7.125 48.794 | 3:15.984 | +2.899 |
| 16 | 22 | Adam Rosen | Great Britain | 7.191 48.896 | 7.214 49.005 | 7.229 49.259 | 7.133 48.856 | 3:16.016 | +2.931 |
| 17 | 11 | David Mair | Italy | 7.148 48.978 | 7.150 48.989 | 7.105 49.367 | 7.119 48.845 | 3:16.199 | +3.114 |
| 18 | 35 | Inars Kivlenieks | Latvia | 7.148 48.960 | 7.150 49.065 | 7.113 49.259 | 7.062 48.920 | 3:16.204 | +3.114 |
| 19 | 18 | Stepan Fedorov | Russia | 7.233 49.214 | 7.138 48.859 | 7.091 49.123 | 7.098 49.021 | 3:16.217 | +3.312 |
| 20 | 24 | Ian Cockerline | Canada | 7.180 49.033 | 7.185 49.132 | 7.135 49.297 | 7.100 48.871 | 3:16.243 | +3.158 |
| 21 | 4 | Reinhold Rainer | Italy | 7.260 48.846 | 7.306 49.065 | 7.256 49.416 | 7.256 49.007 | 3:16.334 | +3.349 |
| 22 | 23 | Thomas Girod | France | 7.186 49.077 | 7.210 49.192 | 7.150 49.294 | 7.136 49.157 | 3:16.850 | +3.765 |
| 23 | 30 | Maciej Kurowski | Poland | 7.349 49.427 | 7.182 49.200 | 7.173 49.361 | 7.162 49.039 | 3:17.027 | +3.942 |
| 24 | 14 | Jozef Ninis | Slovakia | 7.233 49.196 | 7.210 49.153 | 7.165 49.643 | 7.156 49.039 | 3:17.414 | +4.029 |
| 25 | 33 | Ondřej Hyman | Czech Republic | 7.152 49.284 | 7.128 49.346 | 7.103 49.512 | 7.092 49.247 | 3:17.389 | +4.304 |
| 26 | 36 | Guntis Rekis | Latvia | 7.222 49.275 | 7.195 49.625 | 7.146 49.476 | 7.171 49.071 | 3:17.447 | +4.362 |
| 27 | 29 | Domen Pociecha | Slovenia | 7.299 49.340 | 7.291 49.457 | 7.286 49.587 | 7.262 49.362 | 3:17.746 | +4.661 |
| 28 | 27 | Jakub Hyman | Czech Republic | 7.226 49.379 | 7.235 49.726 | 7.202 49.465 | 7.186 49.231 | 3:17.801 | +4.716 |
| 29 | 37 | Shiva Keshavan | India | 7.303 49.561 | 7.311 49.529 | 7.265 49.597 | 7.253 49.786 | 3:18.473 | +5.388 |
| 30 | 16 | Takahisa Oguchi | Japan | 7.366 49.542 | 7.287 49.780 | 7.269 49.818 | 7.254 49.903 | 3:19.043 | +5.958 |
| 31 | 34 | Valentin Cretu | Romania | 7.299 49.726 | 7.276 50.224 | 7.260 49.931 | 7.281 49.594 | 3:19.475 | +6.390 |
| 32 | 2 | Stefan Höhener | Switzerland | 7.143 48.728 | 7.172 53.838 | 7.142 49.559 | 7.092 48.713 | 3:20.838 | +7.753 |
| 33 | 32 | Bogdan Macovei | Moldova | 7.373 50.425 | 7.362 50.175 | 7.299 49.931 | 7.386 50.331 | 3:21.354 | +8.269 |
| 34 | 31 | Ma Chih-hung | Chinese Taipei | 7.442 50.318 | 7.410 50.460 | 7.474 51.090 | 7.451 50.494 | 3:22.362 | +9.277 |
| 35 | 25 | Peter Iliev | Bulgaria | 7.338 50.348 | 7.272 50.701 | 7.250 50.921 | 7.351 50.428 | 3:22.398 | +9.313 |
| 36 | 26 | Lee Yong | South Korea | 7.430 50.549 | 7.386 50.607 | 7.397 51.012 | 7.358 51.128 | 3:23.296 | +10.211 |
| 37 | 28 | Ivan Papukchiev | Bulgaria | 7.527 50.932 | 7.428 50.909 | 7.343 51.105 | 7.323 50.386 | 3:23.332 | +10.247 |
| 38 | 39 | Rubén González | Argentina | 7.567 52.540 | 7.549 52.155 | 7.601 52.298 | 7.501 51.312 | 3:28.305 | +15.220 |
| | 38 | Levan Gureshidze | Georgia | | | | | DNS | |