Luge at the 1968 Winter Olympics

For the first time in Olympic history, the luge events were not held on the same course as the bobsleigh competitions (the only other similar occurrence would be in 1980). Originally, plans were to hold the sports at the same resort, but in 1965 it was decided to separate them. Bobsleigh went to Alpe d’Huez, while luge went to Villard-de-Lans, some 35 km from Grenoble. The design for the track was made by architect and luge official Jan Steler, a Polish ex-sleigher who lived in France. His 1 km long concrete track had an average slope of 11%.

The singles events were heavily influenced by the weather. Originally planned for 8, 10 and 12 February, thaw prevented the events from being held. They were rescheduled numerous times, until they could at last be held on 11 and 13 February. However, weather was still quite bad, and the 4th run had to be cancelled in both competitions. The troubles for luge did not end there, as the women’s event was overshadowed by a major scandal. Only the doubles event was, after being rescheduled, completed normally and in good weather conditions.