Word: luge
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Next Wednesday afternoon in Bergisel Stadium in Innsbruck, Austria, 1,500 athletes from some 40 nations and 70,000 spectators will watch as Josef Feistmantl, a former luge-sled gold medalist, lights the Olympic flame opening the twelfth Winter Games. That flame will burn for twelve days of competition in the dangerous, exciting, magically graceful world of winter sports. More than half a billion people around the world will follow the action on TV, including millions in the U.S. who can tune in 39½ hours of coverage on ABC, most of it in prime time...
...line in a battle for alpine skiing supremacy. Through the neighboring valleys and forests, Scandinavians, East Germans, and Russians will be straining to win the cross-country marathons, while overhead Austrians, Finns and Swiss try to fight gravity for the longest ski jump. On the icy, twisting bobsled and luge chute, Italians, Swiss, West and East German daredevils will be approaching the speed of insanity...
...Innsbruck and television viewers round the globe, the Winter Games provide a panorama of grace and prowess under pressure. Most Nordic events will be staged at Seefeld, 15 miles to the northwest of the city; three miles south, at Igls and Patscherkofel, tourists can take in the bobsled, luge and men's downhill. The other alpine races will be held at Axamer Lizum, a 25-minute bus ride to the southwest from downtown...
...LUGE Singles competition for men and women, doubles race for men on small wooden sleds which have canvas or braided plastic seats. Same course as for bobsled but with more steeply inclined starting ramps. Best combined time for four runs wins singles; best time for two runs wins doubles...
Scratch a Flexible Flyer and underneath lies a luge. The principal difference, of course, is a matter of speed. The luge run at Innsbruck will produce a maximum speed of almost 70 m.p.h., and belly flopping is grounds for disqualification. The racers lie on their backs and steer with their feet. East German women won gold and silver medals in 1968, but were disqualified for illegally heating their steel runners before the race. On cold steel, they swept all medals at Sapporo and should do so again. Margit Schumann is the best woman, and Countryman Hans Rinn is also...